3 dimensions to negotiation

When negotiating most people tend to look at it in a linear one dimension way, basically, distributive or collaborative tactics and that’s it. Not that this is bad but there are alternatives.

You see a choice between the two just means that one is focused on tactics to use. Tactics is just one aspect in 3 dimensions to negotiation.

The idea behind negotiation

Negotiation is just as old as humans, perhaps even older given that animals have some rudimentary form of it. I mean we see some form of fair play among the chimps and at times even lions will have to decide when not to go all in in a fight for females and the kingdom.

But back to humans in which case we can define negotiations as:

From an economic transaction point of view …as a process of planning, reviewing and analyzing used by a buyer and a seller to reach acceptable agreements or compromises which include all aspects of the business transaction, not just price.

In its simplest form negotiation is the process whereby two or more parties decide what each will take in an exchange between them

Negotiation will always come down to purposeful persuasion and constructive compromise which is why you need to know when to do it or when to walk away from one

To negotiate or not to negotiate

Simple negotiations such as deciding where to have dinner with your significant other or whether or not to visit your in laws over the holidays don’t take much brain power like complex contract negotiations.

But either way you have to know when or when not to negotiate and the factors to consider will include:

• Can you achieve the objectives you desired without negotiating?
• Whether or not you have time and effort to negotiate
• Do you have alternatives to negotiation?
• Can you lose too much by negotiating?
• Is the other party negotiating in bad faith or unethically?

Whether or not waiting will improve your position

3 dimensions of negotiation if you decide to

What TACTICS will you use?

The tactics you use when persuading the other party can make or break a deal you aim at getting.  Whenever parties get in a negotiation they all have a point upon which they will walk away and it is the difference between your walk away position and their walk away position that creates a zone of potential agreement, where both of you can come to an agreement.

But all these depend on how aggressive or accommodative your tactics are. So before you decide on hard ball tactics or expanding the pie, you need to consider the second and the third dimension and avoid being a one sided negotiator

How well is the DEAL DESIGNED?

The tactics you will use will depend on how well you have designed your deal because most people will only look at negotiation in terms of their interest and position so don’t just look at deals on face value in the sense that you have a face to face meeting and then try to talk the person into saying yes.

You have to conduct your research and go deep enough to understand the other party’s drives and motivation, that is, drives of the economic and non-economic value

What is your SET UP like?

In order to be an effective negotiator you always have to think beyond the actual negotiation room or table. Before you even enter the room there are things you have to ensure are in the right place and that means finding out if:

• The right parties have been approached
• In the right sequence
• To deal with the right issues
• That engage the right interest
• At the right table
• At the right time
• Under the right expectations
• And facing the right consequences of walking away if there is no deal

So these are some three aspects to consider in negotiation we will go into details on each in the next series of articles and videos