Negotiation

Question 1

Negotiation

Answer 1

It is back-and-forth communication designed to reach an agreement when you and the other side have some interests that are shared and others that are opposed.

Question 2

Principled negotiation

Answer 2

The method of principled negotiation is hard on the merits, soft on the people.

People: Separate the people from the problem.
Interests: Focus on interests, not positions.
Options: Generate a variety of possibilities before deciding what to do.
Criteria: Insist that the result be based on some objective standard.

Question 3

Bargain over positions

Answer 3

Each side takes a position, argues for it, and makes concessions to reach a compromise.

Question 4

Three criteria for any method of negotiation

Answer 4

1. Wise agreement if possible
2. Efficient
3. Improve or at least not damage the relationship

Question 5

Soft negotiating

Answer 5

See the other side as friends. to make offers and concessions, to trust the other side, to be friendly, and to yield as necessary to avoid confrontation.

Question 6

Three stages of negotiation

Answer 6

Analysis, planning, and discussion

Question 7

Three basic categories of people problems

Answer 7

Perception, emotion, and communication

Question 8

Perception: Their thinking is the problem.

Answer 8

Differences are defined by the difference between your thinking and theirs. Ultimately, the conflict lies not in objective reality, but in people’s heads.

Question 9

How to improve the perception

Answer 9

1. Put yourself in their shoes.
2. Discuss each other’s perceptions.
3. Look for opportunities to act inconsistently with their perceptions. the best way to change their perceptions
4. Give them a stake in the outcome by making sure they participate in the process.
5. Face-saving: Make your proposals consistent with their values.

Question 10

How to deal with emotions

Answer 10

1.First recognize and understand emotions, theirs and yours.
2.Make emotions explicit and acknowledge them as legitimate.
3.Allow the other side to let off steam.
4.Don’t react to emotional outbursts.
5.Use symbolic gestures. On many occasions, an apology can defuse emotions effectively

Question 11

How to improve communication

Answer 11

1. Listen actively and acknowledge what is being said. Ask for clarification
   2.Understanding is not agreeing. Unless you can convince them that you do grasp how they see it, you may be unable to explain your viewpoint to them.
   3.Speak to be understood.
   4.Speak about yourself, not about them. It is more persuasive to describe a problem in terms of its impact on you than in terms of what they did or why
   5.Speak for a purpose. Before making a significant statement, know what you want to communicate or find out, and know what purpose this information will serve

Question 12

Focus on INTERESTS, Not Positions

Answer 12

Your position is something you have decided upon. Your interests are what caused you to so decide.

Question 13

How do you identify interests?

Answer 13

1. Ask “Why?”
2. Ask “Why not?” Think about their choice.

Question 14

The most powerful interests are basic human needs

Answer 14

1. security
2. economic well-being
3. a sense of belonging
4. recognition
5. control over one’s life

Question 15

Cognitive dissonance

Answer 15

Give positive support to the human beings on the other side equal in strength to the vigour with which you emphasize the problem

The theory of cognitive dissonance holds that people dislike inconsistency and will act to eliminate it.

Question 16

Four major obstacles that inhibit the inventing of an abundance of options

Answer 16

1. premature judgment
2. searching for the single answer
3. the assumption of a fixed pie
4. thinking that “solving their problem is their problem.”

Question 17

To invent creative options

Answer 17

1. to separate the act of inventing options from the act of judging them
2. to broaden the options on the table rather than look for a single answer
3. to search for mutual gains
4. to invent ways of making their decisions easy.

Question 18

The Circle Chart

Answer 18

What is wrong What might be done

In theory Step 2 analysis Step 3 Approaches

Real-world Step 1 problem Step 4 Action ideas

Question 19

The method to tackle the problem

Answer 19

1. SEPARATE THE PEOPLE FROM THE PROBLEM
2. FOCUS ON INTERESTS, NOT POSITIONS
3. INVENT OPTIONS FOR MUTUAL GAIN
4. INSIST ON USING OBJECTIVE CRITERIA

Question 20

INSIST ON USING OBJECTIVE CRITERIA

Answer 20

Negotiating with objective criteria
1. Frame each issue as a joint search for objective criteria.
2. Reason and be open to reason as to which standards are most appropriate and how they should be applied.
3. Never yield to pressure, only to principle.

