(Some additional comments on negotiations cont. 2)

Impact of Psychological Barriers (includes emotional triggers)

Understanding the psychological barriers that can derail negotiations is important.

Emotions like anger, anxiety, fear, etc can have a negative impact on negotiations.

These psychological barriers can be divided into 3 groups:

i) forces within (this can include assumptions about our competencies and abilities; unconscious and conscious biases; consequences of having an overly narrow focus when evaluating information and making decisions)

ii) focus from relationships with others ( this can include
"...our inability to put ourselves in others' shoes,; how sharing superficial features with somebody (such as having the same first name) colours our viewpoint and decisions, and how we are affected by comparing ourselves to others..."
Gail Odeneal, 2022a

iii) forces from outside world (this can include the impact of non-related information on your decisions; framing questions that can lead to different solutions; effect of what is happening in the external environment).
Linked with this is understanding cognitive biases and people's trigger points.

Some examples of turning biases into tools of persuasion are

- anchoring (make an extreme offer that can change the other party's perception about an acceptable agreement)

- availability (with a tendency to rely on readily available information,

"...by carefully choosing comparisons of the current situation, you can persuade the other party about the appropriate settlement..."
PON, 2022a)

- framing (frame the negotiations in the terms of potential gains to others, ie a win-win situation that benefits both parties; builds trust)

- contrast (make a range of offers and give the other party choice, eg $30,000 now, $10,000 annually for the next 3 years, or a $30,000 payment to charity, etc
(for more details, see other parts of the Knowledge Base, ie cognitive bias)

Emotional Triggers

"...emotions of all types alter our thoughts, behaviours, and underlying biology..."
PON, 2022b

Furthermore, emotions, or feelings, that are unrelated to the situation at hand can have significant impact on outcomes. For example, a negative incident at home can impact adversely how you handle a situation at work.

Even negotiation themselves can trigger emotional  reactions that impact outcomes.

Need to be able to identify, label and understand the source of your emotional triggers and how to handle them.

(for more details, see other parts of the Knowledge Base, ie cognitive bias)