Building Agreement: Using Emotions As You Negotiate" Note: This book is also published as "Beyond Reason: Using Emotions As You NegotiateRoger Fisher and Daniel Shapiro (Viking Adult, October 2005)Reviewed by admin Mon 24 Nov 08 Bob's Rating: RAs the title suggests, the authors Roger Fisher and Daniel Shapiro set out to show how to manage emotions during a negotiation – both yours and the other party’s. Fisher is the co-author of the best selling book on negotiation, “Getting To Yes” and the similar style is evident here – simple concepts with plenty of real case scenarios to illustrate. The book is in five parts, but it’s part two that has all the guts of their concept. The five chapters in this section outline the author’s key negotiating strategies for managing emotions – express appreciation, build alliances, respect autonomy, acknowledge status and choose a fulfilling role. I found the best of these to be “express appreciation” which has three simple strategies – understand their (the other party) point of view; find merit in what the other person thinks, feels and does; communicate your understanding. Whilst these may seem like common sense and reasonably straight forward, the hints and tips the authors give on how to implement these is well worth the price of this book. For example, one that impressed me was how to show appreciation for the other party’s argument whilst not necessarily agreeing with it, thus building positive rapport and approaching the negotiation from a collaborative rather than adversarial perspective. Fisher and Shapiro are extremely experienced and knowledgeable negotiators. I really liked their many (real) cases to illustrate key points. I will certainly use the things I have learnt from reading this book in my own negotiations. My one piece of advice – if you are a novice negotiator, I would suggest reading a book such as “Getting to Yes” first so that you have some basic negotiating principles to work from. The tips in this book can then enhance your expertise. Bob Selden, author |
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