In this video I want to talk to you
about the significance of
communication in the negotiation process.
As i've told you before negotiation is
essentially a communication exercise,
it is a back and forth exchange of
information
whereby two parties work towards the
resolution of uh
perceived differing objectives or a
conflict
that sort of thing. So generally the
elements of communication
are broken down into verbal
communication, nonverbal communication,
and then the medium through which you
communicate that is
that is how you communicate okay. Now
to start with verbal communication the
spoken
word for example um that's
generally broken down along two lines.
First you have the logical and
those are the things you say right the
ideas
that you put out there. The second
grouping
is the pragmatic which is more based on
semantics
syntax uh that type of thing so it's
basically
the characteristics of what it is you're
saying
rather than the content right so both of
these come
together so that the listener the
receiver of the message
um decodes what you mean by what you're
saying.
The best way to think about it is okay
content what i'm saying
uh pragmatic how i'm saying it
right the elements of inflection things
like that that adds some additional
meaning to what you're saying
okay. Next we have uh nonverbal
communication
okay and non-verbal communication is
pretty much
anything that conveys some level of
information
that is non-verbal in nature it can be
face gestures,
eye movement, hand movement, body position,
posture, uh things like that right
all of these things convey some sort of
message so
in a way our is a form of nonverbal
communication.
Now it is important to understand that
good communicators and this applies
within negotiations
as well so oftentimes good negotiators
must possess these skills as well but a
good communicator is generally
very sensitive to non-verbal
communications they're able
to pick them up and read them its its
closely related to
uh emotional intelligence as well okay.
They are expressive in terms of
non-verbal communications that they
use it as an active manner of
communicating and they're very
self-controlled they're able to
control their outward display
of non-verbal communications which is
also tied again
to being able to control your emotions
in a scenario
okay. So once again these are things that
are highly valuable
to the negotiator. How is non-verbal
communication
used to communicate? Well in addition to
adding some sort of
emphasis or meaning to what you're
saying it can be a
power tactic a dominance tactic
Lyndon B. Johnson for example
as president of the united states was
known for using his size
as a negotiating advantage he would
stand very close to people and
tower over them looking down at them to
create sort of a power dominance
position. And per the text per reading
per history
uh was quite effective in influence
influencing other people in that way
so it it can be used as a tool this is
simply an example that
how once again nonverbal communications.
It can also be used through the reverse
and be very inviting
uh to show someone that you're accepting
them in cooperative that type of thing.
We have an entire series on
communication
on thebusinessprofessor.com so please
visit that and look through our
communications course for more
information on these topics.
One thing important in nonverbal
behavior which is important in the
negotiation
is attending behaviors okay. Attending
behaviors
are behaviors that you are
undertaking simply to show someone that
you're engaged and that you're paying
attention in the conversation
it can be things such as simply
nodding your head calmly as people are
talking to show that you're listening
right that you're preparing and ready to
engage sometimes
like um right can be a
attending behavior because you're
demonstrating to somebody
that you are engaged and that you're
following along in the conversation
okay. And then uh lastly is our
medium of communication and this is a
constraint
that we've identified in the negotiation
process
right but your medium of communication
is uh
in a way how are you transmitting the
message to the other side to the
to the receiver of the message is it um
are you doing it verbally is it in
writing,
okay or text message of some sort, uh
is it in person, or is it electronic,
okay is it written on paper, and sent via
mail,
is it synchronous that is you and the
other person are exchanging information
in real time at the same time or is it
asynchronous
that is I send a message the other
person receives at a later point in time
and replies to it at that later point
time
often the way you would consider sending
a letter in the mail or email
right where something is more real-time
if it's if you're talking to someone on
the phone okay
or in a chat where you're going back and
forth
that type of thing. So all of these taken
together are the primary elements of
why communication is relevant in
negotiation
and we'll visit some of these other
aspects further in a
subsequent video series.