INTRODUCTION TO
NEGOTIATION SKILLS
CHAPTER FOUR (COMMUNICATION)
Communication in Negotiation
Communication processes, both verbal and nonverbal, are critical to
achieving negotiation goals and to resolving conflicts.
• Negotiation is a process of interaction
• Negotiation is a context for communication subtleties that influence
processes and outcomes
Basic Models of Communication
Communication is an activity that occurs between two people: a sender
and a receiver
• A sender has a meaning in mind and encodes this meaning into a
message that is transmitted to a receiver
• A receiver provides information about how the message was received
and by becoming a sender and responding to, building on, or rebutting
the original message (processes referred to as “feedback”)
Distortion in Communication
● Senders and receivers (individual communicators)
– The more diverse their goals or the more antagonistic they are in their
relationship, the greater the likelihood that distortions and errors in
communication will occur
● Messages
– The symbolic forms by which information is communicated
– The more we use symbolic communication, the more likely the symbols
may not accurately communicate the meaning we intend
Distortion in Communication
● Encoding
– The process by which messages are put into symbolic form
– Senders are likely to encode messages in a form which receivers may
not prefer
● Channels and media
– The conduits by which messages are carried from one party to another
– Messages are subject to distortion from various forms of interference
Distortion in Communication
● Reception
– The process of comprehension by receiving messages and decoding
them into an understandable form
– It might not be possible to capture fully the other’s meaning, tone or
words
● Interpretation
– Process of ascertaining the meaning and significance of decoded
messages for the situation to go forward
– An important way to avoid problems is by giving the other party
feedback
Distortion in Communication
● Feedback
– The process by which the receiver reacts to the sender’s message
– Can be used strategically to induce concessions, changes in strategy, or
alter assessments of process and outcomes
– Absence of feedback can contribute to significant distortions by
influencing the offers negotiators make
What is Communicated during Negotiation?
• Offers, counteroffers, and motives
• Information about alternatives
• Information about outcomes
• Social accounts
-Explanations of circumstances
-Reframing explanations
• Communication about process
Communication in Negotiation: Three Key
Questions
• Are negotiators consistent or adaptive?
• Many negotiators prefer sticking with the familiar rather than venturing
into improvisation
• Does it matter what is said early in the process?
• What negotiators do in the first half of the process has a significant
impact on their ability to generate integrative solutions with high joint
gains
• Is more information always better?
• The effect of exchanging information depends on the type of issues
being discussed and the motivation to use the information
How People Communicate in Negotiation
● Use of language
– Logical level (proposals, offers)
– Pragmatic level (semantics, syntax, style)
● Use of nonverbal communication
– Making eye contact
– Adjusting body position
– Nonverbally encouraging or discouraging what the other says
How People Communicate in Negotiation
• Selection of a communication channel
-Communication is experienced differently when it occurs through
different channels
-People negotiate through a variety of communication media – by
phone, in writing and increasingly through electronic channels or
virtual negotiations
-Social bandwith distinguishes one communication channel from
another.
• the ability of a channel to carry and convey subtle social cues from sender to
receiver
How to Improve Communication in Negotiation
● Use of questions: two basic categories
○ Manageable questions
■ cause attention or prepare the other person’s thinking for further
questions:
● “May I ask you a question?”
■ getting information
● “How much will this cost?”
■ generating thoughts
● “Do you have any suggestions for improving this?”
How to Improve Communication in Negotiation
● Use of questions: two basic categories
○ Unmanageable questions
■ cause difficulty
● “Where did you get that dumb idea?”
■ give information
● “Didn’t you know we couldn’t afford this?”
■ bring the discussion to a false conclusion
● “Don’t you think we have talked about this enough?”
How to Improve Communication in Negotiation
● Listening: three major forms
○ Passive listening: Receiving the message while providing no
feedback to the sender
○ Acknowledgment: Receivers nod their heads, maintain eye contact,
or interject responses
○ Active listening: Receivers restate or paraphrase the sender’s
message in their own language
How to Improve Communication in Negotiation
● Role reversal
○ Negotiators understand the other party’s positions by actively
arguing these positions until the other party is convinced that he or
she is understood
○ Impact and success of the role-reversal technique
■ Effective in producing cognitive changes and attitude changes
■ When the positions are compatible, likely to produce acceptable results;
when the positions are incompatible, may inhibit positive change
■ Not necessarily effective overall as a means of inducing agreement
between parties
Special Communication Considerations at the
Close of Negotiations
-Avoiding fatal mistakes
○ Keeping track of what you expect to happen
○ Systematically guarding yourself against self-serving expectations
○ Reviewing the lessons from feedback for similar decisions in the
future
-Achieving closure
○ Avoid surrendering important information needlessly
○ Refrain from making “dumb remarks”
