Negotiation is present in all faucets of life. Every day we debate, compromise and navigate communication, stress levels and personal relationships in addition to a barrage of pressing business matters.
On June 18th, negotiation consultant Fotini Iconomopoulo joined the women at Baker Mckenzie to share insights into being an effective negotiator. Nicknamed “the negotiator” as a child, Fotini has been honing her skills her entire life. For the last decade, she’s been empowering Fortune 500 executives and their teams to achieve their objectives through her expertise in negotiation, communication and persuasion. The strategies she shared with the crowd work for everyone, but are particularly important for those who face bias in the workplace.
Negotiation is not an act of battle, its a process of discovery
Chris Voss
Fotini provided four critical areas to pause and consider when entering a negotiation:
- Pause for Perspective: You need to take care of your own needs, but it is also essential to be mindful and recognize the needs of the other party if you are going to come up with a solution that will work for everyone.
- Pause to Communicate: Be aware of the words you are choosing, the tone you are using, and what your non-verbal communication is saying to others. Being mindful of every type of communication is critical to ensure you are perceived as someone who is credible and authoritative while going through the negotiation process.
- Pause to Communicate: Pausing to ask a question is a great way to manage conflict, to deal with difficult situations and to move through a stalemate if necessary. It is also a sure strategy to accumulate knowledge which is extremely powerful in all situations.
- Pause for Likability: Likability doesn’t mean you need to be great friends, but it is an important piece to get you to the negotiation process. You want to make sure people want to deal with you in the first place.
