How do you effectively respond to someone who is harming others or someone who is having a negative influence on the performance of others? Someone who will not engage with you in a meaningful manner? In other words, bad actors. You just can’t get that person to the table… Perhaps powerful backup is called for. […]
# 90 Bookended Negotiation for Dealing with Bad Actors Keep Reading »
We negotiate because we want certain tangible interests satisfied. We may also need to talk through past events, or build a stronger working relationship. Additionally, there is another type of benefit to negotiation that can be a potential goldmine. It is the possibility of creating value that is not evident before negotiators meet. Creating value
#67 Creating Value in Negotiation Keep Reading »
In the previous two blogs I presented some of the ways that one could be taken advantage of in negotiation and how to respond to them. So far I have covered tricks, power grabs, exaggeration, and possible reneging on agreements. But there is another deeper and more profound problem that affects fairness of outcomes, called
#66 The Negotiator’s Dilemma Keep Reading »
This is the second in a series of blogs exploring factors that can threaten collaborative negotiation. The previous blog examined tricks and power grabs; this one looks at lack of trust. In Getting to Yes, Fisher and Ury suggest that one can proceed in negotiation independent of trust. Counter-intuitively, they are saying that when either
#65 Lack Of Trust: A Threat To Collaborative Negotiation And How To Get Past It Keep Reading »
This blog owes its central theme of using reciprocity in negotiation to Gordon Sloan’s take on a passage in Fisher and Ury’s Getting to Yes. Negotiation should be reciprocal communication, that is, each party should be able to participate in negotiation in an equivalent manner. Therefore, if only one party is able to use a
#64 Reciprocity: Use It As A Guide In Responding To Manipulation Keep Reading »
The notion of a ‘tripwire’ is a highly practical concept supplemental to the BATNA that Fisher and Ury wrote about in Getting to Yes. If you are concerned about being influenced to accept – in the heat of the moment – an agreement you will later regret, use a ‘tripwire.’ The tripwire is a line
#63 Use A Tripwire If You Feel Vulnerable In Negotiation Keep Reading »
Intangible interests are subjective interests that are difficult to quantify, for example privacy, reputation, and honour. It is difficult to weigh one option against another when you know they are relevant but have trouble determining the extent of their value. Below are three examples. In every case, one can estimate a value for the intangible
#62 Quantifying Intangible Interests In Negotiation Keep Reading »
This blog outlines a way of ranking options when each option satisfies a set of confounded interests in different ways. The method is described in The Manager as Negotiator by Lax and Sebenius. My advice is to apply it as an aid in decision-making, but not to be wedded to it. The example used is
#61 Ranking Options In Cases Of Confounded Interests Keep Reading »
The interests of negotiators can be divided into substantive interests such as low cost, a strong product, or a flexible contract; and intangible interests, which tend to be more subjective and psychological in nature, such as an interest in honest communication.
#60 Intangible Interests – Why They Are Important And How To Identify Them Keep Reading »
