At least some aspect of a well-negotiated agreement should exceed everyone's initially anticipated outcome. In order to build solutions that improve on initial expectations, you must devise creative solutions that do more than meet concrete demands. An effective and maximally profitable agreement addresses everyone's underlying needs.

When the options proposed acknowledge, validate, and address the needs of all involved, agreement is likely to be reached quickly, and time is not wasted on posturing, demands, or threats. Moreover, negotiating to meet the needs of all can lay the foundation for positive ongoing relationships.

Explore your options and alternatives
As much as it's important to consider the needs of all who are party to the potential agreement, you should first determine your own needs. In this context, needs are not defined as that which you cannot live without. Rather, your needs comprise everything it takes to improve on your present circumstances. In order to make an informed final agreement, you must understand the full scope of desirable options.

It's important for you to be able to state why you are interested in the various terms you propose: The reasoning you use should be based on fact. Presenting offers in the context of firm, logical reasoning will temper the responses you receive and will focus negotiation on the construction of fair solutions that can be proven to meet underlying needs.

In addition to exploring your needs, you should identify your own worst possible outcome. What are your alternatives should the negotiation fail? Knowing the answer to this question puts the negotiation in perspective and will help you better evaluate the desirability of the various options to be discussed. It's nearly always possible to come up with creative ideas that increase the appeal of your back-up plan. The more comfortable you are with your prenegotiation status, the easier it will be to present your interests firmly during the negotiation.

Learn all about them
After investigating and delineating your own interests and alternatives, you should begin to learn as much as you can about the other parties' needs. This involves finding out not only what they want, but also what specifically motivates their desires. If it's evident that you understand their needs like they were your own, they are more likely to respect your needs, and you are likely to be viewed as an open and fair negotiator. Prior knowledge of others' needs can help you develop satisfying options and agreements. 

Information gathering should not be limited to uncovering facts. Body language, personal style, and even questions that you're asked can lend important insight into a person's or group's interests. You might also learn about their communication style and problem-solving approach. All information, no matter how marginal it may seem, can be used to mold your approach.

Information gathering might include any or all of the following:
 
 

• Studying the history of an organization. This adds perspective to your expected negotiation format and outcome. Do not limit yourself to what you find in print. Conversation can be even more telling.
• Discussing the issues with "non-negotiating" members of the organization. Often, individuals with no apparent ties to the discussions can be very influential in affecting the outcome.
• Talking outside the formal setting with the individuals involved in the negotiation. It is nearly always worthwhile to take time to develop a relaxed and comfortable dynamic. A solid relationship synergistically creates trust, which, in turn, tends to unlock abundant information. 

A full arsenal of knowledge can give you a few added benefits as well. First, people with whom you negotiate are likely, at some point, to aggressively assert their positions, or even make demands. Knowing the criteria and methodology used to arrive at these positions can help you focus discussion on the interests that underlie demands. Focusing on the interests pulls negotiations out of the claustrophobic arena of demands; the creative space in which you build solutions that meet everyone's real needs has limitless possibilities. 

Information also affords you the most likely mechanism for sidestepping a stalemate. If you bring new information to the table that shows you can meet some need for the other side that they hadn't even thought might be addressed in the negotiations, you've opened a whole new realm of possibilities. Deadlocks are most easily broken when additional needs are "discovered" for either side. Whoever was on the verge of cutting off negotiations is allowed to reconsider without appearing to be weak. Negotiations are continued, not because someone made a massive concession to break the deadlock, but because new information was presented that proved all options hadn't yet been fully explored.

The Options
The job of negotiators, once everyone's interests are fully clear, is to begin developing and presenting options that maximize everyone's gain. Note that options need not be fully developed prior to beginning negotiations. If all parties explicitly agree to participate in the process, group brainstorming of options can harvest abundant possibilities. Not all options suggested need to be fully plausible. The power of brainstorming lies in the ability of one idea to catalyze another. In this respect, all ideas are equally valuable. The ideas that should be held onto, however, are those that meet the needs of all involved more effectively than could have been accomplished without negotiation.

Aspirations
Don't be afraid to suggest options that reflect your own high aspirations for gain. Low aspirations may suggest that you are dependent on others' willingness to meet your needs, that you have nowhere to turn if the negotiations don't go your way. This portrayal of your position reduces your power. If others believe you're at their mercy, they're unlikely to work too diligently at developing satisfactory options. They may believe that your position forces you to accept any offer made. High aspirations also leave you room to go lower in the process of negotiation. It's much harder to drive the terms up than to move them down. Though the lesson here is definitely "aim high," this should never override the objective of presenting options that fairly address the other side's needs. 

Maneuvering Obstacles
As you present the options you have prepared, or developed during the course of negotiations, others may present objections and argue. Don't take these objections personally. Use logic and fairness to test the options. Use facts to substantiate needs. Objections and argument should be interpreted to mean that either: (1) The other parties' needs have not yet been fully understood and addressed, or (2) The way in which your proposal addresses the interests of all involved must be more effectively substantiated. Either way, your ultimate objective in negotiation is to keep conversations focused on underlying needs, increased options, offers that credibly construct mutual gain, and outcomes that exceed everyone's wildest dreams.

The Agreement
Contrary to popular belief, win-win negotiation doesn't mean that everyone wins equally. The desired outcome of your negotiation is not a 50-50 split of the spoils. Your objective is personal gain. You may gain substantially more, or substantially less than the other parties involved. Measure the success of your negotiation against the extent to which all parties believe they have been fairly treated, meaning specifically that:
 
 

• Some of their needs have been met more successfully than they could have been without the negotiation.
• No compromise has been made that undermines the potential for anyone to profit from the agreement. 

Copyright 2000 Batna.com & Eric C. Gould