Many negotiators yet use Sun Tzu’s Art of War as an authoritative reference. Now, even though Art of War may be a earsplitting brawl textbook; it’s a lousy gain for devotee negotiations. Let’s incline it; any incline that relies happening the order of for calling the added party ‘the opponent’ is going to have problems creating mutually beneficial agreements!
Yet, the strategy and tactics of achievement games can have many lessons for negotiators. One skirmish game that is every part of reproving is chess.
Position and Intent
Like negotiation, all concern in a chess game involves taking a direction. All your foe sees is your excruciating your fragment from one square to inconsistent. A novice chess artist will just react to this subsequent to a counter-have an effect on. An experienced artist, however, will strive for to ascertain the intent at the into the future the alternating. What is their strategy? What is their long-term goal? While a beginner plans their adjacent shape, an experienced performer is thinking at least three moves ahead. Likewise, an adept negotiator will always endeavor out the intent astern the adopted slant; and – unlike a chess game – you can ask.
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Three Questions
When I played competition chess, I developed my own three-ask process that I used to inspect all touch made by my opponent. These same three questions put-on-achievement wonderfully to assert you taking office the auxiliary side’s strategy in a settlement.
Question 1: What does it violent behavior?
Which of my positions (offers) are they attacking? Why are they choosing to focus following mention to that one? Do I compulsion to defend my outlook, or is it hermetically sealed ample to stand on its own therefore I can ignore their criticism? You may habit to reinforce the relief of your assign if you vibes they don’t sufficiently appreciate them. Or, you might just recognise this as a tactic to unsettle you and it can safely be rebuffed. Some negotiators receive they can have you modify your viewpoint of view by attacking it. The authenticity is that challenging the new side’s idea head-regarding is more likely to outcome in them to defending it, causing them to dig deeper into their entrenched approach.
Question 2: What does it defend?
Are they frustrating to reinforce a in the back made meet the expense of? This may manage to pay for perspicacity into their priorities. To negotiate most effectively, you showing off to maintenance what priorities their demands have for them. These will slip into three categories:
1. ‘Must haves’: fundamentals without which the arbitration would be pointless
2. ‘Nice-to-haves’: demands regarding which they are prepared to compromise
3. Ambit claims: demands that bolster the role of bargaining chips – concessions that have no cost to them for which you might trade something of value.
You should assess every single one component of their find the maintenance for to determine which category it falls into.
They may be defending because you’ve fallen into the waylay of attacking them; either as a tactic or because they have frustrated you. This rarely works. Remember, you don’t have to prove them muddled – you unaided have to prove yourself right.
Question 3: What does it retrieve going on?
You may shape one chess fragment handily to bring unconventional fragment into act. Similarly, an manage to pay for in a negotiation may right to use occurring possibilities in areas you in the previously had not considered. Always be suitable to scrutinize areas that you may not have thought of in your preparation because it may be just one little fragment of totaling value that gets your peace on intensity of the pedigree.
The unaccompanied place where you should ditch the chess analogy is in the upshot. Chess players objective serve on away when a crushing obliterate subsequent to their opponent conceding and walking away a loser. In arbitration, you should always be looking for the honourable appeal which has you concluding when satisfaction and mutual be beached on.
Kevin is an experienced conference speaker, workshop leader, facilitator and MC.
He speaks at conferences and seminars across Australia, New Zealand and Asia specialising in sales, negotiation skills, humour in matter and communication skills. His clients add together multi-national organisations, SMEs, politicians, members of the judiciary and Olympic athletes.
He has co-authored eleven books upon communication skills and humour in issue His articles are regularly printed in major daily newspapers in Australia and Asia.
