Q & A Table of Contents
Negotiating Credit and Dealing With Common Obstacles to Good Negotiation
From: Malaysian Bank Manager
Question 1. What are the problems every negotiator has to overcome?
Response 1. It is dangerous to view every negotiator as having the same problems. Just as human personalities and cultural traits vary, and just as there are exceptions to our expectations about how certain kinds of people will behave in a given situation, everyone has his/her own negotiation style.
Nonetheless, there is a short list of questions every negotiator should consider as they get ready for or enter into negotiations:
1. Am I prepared? Have I done my homework about what I/my company has to offer and what other parties can offer me?
2. How important is the relationship between me and other parties to the negotiation?
3. Have I distinguished between the interests of both myself and other parties and the positions we may adopt? A simpler way to address this is: What do I want and WHY do I want it? What do 'they' want and WHY do they want it?
4. When would I be better off walking away from this negotiation?
Do I have a better alternative?
What is the balance of power among the parties?
5. Are there creative ways to deal with this issue, rather than falling into the same old ruts of predictable approaches?
6. Is our approach to negotiation fair? Are we treating each other and each other's ideas with respect?
7. How will we know we have reached a durable agreement?
8. How can the parties communicate effectively with each other? What steps can we take to be sure that we really understand each other?
Question 2. Why are communications and perceptions important in the negotiation process?
Response 2. In negotiation, information is your most important asset. Whether you are learning about parties' interests, figuring out what is most likely to lead to a wise result, or determining who's got what to offer, information is what you are pursuing.
The best way to gain information is through communication. Researching in a book, on the web, or through conversation all involves using fundamental communication media. In negotiation, and the rest of life, you must remember that you learn more with your mouth closed and your ears open.
Clear communication using common-sense questionning and listening skills is your best way for deriving information. Being a good audience is a better way to learn than being a good presenter.
If effective communication has taken place, parties' perceptions are likely to be clearer. And the clearer and more comprehensive your perception of what's at issue and what's going on, the more likely you are to reach a wise agreement.
Question 3. What are the consequences for not separating the people from the problem in negotiation?
Response 3. If you view a particular person as 'the problem' and all you want to do is beam them away to another planet, the question is whether you have actually solved the real problem. Confusing a person with 'the problem' can lead to an emotional escalation which moves the focus away from achieving an appropriate resolution.
Obviously in your work collecting bad loans for a bank, altogether too often you must find yourself delaing with people whom you have little reason to trust. Your dilemma is that, in spite of your personal lack of enthusiasm for people who are bad loan-payers, for the most part you must negotiate with them in order to recover the money they owe.
One step you can take is to become a creative schizophrenic: allow one part of your personality to be cold and calculating and analytical while another part of you is engaged in the substance of the negotiation. The analytical part of your 'split personality' can feed the involved side of your personality a series of affirmations: I am keeping my head. In spite of the sleaziness of the characters with whom I must deal, I am behaving in a civilized manner.
Sometimes, when you know you're dealing with a truly unsavory character, and depending on the parameters within which you have to work, minimizing your losses can be viewed as a way to reach a 'winning' result.
Negotiators who fail to separate the people from the problem are often playing a zero-sum game in which there is a winner and a loser. Focusing on the interests, on the substantive issues at hand, and on creative solutions is far more likely when you separate the people from the problem; and when you succeed at that, you are heading in the direction of reaching the 'nirvana' of a result that makes sense to all the parties involved.
Good luck and good negotiating, Steve.
Steve Cohen
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