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Essentials of
Negotiation
Part 02: Critical Negotiation
Processes
Chapter 07: Communication
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Chapter Overview
Chapter 07 examines the process by which negotiators communicate
their interests, positions, and goals.
• We first consider what is communicated in a negotiation.
• Followed by exploring how people communicate in negotiation.
• The chapter concludes with discussions of how to improve
communication in negotiation.
• And of special communication considerations at the close of
negotiations.
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What is Communicated during Negotiation?
When studied, 70% of verbal tactics are integrative.
Also, buyers and sellers tend to behave reciprocally.
Most of the communication during negotiation is not about preferences.
• The blend of integrative versus distributive content varies as a function
of the issues being discussed.
• And of the expectation parties have for their future relationship.
• Yet communication content is only partly responsible for negotiation
outcomes.
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Table 7.1: What Is Communicated during Negotiation?
Category of Communication Why It Is Important
Offers and counteroffers
Offers convey the negotiator’s motives and
preferences, which in turn influence actions of
the other party.
Information about alternatives
Strong alternatives confer a strategic advantage,
but only if the other party is aware of those
alternatives.
Information about outcomes
Negotiators’ evaluations of their own outcomes
will vary depending on what they know about
how well the other party did.
Social accounts/explanations
The negative effects of relatively poor outcomes
can be alleviated when the other party offers
social accounts.
Communication about process
When conflict intensifies, risking progress,
conversation about process may interrupt a
conflict spiral and restore a constructive tone or
approach.
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Offers, Counteroffers, and Motives
Preferences are communicated during a negotiation and can have an
influence on the actions of the other party and on outcomes.
Communication may also convey emotions experienced in relation to the
exchange of positions and offers.
A communication framework is
based on the assumptions that:
• The communication of offers
is dynamic.
• The offer process is
interactive.
• Various internal and external
factors drive the interaction
and motivate a bargainer to
change their offers.
The offer-counteroffer process is
dynamic, interactive, and subject to
situational and environmental
constraints.
• The process constantly revises
the parameters of the
negotiation.
• Eventually narrowing the
bargaining range and guiding the
discussion toward a settlement.
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Information about Alternatives
The existence of a BATNA changes several things in a negotiation.
• Negotiators with attractive BATNAs set higher reservation prices.
• When the other party has attractive BATNAs, negotiators set lower
reservations points for themselves.
• When both parties are aware of one party’s attractive BATNA, that
negotiator receives a more positive outcome.
Negotiators with attractive BATNAs should tell the other party if they
expect to receive its full benefits—but style and tone matter.
• Politely, or subtly, make the other party aware of your good BATNA
which can provide leverage without alienating the other party.
• Waving a strong BATNA is the other’s face may be construed as
aggressive and threatening.
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Information about Outcomes
One study found that winners and losers evaluate their own outcomes
equally when unaware how well the other party did.
But, if they find out the other did better, or was pleased with their
outcome, then negotiators felt less positive about their own outcome.
Another study suggests that
even when negotiators learn the
other party did poorly, they are
less satisfied with the outcome
than when they have no
comparison information.
Be cautious about sharing your
outcome or even your positive
reaction to an outcome.
• Especially if you will negotiate
with that party again in the future.
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Social Accounts
Communication during negotiation consists of “social accounts,” which
are explanations made to the other party.
Especially when negotiators need to justify bad news.
Three types of explanations are important.
• Explanations of mitigating circumstances
where negotiators suggest they had no
choice in taking the positions they did.
• Explanations of exonerating circumstances
explain positions from a broad perspective.
• While current positions appear negative,
it derives from positive motives.
• Reframing explanations, where outcomes
can be explained by changing the context.
Negotiators who use
multiple explanations
are more likely to have
better outcomes.
The negative effects of
poor outcomes can be
alleviated by
communicating
explanations for them.
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Communication about Process
Some communication is about the process itself.
• Some takes the form of small talk, but some communication about
process is critical—as when conflict intensifies and hostilities progress.
• One strategy is calling attention to contentious actions and labeling
them as counterproductive.
• More generally, negotiators should resist reciprocating contentious
communication.
• Sometimes a break in the substantive conversation and attention to
the process is precisely what’s needed.
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What is Communication in Negotiation?
Are negotiators consistent or adaptive?
• Negotiators are more likely to be consistent in their strategies than to
vary their approach.
• They react to smaller proportions of cues as negotiations proceed.
Does it matter what is said early in the negotiation?
• Evidence suggests that joint gains are influenced by what happens
early on.
Is more information always better?
• Negotiators who know the complete preferences of both parties may
have difficulty determining fair outcomes.
• The influence of the exchange of accurate information does not
automatically lead to better understanding of the other party’s
preferences or to better negotiation outcomes.
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How People Communicate in Negotiation
It may seem obvious that how negotiators communicate is as important
as what they have to say.
• Here we address three aspects related to the “how” of communication.
• The characteristics of language that communicators use.
• The use of nonverbal communication in negotiation.
• The selection of a communication channel for sending and
receiving messages.
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Characteristics of Language
Language operates on two levels: the logical and the pragmatic.
We respond to the substance of threats and the unspoken message.
The use of polarized language.
The conveyance of verbal immediacy.
The degree of language intensity.
The degree of lexical diversity.
The extent of a high-power language style.
• Threats are more credible and compelling
when using negatively polarized, high
immediacy, high intensity, high lexical diversity
and a high-power style of language.
• It is not just what is threatened but how the
threat is conveyed.
Communication
depends on the
speaker’s ability to
encode thoughts, and
the listener’s ability to
understand and
decode the intended
message(s).
