Tariq Mahmood Awan

Negotiation is the process of reaching an agreement or resolving a conflict with one or more parties who have different interests, preferences, or goals. Negotiation is an ordinary and essential skill in various domains, such as business, politics, diplomacy, law, civil services and personal relationships. Negotiation can be seen as both an art and a science, as it requires creativity, intuition, emotional intelligence, rationality, analysis, and strategic thinking.

Before entering a negotiation, one should thoroughly research the issues, the parties, the alternatives, and the criteria for evaluating the outcomes. One should also identify interests, priorities, goals, and bottom line and anticipate the other party’s perspective and possible moves. Preparation helps to increase one’s confidence, credibility, and bargaining power in the negotiation.

Then, during the negotiation, one should communicate plainly, respectfully, and persuasively. One should use active listening skills to understand the other party’s needs, concerns, and emotions and to build rapport and trust. One should also use effective questioning skills to elicit information, clarify assumptions, test understanding, and explore options. Communication helps to create a positive climate and a constructive dialogue in the negotiation.

Furthermore, throughout the negotiation, one should adopt a suitable strategy that matches the situation and the goals. One should also be flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances and new information. One can employ multiple techniques depending on the skills, variables and possibilities. However, negotiation does not mean winning at the cost of a relationship or transaction. 

Various strategies and techniques are available to make negotiation processes effective and productive. An integrative or win-win approach is the foremost option for finding a mutual consensus. This strategy aims to create value and satisfy the interests of both parties by finding mutually beneficial solutions. It requires cooperation, collaboration, and creativity from both sides. It is suitable for long-term and complex negotiations where the personal or working relationship is essential.

Distributive or win-lose strategy is also one of the most applied strategies in negotiation. This strategy aims to claim value and maximize one’s own outcomes by making concessions and demands. It requires competition, confrontation, and power from one side. It is suitable for short-term and simple negotiations where the relationship is unimportant.

A mixed-motive or win-some-lose-some strategy is a strategy that combines elements of both integrative and distributive approaches by trading off issues and splitting the difference. It requires compromise, trade-offs, and balance from both sides. It is suitable for moderate-term and moderate-complexity negotiations where the relationship is somewhat essential. 

The employment of negotiating strategies has a constructive connotation and purpose. Negotiation means mutual advantage, and the most important is the relationship, whether working or personal. A negotiation where relations are compromised is a failed negotiation. The art of negotiation is to win advantages and keep the links simultaneously.

Furthermore, ethics are critical for the art of negotiation. Throughout the negotiation, one should adhere to ethical principles and standards that guide one’s behaviour and decisions. One should also respect the ethical values and norms of the other party and the context. Ethics helps to maintain one’s integrity, reputation, and legitimacy in the negotiation. Ethical values in negotiation are honesty, fairness, respect and responsibility. How truthful or deceptive is one in disclosing or withholding information or making promises or commitments? How equitable or biased is one in distributing or claiming outcomes or resources? How courteous or rude is one in treating the other party with dignity or contempt? How accountable or irresponsible one is in honouring or violating agreements or obligations.

Consequently, the art of negotiation can be mastered by learning from theory and practice, observing and analyzing successful negotiators, seeking feedback and mentoring from experts, reflecting on one’s own strengths and weaknesses, experimenting with different styles and techniques, and continuously improving one’s skills and knowledge.

Then, negotiation skills are critical for civil servants, as they often have to deal with various stakeholders, such as politicians, officials, citizens, interest groups, media, etc., who may have different or conflicting interests, goals, or perspectives. Civil servants need to negotiate effectively and efficiently to achieve public policy outcomes that benefit society and the government. Furthermore, the negotiating skills of civil servants in Pakistan are highly competitive and challenging. Hence, a civil servant’s core competence is to master the art of negotiations.

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The art of negotiation is vital for civil servants because it helps them design and implement public policies based on evidence, analysis, and consultation. By using the deal design dimension of negotiation, civil servants can create value and satisfy the interests of multiple parties by finding mutually beneficial solutions. They can also use the setup dimension of negotiation to ensure that the proper parties are involved in the correct sequence and at the right table to deal with valid issues. It helps them to manage and resolve conflicts and disputes that may arise in the public sector. Using the tactics dimension of negotiation, civil servants can communicate clearly, respectfully, and persuasively with the other parties. They can also use the ethics dimension of negotiation to adhere to ethical principles and standards that guide their behaviour and decisions. They can also use negotiation’s executive or judicial review dimensions to seek or provide remedies for any violations or injustices that may occur in administrative actions.

It helps them to foster a culture of good governance and democracy in the public sector. Civil servants can promote public participation and engagement in policy-making and implementation by using the art of negotiation skills. They can also enhance transparency and accountability in public administration. They can also respect and protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of the citizens from arbitrary or unreasonable interference by administrative authorities.

Therefore, the art of negotiation skills is a crucial aspect of public administration, as it enables civil servants to perform their roles and responsibilities legally, reasonably, and fairly.

However, learning the art of negotiating is demanding, as it requires a lot of practice, feedback, and reflection. Moreover, Pakistan’s civil servants must consider the administrative, cultural, political and social perspectives that influence the negotiation process and outcomes. Then, negotiation skills need to be taught and instructed in the training and functioning of civil service operations in Pakistan. Sadly, it is the most neglected part of the training and development of civil servants in Pakistan. Therefore, the civil servants must learn the art of negotiation. But how can they learn the art of negotiation? 

To begin with, training is critical for negotiation skills. Several institutions offer training courses on negotiation skills for civil servants in Pakistan, including civil service training academies. These courses can help civil servants learn the basic principles, techniques, and negotiation strategies, as well as apply them in simulated scenarios and case studies. The courses can also expose civil servants to different negotiation styles and cultures and help them develop their negotiation techniques and adapt to different situations.

Seeking mentorship from experienced negotiators and civil servants is significant. Civil servants in Pakistan can also learn from the experience and guidance of senior civil servants who have successfully negotiated in various contexts and domains. They can seek mentorship and feedback on their negotiation performance and improvement areas. They can also observe how they handle different negotiation situations and challenges and learn from their best practices and lessons learned.

Besides, it is also significant to participate in real-life negotiations: The best way to learn the art of negotiating is to participate in real-life negotiations as much as possible. Civil servants in Pakistan can seek opportunities to join negotiation teams or delegations that represent their department or organization in various forums and platforms. They can also initiate or engage in negotiations with their internal or external counterparts on multiple issues and matters. By participating in real-life negotiations, civil servants can gain practical experience, test their skills, learn from their mistakes, and improve their confidence and competence.

Then, reflecting on one’s negotiation outcomes and process is also vital.

After each negotiation, civil servants in Pakistan should reflect on their negotiation outcomes and process. They should evaluate whether they achieved their objectives, satisfied their interests, and maintained good relationships with their counterparts. They should also analyze what worked well and what did not in their negotiation process, such as their preparation, communication, persuasion, concession, collaboration, etc. They should identify their strengths and weaknesses and seek feedback from others. They should also document their learning points and action plans for future improvement. Ineffective negotiating skills are the primary administrative flaw among modern civil servants in Pakistan. Therefore, they are less effective in public dealings and issues. Consequently, they must learn the art of negotiation to be effective and thriving civil servants. 

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