Characteristics Of Negotiation

Herb Cohen, in his book “You Can Negotiate Anything” (1980), wrote: “Your real world is a giant negotiating table, and like it or not, you are a participant”. People think of “negotiation” as something extremely serious; however, it is a part of everyday life. We negotiate with our friends, our families, even with yourself. We negotiate when buying something, apply for a job, etc.; therefore, “so much of life is a negotiation – so even if you are not in business, you have opportunities to practice all around you” (O’Leary, 2011). It seems that negotiation plays a crucial part in our life which can raise a question that how to become a good negotiator. This essay illustrates some salient characteristics that an effective negotiator is required.

In general, negotiation is a collective act that requires plenty of personal qualities; however, in the writer’s opinion, it can be divided into three main groups of characteristics as follows.

To begin with, one of the main groups of characteristics of an effective negotiator is knowledge. An effective negotiator needs to demonstrate their vast knowledge. The first thing that a negotiator should keep in their mind is that they ought to have a high level of relevant expertise on the issues of negotiation topics. Vast and deep knowledge is considered as enormous power for the negotiator; without understanding, you can control nothing. Only when having large understanding about the field of negotiation, can the negotiator make the