Negotiation is often a process for finding an acceptable solution. This process often requires some give-and-take value exchange. Journaling can keep track of what value exchanges are being made, and increase the chances of gaining a favorable deal.
The best negotiation training online encourages deal-makers to journal their deals between sessions. Journaling helps to keep your focus and offers a chance for continuous self-improvement. Journaling can support negotiation in several key ways:
Integrates Information
During preparations for a negotiation, you will often gather information from various sources. When discussions actually begin, more information may come to light.
By journaling, you can connect information from the different sources. Integrating information can reduce the complexity and provide a unified meaning to the different perspectives.
For instance, let's say you're buying a house. The real estate agent may tell you about the attractive features of the house. A contractor may give you a different view on the roofing needs. A plumber may direct you on the need to lay down new pipes.
A journal allows you to combine the different perspectives by listing them in one place. You get a clearer picture of the value you can exchange for a higher price and where you can bargain for a lower price.
Ease of Reporting
Journaling collects information gleaned during negotiations. Later, the journal can be instrumental in crafting a report of the discussion proceedings. A journal acts as a reference in creating a clear and unambiguous summary of what happened.
As a reporting tool, the journal can also act as your minutes of the meeting. The journal may serve as a record of who was present and what each person said or did. You may also journal your reactions and recommendations.
The journal can later work as a measuring stick, as you can review your writing to measure progress. The journal may also act as an accountability tool as you record whose duty it is to perform what action.
Continuous Self-Improvement
Negotiation training facilitators encourage continuous self-improvement. A journal points out what went well and what didn’t go to plan in previous meetings. A journal offers points to reflect on, leading to better preparation and more effective decision-making.
By revising your actions and decision-making process, you are better able to spot areas where you acted on faulty intuition. Your gut feeling can be wrong sometimes, and spotting where you go wrong improves how your gut feeling directs you in the future.
Enhances Objectivity
Journaling can assist you in counteracting unconscious bias. By writing down your thoughts and feelings, it's easier to identify what your personal bias might be. Journaling can make it easier to check evidence objectively and seek out contradicting views.
With a written record of your negotiation process, you can play devil's advocate during preparations to identify gaps in your strategy. You can more easily seek out opposing perspectives, recognize your blind spots, and expand your point of view.
Aids Goal Achievement
When you write down your goals, your subconscious marks the goals as important. The brain's reticular activating system (RAS) mediates your behavior to take advantage of opportunities present to achieve the goals you write down. The RAS works by connecting your conscious to your sensory systems.
When journaling, write down your goals in as much detail as possible. Details act as a psychological blueprint, which increases your chances of achieving the goals.
Boosts Emotional Intelligence
Journaling helps you recognize and modulate your emotions and those of others. When you write down your thoughts and feelings, the journal aids you in processing the information and increases your self-awareness.
Training instructors assert that self-awareness leads to empathy and strengthens your intuition. You are likely to increase your perception of other people's experiences and thus create deeper connections. Empathy directs a negotiator to create better value and arrive at a mutually beneficial agreement.
Earmarks Major Shifts
Quite often, talks may seem to be going one way then suddenly shift direction. For instance, you may be recruiting a new employee and think you have a ballpark salary figure. Later, in the middle of discussions, the employee asks for significantly more compensation.
In some instances, the shift may be so subtle and gradual that most people in the room often miss the change. For example, you might be negotiating the purchase of a ranch. Maybe you had a ballpark figure based on the local market rates. In your second meeting with the owners, they show signs of not wanting to sell anymore.
Later, the owners ask for a price higher than the market rate. Eventually, you may learn of council plans to build a highway in the area, which may drive up real estate prices. With your journal, you may catch the shift and realize the point at which the owners learned of the council plans.
Journaling marks events and earmarks shifts. By reading back, you can pinpoint when the shift happened and probably deduce what brought on the change. In negotiation, knowing what motivates a change of terms is crucial in designing an acceptable offer.
Exposes Flaws in Ideas
An idea might seem perfect at first, but on closer inspection some ideas could prove to be disastrous. Negotiators can't afford to enter into poorly thought out, long-term deals. By journaling, you might save your team and company time, energy, and finances by catching flaws early.
Apart from exposing flaws, journaling can aid in filling the gaps to transform a raw idea into a perfect plan.
Sandra Lafferty is a top of the line content creator, specializing in attention-grabbing headlines and thought-provoking content. A prolific writer, Sandra’s articles feature on many major sites. Her pieces achieve high readership, which is why she loves focusing on creating content that helps busy professionals build up their business and negotiation skills.
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