NEGOTIATION STYLES

NEGOTIATION STYLES

The following four styles of negotiators:
 Factual style
 Intuitive style
 Normative style
 Analytical style
Each of these styles is detailed below:

(1) Factual style
Such persons make the basic assumption that facts speak for themselves.
(i) Behaviours exhibited
They:
1. Point out facts in a neutral way
2. Keep track of what has been said
3. Remind people of their statements made earlier
4. Know most of the details of issues discussed
5. Share details with others
6. Relate facts to experience and clarify
7. Are low key in their reactions
8. Look for proof and documents of statements
9. Use keywords like: clarify, define, explain, facts etc
(ii) Guidelines
1. Be precise in presenting facts
2. Refer to what has been carried out
3. Know the dossier complete with details
4. Document what they say

(2) Intuitive Style
These persons work on the basic assumption that imagination can solve any problem,
(i) Behaviours exhibited
They:
1. Make warm and enthusiastic statements
2. Focus on the entire problem
3. Pin-point the essentials of problem(s)
4. Make projections in to the future
5. Are imaginative and creative in analyzing the situation
6. Go beyond the facts
7. Come up with new ideas all the time
8. Push and withdraw from time to time
9. Put two and two together very quickly
10. Get their facts wrong sometime
11. Use deductive logic
12. Use keywords like: creative, essential, idea, tomorrow etc
(ii) Guidelines
1. Focus on the situation as a whole
2. Tap the imagination and creativity of the team
3. Build on the reaction of other persons

(3) Normative style
They operate on the basic assumption that negotiating is bargaining.
(i) Behaviours used
They:
1. Assess, judge and evaluate facts according to their personal values
2. Approve or disapprove, agree or disagree based on own norms of behaviour
3. Use loaded words
4. Offer bargains
5. Propose rewards and incentives
6. Appeal to emotions and feelings to reach a fair deal
7. Are demanding, threatening and coercing
8. Use authority, power and status
9. Correlate with other people
10. Make effective statements
11. Focus on people and their reactions
12. Judge others‟ responses
13. Pay attention to communication and other group processes
14. Use keywords like: wrong, right, good, bad, like etc
(iii) Guidelines
1. Establish sound relationships
2. Identify partners‟ values and adjust to them
3. Appeal to partners‟ feelings

(4) Analytical style
These negotiators work on the basic assumption that logic leads to the right conclusions.
(i) Behaviours used
They:
1. Formulate reasons and logic to the case under negotiations
2. Argue in favour of own position and against others‟ position
3. Divide, analyze and break down each situation and its cause and effect
4. Identify relationships of parts
5. Put things in logical order
6. Weigh pros and cons thoroughly
7. Make identical statements
8. Use linear reasoning, being inductive in logic
9. Use keywords like: because, consequently, in order to, then, therefore etc
(iii) Guidelines
1. Use logic while arguing
2. Look for causes and effects
3. Analyze options with pros and cons
Standard toolkit of questionnaires is available for determining one‟s style of negotiation and has emerged as a powerful tool for enhancing individuals‟ negotiation skills.