Skip to main content

Common mistakes negotiators make when sharing information


Sharing information builds trust which is the basis for any long term relationship and good outcomes. The art is to understand what information is appropriate to share, what should be kept for a later time and what information can’t be shared. Sharing information also calls for reciprocity meaning that the other party feels obliged to give something in return, in this case also share information. Social psychologists call it The Law of Reciprocity, meaning that when you get something you have the urge to reciprocate and give something in return which in many cases can be far more generous.
While information sharing builds trust it is important that before going into a negotiation one must calculate the risks and benefits of sharing information with their counterpart. A common mistake people make is that they share too much information. Sharing too much information can damage your position of power because information is power and the more the other party knows about you and your position the more they are able to use that information against you. The party with more information is generally in charge and is able to steer the negotiation.
Ego is often one major reason why people give too much information away. They want to be seen as someone who knows everything and is never short of an answer. This is however not always appropriate and can damage your position.
When preparing for an upcoming negotiation it is important to be strategic with the information you are going to share and the timing of when you are going to share that information. At the same time you need to think about what information you cannot share with the other party. This could be company internal and commercially sensitive information.
The best approach is to list the information that is needed to resolve a dispute or come to a good deal. Secondly think about the information the other party may need in order to consider a deal.
Preparation is the key to make sure you don’t give away your position of power in the negotiation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The most common negotiation mistakes people make and how to avoid them

Negotiation is uncomfortable, it put us under pressure, and it is something most of us want to get over and done with as soon as possible. A negotiator who is not trained well is not able to think clearly under pressure and might make mistakes such as talking too much and sharing information that should have not been shared. Here are the 5 most common negotiation mistakes that people make; it is important to be aware of these and think of strategies overcome these mistakes and become a better negotiator. 1                 Being unprepared We are all time poor and rush to get things done. It is therefore even more important to set priorities and make time to prepare. When preparing you uncover important information and gain control and power. It is vital to understand what is important to the other party, how they will approach the negotiation and how they might react to your demands and proposals. It...
Post a Comment
Read more

What is Black Friday and why it is not worth it if you are a great negotiator.

All last week was hyped up by ‘Black Friday’ Sales. But what is it and why do we have it in Australia and is it worth it? Black Friday originates from the US and is the Friday after Thanksgiving which is the fourth Friday in November. Thanksgiving is a public holiday in the US. In the 1950s people used the Friday as a sick day and went shopping to get a head start in their Christmas shopping. Eventually in the 1960s this day turned into another paid leave day or shall we say into a paid ‘shopping day’. It has become a made-up event to drive consumerism. Many believe the term ‘Black Friday’ is used for profit making; black numbers in the ledger books; but that is not entirely correct. While this is the meaning today it meant something totally different in the 50s and 60s.  According to Bonnie Taylor Blake, a researcher at the University of North California, the term originated in Philadelphia by the Philadelphia police as they saw the day as a terrible day. The city was...
2 comments
Read more

Why you pay too much when buying through an auction

The trigger for this post was a headline I read in the paper “Cashed-up older buyers pay $325k over reserve”. A 3-bedroom house in Brunswick, a suburb of Melbourne, was sold at auction in December 2019 for 325,000 $ above its reserve. The auction must have been frantic with the auctioneers playing the potential buyers off against each other and creating a competitive environment. This is dangerous as people then lose sight of the true value and the want to win takes over and subsequently people end up paying too much. So, what is happening to us when we are in an auction and why do we tend to overbid? A study conducted by a team of neuroscientists and economists at the NYU tried to understand exactly that question. Our prefrontal cortex is the part of our brain where our logical and complex decisions are performed. Our unconscious decision-making process is performed in a different part of our brain which is called the Striatum. This also the part of where our fight or flight...
Post a Comment
Read more