A negotiator’s choice of
words may signal a
position and also
shape and predict the
resulting conversation.
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Use of Nonverbal Communication
Much of what is communicated is transmitted nonverbally through facial
expressions, body language, head movements, and tone of voice.
• Attending behaviors let the other know that you are listening and
prepare the other party to receive your message.
Make eye contact.
• Make eye contact when delivering the most important part of the
message and when receiving information.
Adjust body position.
• Hold your body erect, lean slightly forward, and face the other
person.
Nonverbally encourage or discourage what the other says.
• Brief eye contact, a smile, or a nod provides encouraging cues.
• Frowns or scowls signal disapproval of the other’s message.
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Selection of a Communication Channel
Virtual negotiation or e-negotiation uses different channels.
• The key variation distinguishing one communication channel from
another is social bandwidth.
There are important distinctions between email and other forms of written
communication—seen as informal and may use emoticons.
• Negotiation through written channels is more likely to end in impasse.
Developing rapport and sharing information are aspects of face-to-face
communication, which may also allow conveyance of toughness.
• Email can mask or reduce power differences between negotiators.
• Email negotiations lack schmoozing.
Email has a “slow-tempo” while texting is a “fast-tempo” medium more
closely approximating oral communication.
• Sellers do better with complex arguments in the “quick” medium.
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10 Rules for Virtual Negotiation
• Create a face-to-face
relationship before negotiation.
• Be explicit about the normative
process to be followed during
the negotiation.
• If others are present, make
sure everyone knows who is
there and why.
• Pick the channel effective at
getting details on the table for
consideration by both sides.
• Avoid “flaming” by labeling
emotion so others know what it
is and what’s behind it.
• Formal turn-taking is not strictly
necessary, but synchronize
offers and counter-offers.
• Check out assumptions as
inferences will get you in
trouble, so ask questions.
• Be careful not to make unwise
commitments.
• Unethical tactics may be easier
to use in virtual negotiation, but
resist the urge.
• Develop a negotiation style that
is a good fit with the channel
you use.
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How to Improve Communication in Negotiation
Failures and distortions in perception, cognition, and communication are
the paramount contributors to breakdowns and failures in negotiation.
• Just as we evaluate the quality of a deal, we can evaluate the quality
of communication—its efficiency and effectiveness—that occurs.
Three main techniques are available for improving communication in
negotiation.
• The use of questions.
• Listening.
• Role reversal.
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The Use of Questions
Asking questions enables negotiators to secure information about the
other party’s position, supporting arguments, and needs.
Manageable questions cause attention.
• They prepare the other person’s thinking for
further questions.
• They get information and generate thoughts.
Unmanageable questions cause difficulty.
• They give information.
• And bring discussions to a false conclusion.
• They are more likely to elicit defensiveness
and anger from the other party.
Negotiators can
also use questions
to manage difficult
or stalled
negotiations.
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Table 7.2: Questions in Negotiation
Manageable Questions.
• Open-ended questions.
• Open questions.
• Leading questions.
• Cool questions.
• Planned questions.
• Treat questions.
• Window questions.
• Direct questions.
• Gauging questions.
Unmanageable Questions.
• Close-out questions.
• Loaded questions.
• Heated questions.
• Impulse questions.
• Trick questions.
• Reflective trick questions.
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Table 7.3: Questions for Tough Situations
The Situation Possible Question
“Take it or leave it” ultimatum
Are you feeling pressure to bring the
negotiation to a close?
Pressure to respond to an
unreasonable deadline
Why can’t we negotiate about this deadline?
Highball or lowball tactics What’s your reasoning behind this position?
An impasse
What else can we do to close the gap
between out positions?
Indecision between accepting and
rejecting a proposal
What’s your best alternative to accepting my
offer right now?
A question about whether the offer
you just made is the same as that
offered to others
Do you believe that I think it’s in my best
interest to be unfair to you?
Attempts to pressure, control, or
manipulate
Shouldn’t we both walk away from this
negotiation feeling satisfied?
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Listening
There are three major forms of listening.
Passive listening involves receiving the message
while providing no feedback about accuracy.
• If your counterpart is talkative, the best
strategy may be to sit and listen.
Acknowledgement is slightly more active than
passive listening.
• Receivers may nod, maintain eye contact, or
interject responses like “I see.”
Active listening is the third form of listening.
• Receivers restate or paraphrase the sender’s
message in their own language.
Active listening is a
skill that
encourages others
to speak more fully
about their feelings,
priorities, frames of
reference, and, by
extension, the
positions they are
taking.
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Role Reversal
Role reversal allows negotiators to understand the other party’s position
by arguing these positions until the other party is sure they understand.
• The impact and success of the role-reversal techniques point to two
implications for negotiators.
• First, the party using role reversal may understand the other party’s
position, which can lead to convergence between positions.
• Second, the technique may end up sharpening perceptions of
differences if the positions are fundamentally incompatible.
Role reversal can be most useful during the preparation stage of
negotiation or during a team caucus when things are not going well.
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Special Communication Considerations at the Close of
Negotiations
Avoid fatal mistakes.
• Know when to shut up.
• Refrain from making “dumb remarks.”
• Don’t respond to other party’s dumb remarks.
• Watch out for nitpicking or second-guessing.
• Put agreement in written form.
Achieving closure involves decisions on: framing, gathering intelligence,
coming to conclusions, and learning from feedback.
• Feedback is largely a communication issue.
• Track your expectations and incorporate feedback into similar
future decisions.
• Decision traps resulting from perceptual and cognitive biases may
occur at the end of negotiations.
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