Master the art of Negotiation

It's a fact of life.. u need to negotiate some times in life.. In fact, i negotiate a lot more - in retrospect. Be it a real deal, or just getting what u want, it applies to project mgmt, daily life matters - with yr wife & kids, or just dealing with your colleagues & friends.. u need to learn abt the art of negotiation.

Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman wrote a wonderful article in HBR Sep 2007 on just that - Investigative Negotiation! Search for their book too.. though i've not read it, i believe it must be a good one considering this article's merit.

There're just 5 simple principles to go by:

Principle 1: Dont just talk about what he or she wants. Find out why? This is easy but many just forget to do it.

Principle 2: Seek to understand and help reduce his constraints. As you have constraints to work with, so do them. Attempt to discover their constraints and help overcome them.

Principle 3: See demand as opportunities. Every time they object or decline, see it as opportunity to find out more or request for more info - there may be hidden treasure to be uncover.

Principle 4: Build common ground. Different people have different goals though it may at first seems that they are heading the same direction. Very often their goals are slightly different than yours and therefore may not have any conflict of interests with yours. Instead of fighting, you can turn them into strength or friend to work towards a common goal, such as sharing resources.

Principle 5: Continue to investigate even if you think u lost the deal. There're always lessons to be learned in any deal - even u have lost it. Ask them why you lost it. Find out why. Sometimes the answers surprise you. You may even be able to turn it around. So dont loose heart.

Be investigative. Dont assume anything! coz assume means Making an Ass out of U and Me (Ass-U-Me). Get it?! ;-)