Communication and negotiation / Teamworking

Question 1

How would you prepare for a negotiation?

Answer 1

• Agree your client’s objectives and negotiating strategy before starting the negotiations
• Detailed research and preparation
• Deciding what points you can concede on and which are non-negotiable
• Understand the other party’s position
• Develop a partnership/collaborative approach, rather than an adversarial approach
• Walk away when you need to

Question 2

Tell me about a time when you had to demonstrate effective communication skills?

Answer 2

• When undertaking a valuation on a retail unit in Reigate, I was required to communicate with local lettings and investment agents in order to obtain comparable evidence
• By being transparent from the outset about the purpose of my enquiry, I was able to get a strong level of engagement from the agents and ascertain the information I required

Question 3

Tell me about a time when you had to demonstrate effective negotiation skills?

Answer 3

• Acting on behalf of the landlord on the letting of an industrial warehouse in Tottenham
• Negotiated more favourable terms for my client by using comparable lettings evidence to help give context to the negotiations (prospective tenant had offered £17.50 psf and I negotiated them up to £18.00 psf)

Question 4

What did you learn from the workshop you attended on Communication Styles?

Answer 4

• Understanding that each personality type can be broadly arranged into four quadrants
• Helps to learn what quadrant we sit in and as it will tell us why we react to certain situations in a certain well
• Important to understand what quadrant clients and colleagues fit into so that we can be aware of what style of communication they will respond best to

Question 5

What makes effective communication?

Answer 5

• Clear
• Concise
• Complete
• Courteous

Question 6

How have you been able to improve you oral and written communication skills?

Answer 6

• Business meetings: marketing meetings, meeting prospective investors, team meetings
• Working collaboratively: joint agency, working with pan-European offices, advice from other departments
• Writing reports: valuation reports, purchase reports, marketing recommendation reports
• Emails: marketing emails, negotiations with prospective tenants, request tenancy information to aid with valuation

Question 7

What key skills are useful for effective teamworking?

Answer 7

• Listening – to other people’s ideas
• Discussing – team members to ask questions and interact
• Persuading – individuals to consider their positions
• Respect – treating team maters with respect and support their ideas
• Helping – to encourage team work
• Sharing – information to create a positive team environment
• Participating – ensuring all team members get involved
• Communication – have effective communication skills to allow team members to work together
• Reflection and identifying strengths and weaknesses

Question 8

What are key ways to improve collaboration in a team?

Answer 8

• Establish team goals
• Communicate expectations
• Encourage cohesion between team members
• Leverage team member’s strengths
• Recognise and encourage collaborative behaviour

Question 9

Why would it be beneficial to have a greater diversity in the industry?

Answer 9

Greater talent pool
Increased innovation
Benefits reputation

Question 10

What are the RICS doing to encourage diversity?

Answer 10

• RICS launched the Inclusive Employer Quality Mark (IEQM) for firms to sign up to
• Achieved gender parity on the Global Executive Team
• Setup diversity working groups e.g. LGBT+

Question 11

What is unconcious bias?

Answer 11

Learned stereotypes that are automatic, unintentional, deeply ingrained, universal, and able to influence behavior

Question 12

How can you prevent unconcious bias?

Answer 12

Training to make people aware of their own biases to help manage them