Video Guide to Effective Negotiation Skills and Processes

Hello again. This week we'll continue talking about negotiations, but in a little more detail. In this first lesson of the week, we'll look at how to have a successful negotiation, the steps in the process, and some guidelines to help you. We'll also look at some cultural differences and get some advice from experts in the field. In the second lesson this week, we'll look more closely at the language and guidelines for the back and forth that takes place in negotiating, proposals, counter proposals, conditions, and concessions. And in lesson three, we'll look at the language and guidelines for negotiating an agreement in a series of email messages. We'll start by looking at the steps and the negotiation process and guidelines for a successful negotiation, which you will identify later on in this lesson. We'll also hear people talk about some experiences they've had in negotiating and about cultural differences. In the end, you'll be able to demonstrate the process and principles of negotiating effectively.

We talked in the first module about negotiation. A negotiation is a discussion that leads to an agreement. It is a process. It can be a short conversation or it can last for months. It can be between two people or two groups. It can be in a formal office setting or during lunch. It can be face to face or it can be on the phone or even in a series of email messages. Of course, the final agreement is important, but the relationship and process is also important. The discussion can be friendly or unfriendly. When it's friendly and both people walk away happy, we say it's a win-win situation. If one person is happy with the agreement but the other person isn't, we call that a win-lose situation. I'd like you to take a minute and think about negotiations. What things have you negotiated? Did you think of any of these things? Negotiating your salary? The price of a car. The price of something at a market? Or you may have thought of a formal negotiation you handled at a business meeting. How did they work out? Were they win-win or win-lose?

In some situations, win-lose negotiations are normal. For example, when you go to a market, you are usually negotiating with someone you'll never meet again. You expect to win-lose negotiation, right? When a win-lose negotiation, one person usually asks way more than they really want. Then the haggling begins. To haggle means to go back and forth about the price or the terms. It's $100. That's too much. I'll give you $50. Okay, so you get the idea. But that's not what we're talking about in this lesson. Because in a win-lose situation, your long-term relationship with the other person isn't important. In business, unless you are not expecting to do business with that person again, relationships are important. You're negotiating with clients or with your coworkers. So we're going to focus on win-win strategies in this lesson.

Before we look at strategies, we're going to talk to Dan Poston, who is assistant dean of Master's degree programs at the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. If you listen to the interview, you'll have a short quiz on what you heard.