Negotiation Skills sample manual

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Negotiation Skills Instructor Guide


TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface ..............................................................................................................................................6 What is Courseware? ................................................................................................................................ 6 How Do I Customize My Course? .............................................................................................................. 6 Materials Required ................................................................................................................................... 8 Maximizing Your Training Power .............................................................................................................. 8 Module One: Getting Started ........................................................................................................... 10 Housekeeping Items................................................................................................................................ 10 The Parking Lot ....................................................................................................................................... 11 Workshop Objectives .............................................................................................................................. 11 Pre-Assignment Review .......................................................................................................................... 12 Action Plans and Evaluations.................................................................................................................. 12 Module Two: Understanding Negotiation ......................................................................................... 13 Types of Negotiations ............................................................................................................................. 13 The Three Phases .................................................................................................................................... 15 Skills for Successful Negotiating ............................................................................................................. 16 Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 17 Module Two: Review Questions.............................................................................................................. 18 Module Three: Getting Prepared ...................................................................................................... 20 Establishing Your WATNA and BATNA.................................................................................................... 20 Identifying Your WAP .............................................................................................................................. 22 Identifying Your ZOPA ............................................................................................................................. 23 Personal Preparation .............................................................................................................................. 24 Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 25


Module Three: Review Questions ........................................................................................................... 26 Module Four: Laying the Groundwork .............................................................................................. 29 Setting the Time and Place ..................................................................................................................... 29 Establishing Common Ground ................................................................................................................ 31 Creating a Negotiation Framework ........................................................................................................ 32 The Negotiation Process ......................................................................................................................... 34 Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 36 Module Four: Review Questions ............................................................................................................. 37 Module Five: Phase One — Exchanging Information ......................................................................... 39 Getting Off on the Right Foot ................................................................................................................. 39 What to Share ......................................................................................................................................... 40 What to Keep to Yourself ........................................................................................................................ 41 Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 43 Module Five: Review Questions .............................................................................................................. 44 Module Six: Phase Two — Bargaining ............................................................................................... 46 What to Expect ....................................................................................................................................... 46 Techniques to Try .................................................................................................................................... 48 How to Break an Impasse ....................................................................................................................... 50 Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 51 Module Six: Review Questions ................................................................................................................ 52 Module Seven: About Mutual Gain ................................................................................................... 54 Three Ways to See Your Options............................................................................................................. 54 About Mutual Gain ................................................................................................................................. 55 Creating a Mutual Gain Solution ............................................................................................................ 57 What Do I Want? .................................................................................................................................... 58 What Do They Want? ............................................................................................................................. 59


What Do We Want?................................................................................................................................ 59 Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 60 Module Seven: Review Questions ........................................................................................................... 61 Module Eight: Phase Three — Closing ............................................................................................... 63 Reaching Consensus................................................................................................................................ 63 Building an Agreement ........................................................................................................................... 64 Setting the Terms of the Agreement ...................................................................................................... 65 Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 66 Module Eight: Review Questions ............................................................................................................ 67 Module Nine: Dealing with Difficult Issues ........................................................................................ 69 Being Prepared for Environmental Tactics ............................................................................................. 69 Dealing with Personal Attacks ................................................................................................................ 70 Controlling Your Emotions ...................................................................................................................... 72 Deciding When It’s Time to Walk Away.................................................................................................. 73 Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 74 Module Nine: Review Questions ............................................................................................................. 75 Module Ten: Negotiating Outside the Boardroom ............................................................................. 77 Adapting the Process for Smaller Negotiations ...................................................................................... 77 Negotiating via Telephone...................................................................................................................... 78 Negotiating via Email ............................................................................................................................. 79 Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 81 Module Ten Review Questions................................................................................................................ 82 Module Eleven: Negotiating on Behalf of Someone Else .................................................................... 84 Choosing the Negotiating Team ............................................................................................................. 84 Covering All the Bases............................................................................................................................. 85 Dealing with Tough Questions ................................................................................................................ 86


Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 87 Module Eleven: Review Questions .......................................................................................................... 88 Module Twelve: Wrapping Up .......................................................................................................... 90 Words from the Wise .............................................................................................................................. 90 Parking Lot .............................................................................................................................................. 90 Action Plans and Evaluations.................................................................................................................. 90


Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere. Chinese Proverb Preface What is Courseware? Welcome to Courseware.com, a completely new training experience! Our courseware packages offer you top-quality training materials that are customizable, user-friendly, educational, and fun. We provide your materials, materials for the student, PowerPoint slides, and a takehome reference sheet for the student. You simply need to prepare and train! Best of all, our courseware packages are created in Microsoft Office and can be opened using any version of Word and PowerPoint. (Most other word processing and presentation programs support these formats, too.) This means that you can customize the content, add your logo, change the color scheme, and easily print and e-mail training materials.

