The Hindu Business Line : The fine art of negotiation

The essence of managing, in practice, is about bargaining over a point of view, transaction or negotiating to gain a position of advantage. Whatever one's designation, the job invariably calls for trying to persuade someone else to go along with one's suggestions or recommendations. And, if that is not possible, one must accept the other view and bow to the inevitable. Selling, bargaining, fixing targets, agreeing on business plans, project costs; whatever be the name, all require us to don the advocate's hat.

Theories are plentiful as to how best to achieve one's own aims in such exchanges. Yet, it is uncomfortable to see books suggesting that there is a sure-fire set of winning techniques. If that were really so, what would happen if everyone learnt the same set of techniques for competitive persuasion and followed similar examples? It reminds one of the question children ask, "What will God do if both the captains of two opposing teams believe equally fervently and pray for their success to Him?"

I cannot claim to speak for the almighty, but certainly on the human level, one can vouch for the extraordinary difficulty of breaking down objections and doubts and mental resistance from a fellow worker or a buyer. The outcomes we usually desire are of two kinds: either the other party must change their opinion and attitudes to a work situation or they must change their behaviour. Both require strenuous effort at persuasion. Of the two, it is sometimes easier to get a change in the way people behave or work in a given situation than to effect a change in attitudes. This is contrary to intuition. The popular belief is that somehow it is easier to use logic, facts and arguments to bring about a change of thinking, whereas a similar result in action is more problematic. But this is not really so.

In matters of human relationships, unlike those relating to technical issues or purely legal or accounting matters, most of us by nature tend to cling to our beliefs as if our lives depended on them, and therefore give them up very reluctantly. On the other hand, learning from experience is a very strong motivator. It has its own persuasive power, while thought does not work in that straightforward way. Herein lies one of the secrets of successful change management. It is often easier to work at changing the structures and systems and the relationships first rather than try to directly influence opinion and attitude. This has been borne out by long years of experience.

The communication for change must not become too involved in sophisticated argument; instead it must work at the minimum goal of changing the way people experience their reality. This might require painting a simple but powerful picture of what is in store after the change, allaying certain immediate and natural fears of consequences. Then one must have some action happen, even if on a trial basis or limited to one area. This is akin to free-sampling a new product instead of trying to sell it by advertising or conventional promotion. If the change needed is in, say, the systems or processes, they can be experimented with, and results will themselves act as a powerful motivator, which any amount of citing other people's experience or quoting independent opinion may not. By and large, people trust their own experience most. Therefore, getting a fair trial for the proposed suggestion is the real challenge in this approach.

In Indian conditions, this is further complicated by the argumentative Indian tendency to quibble over verbal distinctions endlessly. Good managers therefore have a bias towards getting some action off to a start as early as possible, once the change has been fully thought through and discussed among those responsible for implementing it.

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