Barriers to Agreement

SRBS Class of 2021 - 23

Negotiation & Selling Skills
 Die-Hard Bargainer…..
• For them, every negotiation is a test of wills and battle for
every scrap of value. Unless you are playing the same game
–or lack other options- negotiations with these people may
be fruitless.
• Regardless the game they are playing, and don’t be thrown
off balance. Anticipate low ball offers, grudging
concessions, and lots of bluffing and puffing along the way.
Don’t let these antics prevent you from analysing your
BATNA and settling your reservation price and aspirations.
• Because your are dealing with highly acquisitive people, be
guarded in the information you disclose. These people will
take whatever information you reveal and use it against
you-and give nothing in return.
 Die-Hard Bargainers (continued)
• If you are unsure about the attitude of the other
side, test their willingness to share information.
Let slip a minor piece of information and see what
they do with it. Do they use it against you. Do they
respond by offering information to you.
• Try a different track. Suggest alternative options..
Here are two options for solving this problem.
Which one do you prefer and why. That will throw
the ball in their court, tempting them to respond.
 Die-Hard Bargainer…
• Be willing to walk away. If the other side sees
a clear benefit in reaching the agreement, it
will be less overbearing if it knows that its
behaviour creates the risk of no risk at all.
• Strengthen your BATNA. If your position is
weak, the other side will bully or ignore you
with little risk. Speak softly to build your
BATNA.
 Lack of Trust…..
• Agreements are difficult in the absence of mutual trust. How can we
negotiate with these people? “is the common refrain. “We cannot
believe a thing they tell us.
• Sincerity and reliability is important to build trust.
• What should you do, if you suspect that the other side is not
trustworthy?
• Emphasize that the deal is predicated on their accurate and truthful
representation of the situation.
• Require that they provide back-up documentation, and that the terms
of the deal are explicitly contingent on the documentation’s accuracy.
• Structure the agreement in such a way that makes future benefits
contingent to current compliance and performance.
• Insist on compliance transparency. It refers to one’s ability to monitor
compliance from outside.
 Informational Vacuums and Negotiators Dilemma…

• It is difficult to make a deal- and impossible to

create value – in the absence of information. What
are the other side’s interests? What does it have
to offer? What is it willing to trade? Ironically, fear
of advantaging the other side encourages parties
to withhold the information needed to create
value for both sides. Each is reluctant to first open
up. This is the Negotiator’s Dilemma. The solution
to this dilemma is cautious, mutual, and
incremental information exchange.
 Structural Impediments..
Structural impediments include the absence of important
parties at the table, since :-
1. Not all the right parties are present, for example if work
schedule of New product development is being discussed,
then although Marketing and R&D Dept. is there, bur
Manufacturing is unrepresented.
2. Worse is, the presence of others who don’t belong there,
but get in the way. Get those people to step aside.
3. If no one feels any time pressure, and so negotiation drags
on and on. Remedies to these impediments are provided
 Spoilers…
• Spoilers are people who block or undermine
Negotiations. Several tips were offered for
neutralizing or winning over these individuals,
including the creation of winning coalitions.
• Tips of dealing with Spoilers: Always try to
answer the question : “ Where and how will this
change create pain or loss in the organization?”
• Identify people who have something to lose,
and try to anticipate how they will respond.
 Spoilers…
• Communicate the “why” of change to potential
resisters. Explain the urgency of moving away from
established routines or arrangements.
• Emphasize the benefits of change to potential
resisters. Those benefits might be greater job security,
higher pay, and so forth. There is no guarantee that
the benefits of change will exceed the losses to these
individuals. However, explaining the benefits will help
shift their focus from negatives to positives.
• Help resisters find new roles- roles that represent
genuine contributions and mitigate their losses.
 Spoilers…
• Please remember that some people resist
change because it represents a loss of control
over their daily lives. One can return some of
that control by making them active partners in
their change program.
• Build a coalition with sufficient strength to
overpower the spoilers.
 Cultural & Gender Differences..
• Cultural and gender differences can be barriers to agreement,
particularly when one of the parties brings to the table a set
of assumptions that the other side fails to notice:
assumptions about who will make the key decisions, what is
of value, and what will happen if agreement is reached.
• Our language, thought processes, perceptions,
communication styles, personalities are formed by a thicket
of culture, gender and social dynamics.
• Culture is a cluster of tendencies that a more prevalent in one
group than another- how people behave and think. We tend
to attribute mystifying behaviour in other people- for
example our National character, how our professionals
behave, and how people in a certain Company act.
 Cultural & Gender Differences(continued)..
Culture does not determine or predict any single individuals behaviours or
choices. There are great variations within given populations. An Italian Engineer
may have more in common with a German Engineer than with an Italian artist.
A female lawyer may have more in common with a male lawyer than a female
musician.
By attributing problems with gender or culture, you may miss the fact that a
female negotiator is signalling her Company’s resistance point.
If you are experiencing problems understanding or dealing with another
culture, look for a pattern in these problems and ask: What kind of issues are
always tipping us up? What kind of misunderstandings are we having?
Differences in organization’s culture may plague Negotiators. For example.
Entrepreneurial { “Lets get this done”} versus Bureaucratic (Lets follow
established procedures)).
Hamel & Doz found that deep historical, cultural and organizational difference
make collaboration and agreement between Companies extremely difficult.
 Difficulties in Communication…
• They can also create barriers. One can diffuse them
by insisting that each team be led by an effective
communicator and by practicing active listening,
documenting progress as it is made, and
establishing real dialogue between parties.
• Try these tactics:
• Ask for a break. Replay in your mind what has been
communicated, how and by whom. Look for a
pattern. Does the confusion or misunderstanding
arise from a single issue? Were important
assumptions or expectations not articulated?
Difficulties in Communication(continued)…
• If the spokesperson of your Negotiating team
seem to infuriate the other side, have someone
else as your spokesperson.
• Jointly document progress as it is made. This is
particularly important in Multiphase
Negotiations. It will solve the problem of
someone saying “ I don’t remember agreeing to
that”
 The Power of Dialogue…
• Dialogue is a powerful mode of communication and an
effective antidote to most, if not all, of all human barriers.
• Dialogue is usually the best way to peel back the layers of
problems, bring undisclosed concerns to centre-stage,
develop solutions, and common understandings.
• Dialogue can help to give direction without telling people
what to do in so many words- which is what Managers in
participatory organizations must learn to do.
• Negotiating with people is as important as directing them.
What works between Managers and their people can also
work between Negotiating parties if they start slowly,
practice active listening, and gradually develop the level
of trust that problem solving requires.