Best Practices in Negotiation

1. 6. Remember the Intangibles

1.1. It is important that negotiators remember the intangible factors while negotiating and remain aware of their potential effects. Intangibles frequently affect negotiation in a negative way, and they often operate out of the negotiator’s awareness.

2. 7. Actively Manage Coalitions

2.1. Coalitions can have very significant effects on the negotiation process and outcome. Negotiators should recognize three types of coalitions and their potential effects:

2.1.1. (1) coalitions against you

2.1.2. (2) coalitions that support you

2.1.3. (3) loose

3. 8. Savor and Protect Your Reputation

3.1. Reputations travel fast, and people often know more about you than you think that they do. Starting negotiations with a positive reputation is essential, and negotiators should be vigilant in protecting their reputations.

4. 9. Remember That Rationality and Fairness Are Relative

4.1. Research on negotiator perception and cognition is quite clear: People tend to view the world in a self-serving manner and define the “rational” thing to do or a “fair” outcome or process in a way that benefits themselves.

5. 10. Continue to Learn from the Experience

5.1. The best negotiators continue to learn from experience—they know there are so many different variables and nuances when negotiating that no two negotiations are identical.

6. 1. Be Prepared

6.1. Negotiators who are better prepared have numerous advantages, including the ability to analyze the other party’s offers more effectively and efficiently, to understand the nuances of the concession-making process, and to achieve their negotiation goals.

7. 2. Diagnose the Fundamental Structure of the Negotiation

7.1. Negotiators should make a conscious decision about whether they are facing a fundamentally distributive negotiation, an integrative negotiation, or a blend of the two, and choose their strategies and tactics accordingly

8. 3. Identify and Work the BATNA

8.1. One alternative, the best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA), is especially important because this is the option that likely will be chosen should an agreement not be reached.

9. 4. Be Willing to Walk Away

9.1. Strong negotiators remember this and are willing to walk away from a negotiation when no agreement is better than a poor agreement or when the process is so offensive that the deal isn’t worth the work.

10. 5. Master the Key Paradoxes of Negotiation

10.1. The challenge for negotiators in handling these paradoxes is to strive for balance in these situations.

10.1.1. Claiming Value versus Creating Value

10.1.2. Sticking by Your Principles versus Being Resilient to the Flow

10.1.3. Sticking with the Strategy versus Opportunistic Pursuit of New Options

10.1.4. Honest and Open versus Closed and Opaque

10.1.5. Trust versus Distrust