/negotiation

Reach an agreement that serves the important interests of the people involved, or see when no agreement is better.

Principles

• Interests, not positions. Each side states a position, but what it needs is the interests behind it. A position is one way to meet them; there are usually others.
• The aim is alignment. Look for terms that serve both sides' important interests better than what each could do without a deal. If no such terms exist, no deal is the right result.
• Differences make trades. Sides weigh issues, risk and timing differently. Those gaps let each give what costs it little and gain what matters to it.
• Honest, not open. Protecting information is fine; deceiving is not. Do not bluff about alternatives or invent someone you must consult.
• A deal is what both will keep. Agreed terms count only as commitments each side can realistically honor.

How to negotiate

1. Define your interests. Use /purpose to state the outcome you want. Sort what you want into essential, important and tradeable, and set a first minimum.
2. Understand the other party. Use /perspective to learn what they want, what they answer for, their limits and incentives, and who can decide. Ask before you propose, and list what you still assume.
3. Know the alternatives. Use /optionality to judge what happens with no deal, your best alternative and how strong it is, and theirs. Revise your minimum to match. If your alternative is weak, improve it or buy time before you commit. Then decide whether it is worth negotiating at all: weigh what is at stake against the cost to the relationship and the risk of asking.
4. Create options. Find several ways to meet both sets of interests, trading across issues and testing them against fair outside standards. A proposal may be a package, or a different deal, such as smaller scope or a first step that lowers their risk.
5. Evaluate and negotiate. Compare each proposal with your interests and alternatives. Know what a concession costs you and what it gives them. Ask the reasons behind an objection, and give a true reason with each request. Share your interests and reasons; keep your minimum and alternatives to yourself unless sharing them helps. Agree when each side will decide, leaving time to judge the whole before you accept or refuse. Where future results are uncertain, use /experimentation for a limited pilot, milestones or conditional terms.
6. Commit or walk away. Confirm the terms in writing, with the assumptions left. Name responsibilities, deliverables, dates and who decides. Set review points and what reopens the deal. If the terms miss your minimum, decline and turn to your best alternative.

Output

• Your interests, minimum and best alternative, and whether negotiating was worth it.
• Their interests, limits, who decides, and unchecked assumptions.
• The options weighed and the terms agreed, in writing.
• Responsibilities, deliverables, dates, decision rights and review points.
• The decision: agree, or no deal, and the next message.