Preparing to negotiate: your one-page plan

The Harvard Program on Negotiation calls failing to prepare thoroughly 'the biggest mistake negotiators make'. The Workplace module introduced BATNA and interests; this lesson turns them into a full, practical plan you can fill in within ten minutes.

Watch the 1-minute overview

Watch the full video guide for this module

Why preparation wins

• PON warns that skipping analysis and research can leave value unclaimed or let the other side take advantage of you.
• PON also admits that some preparation will turn out to be irrelevant, but understanding what is at stake helps you think on your feet.
• PON's full checklist has 32 questions for complex business deals. For everyday negotiations, a one-page plan built from the most useful ones is enough.
• Use it before asking a manager for more hours, selling a phone or agreeing a price for a group trip.

Your side: goals, interests and three numbers

• Write your short-term and long-term goals (PON checklist). For a summer job, short-term might be money and long-term might be experience and a good reference.
• List your interests and rank them, as PON suggests. Ranking shows you what you could give up to get what matters most.
• Aspiration point: the best result you can realistically justify. PON's checklist asks you to set one.
• Reservation point: PON describes your reservation price as the point where you are indifferent between accepting a deal and pursuing your BATNA. Below it, you walk away.
• BATNA: your best alternative if there is no deal. PON's checklist asks not only what it is, but how you could strengthen it before you start, for example by getting a second quote or finding another buyer.
• Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses too (PON checklist).

Their side: think like the other person

• PON asks you to list the other side's interests and how much each issue matters to them.
• Ask why they want to deal with you at all, and what you have that they need (PON checklist).
• Estimate their likely BATNA and reservation point, and ask which of you can walk away more easily.
• Prepare questions from PON's guide to integrative bargaining: 'Why is this issue important to you?', 'What constraints are you facing?' and 'Where might our interests differ in a way that allows trade-offs?'

Research and fair standards

• PON's checklist asks for objective benchmarks, criteria and precedents that support your position, and its integrative guide gives market value and comparable sales as examples.
• Gulf News passes on advice from UAE professionals: research prevailing prices before negotiating. For salaries, know your market value, check average salary data and talk to people in similar roles.
• Practical step: screenshot three comparable listings for an item you are selling, or ask two people who have done a job what they were paid.
• Evidence you can show is far more persuasive than a number you simply claim.

Logistics, rehearsal and honesty

• PON's checklist includes where and when to meet, what deadlines apply, how much will happen by message or email and what cultural differences to prepare for.
• Rehearse your opening message out loud and think through how the other side might respond (PON checklist).
• PON's checklist also asks you to spot potential ethical pitfalls. PON reports research by Ann Tenbrunsel showing people are more tempted to deceive when rewards are larger, when they feel uncertain and when they have few alternatives.
• Preparation reduces those pressures: when you know your facts and your BATNA, honesty is easier. PON's opening example of a job candidate inventing 'several concrete offers' is exactly what to avoid.

The one-page plan, with a worked example

• Template: 1) goal; 2) my interests, ranked; 3) aspiration, reservation point and BATNA; 4) their likely interests and BATNA; 5) fair standards and evidence; 6) three options; 7) opening line; 8) questions I will ask.
• Example (illustrative figures): selling your old laptop. Aspiration 1,600 dirhams; reservation point 1,200 dirhams; BATNA: a shop's trade-in offer of 1,000 dirhams.
• Interests ranked: a fair price, a quick sale before term starts, a safe handover. The buyer's likely interests: a working machine, proof of condition, a fair price.
• Options: include the charger and case; reset and show it working; offer a lower price for collection this week.
• Opening line: 'Similar models are listed at 1,500 to 1,700 dirhams. Mine includes the charger and case, so I'm asking 1,600.'