05 Communication

Question 1

What is communicated during negotiations?

Answer 1

• offers, counteroffers and motives
• information about alternatives
• information about outcomes
• social accounts
  
  • explanation of mitigating circumstances
  • explanation of exonerating circumstances
  • reframing explanations
• communication about process

Question 2

Are negotiators consistent or adaptive?

Answer 2

Many negotiators prefer sticking with the familiar rather than venturing into improvisation

Question 3

Does it matter what is said early in the process?

Answer 3

What negotiators do in the first half of the process has a significant impact on their ability to generate an integrative solution with high joint gains.

Question 4

Is more information always better?

Answer 4

Evidence says, more information does not always automatically translate into better outcomes.

Question 5

How do we communicate?

Answer 5

1. Language
   
   • Logical level (proposals, offers)
   • Pragmatic level (semantics, syntax, style)
2. Nonverbal Communication
   
   • Eye contact
   • Adjusting body position
   • Nonverbally encouraging or discouraging what the other says

Question 6

Selection of Communication Channel

Answer 6

• communication is experienced differently when it occurs through different channels
• people negotiate through a variety of communication media
• social bandwidth distinguishes one communication channel from another

Question 7

How to improve communication during a negotiation?

Questions

Answer 7

• Manageable questions
  
  • cause attention or prepare the other person’s thinking for further questions (‘May I ask you a question?’)
  • getting information (‘How much will this cost?’)
  • generating thoughts (‘Do you have any suggestions for improving this?’)
• Unmanageable questions
  
  • cause difficulty (‘Where did you get that dumb idea?’)
  • give information (‘Didn’t you know we couldn’t afford it?’)
  • Bring the discussion to a false conclusion (‘Don’t you think we have talked about this enough?’)

Question 8

How to improve communication during a negotiation?

Listening

Answer 8

• Passive Listening: receiving message but providing no feedback
• Acknowledgment: receivers nod their heads, maintain eye contact, or interject responses
• Active Listening: receivers restate or paraphrase the sender’s message in their own language

Question 9

How to improve communication during a negotiation?

Active Listening Techniques

Answer 9

1. Attending - using non-verbal indicators (e.g., leaning forward)
2. Paraphrasing - repeating in your own words without judgment
3. Speaking from the self - using ‘I’ statements instead of speaking for others (we all think)
4. Clarifying - asking for further clarification
5. Asking - probing questions; identify and explore options and alternatives
6. Encouraging - asking person to tell more or give a supportive comment
7. Reflecting/Emotion labeling - playing the communication back as you hear and feel
8. Summarizing - giving back a review or summary of what you heard

Question 10

How to improve communication during a negotiation?

Role Reversal

Answer 10

• Negotiators understand the other party’s positions by actively arguing these positions until the other party is convinced that he or she is understood
• Impact and success of the role-reversal technique -> useful tool for improving communication and the accurate understanding and appreciation of the other’s party position

Question 11

Closing Negotiations

Answer 11

Two Key Aspects

• Avoid fatal mistake - learning from feedback
  
  • Keep track of what you expect to happen
  • Systematically guarding yourself against self-serving expectations
  • Reviewing the lessons from feedback for similar decisions in the future
• Achieving closure - know when to shut up
  
  • Avoid surrendering important information needlessly
  • Refrain from making “dumb remarks”

Question 12

Communication Competence Scale

Answer 12

1. Planning Cognition
2. Presence Cognition
3. Modeling Cognition
4. Reflection Cognition
5. Consequence Cognition

Question 13

Planning Cognitions

Answer 13

• ability to anticipate, rehearse and monitor topics of conversation
• anticipate the audience, plan what one is going to say in advance

Question 14

Presence Cognitions

Answer 14

• awareness of how the other is reacting to a conversation
• knowing when to recognize others negative reactions or resistance, change the subject, etc.

Question 15

Modeling Cognitions

Answer 15

• measures the respondent’s awareness of contextual variables that provide information about how to interact with the other party
• “sizing up” the environment, paying attention to how other people are reacting and responding

Question 16

Reflection Cognitions

Answer 16

• measures the tendency for the respondent to reflect upon a communication performance, with the objective being to improve one’s self-presentation
• e.g., reflecting on what I said, my past performance, what I could have said, etc.

Question 17

Consequence Cognitions

Answer 17

• measures the respondent’s awareness of the consequence of a communication performance
• e.g., thinking about how others might interpret what I have said, understanding my effects of my communication on others, etc.

Question 18

Three constructs related to the communication competence scale

Answer 18

1. Self Monitoring
   
   • ability to modify self-presentation was significantly related to a high score on presence cognition
   • sensitivity to others was significantly related to high scores on presence cognition and modeling cognition
2. Interaction Involvement
   
   • perceptiveness was significantly related to high scores on presence cognition and modeling cognition
   • responsiveness was significantly related to high scores on planning cognition and reflection cognition
   • attentiveness was significantly related to high scores on planning cognition and reflection cognition
3. Communication Knowledge
   
   • ​​communication knowledge was significantly related to high scores on presence cognition, modeling cognition, reflection cognition and consequence cognition