One of the most interesting parts of a negotiation is discovering the personality of your counterparts, and figuring out how to best work with them. But this is also one of the most stressful and challenging parts of a negotiation.
In this series, we’ll look at some of the personalities you may find sitting across the table from you during a negotiation, and discuss how to identify them, how to best work with them – and what to do if this is…you.
Negotiation & Personality: The Chatterbox
How To Spot Them
When you enter a negotiation, enter with your ears open. That voice you hear over the rest, more often than the rest? That’s the chatterbox. As touched on in The Value of Silence, some people are uncomfortable with silence and feel the need to fill it. And when they fill it, why use 10 words, when you can use 100?
How To Work With Them
Just because someone speaks often doesn’t mean that they’re pursuing a ‘quantity over quality’ strategy – chances are, what they’re saying has merit, you’ll just need to sift through the abundance of language to extract it.
If your counterpart is a chatterbox, let them speak. Provided that you’re not on a tight timeline, you may be able to pick up useful insights to their perspectives and their business objectives by allowing them to discuss topics at length.
If your colleague is a chatterbox, you’ll likely want to find a way to strike a happy medium between them speaking often, and there being an opportunity for you and your counterparts to get a word in. Be careful of the chatterbox over sharing, or taking the conversation onto tangents that don’t serve your purpose and strategy in the negotiation. Rather than cutting them off in front of an audience, taking a well-timed break outside the meeting room or conference call to ask them to moderate their behaviour will see the best results.
What If This Is You?
Pay close attention to what you’re saying. Yes, sometimes it may all be integral to the negotiation and on target with your strategy. But, if you find yourself talking in circles, or accidentally letting details slip that you wish you hadn’t – it’s time to change your approach. Share the airtime with your colleagues and counterparts so that everyone remains engaged in the discussions – and make sure you’re listening to what they have to say, rather than preparing your next point.
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Have you ever negotiated with a chatterbox? Do you think it’s possible have both quality and quantity when it comes to speaking in a negotiation?
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Devon Smiley is a Negotiation Consultant, who guides teams through the preparation and execution of negotiations with a distinct Corporate + Creative approach.
Explore Negotiation Consulting here, or get in touch at devon@informedstyle.com to learn more.
Filed under: Making It Work Tagged: Corporate, Negotiation & Personality, Negotiation Consulting
