Communication and Personality in Negotiations

Communication and Personality in Negotiation

To make decisions and manage disputes, negotiation is the most common approaches. Negotiations are active in both personal and professional lives. It occurs when dealing with members of the public, when dealing with a co-worker, or buying a selling of a product or service. It even occurs between spouses, parents and children, managers and staff, and between organizations (Moore, Ph.D., n.d.).

(Moore, Ph.D., n.d.) mentions, "Negotiation is a problem-solving process in which two or more people voluntarily discuss their differences and attempt to reach a joint decision on their common concerns". Negotiation require individuals to analyze concerns in which differs, educates each other about the needs and interest, producing possible settlement options and bargain over the compromise of the final agreement. Some type of promise or exchange is being made by the negotiators to be successful negotiation. According to (Moore, Ph.D., n.d.), "The exchange may be tangible such as money, a commitment of time or a particular behavior, or intangible such as an agreement to change an attitude or expectation, or make an apology". It is of interest to become familiar with negotiating skills, because negotiation is such a common problem-solving process.

Effective communication is vital in any type of negotiation. Honesty and sincerity is the power behind the delivery. The best means of making statements come across as sincere is using the natural personality to color or add dimension to the delivery. To help an individual to become more believable and trustworthy in the eyes of others, getting comfortable with the innate personal style will help ("Negotiations", 2007).

There are two types of communication in negotiations; verbal and non-verbal. Depending on the formality of the negotiation situation, communication varies. The impact of communication becomes less significant as the procedures of negotiation become increasingly specific and detailed. In negotiation interactions rules govern communication. Many of the rules are created through the negotiation interaction in informal negotiations. In formal negotiations, rules and procedures build the communication. The rules may be created in a pre-negotiation stage, and rules may become ritualized within certain negotiations (Booher, 2011).

(Booher, 2011) says, "Communication functions to coordinate outcomes, exchange information, intentionally and unintentionally; overtly and covertly, express strategic intentions and tactical actions, identify patterns of behavior, and alters perceptions and expectations concerning the bargaining situation, relationship, process, and outcomes.

Non-verbal behavior is placed by negotiation practitioners as great importance. (Booher, 2011) mentions, "Non-verbal behavior in negotiation is culture-bound; the cultural identification of negotiators and the cultural context of negotiation will influence what non-verbal behavior is appropriate and how non-verbal behavior should be interpreted. Yet, some negotiators may regard certain non-verbal behaviors as culturally universal transcending differences". There are several non-verbal categories related to negotiation. First, chronemics means time. The negotiator places great importance on time. It is vital to use time efficiently, meet deadlines, and be prompt.

Secondly, proxemics means space and distance. In non-verbal behavior, negotiators prefer negotiating in