Strategy

Planning your strategy is important in negotiation. Once you know your objectives, you need to work out how you are going to achieve them. It is also useful to try and see the negotiation from the other side and try and work out what their strategy will be.

During the negotiation there will be opportunities to use various tactics and you need to decide on which of these you feel comfortable with and recognise the tactics being used by the other side. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. How am I going to achieve my objectives in this negotiation?

2. What is the strategy of the other side likely to be?

3. What tactics should I use within the negotiation?

4. What tactics are the other side likely to use?

Tasks

If you go into negotiation with a colleague or colleagues, you need to decide during the preparation phase:

1. What role will each team member take in the negotiation?

2. How can we work together in the most effective way?

Some teams of negotiators appoint team leaders, note takers, observers and specialists, each with their own clearly defined authority and roles to perform. Having a clear understanding of roles within the negotiation will make the team approach much more effective.

Preparing for negotiation

Effective preparation is vital if you are to achieve the best results. Successful negotiators have broad and specific objectives and have planned how to achieve these before sitting down at the negotiating table. They can then be proactive and direct the negotiators towards achieving these objectives rather than being merely reactive to the other party's proposals. Beware, however, of having tunnel vision about your objectives or strategy. Be flexible! Try to identify clearly the areas of agreement, and potential areas of conflict where co-operation and/or compromise can be used to reach agreement. If not, you may find yourself with very little room to manoeuvre during the negotia­tion itself, and this can result in either you or the other party feeling backed into a corner, or becoming frustrated. This leads to negative attitudes developing into non-co-operation and eventual refusal to reach agreement, because of perceived lack of consideration of arguments or feelings.

Do not, at the preparation stage, become too committed to some unchangeable action or policy. If the other party becomes aware of this, and that this is the only outcome that you are seeking and will accept, the negotiation will be compromised as soon as it begins. Synergy and successful negotiating situations are more likely to occur when you are willing (and able) to rethink your objectives and strategy during the negotiation itself in the light of information and attitudes revealed to you by the other party. A win/lose or lose/lose situation benefits no one: the winners and losers have to live with each other afterwards, and future negotiations may be prejudiced by either of these outcomes.

With time on your hands, try to get to know as much about the other negotiating party as possible:

• Is he/she independent or part of a team?

• Is he/she authorised to make decisions without referring back?

• Can he/she deliver, and if not, who can?

• What type of person is he/she? How experienced a negotiator?

• What type of approach is likely to achieve the best results?

• What are his/her interests likely to be and in what order of priority?

• What type of behaviour can you expect from this person?

2. Negotiations: techniques and methods

Negotiating styles

The style we use can build on the climate created at the start or it can change the climate from one of collaboration to one of competition, conflict and personal skirmishes.

Having identified and agreed at the beginning the purpose of the negotiation, the procedures and processes to be used, the time constraints, the positions of each party, we need jointly to identify the issues to be discussed and the interests on which to negotiate. The types of style we can use can be described in two dimensions as direction and strength.

Direction refers to the way we handle information. We can push: give information, make proposals, ignore other people's contribu­tions, criticize, act as an irritator - all valid tactics dependent on the nature and context of the negotiation. Or we can pull: ask questions to obtain information, ask for suggestions, check for understanding, ask for clarification, state our feelings.

Strength refers to the flexibility we use to move from our initial positions. We can act hard: we want to win at all costs, we will not concede or retract, will not accept offers - we aim high! Or we can act soft: we concede, we waver, we find it difficult to say no, we accommodate - we aim low. We may act hard on some issues and soft on others: this gives a clear indication of where our preferred outcome priorities lie.

Bidding tactics

Bidding on substantive issues in negotiations is like bidding in poker we bid on the exposed cards (information) and on our assessment of the other party as people and our perception or estimation of the importance of a positive outcome to them. We can bid high or low.

• A high bid has the advantage that you might just get away with it! It tells the other party how much you want, but still leaves room for manoeuvring. However, there is always the risk with a high bid that the other party might just walk out. They may see you as being bloody-minded and you could prejudice future bargaining rela­tionships.

• A low bid may get you a quick settlement. The other party feels like collaborating, as they perceive it to be realistic (in their terms). However, once you have bid low, you will have difficulty in raising your bid afterwards and you may have problems with your constituents, who may feel you have 'sold them down the river'. You give yourself little room for movement.

You would therefore normally bid high in your opening bid, but no higher than you could rationally defend.

Bidding clarifies where the differences lie between the parties and creates a basis from which they can move forward to resolve these differences. The tactics you can use are to focus on a specific detail, or to trade off one item against another, or to move forward on a broad front. It is therefore always important to be able to identify common ground rather than differences. You should acquire the following control skills.

