Week 10

24/05/2021

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From the negotiation process on phase 1 up until phase 3, I learned a lot about how each one of them interconnected with one another in a way that the negotiation process will not flow as how we expected it to be without these phases.

In phase 1 which is preparation, I learned that this phase requires a negotiator to be readied even before the negotiating starts to avoid unnecessary faults later. Although preparation should not have that much to be concerned with, the negotiation process, however, has a preparation phase as a quite complicated stage where it is quite detailed in guiding a negotiator. From the rules and guidelines, the importance of controlling emotions and up to identifying ourselves when negotiating, these should help a negotiator a lot more than enough to not make a big mistake in the future.

Next, for phase 2 which is exchanging information, I could grasp that a good negotiator in this phase should be able to know when suitable information should be shared before proceeding to anything. A good negotiator should be able to stand on their side to keep from the opposite party rushing to know their bargaining position without clearly knowing their stance on the issue that will be discussed which is supposedly to be agreed by both parties. When a negotiator knows what to say, when to say and when to be silent, then the winning side would definitely be leaning more to them.

As for the phase 3 which covers bargaining, it helps me in understanding about the attitude that should be displayed when bargaining. There are three keywords in bargaining between sellers and buyers which are; issues, position, and interest. This phase can be said as the most important part of the flow in which it will focus on the argument whether the situation will be win-lose or win-win. It is the matter of fact in this phase, the most important thing is to convince the other party to concede to the demands by also applying a well-presented flow in the negotiation process. However, if it were a conflict, a negotiator should know that positions are taken and stated in the form of demands, by which positions are based on unexpressed interest.

Through these phases, I could fairly say that the fourth phase which is commitment and closing will be more about how a negotiator will commit to what the result will be and close the negotiation with a good end. The ‘good end’ here could be about writing a contract to seal the negotiation as a sign of formality or maybe just a simple agreement through payment receipt if it’s a business etc.