How good are you in 360 Degrees Negotiations?

Negotiations is a part of life and we do negotiate with so many people in our lives that makes each one of us a good negotiator in general. However, we find that there are very good negotiators in the business and we must learn what makes them different in their skills. When we talk about anything "360 Degrees" it means that we cover entire gamut of the person sitting across, his or her way of thinking, their strengths, weaknesses, their values, their needs, their emotional behaviour, their motivating factors and their gaps which we could enter through. A tough negotiator always "knows" the opposite person empathetically by stepping into his or her shoes and looking at us from the opposite side how the grass looks greener from the other side of the fence.

When we sit for any kind of negotiations in life, we are prepared to 'give and take' because we know without 'adjustments' in 'favour or opposite' are not going to help us arrive at a decision. We know what is the 'best case and worst case' scenarios. 360 degrees is a complete 'reverse swing' in our own sphere of activity, we are looking at us in a multidimensional mirror from all the angles. 360 degrees methods gives us feedback from opposite direction like a 'boom-rang' knowing what exactly is going to come back to us as multi-source feedback.

In 360 degrees negotiation both the sides know they have to have a 'win-win' anyways. For both the sides there are mutual benefits and value additions. Molly Fletcher, Consultant and author of 'A Winner's Guide to Negotiating: How Conversation Gets Deals Done' (McGraw-Hill, 2014) says "we must not assume that nothing is non-negotiable ahead of time" The more prepared we are better is the chances are of winning a deal. Great negotiations are not done 'quickly' but they take time to establish a meaningful relationship with the party opposite you. In order to be more productive in negotiations we need to create a personal rapport with the person and show confidence that the person will acknowledge the sharing of details. Take sufficient pauses and do not rush into saying YES or NO. Be articulative and use your communications skills before you actually commit to something on the table.

"Gentlemen, we have been speaking of so many things without 'saying' anything" was the favourite of my ex-boss Paul who used this phrase as a final nail in the coffin in a big meeting of many people and once everyone's antennae are "up" on "alert mode" he would bowl the 'death bowl' to clinch the final wicket with a final ball. Conserve your best 'googly' offer till the end and keep them playing with loose deliveries they get used to simple things first. Because in 360 degrees negotiations there is no clear cut road map ahead of us to route our discussion, we need to create a road map ourselves by taking the 'right' turns and avoiding the 'wrong' turns.

We are negotiating for business of course and there is simply no room for anything 'personal' here, be very very professional in your communication and if you become too emotional on an issue it might create problems for you, therefore take it cooly, it is not going to affect you as a person if the opposition drops some 'acid remarks' quickly think that this is meant for the company you represent and not yourself, therefore play neutral and keep smiling face in spite of stiff hard attack from opposition. Once they realise you are a seasoned player and not going to give in for pressure tactics or threatening gimmicks you become a level playing fielder. We must know at what point we could stop, which means at what stage would be your comfort zone ending, stop the negotiation there if you are convinced that this is good enough for us, but do not admit closing yet, remember SRK's dialogue "Picture abhi baki hai mere dost" (The movie is not yet over, friend!) as long as you know that this deal is not a bad deal you should be prepared to quit but look at the opposition what are their targets here? If they seem too happy at what offer is being discussed, wait for some time before you say yes, some thing inside tells you "this is it" there is no point in over negotiating after this point. Keep the cards to closer your chest till they finally ask for "open show" of our cards.

You will agree that every negotiation deal is very tiresome and takes away lot of energy and time, but good negotiations are those which end in a win-win for both the sides otherwise there could be no mutual benefit for which both the sides sat together.