Remote negotiations – what they depend on and to whom they will be useful
The process of conducting negotiations changes its form smoothly. Along with technological progress, we get a lot of new opportunities to negotiate. Thanks to this, trade talks are possible to carry out in almost all circumstances. Although nothing can replace the face2face meeting, it is worth keeping in mind the possibility of conducting remote negotiations when circumstances do not allow for a direct meeting.
How to conduct remote negotiations? Do they have a chance to be effective and compromise? Who should and who can use the remote form of negotiations?
Remote negotiations – what are?
Currently available means of communication minimize the limitations in conducting calls to almost zero. We have communicators for video calls such as Skype or WhatsApp, for telephone conversations, written communication and even for sharing screens of our devices – computers or tablets.
However, remote negotiations differ from the traditional form of conducting sales talks. Therefore, each negotiator should supplement his competences with the ability to conduct negotiations at a distance. It is also worth remembering that there are a number of obstacles on the way of effective remote negotiations, causing communication noise, not only due to the quality of conversation transfer, but also the interpretation of the written text or the tone of the voice without the ability to see the body language.
How to prepare for remote negotiations?
Remote negotiations are a specific form of conducting business talks. It is worth knowing what the particular communication channels are. In order to gain experience, organize knowledge and practice scenarios of remote negotiations, it is definitely worth participating in the workshops on remote negotiations dedicated to this issue. Any negotiator who wants to improve their own competences and update trends in negotiating styles should take advantage of this training.
Telenegotiations
This is probably one of the most difficult forms of negotiating talks. During a phone conversation, we may be surprised by the question falling on the other side of the handset, and although the interlocutor does not read the embarrassment from our face, he can read it from the tone of the voice. During the telephone conversations, we also do not know what is the environment of our interlocutor, which can significantly affect the course of the conversation – even if it was previously arranged. Not without significance is the fact that when talking at a distance, many people take courage and conduct a telephone conversation in a completely different tone than they would lead during a meeting face to face.
An unquestionable advantage of telephone negotiations is the possibility of registering conversations. This allows you to return to its content at any time or to reconstruct its course to the other parties to the negotiation process. It should be remembered that it necessarily requires the consent of each party to the negotiations.
Negotiations by e-mail
Communication via e-mail is an increasingly common and willingly used form of negotiation. Written declarations have a much more permanent character and you can return to it at any time, arbitrarily quoting the phrases applied by the other party. However, this form also has a lot of disadvantages. Not every negotiator, who is effective during face2face talks, will be able to write written statements equally well. Thus, there is a risk of misinterpretation of our message. It is also worth remembering that the written content must be consistent, concise, and at the same time as exhaustive as possible. The art of writing is not for everyone. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that any skill can be acquired, for example by participating in properly defined workshops from remote negotiations.
Negotiations via messengers
The most similar to the traditional form of remote communication is the use of so-called video conferencing. Then we provide the interlocutor with both his voice and the environment as well as our image. You can talk freely with the screen sharing of your monitor when you need to show something to the other party. This is a convenient solution, especially if a personal meeting is not possible. Barriers in this case, however, may be hardware and technological limitations, because communicators require a good quality internet connection, so that there is no interruption in transmission.
If you are looking for detailed information on conducting remote negotiations, we invite you to our negotiation workshops.