How Do I Customize My Course? Customizing your course is easy. To edit text, just click and type as you would with any document. This is particularly convenient if you want to add customized statistics for your region, special examples for your participants’ industry, or additional information. You can, of course, also use all of your word processor’s other features, including text formatting and editing tools (such as cutting and pasting). To remove modules, simply select the text and press Delete on your keyboard. Then, navigate to the Table of Contents, right-click, and click Update Field. You may see a dialog box; if so, click “Update entire table” and press OK.

(You will also want to perform this step if you add modules or move them around.)

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If you want to change the way text looks, you can format any piece of text any way you want. However, to make it easy, we have used styles so that you can update all the text at once. If you are using Word 97 to 2003, start by clicking the Format menu followed by Styles and Formatting. In Word 2007 and 2010 under the Home tab, right-click on your chosen style and click Modify. That will then produce the Modify Style options window where you can set your preferred style options. For example, if we wanted to change our Heading 1 style, used for Module Titles, this is what we would do:

Now, we can change our formatting and it will apply to all the headings in the document. For more information on making Word work for you, please refer to Word 2007 or 2010 Essentials by Courseware.com.

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Materials Required All of our courses use flip chart paper and markers extensively. (If you prefer, you can use a whiteboard or chalkboard instead.) We recommend that each participant have a copy of the Training Manual, and that you review each module before training to ensure you have any special materials required. Worksheets and handouts are included within a separate activities folder and can be reproduced and used where indicated. If you would like to save paper, these worksheets are easily transferrable to a flip chart paper format, instead of having individual worksheets. We recommend these additional materials for all workshops: 

Laptop with projector, for PowerPoint slides

Quick Reference Sheets for students to take home

Timer or watch (separate from your laptop)

Masking tape

Blank paper

Maximizing Your Training Power We have just one more thing for you before you get started. Our company is built for trainers, by trainers, so we thought we would share some of our tips with you, to help you create an engaging, unforgettable experience for your participants. 

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Make it customized. By tailoring each course to your participants, you will find that your results will increase a thousand-fold. o

Use examples, case studies, and stories that are relevant to the group.

o

Identify whether your participants are strangers or whether they work together. Tailor your approach appropriately.

o

Different people learn in different ways, so use different types of activities to balance it all out. (For example, some people learn by reading, while others learn by talking about it, while still others need a hands-on approach. For more information, we suggest Experiential Learning by David Kolb.)

Make it fun and interactive. Most people do not enjoy sitting and listening to someone else talk for hours at a time. Make use of the tips in this book and your own experience to keep your


participants engaged. Mix up the activities to include individual work, small group work, large group discussions, and mini-lectures. 

Make it relevant. Participants are much more receptive to learning if they understand why they are learning it and how they can apply it in their daily lives. Most importantly, they want to know how it will benefit them and make their lives easier. Take every opportunity to tie what you are teaching back to real life.

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Keep an open mind. Many trainers find that they learn something each time they teach a workshop. If you go into a training session with that attitude, you will find that there can be an amazing two-way flow of information between the trainer and trainees. Enjoy it, learn from it, and make the most of it in your workshops.

And now, time for the training!

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Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you’re not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were. David Rockefeller Module One: Getting Started Welcome to the Negotiation Skills workshop. Although people often think of boardrooms, suits, and million dollar deals when they hear the word “negotiation,” the truth is that we negotiate all the time. For example, have you ever: 

Decided where to eat with a group of friends?

Decided on chore assignments with your family?

Asked your boss for a raise?

These are all situations that involve negotiating! This workshop will give participants an understanding of the phases of negotiation, tools to use during a negotiation, and ways to build win-win solutions for all those involved.

Housekeeping Items Take a few moments to cover basic housekeeping items. 

