CHALLENGES IN NEGOTIATION

 Below are some of the negotiation challenges.

1. Time pressure

At times there are unexpected time pressure and attempts to push one straight to one’s fall-back position by another party. For instance, the other party early in the negotiations may say “let’s skip the haggling, just give your best price”. This kind of pressure is challenging to negotiation.

2. Influence of another decision maker

In negotiations, there is lack of openness and honesty from either parties or from one party. When in negotiations, one may discover that one is not talking to a decision maker, for instance, the other party leaves the room and returns five minutes later saying that “my boss would never agree to that”.

3. Delay tactics

Some negotiators tend to delay the negotiation in order to make one become more nervous or make one feel under pressure so that one agrees to what they want in order to keep the discussion short. This tactic is used frequently by senior people on more junior people.

4. Last minute wavering

This occurs when one thinks that negotiations are and have reached an agreement and the other party begins wavering over some seemingly trivial points (less important issues). The other party can waver several times, squeezing several additional concessions from someone each time.

5. An early concession

Some negotiators begin with an early concession and they wait for the other parties to reciprocate and in the spirit of relationship-building, one probably does so.

6. Aggressive behavior

Bullying, attempts to make one feel guilty, attempts to make one feel inferior, bribery, belittling remarks and dismissive words are all forms of inappropriate influence. They are designed to help someone win at the other party’s expense.

7. Price-only negotiation

Negotiators who pay attention exclusively to price turn potentially cooperative deals into adversarial ones. Less experienced negotiators often undervalue the importance of developing working relationships with the other parties putting the relationship at risk through tough tactics.

8. Letting positions override interests

Some negotiators have a built-in bias towards focusing on their own positions instead of interests. This hard-wired assumption that their interests are incompatible implies a zero-sum pie in which “my gain is your loss” is the goal.

9. Neglecting the other side’s problem

At times, there is failure to understand and address the other party’s problem as a means of one solving one’s own problem. One cannot negotiate effectively unless one understands one’s own interests and the other side’s interests.