Getting to Yes

Getting to Yes

In the article titled ‘Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In’, the author starts off with an explanation of what a good agreement is. She also says that we tend to let our negotiations take the form of positional bargaining, each party only thinking of the benefits to him from the outcome, not caring if it results in an overall maximization of value. One could completely agree with this point as before taking this course on Negotiations and Bargaining that is exactly what most of us understood from the term Negotiations – just getting the maximum value for yourself and meeting your interests primarily, without much concern for the other parties.

The author says that one must follow a systematic negotiation, bearing the following principles in mind.

• Separating People and Issues

According to the author, people tend to get personally involved with their side’s positions and hence tend to try and secure a win from their point of view without caring for the result out on the negotiation in its entirety. The differences in perception among the parties, taking decisions based on emotions and ineffective communication are the main source of such people problems. This is undeniable as people always take issues personally. If people were able to separate the other party from their issues, and could look at the issues objectively, they would be able to reach solutions faster and more efficiently. To combat this, the author suggests to try and make proposals appealing to both sides, e symbolic gestures effectively and

• Focus on Interests

The next principle that the author talks about is that the parties should focus on the interests rather than their positions/stands in a particular issue. Sometimes, focussing on the superficial position on a particular issue by both parties and failing to understand the deeper interests of each other will lead to poor and unsatisfactory negotiations or even failure of reaching a consensus at all. It completely makes sense when the author says that understanding each party’s interests and discussing them will lead to a solution beneficial to all parties

• Generate Options

In a negotiation, when there are multiple issues and the parties have conflicting interests, creating value is very important by discussing the multiple issues and coming up with the best solution. In order to do that, the parties must discuss freely and come up with all possible solutions, by brainstorming and thinking of creative solutions.

• Use Objective Criteria

When opposing partied have conflicting interests, the author says they must use objective criteria to resolve their differences. While it may be difficult for parties to look at the issue from different angles to remain objective, they can however develop certain legitimate and practical criteria to help them in this process like scientific findings, professional standards, or legal precedents.