Negotiation is a very common term and everyone whether it’s a small kid or grown-ups negotiate 1 or 2 times daily with their family members or with colleagues in the office or with customers or shopkeepers, negotiation in simple words refers to that process by which both parties discuss pressing issues between the two parties and try to reach a conclusion where both parties are satisfied with respect to conclusion achieved through negotiation. In order to get a better idea about this concept, one should look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of negotiation –
Advantages of Negotiation
Involvement of Both Parties
The first and foremost advantage of negotiation is that it involves both parties and since both parties are directly involved the satisfaction level of both parties is higher as there is no risk of someone else speaking on their behalf and giving them an unfair result. In simple words when you go for a job interview and you are selected but the salary discussion is carried out by the HR department with your job consultant and not with you then it will be not fair to you as your salary is decided by the company without negotiating with you.
Quicker Process
Since negotiation is directly between the parties having an argument it leads to a quicker resolution because all questions and problems related to an argument are discussed directly by parties to an argument as opposed to other forms of conflict resolution like legal course, or third party mediation where more time is consumed as both parties are not directly involved in the negotiation.
Freedom
Freedom is the basic right of any individual and history is filled with examples where people have gone to extreme levels to achieve freedom and in case of negotiation, both parties have that freedom to say whatever they want and think is right for them without any fear as there are no third parties or lawyers to stop them from negotiating their demands. In simple words just like a lion in a cage cannot show his full strength in the same way a person in an argument or a battle cannot win that argument or battle properly if he or she is not directly involved in the negotiation.
Disadvantages of Negotiation
Domination
The biggest disadvantage of negotiation is that chances are that one of the parties to the negotiation will be dominant and will try to take advantage of that dominant position resulting in the whole negotiation being unfair to the other party. In simple words in the jungle when a lion is faced with an elephant or tiger then it battles between equal but when a lion comes face to face with a rabbit then there is no fight in the same way in case of negotiation sometimes one party is so dominant that whole process of negotiation becomes a joke.
No Resolution
There is no guarantee that negotiation will lead to resolution between the parties because chances of one party agreeing and the other party disagreeing to negotiation terms are more resulting in negotiation delaying the resolution process for a long period of time. In simple words, negotiation is not always sweet chocolate that one can eat quickly sometimes it can be like chewing gum and can be a long ordeal for both parties.
No Universal Applicability
Negotiation is not universally applicable in the sense that not all arguments or fights can be resolved through negotiation rather one has to take the help of law as well as third parties and hence can be a limiting factor as far as negotiation is concerned.
As one can see from the above that negotiation has pros as well as cons but an individual cannot escape from negotiation as this is a part of life and in the case of corporates it assumes even more importance and that is the reason why everyone should try to improve their negotiation skills as it can be very handy when it comes to being successful in your job or in your business.