Negotiation foundations (x2)
- 1. Negotiation Foundations Created By: Kelby L. Schwender Business Administration student, Penn State
- 2. Bottom-Line Insight Negotiation is not just about getting your wants and needs known, it is about creating a common ground where both and/or all parties involved can come together and get something from each other.
- 3. Preparing for a Successful Negotiation ● To be successful in negotiation, it is best to walk in prepared. ○ Preparation gives you the information and confidence to think on your feet and to tap your creativity and to be at ease during your conversation. Six Steps To Setting The Stage For A Successful Negotiation 1. Conduct research 2. Prioritize all the moving parts of your negotiation. 3. Map out the concessions you’re willing to make. 4. Learn as much as your can about your bargaining partners needs. 5. Determine your common connections inside and outside the organization. If you spend the time up front, it will pay off in the end. You may need to find your BATNA- Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement.
- 4. Preparing for a Successful Negotiation- Defining the two big strategies “Is effective negotiation about getting what you want, or is it about everyone getting what they want?” ● The two big negotiation strategies are: Distributive Bargaining and Interest-Based Bargaining. ○ Distributive Bargaining- Divides up a limited number of benefits or resources. Win/lose position. ○ Interest-Based Bargaining- Discovering your bargaining partner’s interest, his or her needs or preferences. The goal is to expand the pie of benefits, attempting to satisfy as many of your mutual interests as possible. ● Most negotiations do become distributive at some point, after you’ve brainstormed and expanded that pie, you will eventually need to distribute the resources. You will produce better outcomes by employing both strategies.
- 5. Preparing for a Successful Negotiation- Asking Diagnostic Questions ● Asking diagnostic questions helps you gain clarity and guide the conversation toward agreement. ● If you get stuck remember the Ws, who, what, when, where, and why, and see what follows. ○ In the absence of facts and information, we tend to mind read and make assumptions, or worse, we try to convince people to do something they don’t want to do.
- 6. Preparing for a Successful Negotiation- Exploring conflict resolution styles ● We develop strategies for easing our fear; these strategies are styles, or ingrained responses to conflict; they are part of our DNA or subconscious. Five Strategies for Dealing With Conflict 1. Avoidance. 2. Suppression. 3. Resolution. 4. Transformation. 5. Transcendence.
- 7. Preparing for a Successful Negotiation- Understanding contentious tactics ● When we decide we want or need something, and we set our sights on getting it, we place ourselves in the path of potential conflict with someone or something. ○ Not everyone knows how to ask diagnostic questions or how to brainstorm and expand conversation to engage in problem solving. ■ Your bargaining partner may resort to contentious tactics in an attempt to hold their group or keep as many of the pieces of the pie as possible. ● It is important for you to learn and recognize the tactics, so you can either disengage, meet fire with fire, or change the game. ○ By recognizing them as they’re happening, you’ll be better prepared to pause, slow down, and depersonalize the situation, then you can make more collaborative choices in the moment. ● Focus on the problem, not the person. Not only will you avoid blame and insults, you will demonstrate how skilled and valuable you are.
- 8. How to Negotiate- Opening The Negotiation ● To start a solid negotiation you should: ○ Establish a connection with your partner, engage in active listening and frame your opening request as a benefit. ○ Establish a connection and trust is primarily a matter of Smalltalk. ○ Practice active listening. ■ Let your bargaining partner know you understand their perspective and issues. ○ Once the connections are established, your next step is to frame your opening offer or request as a benefit.
- 9. How to Negotiate- Framing ● Framing is an elegant communication tool. ○ It is the skill of creating perspective so that a decision can be made. ● You frame the request around time, budget, and reputation as benefits to your bargaining partner, while also anchoring the monetary value within it. ● Framing focuses on attention, influences judgments, organizes a person’s thoughts around a specific category or outcome, and people tend to create responses to fit the frame. ● If you’re willing to make concessions but your bargaining partner is not, reframe the situation by changing the emphasis from the roadblock to exploring other possibilities.
- 10. How to Negotiate- Anchoring ● One of the most powerful tools in your negotiation toolkit is anchoring. ○ Anchoring is the practice of creating a reference point around which a negotiation will revolve. ● Not only do you want to anchor first, you want to anchor in your favor. ○ By doing so, you give yourself wiggle room to trade things of value, which in turn will bring you closer to your bottom line.
- 11. How to Negotiate- Simplifying concessions and reciprocity ● A concession is giving away a privilege, a fact, or a piece of your pie. ● Reciprocity is asking for something in return. ○ Without reciprocity, a concession is a one-way transaction, or settling and caving into demands. ● Making concessions and asking for reciprocity is about being creative with all the moving parts of the negotiation. ○ The goal is not to compromise, but exchange things of value to get to an agreement everybody is happy about. ● If you don’t get to agreement, it could be a good thing, because the last thing you want is to regret the outcome.
- 12. How to Negotiate- Handling a lack of cooperation ● In a perfect world, your bargaining partner is as invested in your interests as you are in theirs. ● In the sense that your negotiation is likely to be pretty hard ball: ○ You might want to prepare by crafting a side deal first. ○ Do your best to match your partner’s conversation style. ■ As you settle into the conversation, notice: is your bargaining partner relying on story, technical information, or cultural values? (Match the style). ● If you’re still running into a roadblock, remember meet fire with fire. ● In any case, be willing to out-wait your bargaining partner, and remember, the most powerful negotiation tactic is silence. ○ It may be time to set aside the conversation and come back to it later.
- 13. Final Thoughts ● Tackle the easy things firsts to get a feel for the process and create a string of successes. ● Negotiation is like any art or sport. (Always come back to the basics) ● Remember to anchor first, frame your offer, and exchange things of value and lean into those diagnostic questions when you meet resistance. ● The most powerful negotiation strategy is silence. ● Effective negotiation is not just a set of tools or tactics, it’s really a commitment to a principle that steers you toward collaboration.