Negotiation Rex Mitchell Fall 2011

Negotiation Rex Mitchell Fall 2011

Negotiation • Conferring with another so as to arrive at the settlement of some matter (dictionary) • Negotiation is a basic means of getting what you want from others. It is back-and-forth communication designed to reach an agreement when you and the other side have some interests that are ...opposed. (Fisher & Ury, xvii)

Persuasion • Moving by argument, entreaty, or expostulation (reasoning earnestly) to a belief, position, or course of action (dictionary) • Persuasion is a negotiating and learning process through which a persuader leads colleagues to a problem’s shared solution. Persuasion does involve moving people to a position they don’t currently hold, but not by begging or cajoling. (Conger, p.86)

Negotiation & persuasion are some ways to manage conflicts • Persuasion is an important part of negotiation and an important part of leadership and life, including situations we might not identify as negotiations

Negotiation Myths • Good negotiators are born • Experience is a great teacher • Good negotiators take risks • Good negotiators rely on intuition • Negotiations are always win-lose • The only negotiations are formal or explicit negotiations • Good negotiators are tough, intimidating, and try to get everything they can

Crucial Elements inEvery Negotiation • Information • Time • Power

Information • Prepare • Inquire • Listen and observe • Direct • Indirect

Time • Good to have flexibility • Helps to know more about the others’ deadlines than they do about yours • Patience pays

Power • Many sources • Real and inferred • Can change during negotiations • Can be crafted and acquired • Sophistication & restraint in using power

Negotiation Requires • Interdependence, recognized • Motivation to engage • Parties engage between avoidance and domination • Enough power balance • Reaching an active phase

Two Main Approaches Competitive --- Collaborative • Desirable to consider (at least partly) collaborative negotiations • Not always possible, appropriate, or sufficient • Often combine competitive and collaborative approaches and tactics in versatile way, e.g., in “principled negotiations”

Differences re CRIP Goals • Content: win-lose vs win-win • Relational: unfriendly vs friendly • Identity/face-saving: rigid/confrontational vs flexible/supportive • Process: positional bargaining vs interest-based bargaining

Goal Examples • Content: get Adrian to work full-time on my project starting next week • Relational: maintain good relations with Adrian’s boss, Sam • Identity: not appear weak to Sam or others during this negotiation • Process: talk in person and privately

CRIP Goals Interact • Not all types of goals may be present • Goals overlap and differ in importance • Identity and relational issues underlie content and process issues • Content-only solutions are rarely satisfying in serious situations • Goals change during interactions

Competitive Communication Patterns • High opening demands and concede slowly • Try to maximize tangible resource gains • Exaggerate value of concessions offered • Use threats, confrontations, argumentation, forceful speaking • Conceal and distort information • Manipulate people & process - distort intentions, resources, and goals • Focus on content goals rather than relational goals

Competitive Disadvantages • Can hurt relationships, with mistrust, anger, breakdowns, communication distortions... • Blocks creative exploration & potential joint gains • Payoffs of competitive actions are often overestimated • Encourages brinkmanship (impasses) • May undermine implementation • Commitment vs. compliance

Collaborative Communication Patterns • Collaborative tactics: non-evaluative descriptive statements, disclosing statements, honest inquiry, requesting feedback, supportive remarks, concessions, accepting responsibility • Brainstorm creative new options to meet everyone’s interests, expand the pie • Logrolling (identify & try to deal with top-priority issues for each) • Bridging (invent new options to meet the other side’s needs) • Minimize costs to the other for going along with you

Collaborative Disadvantages • May pressure an individual to compromise and accommodate in ways not in his/her best interests • Avoids confrontational strategies (which can be helpful at times) • Increases vulnerability to deception & manipulation by a competitive opponent • Makes it hard to establish definite aspiration levels & bottom lines • Requires substantial skill and knowledge of the process • Requires strong confidence in one's perceptions regarding the interests and needs of the other side

The Ultimatum Game • First person proposes a division of $100 in whatever fashion s/he chooses. • If second person agrees, they distribute the $100 between themselves, as specified • If the second person disagrees, they both get nothing

Some Important Terms • Bargaining mix: the set of issues • Having multiple items & being creative can be very helpful • BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated settlement) • Sometimes are only two choices • (Good) alternatives are important • Target point (aka aspiration): desired end point • Resistance point (aka bottom line): furthest from the target point a negotiator will go • Starting point: the first position a negotiator plans to take • Bargaining range (aka zone of potential agreement): • Positive bargaining range • Negative bargaining range, & likely stalemate • Settlement point: the final point(s) of agreement

Engage with the readings • What do I like, agree with, find useful? Why? • How might I apply one or more concepts in my life – now and in the future? • What do I disagree with and/or would modify or expand on? Why? How?

