It takes two to tango…

Recently, I was reading the excellent book from Clive Rich titled “The Yes Book” and was reminded of a simple truth.

It takes two to tango!

A SIMPLE CHECKLIST

When entering a negotiation we sometimes carry certain preconceptions e.g. that the other party has an open mind about the result or that we know what the drivers, wants and needs the other party has.

Well, it would have been nice to live in an ideal world but unfortunately, reality is much more complicated.

As Clive mentions in his book:

“For a negotiation to take place the following elements must be present:

• There must be two or more parties,
• they must at least be prepared to reach agreement,
• they must have some interests in common and some conflicting interests to resolve,
• Those involved must have the freedoms to meet each other’s needs,
• Those involved must be willing to be explicit to some degree about their wants and needs,
• Those involved must be prepared to compromise to some degree.” Clive Rich (The Yes Book)

The above is a useful list to have when entering a negotiation.

As mentioned here, embracing the second position is the key to an effective negotiation. This means that you approach each occasion without misconceptions or false assumptions but explore interests, needs, wants and attitudes for what they really are.

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[Image courtesy of Aracelota / flickr.com]