Negotiation Strategies: A highly effective framework that will ensure success
Negotiating an agreement without giving in.
Get it here: Negotiating an agreement without giving in.
The Problem:
Don’t Bargain Over Positions
Arguing over positions produces unwise outcomes
Arguing over positions is inefficient
Arguing over positions endangers an ongoing relationship
When there are many parties, positional bargaining is even worse
Being nice is no answer
The Method:
Separate the People from the Problem
Negotiators are people first
Every negotiator has two kinds of interests: in the substance and in the relationship
The relationship tends to become entangled with the problem
Positional bargaining puts relationship and substance in conflict
Disentangle the relationship from the substance; deal directly with the people problem
Perception
Put yourself in their shoes
Don’t deduce their intentios from your fears
Don’t blame them for your problem
Discuss each other’s perceptions
Look for opportunities to act inconsistently with their perceptions
Give them a stake in the outcome by making sure they participate in the process
Face-saving: Make your proposals consistent with their values
Emotion
First recognize and understand emotions, theirs and yours
Pay attention to core concerns
Consider the role of identity
Make emotions explicit and acknowledge them as legitimate
Allow the other side to let off steam
Don’t react to emotional outbursts
Use symbolic gestures
Communication
Listen activey and acknowledge what is being said
Speak to be understood
Speak about yourself, not about them
Speak for a purpose
Prevention works best
Build a working relationship
Face the problem, not the people
Focus on Interests, Not Positions
For a wise solution reconcile interests, not positions
Interests define the problem
Behind opposed positions lie shared and compatible interests, as well as conflicting ones
Invent Options for Mutual Gain
Diagnosis
Premature judgment
Searching for the single answer
The assumption of a fixed pie
Thinking that solving their problem is their problem
Prescription
Separate inventing from deciding
Broaden your options
Look for mutual gain
Make their decision easy
Insist on Using Objective Criteria
Deciding on the basis of will is costly
The case for using objective criteria
Principled negotiation produces wise agreements amicably and efficiently
Developing objective criteria
Fair standards
Fair procedures
Negotiating with objective criteria
Frame each issue as a joint search for objective criteria
Reason and be open to reason
Never yield to pressure
Getting started
Get it here: Negotiating an agreement without giving in.