Chapter 2: Preparation for Negotiation

Contents:

Definition

There are two separate preparations for any negotiation. First there is the technical preparation. By this, we mean all the facts and figures.

For example, if you are negotiating an engineering contract you will need to research specifications, delivery and performance requirements and so on.

Technical preparation means knowing your subject.

Quite apart from this is Preparing to Negotiate.

Technical preparation is outside our scope. It is your job to make sure that you fully know facts before you meet the other party.

Preparing to negotiate is very much our concern here, however.

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2.1

Stress as Stimulus

2.1 Preparing to Negotiate 

It is very important to be properly prepared for a negotiation. Properly prepared means knowing how you intend to conduct the negotiation. It does not mean having a fixed, detailed position that you intend to fight for.

While you are negotiating you need to be free to listen to the other party and respond constructively. This will be impossible if you have a detailed position worked out in advance.

Remember that one of the best outcomes from a negotiation is that you should agree on a deal which neither of you had thought of before but which both of you now think is highly satisfactory.

Detailed planning actually militates against this outcome. People resist moving away towards unknown ground from a position they have spent time and effort preparing.

Any planning procedure has to pass two tests:

1. It must be simple enough for busy people to apply it quickly and easily in limited time.
2. It must be simple enough to be used during the ebb and flow of a negotiation.

Here is such a procedure.

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2.2

The A4/A5/A6 P

2.2 The A4/A5/A6 P 

Start with a sheet of A4 paper. Head it "Negotiations with (other party) about (subject)." Under that write "Mind Clearing".

Then allow yourself two minutes. During this two minutes write down anything and everything you can think of about the negotiation. Keep writing regardless of what comes out. Use only words or short phrases. Do not evaluate anything you write down at this stage and do not stop yourself from putting anything down. No-one will see this sheet but you!

You will find your mind racing over facts, strategies, time scales, personalities, concessions, alternatives, concerns and so on. Try to capture every idea. Don't worry if the same idea recurs in different forms and don't worry if you go off down a line of thought that causes several words to be developments on earlier ones. Don't worry about the importance of ideas. If you think about a maximum offer of? 10 million one second and how you are going to get from the station to the office the next, jot them both down. But keep writing until your two minutes are up. And don't go beyond minutes or your concentration will lapse.

Now, put the A4 sheet away.

2.2.1 The A5 stage

Take a sheet of A5 paper. Head it "Negotiation with (other party) about (subject)" and write "Plan" underneath the heading.

Now sit back and relax!

Ask yourself "why am I going to negotiate?" Reflect on this. Are you going to hold an exploratory discussion? Or do you want to reach agreement on a principle? Or are you agreeing some part of a whole that has already been agreed in principle?

Take your time to clarify your purpose. When you are clear, write that purpose as a short statement on your A5sheet.

Now sit back and relax again!

Try to think of 4 headings or phases that you would like to cover during the negotiation. Four is a good number because you can keep 4 headings in mind. If you are sure you need more than 4 then use 4 main headings and use headings. Now take a postcard-size piece of paper - A6 – and write P (for purpose) on it. Next to P write one key word which will remind you of your purpose. In the example of the Cancelled Contract you might put "FINAL" OR "SETTLEMENT".

Beneath this, put P (for plan) and under this put 4 key words to remind you of your plan. For example:

P : FINAL

P: REASONS

OTHER ASPECTS?

SETTLE

As you prepare for PAPER, try this approach using the paper you have been supplied with.

2.3

Team Preparation 

2.3 Team Preparation 

Two or more people forming a negotiation team must work together to decide how to operate during the negotiation. With some modifications the A4/A5/A6 approach can be used as a framework for preparation for team negotiating. This time the first stage is one of creative brainstorming where aim is to collect ideas first on the subject matter and then on the other party.

Ideas must be allowed to flow freely even if some of them seem irrelevant. A flip chart may be used instead of A4.

You should follow this by a period of analysis where you should discuss:

1. What your basic objective is. Try and spell this out in not more than 15 words so that all the team members are fully aware of it.
2. What targets you are setting for the present phase, if the negotiation will be a long one.
3. What sort of people are the other party? What type of culture do they come from and do you have any knowledge of the way they negotiate.
4. Division of roles within your team according to members' different strengths.

Now proceed to the A5 stage using a flipchart if necessary, thinking through purpose and plan. At the ends of the A5 stage delegate responsibility for preparing any particular statements.

Finally the A6 stage.

This opening note has set out the A4/A5/A6 approach to negotiation with suggested variations and extension of that procedure for team negotiations. Try the system out to see how you wish to adapt it to your own personality and situation.

Further variations are suggested in the next module.

Review of Module 2

In the second module, we were concerned with finding out where each party stands with identifying the issues each party wants to develop in order to reach agreement.

We looked at EXPLORATION, the process of finding out broadly what each party wants out of the negotiation, what constraints may apply and what general issues the parties would like to address in the negotiation. Then we looked at BIDDING, when each party makes its position clear on each of the issues under discussion.

We looked at how to formulate an opening bid, how to present the bid and how to respond to any bid made by the other party.

Let us now review these ideas in detail.