Harvard Negotiation Project: 5 Lasting Rules For Negotiating

Harvard Negotiation Project: 5 Lasting Rules For Negotiating Anything

Altyn Sapargali

Thank you!

Don’t Bargain Over Positions

Instead of thinking of a “position,” identify the goal. You want remuneration for the sweat you put into your company. You want, for example, status (to remain CEO). But a specific position is binary — you either get it or you don’t. A goal can be attained in many ways, giving you many more options for arriving at a solution.

1. Don’t Bargain Over Positions

Separate the People From the Problem

• Try to understand the other person's viewpoint by putting yourself in the other's place.
• Do not blame or attack the other party for the problem.
• Try to create proposals which should be appealing to the other party.
• Acknowledge emotions and try to understand their source (understand that all feelings are valid even if you do not agree or understand them).
• Allow the other side to express their emotions.
• Symbolic gestures such as apologies or expressions of sympathy can help to defuse strong emotions.
• Actively listen to the other party (give the speaker your full attention, occasionally summarizing the speaker's points to confirm your understanding).
• Try using “I” statements, such as “I feel” or “I think.”

5. Insist on Using Objective Criteria

2. Separate the People From the Problem

Three points to keep in mind when using objective criteria:

1. Frame each issue as a joint search for objective criteria. Ask for the reasoning behind the other party's suggestions.

2. Reason as to which standards are most appropriate and how they should be applied; Keep an open mind.

3. Never yield to pressure, threats, or bribes – only to principles.

Like it or not, you are a negotiator.

You discuss a raise with your boss.

You try to agree with a stranger on a price for his house. Two lawyers try to settle a lawsuit arising from a car accident. A group of oil companies plan a joint venture exploring for

offshore oil. A city official meets with union leaders to avert a transit strike. All these are negotiations.

3. Focus on Interests

Focus on Interests

GETTING

TO

YES

• Ask why the party holds the positions she or he does, and consider why the party does not hold some other possible position.
• Explain your interests clearly.
• Discuss these interests together looking forward to the desired solution, rather than focusing on past events.
• Focus clearly on your interests, but remain open to different proposals and positions.

4. Invent Options for Mutual Gain

Invent Options for Mutual Gain

• deciding prematurely on an option and thereby failing to consider alternatives;
• being too intent on narrowing options to find the single answer;
• defining the problem in win-lose terms; or
• thinking that it is up to the other side to come up with a solution to the party’s problem;
• separate the process of inventing options from the act of judging them;
• broaden the options on the table rather than only look for a single solution;
• search for mutual gains; and
• invent ways of making decisions easy.