Negotiation is the process of communicating between two or more parties who have a different view or need, in order to reach agreement. It is more than getting what you want: it is about reaching an agreement that satisfies all parties.

Negotiation is often thought of as a high level activity that is done by others on our behalf – in pharmacy the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) and Scottish Pharmaceutical General Council (SPGC) do this for us with respective Departments of Health. However, we all need to negotiate at different times.

Our negotiation might be focused on the business we manage – getting the best deal for generics supply for the pharmacy or resolving a problem with the local surgery. Perhaps you want to negotiate with the business you work for, to agree your salary and remuneration package or secure the most convenient time to take a holiday? There are plenty of times in your private life too where you need to negotiate: buying a house or coming to an agreement with your partner about the type of car you are going to buy when you initially have different ideas about what you want.

Wherever you disagree with someone and you need to resolve the situation or make a decision there is a need for negotiation skills. These are key skills that should be in everyone’s portfolio of communication skills. In the western world, negotiation is usually based on each party taking a position and, through an adversarial process, trying to get the agreement to be ‘nearer’ to their position. In this section we will demonstrate weaknesses with this style of negotiation and introduce a different style of negotiation that can help people build better long term results.