[Partnerwerks TeamWisdom Tips] Negotiation Tip #3
NEGOTIATION TIP #3: GENERATE ALTERNATIVES
10-Second TeamWisdom: The more ways interests
can be met, the better your chances for a
negotiated agreement.
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Want to drop your concern about losing a
negotiation? Easy. First, establish absolute
clarity about your own interests, then
generate lots of alternative ways to meet
those interests.
Heres how:
1. Know what you'll do if you can't make a
deal. Some call this your "walk-away"
position, others use the popular "best
alternative to a negotiated agreement" or
BATNA.* When you believe you MUST have a
negotiated agreement, you place yourself in
HIGH NEED. From this mindset, you'll
experience few choices, which assures you LOW
POWER. To increase your power and reduce your
need, you MUST increase the number of choices
that will satisfy your interests. The first
way to do so is to imagine what you'll do if
you can't reach agreement.
Illustration: Fifteen years ago, when Amy and
I were house shopping, she fell for a house I
wasn't very keen on. To her dismay, I played
tough bargainer with the realtor while we
kept looking at other houses. Two weeks
later, when we found a second house Amy could
love, she became a much more powerful
negotiator -- on BOTH deals!
2. Generate multiple ways your interests
could be met BEFORE you enter into
negotiation. The more options you generate
that could satisfy your interests, the more
likely one of those positions will satisfy
your negotiation partner. So, make the list
as long as you can.
3. Brainstorm alternatives together with
your negotiation partner. Integrative
negotiation is simply joint problem-solving.
When you and your negotiation partner learn
and honor each other's interests and
seriously explore alternatives that satisfy
ALL interests, you're demonstrating
integrative negotiation.
Note: when a partner is operating from a
distributive frame (and doesn't easily join
you in mutual problem solving), consider
focusing your attention on solving his/her
problem first. To do this, investigate your
partner's interests and generate alternatives
that might meet them.
* For more on BATNA, see the excellent book,
"Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement
Without Giving In" by Roger Fisher and
William Ury. Click here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140157352/o/qid=949769956/sr=8-
1/103-4361924-5451000
Get started with this week's 5-minute
Practice Tip.
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5-Minute Practice Tip: Think through the last
time you HAD to make a deal. List the number
of alternatives you explored -- either
individually or together with your
negotiation partner.
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© Christopher Avery, 1999-2004. Permission
granted to forward in its entirety. All other
rights reserved. Contact for reprint
permission.
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Quotable: The indispensable first step to
getting the things you want out of life is
this: decide what you want. ~ Ben Stein
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