Clare Dignall - Negotiation Skills in 7 simple steps

Not every negotiation can arrive at an agreement. Your Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) can provide an alternative to walking away and damaging relationships with those you have to work with afterwards. Say you’re negotiating with your manager for extra training, but she says ‘I simply have no budget for training’. Rather than walk away from the prospect of career progression, your BATNA may provide alternatives to satisfy some of your interests. Extra holiday entitlement, or half-day Fridays, would give you some capacity to pursue training under your own steam. The BATNA creatively acknowledges the fact that negotiations have failed to provide agreement now, but that you value the ongoing relationship.

Contact your opposite number, and ask what they’d like on the agenda for discussion. This will reveal the issues that are important to them, possible areas for mutual agreement, and will also highlight those questions that you’ve not yet considered in your research. Distributing this agenda will tell the opposite party what’s important to you, and oblige them to talk about it; they can’t wriggle out of an agenda point if they’ve agreed the document. An agenda saves time and minimizes surprises: no properly structured meeting should wander much from its original format. An advance agenda also removes the fear of the unknown, and gives you a chance to rehearse what you want to say.

This simple but invaluable written document should include the date, time and venue, followed by a list of the people attending. Items for discussion are listed in the order you propose they be discussed, numbered accordingly. If anyone has a specific role, that’s worthwhile recording.

Date/Time:01 February 2014 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Venue:Meeting Room C, Taylor Building

Attendees:Marc Fisher, Sarah Tait, Jim Morton

Items for discussion

1 Marc Fisher’s current roles and responsibilities

2 Office changes: next 12 months

3 Changes to office administration roles

4 Possible extra responsibilities for key staff

5 Training requirements

RESPONSIBILITIES

Record meeting decisions: Jim Morton

By undertaking preparatory research about your opposite number, you may have an idea about what their negotiation strategy will be. An advance agenda will definitely clarify things further. But if, despite having done your homework, you still feel you don’t know what to expect, it’s still worthwhile making an educated guess, or guesses. Asking yourself the following questions will help you explore possible scenarios in your head. It may help you form an idea of the opposite party’s likely strategy and also whip your own into shape:

Are they likely to open with a proposal?

What might their proposals be?

What arguments do I have to counter them?

Do I think they will be ‘tough’ or accommodating?

How are they going to respond to my must-haves?

What counters will they have to my proposals?

Do I think they will give me a ‘take it or leave it’ ultimatum?

How will they rate the importance of my USP?

Asking yourself such simple, open questions will start you thinking creatively about how to respond to any number of scenarios. ‘Dealing with’ something in your head in advance of the meeting will make the real thing less surprising, and much less daunting.

If you’re feeling nervous about negotiating, be assured that you’re not alone. Like learning any difficult new skill, practice can both minimize anxiety and improve your performance.

Ask a friend to play a tough-nut negotiator over coffee one weekend, and try out your negotiation strategy against your educated guess at your opponent’s. Roleplay will not only help you practise speaking persuasively about your ‘must-haves’, but will sharpen your ability to think on your feet – vital in negotiations. Note those moments that you found particularly hard to get through: do you tend to lose your train of thought if someone interrupts you? Do you get upset if someone dismisses your argument? Identifying pressure points and finding ways to deal with them before you really have to is invaluable. Ask your friend for feedback – were your arguments compelling? Did you sell yourself? How confident was your body language? Their answers could be revealing.

Choose your venue

Just like in football, it’s usually preferable to negotiate on ‘home turf’, where you feel most secure. However, the importance of this can get over-emphasized, so don’t fret if you fail to persuade the other party to yours. Negotiating on their patch may not be your first choice but there are perks: because you’re an invited guest, you don’t need to deal with the details of providing hospitality, and can concentrate on the negotiations, and nothing else.

Meeting in a neutral location such as a hired meeting room or over coffee is just as good, potentially better. Not only are you both on an equal footing, but finding your feet somewhere new can offer opportunities for breaking the ice before you start: finding power points and water coolers becomes a group activity, gets both sides talking and helps you relax.

If talks are on home turf, avoid out-dated power games like sitting in an upholstered chair while the opposite party squirms on plastic ones. Try sitting round a table or side by side, rather than across it, to make both sides feel this is a shared problem rather than a head-to-head. Provide breaks, good refreshments, and make sure everyone knows where the restrooms are.

Your self-preparation

You’ve spent valuable time gathering information ahead of your negotiations, now it’s time to gather yourself too. Sparing a thought for your physical presentation is not a wasted effort; going into negotiation feeling good about yourself not only improves your own confidence; it will send out strong positive messages to those you are about to negotiate with too.

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