TIPS AND IMPORTANT NOTES FOR NEGOTIATION

 

TIPS FOR NEGOTIATING

1.	Learn your art	Developing the negotiation skills can take time.  Learn from every negotiation both in the organization and in your life.
2.	Do the research	Information is power.  Find out as much as you can about your counterpart.
3.	Consider the time scale	Shape your negotiating strategy with respect to the timescale.  You can be blunt in a short, one off negotiation than in a long negotiation that can be a part of an on going relationship.
4.	Creating the right team	Carefully consider the size and composition of your team so as to include all necessary skills and represent all key constituents.
5.	Tailor your approach	Utilize all the negotiation style (distributive, integrative and mixed) where appropriate, depending on with whom the negotiation is done and what are their negotiating style.
6.	Tread carefully	It is not always possible to build trust.  Some individuals and groups are simply untrustworthy, so be cautious in your effort to develop trust.
7.	Recognize your true power	Try to make an objective assessment of the amount of power you have.
8.	Use likeability and integrity	People do business with people they like and whom they can trust to keep their promises and deliver good value.
9.	Make time to prepare	Take enough time to create cohesive, trustworthy team.  Allow them to prepare your strategy as a group.

IN FOCUS FOR NEGOTIATING

1.	Avoiding escalation of commitment	It can be easy to fall into the trap of competing.  All negotiators must keep a sense of perspective in their negotiations.
2.	Responses to distributive tactics	If the other party is using a distributive win-lose approach, a negotiators who favors the win-win style must protect their own interest. First, it is advisable to try to influence the other party to move towards a more integrative style.
3.	Strategic use of anger	Used to encourage the other party to agree to their demands.  Inducing fear in opponent pushes the person to cave in and agree.
4.	Decision time	Negotiation as a team begs the question of deciding on a course of action.  There are three ways to reach a decision: Unanimity where all team members must agree on a given issue Majority rule where the majority will decide. Consensus where making a decision that not all the team members agree with fully, but that all can live with.

HIGHLIGHTS FOR NEGOTIATING

1.	BATNA	Acronym of Best Alternative To A Negotiated Agreement. This term is used by negotiators to describe the course of action that you or your counterpart will take if negotiations breakdown.
2.	Value claiming behavior	Competitive actions undertaken by a negotiator in an attempt to ensure a win-lose outcome in their favor.  Such actions include making excessive demands or threats, concealing interest, and withholding information.

IMPORTANT NOTES IN NEGOTIATING

1.	The five (5) negotiation dilemmas	The honesty dilemma How much to tell Striking a balance between honesty and transparency The trust dilemma Build trust with measured caution The empathy dilemma Maintain good relationship but protect your interest too The compete or cooperate dilemma Need to be skilled at both Able to create and claim value The strategy or opportunity dilemma Aware of distraction from achieving objectives
2.	Avoiding common mistakes in negotiations	Relaying on secondary information Availability of bias Confirmatory off bias Information asymmetry Overconfidence Underestimating resources
3.	Conducting interest-based negotiations	Exchange information Focus on interest Separate the issues Aim for joint gains See both sides Know your BATNA Use standards
4.	The four types of thinking styles	The rational self Logical Analytical Fact-oriented Good with numbers The safekeeping self Cautious Organized Systematic Neat Timely Well-planned Obedient Risk-averse The feeling self Friendly Enjoy human interactions Engage in open communication Express their emotions Enjoy teaching Supportive of others The experimental self Think holistically See the big picture Creative Comfortable with uncertainty Future-oriented Willing to take risks
5.	The Asian style of negotiation	Relationships (Guanxi) Prefer to do business within their trusted network Emotions The Confucian teaching xinping qihe, meaning ‘being perfectly calm’, makes it difficult for Western negotiators to ‘read’ their counterparts and to know where they stand Fairness Concept: those who have more should give to those with less Trust from the heart The lengthy process of building trust is based on openness, mutual assistance, understanding, and the formation of emotional bonds Face Dignity and prestige Legalism Decisions Consensus style decision making Preserve relationships and give face to others

Short notes from:

THE BOOK OF MANAGEMENT

The Ten Essential Skills For Achieving High Performance

Darling Kindersley Limited (DKL), Penguin Group (UK)