Business Spotlight – Nr.6 2019

46 BUSINESS SKILLS

Fotos: Gert Krautbauer; privat

Business Spotlight 6/2019

Anne Neppare: We both run negotiation-

skills training programmes, so I thought

it would be interesting to exchange some

ideas on what makes a good negotiator

and on how to prepare yourself for a ne-

gotiation.

Ken Taylor: Negotiating, especially in a

foreign language, can be very demanding.

And a good negotiator needs certain skills

and personal attributes.

Neppare: In discussions with my stu-

dents during negotiation-skills seminars,

we try to list those skills and attributes.

Taylor: What usually comes up?

Neppare: First, you need to know your

business well and have all the facts you

need. Then you should specify clear goals

for the negotiation.

Taylor: That’s sometimes easier said than

done. Let’s look at that in a bit more detail

later. What else do you discuss?

Neppare: That a good negotiator should

be a good listener.

Taylor: There’s an old saying: “God gave

us two ears and one mouth. We should

use them in that proportion.” A good ne-

gotiator needs to understand the needs

of the other side and, to do that, they have

to listen — and be prepared to ask lots of

questions to check any assumptions they

have made during the preparation phase.

Neppare: Good negotiators are able to

keep cool and calm. They don’t take the

business personally. This allows them

to be pragmatic in their approach to the

situation. They try not to accidentally rub

their business partner up the wrong way.

Taylor: You don’t have to fall in love with

the person on the other side of the table,

but you do need to create a neutral plat-

form for working together.

Neppare: Many Swedes, for example,

are afraid of conflict and avoid it until

the situation becomes unbearable. They

then overreact and damage the personal

relationship.

Taylor: So, you also need to be sensitive to

the cultural background of your business

partners and to create an atmosphere in

which both sides feel comfortable stand-

ing their ground.

assumption [E(sVmpS&n]

, Annahme

goal [gEUl]

, Ziel

negotiation

[nI)gEUSi(eIS&n]

, Verhandlung

negotiator

[nI(gEUSieItE]

, Verhandlungsführer(in)

rub sb. up the wrong way

[rVb )Vp DE rQN (weI]

, jmdn. anecken

run sth. [rVn]

, hier: etw. durchführen

saying [(seIIN]

, Spruch, Redensart

sensitive: be ~ to sth.

[(sensEtIv]

, etw. gegenüber

einfühlsam sein

stand one’s ground

[)stÄnd wVnz (graUnd]

, sich behaupten;

hier: seinen Standpunkt

verteidigen

BUSINESS SKILLS

PERSONAL TRAINER

Preparing for a negotiation

Als Ihr Personal Trainer gibt KEN TAYLOR Ihnen Expertentipps,

wie Sie Ihre Kompetenzen im Geschäftsalltag verbessern können. Hier spricht er mit der

Direktorin eines schwedischen Bildungsunternehmens darüber,

wie man zu einem guten Verhandlungsführer wird.

MEDIUM AUDIO

KEN TAYLOR

is a communica-

tion consultant,

personal coach

and author of

50 Ways to

Improve Your

Business English

(Lulu Publish-

ing). Contact:

KTaylor868@aol.

com

ANNE NEPPARE

heads Cognosis

AB in Stock-

holm, Sweden,

an internation-

al business-

skills training

organization

with clients

such as BAE,

Siemens, Erics-

son, ECB and

Coca-Cola.

Cognosis spe-

cializes in

international

training pro-

grammes in

business ne-

gotiations and

management.

Anne Neppare

holds an MA

from Stockholm

University and

has studied

at Harvard

Business School

and INSEAD. http://www.

cognosis.se/en

business school

[(bIznEs sku:l]

, wirtschaftswissen-

schaftliche Fakultät

MA [)em (eI]

, Master of Arts

negotiation

[nI)gEUSi(eIS&n]

, Verhandlung