The introduction to the art of negotiation can be found here. I encourage you to read that first to get the an introduction to the topic and then come back to this article. I have provided links between the two for easy navigation.
Negotiation Framework
Fisher and Ury from the Harvard Negotiation Project champion an approach to negotiating that embodies these goals. This approach is called principled negotiation and is based on four key points listed and discussed below:
- Separate the people from the problem
- Focus on interests, not positions
- Invent options for mutual gain
- When possible, use objective criteria
There is a lot of interesting information in the 4 articles above (I’m sure you will agree) but I like to keep things short and to the point so below you will find my conclusion based on the 4 steps of the framework. Hope you read them and tell me if you agree or not with what I have been saying so far.
Conclusion
Negotiating is an art that many of us just don’t understand. There are many intangibles involved. This article has reviewed some time-tested principles of effective negotiation based on the groundbreaking work of Fisher and Ury, and I’m sure you have found them insightful as I did when I first read them.
Given the significance of negotiating, you are encouraged to read their book as well as others on the subject, and try to adapt these principles to your personal uniqueness. This may be the hardest thing to achieve but once you have the knowledge and the will to apply it than you will be a negotiation master.
In addition, attending training workshops can provide an opportunity to practice these skills, and apply them to real or simulated opportunities. You should also take advantage of day-to-day interactions to sharpen your negotiation acumen.
