Style 3: The Collaborative Negotiator

This person seeks all the parties to work together to find the best possible outcome. See what you think about this style of negotiating.

Their Beliefs, Goals and Success Criteria

The collaborative negotiator believes that a negotiation is the resolution of a joint problem and, that by being open, honest and respectful, they can fulfil as many of everyone’s needs and want (tangible and emotional) as possible.

They seek to preserve and enhance the relationship between the parties, thus substantially improving the likelihood of its successful implementation. There should be ‘no regrets’ about the negotiation with the benefit of hindsight and therefore the path to negotiating in the future will be smoothed.

The collaborator will seek, in the event of there being no agreement, for everyone to be comfortable with that decision.

Their Cultural Fit

Collaborators will seek to work within the bounds of others’ cultures – but not necessarily without challenge if it contradicts their own.

For instance: Religions attach significance to different days of the week, which may restrict when business negotiations can and cannot be undertaken. A collaborator will respect this – but not at the expense of countering his/her own religious beliefs.

Their Words and Voice

Emphasising their approach, they will use terms like ‘we’, ‘together’, ‘mutual benefit’, ‘how else can we resolve…’, or ‘what do you think?’ They use questions to discover exactly what is negotiable (and what is not).

Their voice will be calm, confident and deliberate without appearing contrived or unnatural.

Their Body Language

Collaborators deliberately adopt a more complete set of body language techniques rather than the occasional and disjointed usage discussed in the previous styles.

• Collaborators respect others’ needs for personal space. If there is doubt about what is appropriate, they are more likely to play safe rather than run the risk of offence.
• Lots of eye contact – without staring – especially at key points in the discussion.
• They will seek to create an equitable and encouraging body language. For instance, their eye level would be neither below the other parties (suggesting a pushover) nor above (reminiscent of tough negotiators). However, they may well, for instance, drop their eye contact below that of someone who has adopted a pushover style, to encourage them to express what they think and feel.
• They would not take the head of the table seat, nor one opposite others. They would prefer side-by-side seating or, more likely, at right angles to others. This sends an encouraging, cooperative message and yet still enables easy eye contact.
• They tend to listen more than talk because they will have prepared how they will reveal their needs and wants and need to encourage the other party to do the same. They will give speakers lots of encouraging signals to show that they are interested in what is being said.
• Collaborators show confidence in the manner of their body language.

Their Tactics

• Honesty and openness.
• Questioning to identify and understand the needs and wants of all parties.
• Respect for others and their opinions even when they don’t agree, but challenging unreasonable attitude or behaviour.
• Staying calm and objective, irrespective of the reactions of others.
• These tactics are how they seek to achieve their goal.

The Upside… and the Downside

On the upside, the maximum exchange of needs and wants takes place. A good working relationship is established and maintained for the future.

On the downside, this collaborative style perhaps needs more deliberate persistence and patience than the other styles of negotiation. This is especially true when faced with a view that successful negotiations require a winner and a loser.

Potentially, doubts may occur for even the strongest advocate of collaboration: ‘Had I been tougher, could I have achieved more?’ While it is unlikely that this is the case, it can inhibit their advocacy of this approach in the future.

When is Collaboration Appropriate?

There are lots of possibilities – here are a few:

• Governments sign treaties of cooperation and friendship.
• In business, corporations form partnerships with each other – perhaps in joint funding initiatives.
• When friends decide to go on holiday together, they seek to meet everyone’s needs and wants as well as having a better time than if they went alone.