When negotiators look at how they can mutually benefit from what is on the table, the dynamics of the interaction changes. Negotiations can be tough as all the parties involved are looking to get the most of the table. You do not want to lose and this can make the negotiating parties view others around the negotiation table as groups that are only looking to take from them. How do you explore joint gains while still claiming value?

Negotiation is all about interests and in most situations where you feel, it is linked to the fact that one group are going to lose much more than the other party if they agree with what is on ground. If you are the person that wants to get something positive out of the negotiation table, you must be a little selfless to others party.

SEE ALSO: How Cooperative Approach To Negotiation Works

That is, you must look at what the other person will lose and try to gauge with emphasis on any possible gain or advantages.

The Key to Successful Negotiations

If there is a word that can best describe the direction a negotiation would go, that word would be comparison. Negotiations can be very clear in terms of profit and loss. That is, what is gained and what is lost are not things that could be whitewashed as it were. The parties coming to the table will always compare their loss to the other person’s gain and their claiming value to the other person’s value.

Most times things are rejected or accepted not based on what they are getting out of the item that has been put to the tables but what the other person will be getting or losing if they accept what is tabled before them. It is basically a game of comparing notes.

SEE ALSO: How to Benefit From Other People’s Mistakes

This is why anybody that wants to have a successful negotiation must have a degree of selflessness to gauge what the other person will be taking from the table and see if it would be compelling enough for that person to accept if they compare it to what they would be taking from that same table. Understanding this will help you adopt the right strategy.

Exploring Joint Gains And Claiming Value

How do you explore joint gains so that it will give you what you want out of the negotiation table or what you can live with in comparison to what the other person is taking from that table? The following are what you are going to do.

Identify Areas Of Similar Interests And Objectives

The primary objective of both parties might be to make profit. If the objective is as simple and as clear cut as this, it will give you a better chance of bringing something to the table that will compel the other party to accept what you have to offer. Identifying areas of similar interests and objectives presents a strategic tool that can be used to develop an offer that will be mutually beneficial.

Understanding Tradeoffs

Now you might not have areas of similar interests. In fact, your goals might be diametrically opposed with that of the other party. This does not necessarily translates to mean war. The same rule of similar objectives also applies but this time, it is all about tradeoffs. The other party will also be aware of how both of you have divergent and even diametrically opposed interests.

Tradeoffs become the only point where both of you might want to consider some form of agreement. That is, you are both ready to lose something.

The issue will now turn to what you are willing to sacrifice. You must bear in mind that the other party will want to compare losses just as they will want to compare gains. If what you are willing to lose does not measure up to what they are willing to lose, at least to their estimation, there could be a deadlock. You have to present a compelling offer to avoid such a deadlock.

Agree On Areas Of Similar Interests And Objectives

After identifying areas of similar interests and objectives, the next step would be to draw up something the parties involved would agree. It is one thing to have similar interests and objectives and it is another thing to agree on how both of you would benefit from this similarities.

The fact that you both came to the negotiation table implies that there is a disagreement or differences. Nevertheless, having such similarities makes finding common grounds easier.

Identify Areas Of Similar Interests But Different Objectives

Negotiation is a process and there are times when many items would be on the table. Once you have found areas of similar interests and objectives and agreed on them, the next step would be to look at areas of similar interests but different objectives. This is a tricky part for a couple of reasons:-

 Hidden Objectives

You may have similar interest but have different objectives that you refuse to reveal to each other. You may keep your objectives close to your chest for one reason or the other. This can happen in any type of negotiation. A business organization might deem their objectives to be a trade secret. They may have general objectives that may be known publicly but strategic objectives may be viewed as part of the things they have to keep close to their chest.

It might not be in the interest of both or one of the parties involved to reveal their real objectives. this presents a problem when it comes to identifying an area of similar interests but different objectives. You have to know the real objectives as opposed to the one presented on the table to be able to devise an offer that will be compelling enough for the other party.

 Possible Workaround

Some people may go round this by cloaking their objectives in such a manner that what they place on the table will serve to get the best out of the deal. What they place on the table is of course not what they really have in mind, but it serves the purpose of pushing to achieve what they have in mind.

There are cases where things can still work smoothly but this is the first problem with having similar interests but different objectives.

 Cross Purposes

Another problem with having similar interests but different objectives is that it naturally sets the parties involved at loggerheads. The negotiators would have to dig in deep to maneuver their way out of this. Negotiations tend to come to a deadlock when objectives are at cross purposes.

However, if the differences can be clearly identified, a mutually beneficial solution could come in the form of tradeoffs that we mentioned earlier especially if the parties involved are invested in reaching an agreement.

 The Middle Ground

Finding a middle ground can happen with the use of concessions. Nobody gets everything they want and no one loses everything. Parties that are committed to reaching an agreement would be willing to suffer some form of loss to achieve it.

Parties that are committed probable recognize that they will lose a lot more if they do not agree or find a middle ground. They find an acceptable as opposed to the preferred outcome.

Exploring joint gains is more of a cooperative style of negotiation. Both parties must be willing to use this temporal partnership to develop a plan that will serve them best.