Any decision that requires more than one person involves some level of negotiation. We all negotiate as part of our jobs, but few of us have consciously thought through negotiation strategies. At this program you’ll learn a step-by-step process for approaching any negotiation, leaving you better prepared to create outcomes that meet the interests of all parties.

1. Negotiation
Skills
Kevin R. Thomas
Manager, Training & Development
x3542
Kevin.R.Thomas@williams.edu

2. Objectives
• You’ll learn:
– Specific steps you
can take to prepare
for any negotiation
– Best practices for
implementing a
negotiation strategy

3. Agenda
1 • Overview and Introductions
2 • Preparing for a Negotiation
3 • During a Negotiation
4 • Complete Preparation Guide
5 • Role Play
5 • Debrief

4. Agenda
1 • Overview and Introductions
2 • Preparing for a Negotiation
3 • During a Negotiation
4 • Complete Preparation Guide
5 • Role Play
5 • Debrief

5. Norms
• Confidentiality
• Participation

6. Traditional Negotiation
Commitment (extreme position)
Final offer
Last Offer
Final last offer
Commitment (extreme position)
Final offer
Last offer
Final last offer
Threat to walk
Threat to walk
Harvard University, Project on Negotiation

7. Value-Based Negotiation
Communication
Relationship
Interests
Options
Legitimacy
BATNA Commitment

8. Increasing the Size of the Pie
Fight over fixed, limited, quantitative terms.
Neither side gets all they want
Creating possibilities that create fulfillment
of qualitative values, needs, desires
Both sides get everything they want

9. Key Principles
• Every negotiation is an opportunity to build
relationships
• The best negotiations help both parties get
more of what they want.
• Every negotiation is an opportunity for you to
“walk the walk” of your values as a person and
professional.

10. Agenda
1 • Overview and Introductions
2 • Preparing for a Negotiation
3 • During a Negotiation
4 • Complete Preparation Guide
5 • Role Play
5 • Debrief

11. Clarify Your Goals
• What is the ideal outcome of this negotiation:
– Terms of the agreement – think about the
– Status of the relationship at the end
– How you felt about yourself and how you behaved.
• Universally valuable goals:
– To better understand the other person’s position
– To express your own views skillfully
– To do your part to creating a constructive problem
solving dialog

12. A Good Agreement…
• Strengthens the relationship between the
parties
• Meets the interests of all parties well
• Is the best of many options
• Is legitimate and durable, supported by
objective criteria
• Is better than our BATNA (Best Alternative to a
Negotiated Agreement)
• Identifies specific, firm and implementable
commitments

13. Substance and Relationship
Accommodation Negotiation
Avoidance Competition
ImportanceofRelationship
High
Low
Importance of Substance
High

14. Diagnose Their World
• What do you know about …
– Their hopes and fears
– Their core concerns
– Their “trading currencies”
– The influence of other stakeholders on them
– How they are likely to see you

15. Trading Currencies
• Any negotiation is about an exchange of value
• Value takes many forms
• Trading currencies define main categories of
value that can be exchanged.
• Understand what you have to offer
• Understand what they may have to offer
• Decide which offerings are most important for
the negotiation

16. Trading Currencies
Currency Definition and Example
Inspiration vision, excellence, morality/ethics
Ex: car sale from Friday Night Lights
Task resources, information, assistance, support
Ex: Training consultant sends me a free book
Position advancement, recognition, visibility, reputation,
networks/contacts, importance/insiderness
Ex: Never Eat Alone
Relationship acceptance, personal support, understanding, inclusion
Ex: My Amazon return
Personal Gratitude: appreciation
Ownership/involvement over important tasks
Self concept: self-esteem
Comfort: avoidance of hassles

17. Disclosure: The Negotiator’s Dilemma
No
Disclosure:
Missed
opportunity
With
Disclosure:
Risk of
exploitation

18. Disclosure: Managing the Dilemma
• Prepare. Consider what you can reveal.
• Reveal the nature of your interests, but not
the intensity
• Share information reciprocally, in bite-sized
pieces
• Promote a frame of side-by-side joint
problem-solving

19. Objective Criteria
• Represent reasonable standards that create a
“benchmark” for what a reasonable outcome
could look like:
– Professional Standards
– Legal Precedent
– Scientific Findings
– Market Price
– Expert Opinion

20. BATNA
• Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement:
• Know Your BATNA:
– What’s next for you if you can’t come to an
agreement?
– What can you do to improve your BATNA?
• Know Their BATNA:
– What might their BATNA be?
– What could you do to find out?

21. Agenda
1 • Overview and Introductions
2 • Preparing for a Negotiation
3 • During a Negotiation
4 • Role Play
5 • Debrief

22. Focus on Interests not Positions
• Positions: Statements of desired negotiation
outcomes
• Interests: Needs, concerns, goals that
motivate us to negotiate
• Probe for interests – Ask “why” or “why not?”
• Conflict is a signal to exchange information

23. Conflict as a Signal
to Exchange Information
Disagreement
Information
Exchange
Agreement
Shared
Interests
Different
Interests
Joint Effort
Exchange
of Value

24. Invent Options for Mutual Gain
• Option generation should follow discussion of
interests and be based upon them
• Follow brainstorming rules
• Separate option generation from option
evaluation and commitment
• A successful option maximizes joint gain, is
efficient, and expands the pie

25. How to Use Objective Criteria
• Use criteria as a “sword” – “Let me show you
why this is fair.”
• Use criteria as a “shield” – “Why is that a fair
number?”

26. Commitments
• Firm: explicit, often
written
• Concrete: use the SMART
formula

27. Agenda
1 • Overview and Introductions
2 • Preparing for a Negotiation
3 • During a Negotiation
4 • Complete Preparation Guide
5 • Role Play
5 • Debrief

28. Agenda
1 • Overview and Introductions
2 • Preparing for a Negotiation
3 • During a Negotiation
4 • Complete Preparation Guide
5 • Role Play
5 • Debrief

29. Agenda
1 • Overview and Introductions
2 • Preparing for a Negotiation
3 • During a Negotiation
4 • Complete Preparation Guide
5 • Role Play
5 • Debrief

30. Kevin R. Thomas
Manager, Training & Development
x3542
Kevin.R.Thomas@williams.edu
• Program evaluation link will be sent by email.
• You’ll get a link to a course page with all the materials.