GETTING READY TO IMPLEMENT THE STRATEGY: THE PLANNING

PROCESS
Tactics:
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Lies in persuasiveness
Eloquence
Clever maneuvering
Occasional histrionics

While success in negotiation is affected by how one plays the game, the most
important step for success in negotiation is how one gets ready for the game.

Understanding the Need for Planning

Weaknesses devoting insufficient time to planning:
-

Negotiators fail to set clear objectives that can serve as standars by which to
evaluate offers and package.
They may not understand the strengths and weaknesses of their positions or
recognize weakness in the other partys arguments.
Use legal (digo legal para la contra parte porque con ella se est negociando)
positions to others.

Effective planning requires specifics steps:

-

Defining issues
Assembling issues and defining the bargaining mix
Defining interests
Consulting with others
Identifying limits
Setting targets
Developing supporting arguments
Analyzing the other party

Defining issues
The first step in negotiation planning is to define the issues to be deliberated. This step
itself usually begins with an analysis of the conflict situation.
You can derive issues from:
-

An analysis of the conflict situation.

Our own experience in similar conflicts.
Research conducted to gather information (e.g., reading a book on how to buy
a house).
Consultation with experts (real estate agents, bankers, attomeys, accountants,
or friends who ha ve bought a house recently).

Assembling Issues and Defining the Bargaining Mix

Sometimes there are too many issues, but this is because parties dont talk frequently
or if they have lots of business to transact.
Introducing a lot of issues into a negotiation makes success more likely. But it also can
lengthen negotiations because they present many possible combinations of issues, and
evaluating all these mixes makes things very complex.
The negotiator must prioritize the issues, prioritization includes two steps:
-

Determine which issues are most important and which are less important.
Determine whether the issues are connected (linked together) or separate.

Defining Your Interests

After defining the issues, the negotiator must proceed to define the underlying interests
and needs. Asking "why" questions usually bring to the surface critical values, needs,
or principles that we want to achieve in the negotiation.
Consulting with Others
Consulting with Constituencies: Consult with your partners
Consulting with the Other Side-lssues, Agenda, and Ground Rules: the bargainer may
bring issues to the table that the other party is unprepared to discuss, or may define
priorities that cannot be achieved realistically.
Knowing Your Limits
This situation can be seen as the first test of the question "Is a negotiated agreement
feasible?" The answer here is no. At this point, at least one party is considering
whether to opt for an alternative.
Setting Targets
After negotiators have defined the issues, assembled a tentative agenda, and
consulted others as appropriate and necessary, the next step is to define specific
targets on the key issues in the bargaining mix
Developing Supporting Arguments-Research
One important aspect of actual negotiations is to be able to present a case clearly and
to marshal ample supporting facts and arguments; another is to be able to refute the
other party's arguments with counterarguments.
Analyzing the Other Party
Gathering information about the other party is a critical step in preparing for
negotiation. What information does one party need about the other party in order to
prepare effectively? Several key pieces of background information will be of great
importance, like:

The other party's current resources, interests, and needs: An analysis of the
other party's business history or previous negotiations, successful and
otherwise, might provide useful clues.
Sometimes you can learn a great deal simply by visiting the other party or
talking to his or her friends and peers.
In addition to learning about the party's background, you will also need to get
information about his or her current interests and needs.

The other party's objectives: People often think stereotypically about the other
party's interests and ~gets; they use their own targets and values as a guide
and assume that others are like themselves and want similar things.
Information about the other party's targets is so important to the strategy
formulation of both parties.

The other party's reputation and negotiation style: Party's past negotiating
behavior is a good indication of how he or she will behave in the future. Hence,
even if a bargainer has had no previous experience with the other person,
talking to those who have dealt with that person in the past can be very
valuable.

The other party's alternative(s): The alternative offers the negotiator a viable
option for agreement if the current negotiation does not yield an acceptable
outcome.

The other party's authority to make an agreement: There are many reasons for
limiting a negotiator's authority. Negotiators kept on a short leash cannot be
won over by a persuasive presentation to commit their constituency to
something that is not wanted.
They cannot give out sensitive information carelessly.

The other party's likely strategy and tactics: It is unlikely the other party will
reveal his or her strategy outright-particularly if he or she is intending to use
distributive tactics-you can infer this information from whatever data you collect
to answer the previous inquiries in this list.