15: REFLECTIVE RESPONSE ■ 373fundamentals that once mastered can lead to immediate and lasting improvements in
the DNP’s nurse ability to negotiate effectively:
- Self- awareness of how one reacts to conflict (because negotiation is a conflict
resolution technique, how one views conflict directly affects how they ap-
proach negotiation) - Learning to view negotiation as mutual problem- solving rather than a contest
(i.e., collaboration not competition) - Although it is true that some negotiators are born, good negotiators can also be
“made” (i.e., research as well as my own experience confirm that like any other
skill, negotiation can taught, oftentimes with skill improvement happening
quickly and dramatically) - Not only learning to recognize opportunities to negotiate (for instance, a staff
meeting creates many opportunities to negotiate although most would not see
it that way) but being aware that women are less likely to see interactions as
potential negotiations, and less likely to negotiate when they do - Awareness of gender differences, including how women tend to view the
negotiation process negatively and the assumptions and behaviors that can
put them at a disadvantage (fortunately, these can be ameliorated with proper
awareness and training) - It’s more important for people to respect you and your abilities than it is that
you go out of your way to be overly accommodating so that they “like” you - Learning to become comfortable “asking” for things that can get your needs
met (because of the way females are socialized, women are taught not to speak
up; but, again, this is something that can be addressed with proper training
and practice) - Overcoming the tendency to walk away from opportunities to negotiate, even
when the situation calls for it (nurses tend to be conflict avoidant, usually ei-
ther because of perceived power imbalances, or because they assume that their
opinions will be ignored) - The need to understand the five styles of negotiation (compete, avoid, collab-
orate, compromise, and accommodate), the ability and willingness to employ
each style as appropriate, self- awareness of the style or styles that are over-
used, and an awareness that mismatching a particular style to a given situation
(e.g., acting avoidant and not speaking up when one’s competency is being
questioned) lead to suboptimal outcomes - Realizing that prenegotiation preparation is the primary predictor of negotiat-
ing success, including generating a best alternative to a negotiated agreement
(known as aBATNA, or the best course of action someone can take if the up-
coming negotiation is unsuccessful)— having alternatives not only increases
negotiating power, but improves the ability to walk away from bad deals - Setting “asking” (what one hopes to achieve), “target” (what one expects to
achieve) and “reservation” prices (the bottom line or the least one will settle
for) before sitting down to negotiate - “Framing,” or how one words a proposal, can affect how willing the other side
is to accept it - The need to anticipate and prepare to overcome the “ no’s” one expects to hear
from the other side during the negotiation - Disabusing yourself of the notion that negotiation is something that “men do”
- Knowing that adopting a collaborative negotiation style leads to the best out-
comes about 80% of the time