Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons^™

Mindsets: Sensemaking And Transition In Negotiation, Mara Olekalns, Philip L. Smith

Mara Olekalns

A negotiation’s opening moments are characterized by high levels of uncertainty. During this phase, individuals screen each other’s behavior for clues about underlying goals and motives. Much of this information is conveyed implicitly by the language that negotiators use. The words they choose and the way they respond to the other party provide important clues about negotiators’ dominant goals and strategy preferences. At the same time, negotiators use incoming information to assess the other party’s intentions. In negotiation, this uncertainty resolves itself into questions about the other party’s trustworthiness. Because negotiations are characterized by a vulnerability to the actions of …