Basic Points from F,U,P Book • Dilemma: hard or soft? • Offers third way - both hard and soft • Hard on merits and interests • Soft on people • How to obtain what you are entitled to & still be decent • If the other side learns this strategy, it makes the negotiations easier, not harder (it is not an advantage to negotiate with an unskilled opponent, if you will interact later)

Three Criteria fora Negotiation Method • Produce a “wise” agreement, if agreement is possible • An agreement that wisely reconciles the parties' interests • Efficient • Improve or at least not damage relationship • Bargaining over positions goes against all three • Being nice is no answer

Principled Negotiation • Oriented to collaborative negotiations, but can be used in competitive • Centered around four considerations • People: Disentangle people from the problem • Interests: Focus on interests, not positions (interests always underlie positions) • Options: Generate rich range before deciding what to do • Criteria: Insist that the result be based on objective standards • Uses "firm flexibility"

Some Facets of Principled Negotiation • Assume there is a solution • Join “with” the other to develop creative options • Identify complementary interests • Be firm in your goals and flexible in your means • Control the process, not the person • Use principles of productive and effective communication

Three (Iterative) Stages • Analysis • Planning • Discussion

PIOC: People • Negotiators are people first • Failure to deal with others as human beings prone to human reactions can be disastrous • People problems: theirs and yours • Perceptions (and inferences) • Emotions • Communications • Prevention works better than repair

PIOC: Interests • Usually are several possible positions that could satisfy any interest • Behind opposed positions lie shared and compatible interests, as well as conflicting ones • Usually are multiple interests • Look forward, rather than back • Commit to your interests, not your positions • Stay open to take their interests into account • Be hard on the problem, soft on the people

Need Clarity About Your Interests • “If you don't know where you're going, you might wind up somewhere else.” (Yogi Berra) • Distinguish among interests, goals (aka objectives), positions, strategies, & actions • Define interests and goals in terms of results and outcomes, not actions • Frame goals as positive results to be achieved rather than problems to be avoided

An interest is a motivator, an underlying need, desire, or concern, e.g., I want to feel financially secure or I need more money with the arrival of a second child. • A goal is a desired outcome or result, e.g., I want to make $60,000 this year. • A position is a stated result or proposal, usually in a negotiation or conflict, e.g., I deserve a 10% salary increase.

A strategy is the method or path for achieving a goal, e.g., I will first try to negotiate an increase in my salary, then, if this does not achieve my goal, I will search for a second job on weekends. • Tactics and actions are specific steps to be taken, hopefully following a strategy, e.g., contact the placement office in my professional society to identify possible weekend positions

Examples of Complementary Interests

PIOC: Creative Options • Library window, Sinai Peninsula & orange examples • Avoid: • Premature judgment • Searching for the single answer • Assuming fixed pie • Stance that solving their problem is their problem • Look for shared interests and mutual gain • Develop creative new options (brainstorm to expand the pie) • Make their decision easy

PIOC: Use Objective Criteria • Commit to reaching a solution based on principle, not pressure • Be open to reason, closed to threats • Discuss objective standards for settling a problem instead of trying to force each other to back down • Frame issue as joint search for objective criteria • Reason & be open re which standards are appropriate & how to apply • Yield only to principle & facts, not pressure • Note that your position "is a matter of principle"

FURTHER NEGOTIATION SKILL BUILDING

Preparing for Negotiation • Define your interests (don't confuse these with positions) • Analyze the other party (gather information and make sense of it) • Define issues (usually are hidden ones) • Consult with your team and constituencies (and the other side)

Preparing (cont.) • Assemble issues and define the bargaining mix. A larger bargaining mix takes: • Longer to negotiate • But opens up more opportunities for collaborative solutions • Prioritize interests and issues (your own and those of the other side)

Preparing (cont.) • Develop and think through strategy options • Identify your BATNAs, try to develop better ones • Set target points, resistance points (understand and identify your own limits, recognizing trade-offs) • Develop starting points & effective openings with supporting arguments (do your homework - research and organize information)

Negotiation Strategy Choices

Competitive Negotiation • Desirable to consider collaborative negotiation in majority of situations • But this is not always possible, appropriate, or sufficient • Can combine competitive and collaborative (appropriate for contract negotiation)

Competitive Negotiation • Three crucial variables: • Power • Information • Time • Strategies should discover & influence the other's resistance points • Iterative • Progression of concessions • “Commitments” are tricky

Competitive Strategies • Try for settlement close to other's resistance point • Get the other side to modify their resistance point • Modify your own resistance point • Expand and/or use multiple items in the bargaining mix creatively

Preventing/Dealing with Negotiation Problems • Reduce tension and encourage de-escalation: • Take a break • Active listening • Acknowledge the other's feelings • Make concessions to encourage reciprocation • Note the difference between accurately hearing what the other party has said plus acknowledging that s/he feels as s/he does ...and agreeing with those statements

Negotiation Rex Mitchell Fall 2011