Crouching behind a tight cordon of panda cars, the weather-beaten SWAT team leader, complete with cap, bulletproof vest and loud-hailer, looks up to the third-floor window, clears his throat, and announces: 'You might as well give yourself up, Kowalski, we've got the place surrounded.' His craggy face is bathed in the soft amber glow of the street light and a small bead of sweat moves slowly down his temple. Kowalski, a wily old stager with deep pockmarks and a broken nose, is having none of it. After all, he has the (rather attractive blonde) hostage securely tied up and there happens to be a fridge full of beer in the office he's holed up in. So it's a complete stalemate. Kowalski and his nemesis are simply going to have to start negotiating. In this case, negotiation is more likely to be resolved in a bloody shoot-out.

In the workplace, of course, negotiations generally don't tend to be conducted under such tense or dangerous circumstances. They do, however, take place on a daily, even hourly, basis. In fact, they have become such a regular and ingrained part of working life that participants can readily enter into them without even realising that's w

describes as an 'adversarial atmosphere' (potentially explosive in other words), he reckons that overall he has witnessed as much civility as hostility. This, he believes, is because most of the participants at this level of negotiation tend to be astute practitioners, who realise that prickliness and emotional involvement will only hamper their efforts. 'Some of the best negotiators are mild-mannered but persuasive people,' says Grice. 'They know exactly where they want to be and realise they can get there in a civilised manner. After all, you've got more in your toolbox than a hammer.'

Communicating what you want and what you have to offer, and then marrying that up with another party's requirements. A bit of imagination, flexibility and a well-considered strategy can go along way to meeting these ends. It is also worth remembering that how you put it is often as important as what you're actually saying. 'You should always try to express things in ways the other parties find palatable, so that no one loses face,' says Grice of ACAS. 'Packaging is half the battle.'

One problem often leads to another. A manager may feel it necessary to cut overtime. The employees are unhappy and threaten industrial action but the manager should avoid the immediate reaction to sack the ringleader. By doing so, the manager would have two problems to cope with instead of one. It is important to keep one topic in focus at a time.

tomorrow, by which time I'll have been able to gather my thoughts?" It's important to know your own style and be comfortable with it. If you're stepping too far outside of yourself, you can end up seeming artificial.'

about nurture than nature. 'There's a question as to whether negotiating is an art or a science,' he says. 'You can be taught good negotiation, so I'd say it's a science... Being taught how to mix colours doesn't make you an artist. You can learn about negotiation strategy, how to read a situation, when the tune is right to confront an issue and when to apply a variety of different processes. Preparation is an often neglected area. If you're negotiating about pay, for example, you should be aware of the going rate, affordability and any other interested parties before you go in. You need to be able to anticipate the other party's moves.'

* Work out your strategy. In group negotiations, each participant on your side should be allocated a specific role - one should do most: of the talking, another take notes, a third could simply observe reactions and responses.

Before we proceed, it is probably worth defining our terms, or at least borrowing a definition from personnel consultant Alan Fowler's book, Negotiating, Persuading and Influencing. Fowler explains that 'negotiation occurs whenever there is an issue that cannot be resolved by one person acting alone; it occurs when the two (or more) people who have to be involved begin with different views on how to proceed, or have different aims for the outcome. There are two situations in which negotiation does not or cannot occur: when one of the persons immediately agrees to what the Other is asking or suggesting; and when one of the two adamantly refuses to even discuss the matter.'

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Approximate Word count = 2241
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)