Focus on objective criteria firmly but flexibly.

Question 21

Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement

Answer 21

What alternatives you have right now?

The reason you negotiate is to produce something better than the results you can obtain without negotiating

Whether you should or should not agree on something in a negotiation depends entirely upon the attractiveness to you of the best available alternative.

That is the standard against which any proposed agreement should be measured.

The better your BATNA, the greater your power.

Question 22

Negotiation jujitsu

Answer 22

1. Don’t attack their position, look behind it.
2. Seek out and discuss the principles underlying the other side’s positions.
3. Don’t defend your ideas, invite criticism and advice.
4. Recast an attack on you as an attack on the problem.
5. Ask questions and pause.
   @ Questions offer them no target to strike at, no position to attack. Questions do not criticize, they educate.
   @ If you have asked an honest question to which they have provided an insufficient answer, just wait.

Question 23

One-text procedure

Answer 23

The one-text procedure is a great help for two-party negotiations involving a mediator. It is almost essential for large multilateral negotiations.

The 3rd party listen to both interests and make a proposal, ask for feedback and keep refining until they can make it better

Question 24

Getting them to play

Answer 24

• Please correct me if I’m wrong
• We appreciate what you’ve done for us
• Our concern is fairness
• We would like to settle this on the basis not of selfish interest and power but of principle
• Trust is a separate issue
• Could I ask you a few questions to see whether my facts are right?
• What’s the principle behind your action?
• Let me see if I understand what you’re saying
• Let me get back to you
• Let me show you where I have trouble following some of your reasoning
• One fair solution might be…
• If we agree…. If we disagree….
• It’s been a pleasure dealing with you”

Question 25

Some common tricky tactics

Answer 25

• Deliberate deception
• Ambiguous authority
• Dubious intentions
• Less than full disclosure is not the same as deception
• Stressful situations
• The good-guy/bad-guy routine
• Threats
• Refusal to negotiate
• Extreme demands.
• Escalating demands
• Lock-in tactics
• Hardhearted partner
• A calculated delay
• “Take it or leave it.

In each case recognizing the tactic will help nullify its effect; bringing it up explicitly
will probably prevent a recurrence.

Question 26

Deliberate deception

Answer 26

Separate the people from the problem. Unless you have good reason to trust somebody, don’t

Question 27

Ambiguous authority

Answer 27

If only you have authority to make concessions, only you will make concessions

Question 28

Dubious intentions

Answer 28

Where the issue is one of possible misrepresentation of their intention to comply with the agreement, it is often possible to build compliance features into the agreement itself

Question 29

Stressful situations

Answer 29

Be aware of the physical circumstances, if you don’t feel comfortable, raise the issue up and reschedule
Personal attacks about your appearance, refuse to listen to you and make you repeat yourself. They can deliberately refuse to make eye contact with you

Question 30

The good-guy/bad-guy routine

Answer 30

If you recognize it, you won’t be taken in

Question 31

Escalating demands

Answer 31

A negotiator may raise one of his demands for every concession he makes on another. He may also reopen issues you thought had been settled. The benefits of this tactic lie in decreasing the overall concession, and in the psychological effect of making you want to agree quickly before he raises any more of his demands.

Question 32

Lock-in tactics

Answer 32

Two dynamite trucks barreling toward each other, one threw his steer wheel out

Question 33

Hardhearted partner

Answer 33

Rather than discussing it with the other negotiator, you may want to get his agreement to the principle involved — perhaps in writing — and then if possible speak directly with the “hardhearted partner.”