The 4 Parts of Effective Negotiation
The foundation principle for effective negotiation is negotiating with the intent to create a win-win situation in order to have long term beneficial outcomes. Effective negotiation can be broken down into 4 parts.
For a recap on the difference between positional negotiation and principle negotiation see the previous blog article.
The 4 Parts of Effective Negotiation
As we continue to delve into the book “Getting to Yes” There are 4 main parts we can identify in an effective negotiation.
1. People – Separate people from the problem
2. Interests – Focus on interests (what you need), not positions (specific solutions like a price)
3. Options – Invent multiple options looking for mutual gains before deciding what to do
4. Criteria – Insist that result be based on some objective criteria
The 3 Stages of Effective Negotiation
Each negotiation goes through the following 3 stages which can repeat. In each stage we focus on the 4 parts.
Stage 1 – Analysis
Diagnose, gather info, organize it, think about it.
- People – The hostile emotions, and unclear communications
- Interests – The interests of both sides
- Options – The options already on the table.
- Criteria – The already suggested criteria as basis for agreement
Stage 2 – Planning
Same 4 elements above but now it’s how to deal with them. Generating ideas and what to do.
- People – How to handle them
- Interests – Which are most important
- Options – Realistic objectives
- Criteria – What are some possible objective criterias that can be used.
Stage 3 – Discussion
Discuss the items above with the other party.
Each negotiation is actually two negotiations
There are two negotiations, the negotiation for how to negotiate and the actual negotiation for interests. Although it’s not always obvious, we are negotiating the rules of the game as we go. For example, how do we determine a fair price for a house? We can negotiate by just putting out random numbers, or we can decided that we’ll base the price using an objective criteria such as recent home sales. If we decide to do the latter, then we can negotiate the price (our interests) based on what sales occurred in the area (the rules we decided to follow)
Relationships
We want to keep relationships good as we know that when there are good relationships, negotiation is much easier. However, we should not capitulate in order to keep a good relationship because this is a self defeating approach. i.e. if we agree to a deal where we loose money, it will not yield a long term beneficial outcome for us or the other party as we will be less likely to do anther deal. Likewise if we push to get our needs without addressing the needs of the other party, this will also not yield a long term beneficial outcome for the other party and hence us as well.
Teamwork
The participants should see themselves as working side by side to solve a problem, attacking the problem, not each other.
Everyone knows how hard it is to deal with a problem, without mis-understanding each other, getting upset and taking it personally.
John keeps getting selected to lead a team when problems arise. He gets really upset, “why are they picking on me all the time.” After discussing this issue, it turns out John was picked as Steve says “he was the best and I thought he would enjoy taking on the responsibility”.
Negotiators are People first
We are dealing with human beings with deeply held values, different backgrounds and viewpoints. They are inherently unpredictable, have biases, partisan perceptions, cognitive biases, blind spots, and leaps of illogic. So do we all.
People see themselves from their own vantage point and frequently confuse their perceptions with reality. They fail to interpret what you say in how you intended. They also fail to express themselves in a way that you will interpret as they intended.
This can trigger a cycle of accusations and counter accusations. For example, saying the “kitchen is a mess” could be intended to reveal a problem but could be interpreted by someone who usually cleans the kitchen as an insult.
Stay tuned
We will delve into “The People Problem” aspect of negotiation in the next blog article. We will discuss why people problems occur and how to handle them effectively.
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