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Chapter 7
Communication
Overview
In this chapter we examine the process by which negotiators communicate their own interests,
positions, and goals—and in turn make sense of those of the other party and of the negotiation as
a whole. The chapter opens with a discussion of the basic mechanisms through which messages
are encoded, sent, received, and decoded. We then will consider in some depth what is
communicated in a negotiation, followed by an exploration of how people communicate in
negotiation. The chapter concludes with discussions of how to improve communication in
negotiation and of special communication considerations at the close of negotiations.
Learning Objectives
1. What is communicated during negotiation?
2. How people communicate in negotiation.
3. How to improve communication in negotiation.
4. Special communication considerations at the close of negotiation.
I. What is Communicated During Negotiation?
A. Offers, counteroffers, and motives.
1. A negotiator’s preferences are communicated during a negotiation – they can have a
powerful influence on the actions of the other party and on outcomes.
2. A communicative framework for negotiation is based on the assumptions that:
a) The communication of offers is a dynamic process;
b) The offer process is interactive;
c) Various internal and external factors drive the interaction and motivate a
bargainer to change his or her offer.
B. Information about alternatives.
1. The existence of a BATNA changes several things in a negotiation:
a) Compared to negotiators without attractive BATNAs, negotiators with attractive
BATNAs set higher reservation prices for themselves than their counterparts did;
b) Negotiators whose counterparts had attractive BATNAs set lower reservation
points for themselves; and
c) When both parties were aware of the attractive BATNA that one of the
negotiators had, that negotiator received a more positive negotiation outcome.
C. Information about outcomes.
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1. Negotiators should be cautious about sharing their outcomes or even their positive
reactions to outcomes with the other party, especially if they are going to negotiate
with that party again in the future.
D. Social Accounts.
1. The method used by negotiators to explain things to the other party, especially when
negotiators need to justify bad news.
2. Sitkin and Bies (1993) suggests that three types of explanations are important:
a) Explanations of mitigating circumstances, where negotiators suggest that they had
no choice in taking the positions they did;
b) Explanations of exonerating circumstances, where negotiators explain their
positions from a broader perspective, suggesting that while their current position
may appear negative, it derives from positive motives;
c) Reframing explanations, where outcomes can be explained by changing the
context.
E. Communication about process.
1. This can involve how well the process is going or what procedures might be adopted
to improve the situation.
Three key questions about what is communicated during negotiations.
1. Are negotiators consistent or adaptive?
a) Negotiators react only to a small proportion of the available cues communicated.
b) When it comes to making choices about communication, many negotiators prefer
sticking with the familiar rather than venturing into improvisation.
2. Does it matter what is said early in the negotiation?
a) Recent research indicates that communication during the first five minutes had no
effects on the ability of the parties to achieve joint gains.
b) There is evidence that joint gains are influenced by what happens early on.
3. Is more information always better?
a) The influence of the exchange of accurate information does not automatically lead
to better understanding of the other party’s preferences or to better negotiation
outcomes.
II. How People Communicate in Negotiation
A. Characteristics of language.
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1. Language operates at two levels: the logical level (for proposals or offers) and the
pragmatic level (semantics, syntax, and style).
a) The meaning conveyed by a proposition or statement is a combination of one
logical, surface message and several pragmatic messages.
2. Gibbons, Bradac, and Busch suggest that threats can be made more credible and more
compelling by negatively polarized descriptions of the other party and his or her
position.
3. No matter the intent, how parties communicate in negotiation would seem to depend
on the ability of the speaker to encode thoughts properly, as well as on the ability of
the listener to understand and decode the intended message(s).
4. Negotiators’ use of idioms or colloquialisms is often problematic, especially in cross-
cultural negotiations.
5. A negotiator’s choice of words may not only signal a position but also shape and
predict it.
B. Use of nonverbal communication.
1. Attending behaviors let the other know that you are listening and prepare the other
party to receive your message. There are three important attending behaviors:
a) Make eye contact.
(1) When persuading someone, it is important to make eye contact when
delivering the most important part of the message.
(2) Maintain eye contact when receiving communication as well as when
speaking.
b) Adjust body position.
(1) To ensure that others know you are attentive to them, hold your body erect,
lean slightly forward, and face the other person directly.
c) Nonverbally encourage or discourage what the other says.
C. Selection of a communication channel.
1. People negotiate through a variety of communication media: over the telephone, in
writing, and increasingly through such electronic channels as e-mail and
teleconferencing systems, instant messaging, and even text messaging.
2. There is evidence that negotiation through written channels is more likely to end in
impasse than negotiation that occurs face-to-face or by phone.
3. There is also evidence that e-mail negotiators reach agreements that are more equal
than face-to-face negotiators. Further, negotiators using e-mail need to work harder
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at building personal rapport with the other party if they are to overcome limitations of
the channel that would otherwise inhibit optimal agreements or fuel impasse.
III. How to Improve Communication in Negotiation
A. The use of questions.
1. Asking good questions enables negotiators to secure a great deal of information about
the other party’s position, supporting arguments, and needs.
2. Nierenberg (1976) proposed that questions could be divided into two basic categories:
a) Manageable.
b) Unmanageable.
B. Listening.
1. Passive listening: involves receiving the message while providing no feedback to the
sender about the accuracy or completeness of reception.
2. Acknowledging: When acknowledging the message, receivers occasionally nod their
heads, maintain eye contact, or interject responses.
3. Active listening: When receivers are actively listening, they restate or paraphrase the
sender’s message in their own language. Successful reflective responding is a critical
part of active listening.
C. Role Reversal.
1. In general, the research supports the following conclusions:
a) Role reversal is effective in producing cognitive changes and attitude changes.
b) When the parties’ positions are fundamentally compatible with each other, role
reversal is likely to produce acceptable results (cognitive and attitudinal change);
when the parties’ positions are fundamentally incompatible, role reversal may
sharpen the perceptions of incompatibility and inhibit positive attitude change.
c) Increasing does not necessarily lead to easy resolution of a conflict, particularly
when accurate communication reveals a fundamental incompatibility in the
positions of two sides.
IV. Special Communication Considerations at the Close of Negotiations
A. Avoiding fatal mistakes.
1. Karrass suggestions to negotiators:
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a) Avoid making last minute remarks that may push a wavering counterpart away
from the agreement.
b) Recognize the other party’s faux pas and do not respond to them.
c) Watch out for last-minute problems such as nit-picking or second-guessing.
d) Reduce the agreement to written form.
B. Achieving closure.
1. Keep track of what you expected would happen, systematically guarding against self-
serving expectations, and making sure you review the lessons your feedback has
provided the next time a similar decision comes along.
Summary
In this chapter we have considered elements of the art and science of communication that are
relevant to understanding negotiations.
We first addressed what is communicated during negotiation. Rather than simply being an
exchange of preferences about solutions, negotiations covers a wide-ranging number of topics in
an environment where each party is trying to influence the other. This was followed by an
exploration of three issues related to how people communicate in negotiation: the use of
language, nonverbal communication, and the selection of a communication channel.
In the closing sections of the chapter we considered: (1) how to improve communication in
negotiation, where we discussed listening skills and the use of questions; and (2) special
communication considerations at the close of negotiation.
