Secrets to Negotiating Success
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# 38 "The Four Stages of Negotiation"
You have put your plan together. You have assessed the psychological and material needs of the other side. You have created a Settlement Matrix and a long list of questions. You know what issues are going to be discussed, and you're feeling pretty powerful. Are you fully pre- pared now? Probably. But it would be helpful for you to know just what lies ahead, especially if this is your first planned negotiation. After all, most negotiations follow a pattern, and if you're aware of that pattern, it helps you to keep track of where you are in the negotiation in terms of both the con- tent and the relationship. Essentially, there are four basic Stages in every negotiation, as follows: Stage I: Orientation Content: Introduce yourselves to each other; provide overview of why you're meeting; define the issues; mutually decide the order in which the issues will be discussed. Relationship: Perform rituals and amenities (i.e., ask about family, etc.); feel one another out; set the climate for the meeting. Stage 2: Resistance Content: Each side resists the other. This Stage is characterized by redefining issues, wrestling with personal and job needs, organizational constraints, and values and traditions. Relationship: Both sides might exhibit fight, flight, or freeze behavior. This is the Stage of argument and debate. This is also the most tenuous Stage, as the whole deal could fall apart if you don't handle this Stage with grace and consideration. Stage 3: Commitment Content: Both sides have pushed through the Resistance Stage and are now committed to making the deal work. This Stage is characterized by reasoning and asking questions. Relationship: Both sides are showing creativity and flexibility, now that they have triumphed over their feelings of resistance. There is a unified commitment to a win-win settlement. Stage 4: Agreement Content: Settlement of issues in away that is satisfactory to both sides and results in a mutual, formal understanding. Relationship: Both sides affirm that they are happy with the deal and enjoy working with each other. In other words: Win-win! Of these Four Stages, Resistance is the most critical, for that is when each side will be forced to make a decision about whether they want to make this deal. If you are well prepared for objections and counter-offers (as you will be if you have correctly assessed their needs and issues), and handle yourself with a calm, reassuring attitude, you should be able to navigate through this Stage, and thus help the other side commit to the deal. |
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