• Review progress: where are we in relation to the objectives stated at the beginning?

• Clarify problems: make sure everyone is aware of the real differences.

• Show agreement: keep a collaborative climate by acknowledging or agreeing points made by the other party.

• Summarize: what have we agreed so far? How do we feel now?

• Monitor progress against elapsed time: remember that people's concentration drops rapidly after about twenty minutes. Try to achieve agreement on points or stages of the negotiation before their concentration wavers - if necessary, take a break, adjourn after summarizing where you are, and start again.

The skills you need to develop are those of creating and maintaining interest, keeping concentration going, time-watching and building relationships of mutual respect and trust. These will help you negotiate effectively and achieve a positive outcome.

Finding solutions

Solutions can only be found when both parties are prepared 'to do business' and this means that both parties are able and willing to move forward. Sometimes you may find that the other party is unable and unwilling to move or respond and this is where you will need to ask 'why not?' Is it because of their stance or perhaps the result of what you are asking? If the latter is the case you will need to review your interests to ascertain the reason for the blockage, and try to seek an alternative way to progress.

Another reason why the other party may not be willing to proceed could be because of some code of behaviour or loyalty which he/she feels towards colleagues, and you may have to find a way of enabling him/her to 'save face' if that code has to be broken: by making it easier for him/her to agree to your terms you can often achieve a quick solution to the problem.

Having determined what your interests are, you should be able and prepared to:

1. State your objectives clearly and firmly (though not aggressively), without apology or any suggestion that there is room for com­promise.

2. Discuss the issues objectively in a polite (if possible, friendly) and businesslike manner, maintaining control of your emotions at all times. As George Herbert once said: ‘Be calm in arguing; for fierceness makes error a fault, and truth discourtesy; calmness is great advantage.’

3. Avoid an apologetic or insecure stance. Say, ‘I cannot accept anything less than...’, instead of ‘I would really prefer not to accept...’, and say, ‘You are putting me in a difficult position’ rather than ‘I feel that I might be in a difficult position’. In other words, be firm while being polite and courteous, and never say 'may' when you mean 'must', and never say 'think' when you mean 'know'. Say what you mean.

4. Avoid a 'soft option' since it will almost certainly not look after your interests and will probably produce a less effective solution.

When seeking a solution your aim should be to allow both sides to win, or at worst declare a draw. If we use the analogy of who should get the cake, the options become:

1. LOSE/LOSE – Take the cake away so neither party gets it.

2. WIN/LOSE – Give it to one party or cut it unevenly.

3. DRAW – Cut the cake down the middle.

4. WIN/WIN – Make two cakes or a much larger one.

Clearly, the first two options would leave one or both of the parties dissatisfied with the result and lead to further unease or conflict in the future. You should therefore remember:

· Never, in the heat of the moment, create a 'lose/lose' situation.

· Avoid a 'win/lose' situation whenever you can.

· Accept nothing less than a 'draw'.

· Aim at a 'win/win' solution.

The self-fulfilling prophecy is likely to occur. If parties go into a negotiating situation with an attitude that a win/lose outcome will occur, it most likely will! People tend to discount cues and information that contradict their preconceived ideas; they select only those which reinforce their preconceptions. If people negotiate with a win/win attitude, a positive outcome for both parties is more likely to occur.

Look first for shared interests and then for compatible interests by these methods:

• Creating a climate in which both parties are able to put forward as many relevant ideas for a solution as possible.

• Avoiding making judgments until all ideas have been introduced.

• Concentrating on the problem, rather than on the people involved.

• Knowing what you are trying to achieve.

• Not responding to rhetorical questions used for bolstering position rather than addressing interests.

Finally, do not lose your temper or provoke your partners to do so, since this will not produce solutions and neither side can benefit; however, it is sometimes necessary to allow the other party to 'let off steam' and this may result in shouting or worse, but the result will be to allow him/her to calm down. Do not retaliate - it is better to remain quiet and let their lack of control be of service to you.

It is not a sign of weakness to receive abuse without responding, and you will often find it beneficial to help the other party to regain control since you will then be able to proceed more positively. If both parties lose their temper, the meeting should be adjourned to give you both time to cool off, though when you suggest an adjournment it should be on the grounds of preserving the progress you have both made rather than because of the behaviour you are displaying.

Once you are in discussion, always listen to understand what is being said to you, and speak to be understood. This will give you the best chance of avoiding misunderstandings which can prolong the negotiating procedure.