If you need an opening or a way to introduce the participants to each other, utilize the Icebreakers folder to begin or between breaks during the day.

Let participants know where they can find washrooms, break facilities, and fire exits.

Ask participants to turn off their cell phones or at least turn them to vibrate. If they must take a call, request that they do it outside.

Take this time to encourage the group to ask questions and make this an interactive workshop.

Write the words Respect, Confidentiality, and Practice on a piece of flip chart paper and tape it to the wall. Explain to participants that in order to get the most out of this workshop, we must all work together, listen to each other, explore new ideas, and make mistakes. After all, that’s how we learn!

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The Parking Lot Explain the concept of The Parking Lot to participants.

The Parking Lot is a visible place where you will “park” ideas that arise which are not on the agenda, may be off topic, or are better addressed outside of the program.

At the end of the session, we will review parked ideas and follow up, or make suggestions for your own investigation when you are back at work.

Suggestions for the trainer: 1. If you are working with a large group of participants, you may wish to nominate a recorder to park items as you are facilitating. 2. It’s a good idea to note the name of the contributor along with the parked item. 3. Items noted on the parking lot can be useful to you later as you plan future training sessions.

Workshop Objectives Research has consistently demonstrated that when clear goals are associated with learning that the learning occurs more easily and rapidly. With that in mind, let’s review our goals for today. By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to: 

Understand the basic types of negotiations, the phases of negotiations, and the skills needed for successful negotiating

Understand and apply basic negotiating concepts: WATNA, BATNA, WAP, and ZOPA

Lay the groundwork for negotiation

Identify what information to share and what to keep to yourself

Understand basic bargaining techniques

Apply strategies for identifying mutual gain

Understand how to reach consensus and set the terms of agreement

Deal with personal attacks and other difficult issues

Use the negotiating process to solve everyday problems

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

Negotiate on behalf of someone else

Pre-Assignment Review The purpose of the Pre-Assignment is to get participants thinking about the negotiation process. As a pre-assignment, we asked participants to think about what they consider the characteristics of a successful negotiator. Tell participants that they will have a chance to share their ideas during the course of the workshop.

Action Plans and Evaluations Pass out the participant action plans and evaluations, available in the activities folder. Ask participants to fill these out throughout the day as they learn new things and have ideas on how to incorporate the things we discuss into their lives.

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Information is a negotiator’s greatest weapon. Victor Kiam Module Two: Understanding Negotiation Before we get started, let’s take a look at two basic types of negotiation. We’ll consider the three phases of negotiation and the skills you need to become an effective negotiator.

Types of Negotiations The two basic types of negotiations require different approaches. 

Integrative negotiations are based on cooperation. Both parties believe they can walk away with something they want without giving up something important. The dominant approach in integrative negotiations is problem solving. Integrative negotiations involve: 

Multiple issues. This allows each party to make concessions on less important issues in return for concessions from the other party on more important issues.

Information sharing. This is an essential part of problem solving.

Bridge building. The success of integrative negotiations depends on a spirit of trust and cooperation.

Distributive negotiations involve a fixed pie. There is only so much to go around and each party wants as big a slice as possible. An example of a distributive negotiation is haggling over the price of a car with a car salesman. In this type of negotiation, the parties are less interested in forming a relationship or creating a positive impression. Distributive relationships involve: 

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Keeping information confidential. For example, you don’t want a car salesman to know how badly you need a new car or how much you are willing to pay.


Trying to extract information from the other party. In a negotiation, knowledge truly is power. The more you know about the other party’s situation, the stronger your bargaining position is.

Letting the other party make the first offer. It might be just what you were planning to offer yourself!

Estimated Time

10 minutes

Topic Objective

To understand the difference between “integrative” and “distributive” negotiations. Integrative negotiations involve joint problem solving to achieve results that will benefit both parties.

Topic Summary Distributive negotiations involve fixed-amount situations in which one party’s gain is the other party’s loss. Materials Required

Flip chart paper. Before the workshop, write on a flip chart:

Planning Checklist

Recommended Activity

Integrative: Everyone Wins Something

Distributive: The Fixed Pie

Divide participants into groups of four to six. Ask each group to come up with one example of an integrative negotiation and one example of a distributive negotiation. The examples can be negotiations in which they have participated or negotiations they have heard or read about. Ask each group to present their examples.

