Smartphones and computers are technologies that have become essential and ubiquitous in nearly every area of life, including negotiation.

With Covid-19, we have become even more dependent on these devices and electronic communication.

There was a time when we had to meet in person (or pick up our phone) and then send a fax for confirmation. Then came emails filling up our inbox and further reducing face-to-face meetings. Now people increasingly use instant messages to negotiate since apps, like WhatsApp, WeChat or Line, can transfer documents. This is not only instantaneous, but also spam free - probably because getting one's email address is more difficult than a personal phone number.

Zoom, Webex Microsoft Teams and other video conference platforms have slightly counter-balanced this trend, but the reality is we have have become electronic negotiators even more.