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The art of negotiating.



In stead of analysing politics like I did in previous articles (political mind-mapping and Political Burn-out), I am now going to give you some negotiation techniques that can be useful when negotiating while working in politics. These techniques can be used in negotiating in foreign affairs or in domestic debates.

The very thought of negotiating can be very intimidating, yet we are all experienced negotiators. The process off taking turns in a conversation, even deciding who says hello first, involves negotiating. Some forms of negotiation even happen subconscious, like for example holding a door for someone.
But there is of course a big difference between that and being an effective professional negotiator. That is why I will be giving you a few tools that you can use to get better ad it.

emergency exit



Before starting negotiations you first make sure you have an “emergency exit”. The best way to do that is look at what can happen when negotiations fail and pick the best fail scenario you find.
When you have done that you got to look for things to improve the best fail scenario.
The best way of doing that is to investigate the BATNA(best alternative to a negotiated agreement) by searching information that is relevant to the negotiation.

For example:
When negotiating a peace treaty that will benefit you, try and find out what the country that you want the treaty with, has stand to lose and gain by agreeing with you. Talk with surrounding countries for external information that can benefit your case. Look closely at financial situation of that country...==> Gathering information is the keyword here

The batna is your safety-net and should be in no way your aspiration. When you are the one taking initiative it is best you aim higher then what you like to see that happens. In order to do that, you need to think about your own batna and what you want done. Two very different things.

For example:
You want to rent a region from a neighbouring country that is in constant war with yet an other country. First you make sure you know everything there is to know about the war between the countries and what consequences there can be in various scenarios.
Now, before you open negations you look at what would be your ultimate price that you are willing to pay. That will be your batna. Then you look at your ideal price that you would like to negotiate. When you have done that you can set a price below your aspiration level but still a realistic figure. Now you try and figure out what the financial situation is from your opponent because that way you know how desperate he may be.



In a next article I will be talking about two different kinds approaches which can be used to get the best deal out of a negotiation.

Integrative or distributive negotiating




~Mittekemuis