Delivery Tip

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Ask participants if they think it is ever possible to transform a distributive negotiation into an integrative negotiation.


The Three Phases The three phases of a negotiation are: 1. Exchanging Information 2. Bargaining 3. Closing These phases describe the negotiation process itself. Before the process begins, both parties need to prepare for the negotiation. This involves establishing their bargaining position by defining their BATNA, WATNA, and WAP (see Module Three). It also involves gathering information about the issues to be addressed in the negotiation. After the negotiation, both parties should work to restore relationships that may have been frayed by the negotiation process. It is essential to pay attention to all the phases of negotiation. Without the first phase, the exchange of information, and the establishment of bargaining positions, the second phase cannot happen in any meaningful sense because no one knows where they stand. It sets a scene for demands to be manageable and reasonable. Negotiations are, after all, about the art of the possible. Without the third phase, anything that has been decided during phase two cannot be formalized and will not take hold – leading to the necessity for further negotiation or an absolute breakdown in a relationship.

Estimated Time

15 minutes

Topic Objective

To understand the three basic phases of a negotiation. The three phases of a negotiation are:

Topic Summary

Exchanging Information

Bargaining

Closing

Explain that when most people think about negotiations, they focus mainly on Phase Two: Bargaining. But Phases One and Three are also important. Recommended Activity Ask participants to come up with ideas about what might happen in Phases One and Three. Write their responses on a flip chart.

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Skills for Successful Negotiating These are some of the skills needed for successful negotiating. If participants do not mention any of these, add them to the list yourself. Key skills include: Effective speaking   Effective speaking

Self-confidence

Effective listening   Effective listening

Emotional intelligence

A sense humor   A sense of of humor

Persistence

A positive attitude   A positive attitude

Patience

Respect   Respect

Creativity

Without the above factors, negotiations will be difficult if not impossible. The necessity for negotiation arises because neither party will be able to get everything they want. Knowing that there must be concessions, each party in the negotiation is required to adopt an attitude of understanding that they must get the best deal possible in a way which is acceptable to the other party. The importance of effective speaking and listening is clear; it is necessary to establish what you are looking for and what you are prepared to accept, while understanding what the other parties will be happy with. A sense of humor and a positive attitude are essential because they allow for a sense of give and take. Negotiations can become fraught, and having the ability to see the other side’s point of view while being sanguine with regard to what you can achieve will be essential. Of course you will want as much as you can get – but the other side needs to achieve what they can, too. Seriously uneven negotiations will simply lead to further problems along the line. An atmosphere of respect is essential. If you do not make concessions while demanding them from your counterpart, it makes for a negotiation which will end in dissatisfaction. However important a sense of understanding for your “opponent” may be, it is also necessary to have the confidence to not settle for less than you feel is fair. Good negotiators understand the importance of balance. Yes, you will have to make concessions, but the point of making concessions is to secure what you can get – so you need to pay attention to your bottom line and ensure you are not beaten down to a minimum. Knowing what is realistic, and ensuring that you can get the best deal, relies on being ready to insist upon something that the other side may not be willing to give initially. Emotional intelligence, persistence, patience, and creativity can all play a part here.

Estimated Time

10 minutes

Topic Objective

To understand the skills required for successful negotiating.

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Topic Summary

Successful negotiating calls for the same sort of communication skills that are needed in any personal interaction.

Materials Required

Flip chart paper Write one or two skills on a flip chart. For example:

Planning Checklist



Effective speaking



Effective listening

Ask participants to brainstorm a list of personal skills that are needed for successful negotiating. Write a couple of examples on a flip chart before you begin the activity to get things started. As participants suggest skills, write them on the flip chart. Recommended Activity

When participants run out of ideas, ask them to vote on which of the skills they consider most important. Tell participants that each person will have two votes. Go down the list and ask for a show of hands for each item. Remind people that they have only two votes. Record the number of votes for each item. When you are finished, discuss the top two or three vote getters. Ask participants why they voted for them.

