Negotiation Skills Company, Inc.
 
Negotiation Skills Company, Inc.

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Q & A Table of Contents

Moving From Confrontation To Collaboration

From: Che, Quezon City, Philippines

Question: When and how do you transform negotiations from right-based and power-based bargaining into interest-based approaches?

Response: The first part of your question, 'When', could be answered quickly with the phrase, 'as soon as possible'. Dealing with the 'how' issue can yield more specific guidelines one may use in determining the timing of the transformation of the process from confrontation to collaboration. A negotiator should be prepared for the process ahead of time. This preparation should include analyses of both the subject matter to be discussed and the personalities of the parties. Issues that can be handled in a civilized, collaborative manner by some people are treated as highly emotional by others.

Rights-based negotiation, which is discussed in TNSC's newsletter of November 2003 (Because It's Mine, That's Why) can be based almost entirely on emotional issues. It is crucial to examine where there may be distinctions between the rights-based elements of the matter(s) under discussion and other elements that can be the subject of collaborative bargaining. Focusing on those latter elements can ameliorate some of the emotional obstacles that make rights-based negotiation troublesome. Looking for the tangible interests that underlie the rights claimed by one or more parties can bring them closer to a cooperative process.

What you describe as power-based negotiation needs to be looked at from a number of angles:

  • If power-based negotiation is another way of describing the negotiator whose attitude is 'my way or the highway', one needs to examine one's BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement) by asking, 'Do I really have to deal with this particular person -- or do I have better alternatives?'
  • On the other hand, one must also recognize that BATNA is used by many to measure the relative balance of power among negotiating parties -- so here the power issue is based less on a negotiator's personality and more on the party's apparent control or influence over resources that can be used to resolve the issue under discussion.
  • Remember that BATNA is not carved in stone. Parties' power changes as they exchange information during the negotiation process. One needs to monitor how each bit of information changes the relative power of the negotiators
As a practical matter, the ideas of rights-based and power-based negotiations can be viewed as an oxymoron. A successful negotiation is a process that yields an agreement each party will willingly fulfill. Treating negotiation as a competitive sport where there are winners and losers virtually guarantees that the 'losers' will not be committed to fulfilling the agreement. Thus the first step in figuring out how to move from the often emotional realms of power- or rights-based negotiation is to utilize what we call The Negotiator's Interest Map. Viewing the interests of three classes of stakeholders: the negotiators, their constituents, and OIPs (Other Interested Parties) gives a negotiator a chance to develop a more global view of the issue(s) under consideration. This is spelled out in more detail in Negotiating Skills for Managers (McGraw-Hill, 2002).

Preparing for negotiation by considering the broad range of stakeholders and their interests will aid a negotiator figure out what information needs to be learned in order to move the process from confrontation to collaboration. Good luck,
Steve

The Negotiation Skills Company, Inc.   P O Box 172   Pride's Crossing, MA 01965, USA   
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