Negotiation Skills Training: Preparing For And Getting Involved In Complex Business Negotiations Utilising Best Practice Preparation
The critical negotiation skill required to unlock optimal value from complex commercial negotiation environments is to identify and understand the interests of all the players impacted by or taking part in the negotiation. In some cases, it is simple to understand both the positions & interests of participants in the negotiation. In most cases, however, it is not only tricky to identify the interests of participants; it is also difficult to identify all the stakeholders.
How to negotiate in complex, multi-party negotiations?
1. Identify all the stakeholders in the negotiation
This may seem obvious but in practice, it is often difficult to identify and track all the stakeholders in a negotiation. In a business environment, we should at minimum try to identify the following stakeholders:
a. Financial stakeholders
These are the individuals or groups that will finance, underwrite or give permission to conclude an agreement based on the financial terms proposed. It is key to uncover all potential parties that may have an interest in the financial dimensions of the negotiation.
b. User/consumer stakeholders
These are the individuals or groups that will implement and support the outcome of the agreement that is reached. These are the parties that will live and work with the output of the negotiations on a day to day basis.
c. Technical & legal stakeholders
These are the people or groups that will sign off and agree to the technical and contractual dimensions of the negotiations.
d. Guides/Gurus & other Influencers
These are the individuals or groups that hold significant influence over the central decision makers involved in the negotiation.
2. Identify the interests of each stakeholder in the negotiation
There are essentially two ways to identify an individual or group's interest in a business negotiation. The first way is to put yourself in that individual or group's position and to try and see things from his/her/their perspective. What supporting data would you need? What precedents would apply? What assumptions can you make, and validate? The second way is to ask the individual or group a series of questions to help you (and them) to accurately identify their key interests. The best question to ask is "Why?" "Why is this negotiation important to you? Why are you assuming this position? Why is this option being explored?"
3. Create a frame that is appropriate for each stakeholder
Having identified the interests of each stakeholder party, you should now position the appropriate frame. Different people take decisions for different reasons. It is not useful to highlight the same points to support decision making to all participants. You should focus on communicating the most appropriate frame to each participant or potential participant.
4. Create an effective management structure for the negotiation
If our counter parties experience us to be rational, the odds are greatly increased that they will also respond to us in a rational fashion. We can only present a common and rational 'front' if we have considered the roles & responsibilities within our negotiation team. Allocate the responsibility in the team between those that will manage the Relationship dimensions, and those that will manage or be involved in the Task related aspects.
Negotiation skills training teaches us to create an agenda that addresses the interests of all potential participants. A successful way to simplify complex commercial negotiations is to add structure. We need to focus on the process aspects to ensure that we make progress at every level of the negotiation. You will find that complexity can be managed with the use of an appropriate supporting structure.