THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY
CHAPTER 4 • MANAGEMENT 47environment, or hours, even though the stat-
ed issue may have been about salary.Add Value
Think about what changes will improve
both positions. For example, occasional
telecommuting may earn the employer greater
productivity and the employee more freedom.Learn as Much as You Can
Draw the person out by asking probing
questions. Gather as much information as
possible before reaching conclusions or pro-
posing solutions. Imagine what the other per-
son is thinking.
Do not interrupt the other person. Ask
open-ended questions. The more a person
talks, the more she reveals about herself,
which will help clarify what concessions will
be most valuable and/or what demands
most reasonable.Re-state the Other Person’s
Position
Once a position has been described, re-
state it calmly and impartially to the otherperson. This strategy confirms that the
negotiating partner has been listening care-
fully and offers the opportunity to correct
misunderstandings. In addition, neutral
construction reduces the other person’s
defensiveness.There Really Is Such a Thing as
a Win-Win Negotiation. There
Are Also Lose-Lose Negotiations
Very few real-life situations are zero-sum
games. The object is for everyone to come
away feeling that they have gotten much of
what they want. Negotiating partners fre-
quently have an ongoing relationship.
Therefore, if every last concession is extracted
out of one partner, the other partner may get
more in the short term, but at the expense of
resentment by the first. The long term cost
may be unreasonable.Take Advantage of Your
Leverage, but Stay Within a
Reasonable Range
The negotiating partner who has the upper
hand can afford to be ambitious. But stay
within a reasonable range. Everyone has their
limit, and if a negotiating partner pushes
beyond it, they may risk blowing a negotia-
tion that had every chance of resolving to
their advantage.Concede Where Possible
What may come at a small price to one per-
son could have disproportional value to the
other. If small issues are conceded, the com-
promiser will be better positioned to demand
compromise on bigger issues.Do Not Personalize or
Generalize
Avoid constructions such as “You
always...”, “You never...” or “You’re so...”.
Do not make comments about the other per-Often people assume that the
“obvious” issue is the most
important issue or even the
only issue.Very few real-life situations are
zero-sum games. The object is
for everyone to come away
feeling that they have gotten
much of what they want.