Successful Negotiating

Introduction

Negotiation is an integral part of daily life for all of us. It comes into play in all areas of human relationships. When two or more people have different objectives or positions in regard to the same subject, negotiation takes place in some form or another. And when two or more people negotiate to reach a mutually acceptable settlement, two elements are essential: reasonableness and flexibility. Their opposites—unreasonableness and inflexibility—produce distrust and tend to result in retaliation.

The word positive relates to negotiation benefits in that the process must be shared, not only between the parties in conflict, but also by others directly or indirectly involved who would be affected by the settlement. For example, managers ...