Negotiation is a valuable skill that can help you achieve your goals, improve your relationships, and resolve conflicts. However, sometimes your negotiation skills may be hindered by feedback from peers, especially if it is negative, inconsistent, or biased. How can you overcome this challenge and negotiate effectively? Here are some tips to help you.
Feedback can trigger various emotions, such as anger, frustration, disappointment, or anxiety. These emotions can affect your negotiation performance, as they may cloud your judgment, reduce your confidence, or impair your communication. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge your emotions and manage them before you enter a negotiation. You can do this by taking a deep breath, expressing your feelings to a trusted person, or reframing the feedback as an opportunity to learn and grow.
If the feedback from your peers regarding your skills or performance is poor, it's a warning sign that you need to hear and rectify as soon as possible. The first step is to understand where the negativity in the feedback is coming from in order to determine what aspects you need to improve, change, or learn. Once you've identified this, you need to focus on letting go of what you were doing wrong or not doing and be open to listening to feedback again. If this feedback is positive, it's a very important aid.
Learn to separate intention from impact. Reframe feedback into opportunities to help us learn. Though sometimes it could be uncomfortable, it's essential to help us move forward to discover new possibilities.
1. Seek constructive feedback from peers to understand their concerns and areas for improvement. 2. Reflect on the feedback received and identify specific areas of your negotiation skills that may need development. 3. Consider seeking additional training or resources to enhance your negotiation abilities. 4. Practice negotiating in different scenarios to gain confidence and refine your skills. 5. Engage in open communication with peers to address any misunderstandings and demonstrate your commitment to improvement.
Not all feedback is equally valid, useful, or relevant. Some feedback may be based on inaccurate information, personal preferences, or hidden agendas. Some feedback may be too vague, too general, or too harsh. Some feedback may not apply to your current situation, goals, or interests. Therefore, it is important to assess the feedback and determine its quality, source, and purpose. You can do this by asking yourself questions such as: Is the feedback factual or subjective? Is the feedback constructive or destructive? Is the feedback consistent or contradictory? Is the feedback relevant or outdated? Is the feedback from a credible or biased source? Is the feedback intended to help or harm me?
Be objective. And be specific in the constructive feedback you received. You could probe further to seek advice or recommendation. Do your best to separate the emotion from the feedback.
Once you have assessed the feedback, you can decide how to use it to improve your negotiation skills. You can use the feedback to identify your strengths and weaknesses, set your priorities and objectives, plan your strategies and tactics, anticipate potential challenges and opportunities, and adjust your behavior and style. You can also use the feedback to seek clarification, ask for more information, or request support from your peers. However, you should not use the feedback to undermine your self-esteem, compromise your values, or ignore your interests. You should also not use the feedback to avoid responsibility, blame others, or make excuses.
I used to be a victim of undermining my self-esteem when it comes to receiving feedback. It's important to remind ourselves that the feedback has got nothing to do with our competence or intelligence. Be very specific in the essence of the feedback and seek to improve on the skills, knowledge or information.
Feedback is not a one-time event, but an ongoing process. To enhance your negotiation skills, you should seek more feedback from different sources, such as your supervisors, colleagues, clients, or mentors. You should also seek feedback from yourself, by reflecting on your actions, outcomes, and learnings. Seeking more feedback can help you gain more insights, perspectives, and suggestions. It can also help you monitor your progress, celebrate your achievements, and address your gaps.
Seek for more clarification. Perhaps, you could ask the source to demonstrate to you in relation to the feedback. This could help illustrate a clear picture of the feedback.
Feedback is a two-way street. As much as you receive feedback from others, you should also give feedback to others. Giving feedback can help you build rapport, trust, and respect with your peers. It can also help you share your views, expectations, and concerns with your peers. Giving feedback can also help you influence, persuade, and collaborate with your peers. However, when giving feedback, you should be respectful, specific, timely, and balanced. You should also be open to receiving feedback in return.
Feedback is a valuable source of learning, as it can help you discover new ideas, skills, and solutions. It can also help you correct your mistakes, avoid your pitfalls, and overcome your obstacles. Learning from feedback can help you improve your negotiation performance, as it can help you increase your knowledge, competence, and confidence. It can also help you achieve your desired results, satisfy your needs, and create value for yourself and others. Therefore, you should embrace feedback as a learning opportunity, not as a threat or a burden.
Be thankful that you receive feedback from others because they care for your progress. It doesn't usually happen to those who are perceived as arrogant, defensive and/or snobbish. Take the feedback as learning opportunities to be the better version of yourself!