Particularities of a Negotiation
A Negotiation has specific characteristics:-
- Voluntary – Participation in a negotiation is purely voluntary and no party is imposed to participate. Parties are free to accept or reject the outcome of negotiations, as well as withdraw from the negotiation at any point in time. A party may participate directly or be represented by a third party.
- Informal – There are no prescribed rules in negotiation. Parties are free to adopt whatever rules they choose, if any. Typically they may agree on issues such as subject matter, time frames, locations, confidentiality, number of sessions they commit to, documents to be used, etc.
- Confidentiality – Parties have the option to negotiate publicly or in private.
- Non-adjudicative – Negotiation involves only the parties and the outcome of negotiation is reached by the parties together without the necessity of a Third party neutral.
- Flexibility – Parties can determine the scope of the negotiations and the approach to be adopted – bargaining approach or interest-based approach