Case Study Phillip and Julian had debated back and forth like two kids in a school yard. Phillip threw in his two cents about his idea and Julian threw in his two cents. Katy heard their banter and offered to be the judge. She then let them present each case sifted through their ideas piece by piece and examined every word. As the judge, Katy decided that Phillip and Julian both had stumbled upon brilliant moves and advised them that they should combine their ideas on paper and learn to work together. They did just that and were crowned winners in front of their coworkers and bosses.

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Module Two: Review Questions 1) How many basic types of negotiations are there? a) b) c) d)

Two Four Three Five

2) What are the two approaches to negotiation? a) b) c) d)

Initial and final Integrative and recessive Distributive and integrative General and broad

3) Integrative negotiations are based on _______________. a) b) c) d)

Corporations Corruption Cooperation Cohesiveness

4) The ___________ approach in integrative negotiations is problem solving. a) b) c) d)

Final Dominant Crucial Easiest

5) Distributive negotiations involve a ________ ________. a) b) c) d)

Fixed pie Baked good Peach cobbler Flat pancake

6) Which of these is involved in distributive negotiations? a) b) c) d)

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Multiple issues Keeping information confidential Information sharing Bridge building


7) Which of these is not an example of integrative negotiations? a) b) c) d)

Information sharing Bridge building Trying to extract information from the other party Allowing each party to make concessions

8) How many phases of negotiation are there? a) b) c) d)

Three Nine Seven Two

9) Which of these is not one of the phases of negotiation? a) b) c) d)

Bargaining Closing Revisiting Exchanging information

10) Which of these is not one of the skills needed for successful negotiation? a) b) c) d)

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Effective speaking Likeability Sense of humor Respect


If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else. Lawrence J. Peter Module Three: Getting Prepared Like any challenging task, negotiation requires preparation. Before you begin a negotiation, you need to define what you hope to get out of it, what you will settle for, and what you consider unacceptable. You also need to prepare yourself personally. The key to personal preparation is to approach the negotiation with selfconfidence and a positive attitude. Without this preparation, you will end up giving more than you get from negotiations. It may be unavoidable that you will have to give up more than you would ordinarily be willing to, but finding the balance between acceptable concessions and getting the best deal for yourself relies on you being ready to go into negotiations with the strongest bargaining position you can.

Establishing Your WATNA and BATNA In most negotiations, the parties are influenced by their assumptions about what they think are the alternatives to a negotiated agreement. Often the parties have an unrealistic idea of what these alternatives are, and they are unwilling to make concessions because they think they can do just as well without negotiating. If you do not have a clear idea of your WATNA (Worst Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) and BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement), you will negotiate poorly based on false notions about what you can expect without an agreement. Often the parties in a negotiation need to decide how likely a particular outcome will be. If your WATNA is something that would be difficult for you to accept, but the likelihood of it happening is small, you might not feel compelled to give up much in negotiations. Realism is essential in this situation. If you could have the ideal situation, the “blue sky” scenario, negotiations would not be necessary. In order to focus on the negotiations with a sense of purpose, your WATNA is important. What is often referred to as the “worst case scenario” is something that any sensible person will think about before embarking on any initiative. What if it goes wrong? How will we deal with that? How you feel about the WATNA will dictate how flexible you need to be (and therefore will be) in negotiations.

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The BATNA is almost more important than the WATNA. If you look at your situation in the absence of a negotiated agreement, and find it almost unthinkable, you will be pressed to enter negotiations in the hope of getting a satisfactory agreement. The word “satisfactory” is important here. Is the WATNA better than satisfactory? Is the BATNA worse? Generally, people only enter into negotiations because they feel they have to. They arrive at this conclusion based on analysis of their WATNA and BATNA.

Estimated Time

15 minutes

Topic Objective

To understand the concepts of WATNA and BATNA

Topic Summary

Before you begin a negotiation, you need to consider the alternatives. What would happen if you did not engage in the negotiation? The answer to this question will help you define your starting position in the negotiation. Before the workshop, write these two definitions on a flip chart:

Planning Checklist

WATNA: Worst Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement.

BATNA: Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement.

Explain that WATNA and BATNA will define your starting position in a negotiation.

Recommended Activity

Explain WATNA first. What is the worst outcome you can expect if you don’t engage in negotiations? If the worst outcome is a situation that you can accept, then you will not be willing to give up much in negotiations. Now explain BATNA. What is the best outcome you can expect if you don’t engage in negotiations? If the best outcome is a situation that you cannot accept, then you will be willing to make more concessions in negotiations.

