Preparing for the Negotiation Process

Power in negotiation comes from preparation so before you start the process, it is best to prepare an outline of the goals and expected outcomes based on the following

Interests

What are my needs, aims, and concerns? Why?
How do I prioritize my needs, aims, and concerns?
What do I think are their needs, aims, and concerns? Why?
What do I think are any key third parties ’needs, aims, and concerns? Why?

Options

What possible solutions, or pieces of a solution, might address my and their interests?
Are there other solutions? Are there ways I can make the ones I have invented even better?
Going back to the “list” of my, their, and third-party interests, are there any others (even if they are just small pieces of an overall solution)?

Legitimacy

What standards or criteria might I use with them to determine which options are most defensible?
Are there any fair processes we might use to judge the appropriateness of certain options?
Are there any standards, criteria, processes, etc.that would be particularly useful to apply to particular options I have just brainstormed?To particularly controversial issues in the negotiation?

Commitment

What level of authority do I have to reach a commitment?
What level of authority do I think they have?
What level of commitment do I think we should strive for in the upcoming meeting (i.e.,reach a final commitment, a joint recommendation, a list of options we will each consider more fully before our next meeting,etc.)?

Alternatives

What are my alternatives? Of these, which is my best (BATNA)?
What do I think their alternatives are? Of these, which do I think is their best (BATNA)? How might I be able to improve mine (i.e.,make it more attractive to me and/or more possible for me to resort to)?
How might I be able to weaken theirs (i.e.,make it less attractive to them and/or harder for them to resort to)?

Communication

What do I want to learn from them? What questions should I ask?
What messages do I want to convey to them?When and how should I “send” the messages to ensure they are understood in the way I intend them?
What might be a useful “agenda” for the upcoming meeting?
Have we had communication breakdowns in the past? If so, why? Based on this, what might I do in the upcoming meeting to (beginto) fix and/or avoid past communication problems?

Relationship

What kind of working relationship would I like to (continue) to build with them (i.e., what would be the attributes of such a relationship –for example, mutual respect, well founded trust, consistent joint problem-solving)?
Based on my goal, what kind of things should I do, and what kinds of things should I make sure to not do, in the upcoming meeting?
To the extent we have had relationship problems in the past, what has caused them?Based on these causes, what might I do in the upcoming meeting to (begin to) fix and/or avoid these past problems?

Other

Based on my answers to the above, where do I need to do more thinking or “homework”?
Is there any internal negotiating, investigating,or clarifying I need to do before going to negotiate?
Are there any pre-discussions I want to have with the other party before we “begin”negotiations (e.g., about how we should conduct the negotiations, how and/or what we might each prepare ahead of time, etc.)?

By being considerate and open to the other parties, you practice an inclusive, problem solving method as opposed to a competitive approach, and you are more likely to accomplish far more than if you take a rigid, competitive, me-vs.-you or us-vs-them approach.