Manju Gupta
Let’s Talk: Negotiation & Communication at the Workplace, Mukta Mahajani, Jaico Books, Pp 262
AN executive can often find himself at a loss for words or caught in a web of conflicting communication, responsibilities and expectations from supervisors, press and customers. In such a situation, it becomes imperative to master the art of communication and negotiation techniques along with complementary self-analysis.
Mukta Mahajani examines and attempts to resolve the confusion and dilemma confronting middle-management employees, especially young executives working in small and modern enterprises or companies in India, when facing problematic issues, due to lack of training in dealing with discussions that turn into negotiations at work. It is critical to maintain good relationships at the workplace and balance all the views that form a project discussion and final decision.
Lack of negotiation skills and the resultant problematic scenarios are presented through professional situations encountered by four young executives – Anita, Ketan, Ram and Vidya, who, during the course of their respective jobs in the business world, find it difficult to get through to colleagues and superiors in offices and to customers.
Negotiation and communication techniques and resultant skills are presented in the book to emphasise not only negotiation but skills necessary to work with the dynamics and interplay between different people on a day-to-day basis. Negotiation skills are integral to workplace firstly because they help the young executive cope with a sudden difficult environment. When a conversation takes a different turn, negotiation techniques give rise to ‘diplomacy’ which reduces tension or manages to bring about an agreement; secondly, such skills are invaluable for self-learning, particularly when a young executive is given the responsibility of seeing an enterprise without any experience on how to handle the staff or customers. In companies, communication skills help one manage day-to-day conversations that require tact and quick thinking; secondly, communication skills help win a seemingly harmless dialogue with people who believe that all’s fair in love and war.
The book highlights specifically four important negotiation techniques and 16 relevant negotiation sub-techniques as also four general communication techniques and 16 relevant communication sub-techniques. It also describes effective application of negotiation techniques and self-analysis to successfully deal with complex situations arising from stressful conversations turned into negotiations for internal workplace audiences. It presents the methods of strengthening communication skills to stay on top of the job.
Further, the book presents four case studies to show how Ankita, working as deputy manager in the purchase department of a tyre-manufacturing company, Utttara tyres, handles single-party internal discussions and external negotiations. The same is described with reference to Ketan, Ram and Vidya and their handling of their respective problems. After years of beginning their career, the four executives have achieved milestones in the sense that they have picked up advanced negotiation and communication skills for dealing with multiple parties within and outside their enterprise through application of their learnt techniques; secondly, they have also learnt how to impart knowledge to youngsters in formal as well as informal situations.
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