“The mystery to a better life hides inside of making better decisions.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click to Tweet)
“This Is How To Make The Best Negotiation Decisions”
People don’t realize; they’re always negotiating.
“I wish I’d thought the whole thing through before I made my decision and gave my response.” So, why didn’t you, was the question posed? “I don’t know. My mind was not right,” was the reply. That should have been all the more reason not to reply, let alone continue in the negotiation, was the response.
In a negotiation, you must maintain a focused perspective for the best outcome – you can’t be diddling around, less you place the negotiation outcome in jeopardy. If you lack focus, you’re reasoning will become skewed. And that could lead to bad decisions that can leave you in unwanted positions. If you’d like to improve your negotiation efforts, this is how to make the best negotiation decisions.
Simulate The Outcome
Before making a decision, mentally engage in what you believe the outcome might be. Include in that process what occurs in reaching the endpoint. Note the questions that stemmed from your simulation. Then, assess to what degree the decision you thought you’d render was the most viable. If it’s not, go through the exercise repeatedly until you feel you’ve come to the best decision per the points you’re weighing. Be mindful of the biases you have towards what you perceive to be the best decision. Your preferences could cause you to lend unfair weight to one decision path versus another. And that might make your decision-making process faulty.
Decision Biases
As alluded to, your biases drastically affect your thought process and, thus, your decisions. Be mindful of that when you engage in a decision-making process. I’ve witnessed negotiators harming their position simply because they viewed their opposition as being a bully, less than, or whatever reasoning they conjured in their mind to assess the other person as not being open and honest. Without thinking about that, the narrative people have about used car salespeople came to my mind. What thoughts are you experiencing right now per the biases you have? Whatever they are, that’s the thought-provoking manner I suggest you engage in when considering your personal opinions and the influence they have on your decision-making abilities. Being aware of them will allow you to make better decisions – those that you don’t clutter with the possibility of unfounded prejudices.
Weighing Decisions
When you weigh decisions, do you do so in a binary format – on or off, good or bad? If you do, you might be creating a more difficult path to a viable outcome. Here’s why. If you look at decisions in an either-or manner, you risk overlooking or observing thoughts you might combine with a choice that may enhance the scenario you’re weighing. You’d be creating a disincentive to reaching a more feasible decision.
Instead of weighing decisions in a binary format, consider points between the ‘good or bad’ outcome and how a decision between those two posts might enrich your decision’s effect. In so doing, your thoughts will become a multi-step process to reach an end goal that’s enhanced by your multi-process thinking. Like small things can add up to significant outcomes, so can incremental thinking increase your decision-making abilities.
Incremental Decision-making
Incremental decision-making is the small point to consider that goes into the broader makeup of a decision. When assessing the decisions you’ll make during a negotiation, the plan you develop will determine the actions in which you’ll engage during your exchanges. That’s why it’s crucial to have a strategy that encompasses as many of the situations you believe you’ll encounter, which is also why you must consider how you’ll weigh your decisions. And in part, in the weighing process, you should consider what increments you’ll use to assess a decision’s viability.
Suppose you assume a hypothetical situation, one in which you’re attempting to get from a starting point with one decision to the negotiation’s endpoint. A negotiation encompasses many offers and counteroffers. Thus, it would be absurd to think one decision and action would lead to the final result. That’s the importance of understanding and using incremental decision-making. It serves as a continuum upon which one little thought leads your brain to other ideas that may add value to your overall decision. Without it, it becomes more difficult to make viable decisions and reach a more advantageous endpoint for yourself in the negotiation.
Decision Sensations
When you make decisions, do you note the sensations you experience before rendering it? You should note that. Because sensations, or feelings, stem from the emotions you experience when you contemplate the outcome to which a decision may lead. If you ignore your feelings, you may be overlooking a critical aspect of your decision-making input. Sometimes, you sense a thought, emotion, a feeling, and it doesn’t register with your state of consciousness. And yet, the attempt to do so is why it should become essential for you to acknowledge it as part of your decision-making procedure. It’s akin to a silent ally leading an effort to add value to the process in which you’re engaged. Thus, the more critical the decision you have to make, the more you should include the emotional aspect of how you feel or might feel about its outcome.
Reflection
You engage in decision-making all the time. Even in your dreams, you do it. When you’re asleep, your thoughts may not be coherent in making the best decisions. But when you’re awake, your state of consciousness is on full alert per the decisions you make. And that’s why, depending on the magnitude of the decision, you should consider increasing your decision-making abilities. I’m sure you wouldn’t attempt to fly a plane if you’d never taken flying lessons. That’s what haphazard decision-making is like, especially in a negotiation.
Therefore, to enhance your opportunities when negotiating, those you may be missing due to your decisions, observe the thought process you engage in when making them. If you note your decision-making process frequently, you’ll enhance your decision-making abilities. And everything will be right with the world.
Remember, you’re always negotiating!
Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://c-suitenetwork.com/radio/shows/greg-williams-the-master-negotiator-and-body-language-expert-podcast/
After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com
To receive Greg’s free “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Negotiation Insight,” click here https://themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/
#Decision #Best #negotiation #BodyLanguageSecrets #csuitenetwork #thoughtcouncil #Negotiator #NegotiatingWithABully #Bodylanguage #readingbodylanguage #Negotiation #NegotiationStrategies #NegotiationProcess #NegotiationSkillsTraining #NegotiationExamples #NegotiationTypes #negotiationPsychology #HowToNegotiateBetter #ReadingBodyLanguage #BodyLanguage #Nonverbal #Negotiate #Business #SmallBusiness #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #BodyLanguageExpert #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions #GregWilliams #success #Howtowinmore #self-improvement #howtodealwithdifficultpeople #Self-development #Control #Conversations #Howtocontrolanegotiation #howtobesuccessful #HowToImproveyourself