Negotiation has come to increasingly represent a critical component in numerous contexts: business, political, social and educational. Compared to earlier approaches to governance and management across different contexts, a governor / leader / educator used to impose her own view on direct and indirect stakeholders. The rules and policies of engagement are, in a business context, numerous and are a function of corporate culture including not only "basic" benefits and perks additional to compensation but also, in more "informal" work settings, working hours and layout design. Two best negotiation strategies are, for current purposes, discussed: Do Your Research and Stay Focused. By "Do Your Research" is meant a deeper understanding of a negotiation context and by "Stay Focused" is meant a steady pursuance of negation goals as negotiation context evolves. This document aims, hence, to explain how Do Your Research and Stay Focused methods can ensure a win-win situation in a negation context.
The case for pre-negotiation planning and preparation cannot be overemphasized. If anything, an adept negotiator should understand her negotiating context as much as she can. This can be achieved by pre-negotiation research covering specifics, priorities and alternatives (Buell, 2007). The negotiator, in her pursuance of proper understanding, should develop a detailed outline of a given negotiation context. This should make negotiation process more manageable and predictable if not winnable. This should be complemented by an actual examination of preset hypotheses during preparation process once a negotiator is engaged in actual negotiations. Further, by properly preparing for a negotiation context, a negotiator is not only aiming to win negotiations but, most fundamentally, understand her negotiating parties initially. This cannot be overemphasized in current multicultural, multilateral negotiation ecosystems. Contrary to earlier, simpler negotiation contexts, current contexts require prolonged and, probably supported by external parties, for further understanding of a complex negotiation context.
Needless to say, an end-goal for negotiations is achieving goals by maximizing gains and minimizing losses. Therefore, a "laser focus" is not only recommended but is necessary for pursuing and achieving goals. One most critical component in a given negotiation context is understanding a negotiating party's perspective. That is, by properly "framing" a negotiating party's position as to shift her perspective from an extreme rejection to possible acceptance, a negotiator can make a case for staying focused (Buell). For example, in negotiating conditions for a major credit line, an entrepreneur can reframe her arguments for a creditor by shifting negotiation focus away from her liabilities as a loan applicant and on benefits a creditor gains (in addition to interest on loan) including, for example, brand image enhancement (by showing leadership and initiative in funding promising startups) and further market expansion (by offering financial services for startups compared to bigger enterprises, usually preferred by creditors).
Then again, a given negotiation context is not set at stone. Indeed, negotiating parties need to be able to adapt to a continuously shifting set of negotiating variables for more rewarding outcomes for all, if not most, negotiating parties (Matos, Sierra & Jennings, 1998). This can be achieved by performing periodical reviews of given negotiation variables, if not basic assumptions should a major shift in strategy occurs. Further, by following up achieved, partial outcomes, a negotiating party is better able to reframe assumptions and/or negotiation grounds as to shift another party's position (for further, partial gains) or, better still, achieve broader, final gains for all, if not most, negotiating parties.
References
Buell, B. (2007, January 15). Negotiation Strategy: Seven Common Pitfalls to Avoid. Stanford Graduate School of Business. Retrieved from https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/negotiation-strategy-seven-common-pitfalls-avoid
Matos, N., Sierra, C., & Jennings, N.R. (1998). Determining successful negotiation strategies: an evolutionary approach. In Proceedings from IEEE 1998: International Conference on Multi Agent Systems. Paris: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/ICMAS.1998.699048