Stories to Share

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The concepts of WATNA and BATNA were introduced in a classic book on negotiating, Getting to Yes, by Roger Fisher and William Ury.


Identifying Your WAP In any negotiation, it is important that you keep your WAP (Walk Away Price) to yourself, especially if it is significantly less than your initial offer. If the other party knows that you will be willing to take a lot less than you are offering, then you will be negotiating from a position of weakness. If the other party knows, or has an idea of your WAP then it stops being your WAP and simply becomes your price. Establishing a WAP in your mind, and ensuring that those negotiators on your side of the bargain (and only they) know it, allows you to take your strongest possible bargaining position. The other party will try to argue you down from your proposed price, so you will need to remain firm. If they want to pay less, then you may be prepared to agree on a lower price in return for concessions. The opposing party will then have to consider what is acceptable to them. Rather than push too hard and lose out on a deal which would be beneficial to themselves, they will have their own areas where they are willing to make concessions. However, if they know that you have set a WAP that would save them money, they will simply hold firm at that price. They have no incentive to make concessions to you. In many ways, negotiation is about keeping as much to yourself as you possibly can until you can no longer maintain that position. Once you have set your WAP, it is essential to keep to it. A walk away price becomes absolutely meaningless if you are not prepared to walk away should it not be met. You should give the impression to opponents in negotiation that you could walk away at any time. They will, after all, not be prepared to stop once they get a price which is satisfactory to them – they will look to wring a bit more value out of the deal for themselves, testing you to see what you will give up. A warning against setting your WAP unrealistically low is that the other party will not take you seriously if you are a pushover in negotiations. They will seek to test you at every turn.

Estimated Time

15 minutes

Topic Objective

To understand the concept of WAP

Topic Summary

WAP is Walk Away Price, an outcome that is unacceptable.

Materials Required

Flip chart paper. Before the workshop, write on a flip chart:

Planning Checklist WAP: Walk Away Price

Recommended Activity

Explain that WAP is Walk Away Price, “the least favorable price at which you will accept a deal” (Getting to Yes). Present a hypothetical example. Suppose you own a consulting business. You offer to do a project for a client for $50,000. If you are very busy, your WAP

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may be the same as your offer, $50,000. But if you desperately need work, your WAP may be much less, say, $30,000. This means that you will be willing to take on the project for $30,000 or more, but not for less than $30,000. Ask participants: In this situation, why wouldn’t your WAP be even less, say, $10,000?

Identifying Your ZOPA In the negotiation for the used car, both parties should feel good about the outcome. Even though the parties might have hoped for a better deal, both got a better price than their WAP. This negotiation demonstrates the importance of keeping your WAP to yourself if you want to negotiate the best deal. Your range in this situation falls between the price that you would ideally, realistically get and the WAP you have set. In an ideal world you could demand a million dollars and expect to get it. In a realistic world, you need to be realistic in negotiations. You should arrive at your ideal realistic price by seeing what the accepted market value for what you are offering is. By adjusting for your specific negotiating position (whether you are approaching it from a position of need, etc.), you can find your best realistic price. Then think about a price at which it would no longer be worthwhile to strike a deal. Your co-negotiator will have done the same. What he hopes to pay and what you hope to get are just that – hopeful. The ZOPA (Zone Of Possible Agreement) is the area in which the final price will sit, and within that ZOPA you will ideally end up with a price closer to their WAP than yours. If you hint at where your WAP is, the other party will be less likely to come to an agreement that is substantially better than that.

Estimated Time

15 minutes

Topic Objective

To understand the concept of ZOPA

Topic Summary

ZOPA is the Zone Of Possible Agreement, “the range in which a deal that satisfies both parties can take place” (Getting to Yes).

Materials Required

Flip chart paper

Planning Checklist

Before the workshop, write on a flip chart:

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ZOPA: Zone of Possible Agreement Prepare two index cards: On one card, write: You are the buyer. The most you will be willing to pay is $5,000. On the other card, write: You are the seller. The least you will be willing to accept is $4,600. Explain the concept of ZOPA.

