Planning and Preparation for Effective Negotiation

Planning and Preparation for Effective Negotiation

1. According to Thompson (2009), about 80% of negotiators’ efforts should go toward the preparation stage. However, planning and preparation go beyond what negotiators should do before negotiation. Negotiators should also be prepared for dealing with contingencies as well as factors that may interfere with goal pursuit.

2. Guidelines for effective planning and preparation

   • • Assessing the negotiation situation • Analyzing the negotiation structure • Planning for strategies that facilitate goal attainment. • Re-orienting to manage contingencies that may arise during the dynamic, interactive negotiation process

3. Negotiation Analysis

   • •Negotiation is often defined as an interaction between two or more interdependent parties who perceive incompatible goals. •Negotiation parties enter the negotiation because they depend on each other to fulfill some needs but also perceive the other party’s interests as conflicting with their own. •To reach a mutually acceptable agreement negotiation parties have to cooperate with and understand each other.

4. Analyze the negotiation context: Opportunities and constraints

   • A sufficient understanding of the bargaining situation allows the negotiators to identify the rules of the game, resources to draw upon, norms to abide by, as well as constraints to deal with.
     • Assess the historical, political, legal, and cultural context in which negotiations take place. Research has shown that the quality of deals negotiators reach is significantly influenced by their bargaining histories (O’Connor et al., 2005).
       • Assess the purpose of the negotiation: Deal-making or dispute resolution? In a typical business negotiation, parties come together to attempt to exchange resources, or make a deal. Negotiators use distributive bargaining strategies to claim greater value for themselves, whereas they use integrative bargaining strategies.
         • Assess the nature of the conflict: Are ideologies involved? Conflicts and disputes may simply involve competition over scarce resources. As negotiators uphold fundamentally different assumptions, moral standards, and beliefs, the likelihood of reaching an impasse is significantly increased, often accompanied by increased tensions and emotions.
           • Assess the temporality of the negotiation: One-shot or longterm? In a one-shot negotiation, such as bargaining with a street vendor over the price of an antique-like sugar bowl, what happens at the bargaining table has no future ramifications.
   • Assess external constraints: Is time an issue? Negotiations are often associated with some time-related costs. Negotiating under time pressure may activate a need for closure (i.e., an epistemic state of wanting a quick solution).
     • Assess external constraints: Place. In addition to time constraints, where negotiations take place also matters. Negotiating on one’s own territory is typically considered an advantage, as the outside party may experience greater uncertainty and perceive less power.
       • Assess external constraints: Communication channels. With the rapid development of new technologies, negotiations are increasingly conducted in mediated contexts for greater convenience.

5. Analyze the negotiation structure and components

   • •Identify the negotiation parties • Define the issues. • Understand the underlying interests. • Consider alternatives. • Create a scoring system and sort out preferences • Determine the target/aspiration and reservation/resistance points. • Assess your negotiation style • Practice perspective taking. • Assess the relationship with the other party.

6. Conclusion: Planning and Preparation as an Ongoing Process

   • Planning and negotiation are dynamic processes that are constantly (re)defined as the interaction unfolds
     • Planning and preparing inform negotiators’ strategic choices; the attitudes, emotions, and behaviors of the counterpart will cause negotiators to revise their pre-existing plans and develop new goals, which will in turn result in behavioral changes. The above guidelines constitute basic, general preparatory work that negotiators should perform prior to the negotiation in order to maximize the potential toward goal achievement. Whether or not such potential can be realized depends substantially on how it is complemented by the effective use of distributive and integrative bargaining tactics during the dynamic, interactive process