A principled negotiator is open to the view that there are bigger or better opportunities and solutions, and collaborative negotiations allow an opportunity to explore mutual interests. The principled approach was first made famous in Roger Fisher and William Ury’s conflict resolution book, Getting to Yes. Fisher and Ury described the four fundamental rules for principled negotiations:
1. Separate people from the people.
For this approach to work, you’ll have to learn to separate your emotions from the negotiation. Your emotions will inevitably become tangled up with the substantive issues of the task at hand. Once emotions come into play it’s hard to think rationally; we often act differently or say things we wouldn’t have said otherwise. Coming to an agreement will be that much harder to do once emotions dictate our decisions.
2. Focus on interests, not positions.
It’s not always clear, but there’s a difference between what you really want and need (your interests) and what you say you want or need (your positions). During negotiations, each party often counters the other’s position just to be adverse, not because their interests are actually adverse. If you can pin down each party’s true interests you may find that they’re compatible.
3. Invent options for mutual gain.
As is the case in most situations in life, there’s always alternative ways to getting from point A to point B. Look for new solutions to your problem that will allow both sides to “win.” The continued struggle over the original positions is often futile. Instead, get creative. There doesn’t have to be one winner and one loser. Prior to negotiations, brainstorm alternative solutions to the problem.
4. Insist on using objective criteria.
Perhaps the easiest way to find objective criteria is to look to similar negotiations and see how they were resolved (the terms of the deal). This provides context, and allows each side to decide what is “fair.” For example, if a teacher’s union is negotiating with a school district over employment contracts, they can look to see what other similar school districts and teachers have agreed to. These agreements provide an “outside objective criteria” to use during negotiations. Without objective criteria to judge negotiations it’s difficult for adverse parties to decide on a reasonable middle ground. By comparing the negotiations to similar prior negotiations, it’s easier to weed out outrageous or extreme negotiation requests.
Principled is Not The Only Approach
Keep in mind, this isn’t the only way to negotiate and, sometimes, it’s not the most effective. In cases where there is an unavoidable conflict, the most effective negotiation approach may not be principled. Instead, in these situations it may be more efficient to supplement the principled approach with other negotiation tactics. One alternative negotiation tactic is positional negotiation. Positional negotiation is essentially when either party has decided it intends to set boundaries to the negotiation and applies relatively rigid or inflexible rules to what it will consider “negotiable.” This approach is typically associated with a competitive (win-lose) mentality. The positional negotiator will seek to walk away from negotiations with as much money, property, rights, etc. (whatever the subject matter of the negotiations happens to be) as he or she can with little regard to the consequences to the other party. It sounds harsh, but it’s a useful negotiation tactic in some settings.
Ultimately, your negotiating approach will depend on the type of negotiations you engage in. To be an effective negotiator, you should be prepared to employ different negotiating approaches. Depending on your situation, the principled, interest-based approach may be the best way to achieve a win-win solution. On the other hand, if conflict is inevitable, it may be more effective to hold a strong, rigid position in your negotiations. Regardless, it’s important you understand there’s more than one way to negotiate, and using different negotiating approaches will help you become a more effective negotiator.
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