Recommended Activity

Ask for two volunteers. Tell them that they are going to negotiate the price for a used car. One will be the buyer and the other will be the seller. Give the cards you have prepared to the volunteers and ask them to negotiate a price for the car. Ask the buyer to begin the negotiation by making an offer. When they have agreed to a price, ask them to tell the group the amounts written on their cards. Explain that these amounts are the WAPs for the buyer and seller. The difference between the WAPs is the ZOPA.

Personal Preparation One way to relieve some of the tension you may be feeling before a negotiation is to remind yourself that there is nothing to be afraid of. As long as you understand your position, there is no danger that you will “lose” the negotiation. During and before negotiation you should always be: 

Polite - It never reduces your argument

Firm - Removes Perceptions of Weakness

Calm - Facilitates Persuasion and Compromise

Do not take things personally

Knowing your position before entering negotiations means that you are sure of your “red lines”. Things that you are not prepared to consider that would make your position worse than it is now. Many people get pushed into a deal which is unsatisfactory to them because they have failed to prepare for the negotiation in this way. If you go into negotiations with vague ideas, that vagueness will become a weakness in your negotiating position. The important thing about your position in negotiations is that you should be the only one who knows what it is. Many people compare negotiation to a game of poker. When playing poker you should always

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be careful to keep to yourself what kind of hand you have. If your opponent knows your position, they will squeeze you to its very limits, confident that you have no strong impetus to push back. When a negotiator knows that their “opponent” has a weak or compromised position, they will instinctively know that they are negotiating with someone who is working from a position of desperation. They will believe “that’s what he’s decided he is willing to settle for, because he needs this deal. Does he need it enough to give me a little bit more leverage?”, and will negotiate from that standpoint.

Estimated Time

10 minutes

Topic Objective

To understand how to prepare yourself mentally for a negotiation.

Topic Summary

Negotiating does not come naturally to many people. The best way to build confidence before a negotiation is to be certain of your position: your WATNA, BATNA, and WAP.

Materials Required

Flip chart paper Before the workshop, write on a flip chart:

Planning Checklist Know your position: WATNA, BATNA, WAP Explain that one way to build confidence before a negotiation is to be certain of your position. Recommended Activity Ask participants to brainstorm other ideas about how to prepare yourself for a negotiation. Write their responses on a flip chart.

Case Study Clay worked up a sweat in his office and did jumping jacks and high jumps. Mark couldn't believe his eyes and had to get a closer look. As Clay, jumped over imaginary hurdles, Mark asked him what in the world had gotten into him. Clay said that in order to beat your opponent at the art of negotiation, you needed to gather your strength and feel confident in your approach. Getting pumped physically before you meet your competition made you that much stronger. Clay informed Mark that he need to build muscle in order to go to bargaining table fully prepared for battle.

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Module Three: Review Questions 1) Negotiation requires _________________. a) b) c) d)

Whining Preparation Cash reserves Gumption

2) What are two things you must have in order to approach negotiation successfully? a) b) c) d)

Law and order Coffee and treats Self-confidence and positive attitude Fear and loathing

3) Getting the best deal for yourself relies on you being ready to go into negotiations with the strongest _____________ position you can. a) b) c) d)

Bargaining Bullying Intimidating Unrelenting

4) In most negotiations, the parties are __________ by their assumptions about what they think are the alternatives to a negotiated agreement. a) b) c) d)

Intimidated Inundated Influenced Incorporated

5) What does the acronym WATNA stand for? a) b) c) d)

With a treaty nothing advances Without a talk nobody agrees Worst alternative to a negotiated agreement Wrong alternative to a negotiated agreement

6) What does the acronym BATNA stand for? a) b) c) d)

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Better alternative to a negotiated agreement Best alternative to a negotiated agreement Bargaining alternative to a negotiated agreement Blissful alternative to a negotiated agreement


7) What is a 'blue sky' scenario? a) b) c) d)

Nice day for a friendly debate Easy negotiation experience Ideal situation Rainy day

8) What does the acronym WAP stand for? a) b) c) d)

Will approach privately Walk away proud Walk away price Walk away penniless

9) In a car buying negotiation scenario, what is the final price will sit referred to? a) b) c) d)

Zorro Zopa Zola Zoli

10) What does the acronym ZOPA stand for? a) b) c) d)

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Zero or put away Zone of possible action Zone of possible agreement Zone of passable agreements


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