Review/Overview

Preparation Opening and transitioning to negotiation Establishing good lines of

communication Maintaining good lines of

communication(even when things get difficult)

Making proposals

Preview of today’s class

Chapter 5: Dealing with Conflict ‘Theory’ of principled negotiation Video examples Audio examples and short practice

Chapter 6: Making Proposals Video examples Negotiation

Q & A with guest Richard Yerian

Principled Negotiation: when the other party is difficultStay calm: Getting defensive will

probably not be productive.Keep listening, acknowledge their

concerns, and stay open to any of their principled arguments.

Appeal to principles of fairness and reason.

Principled Negotiation: when the other party is difficult Appeal to objective criteria:

Facts, precedent, moral standards, costs, efficiency, scientific judgment, tradition, reciprocity, equality, professional standards or advice, market value…

If possible, don’t yield to pressure (bribes, threats, manipulative appeal to trust, refusal to budge), only to principle.

Principled Negotiation: when the other party is difficultRe-frame the issue as a joint

search for a solution – not a fight to be won.

Possibly suggest a third party to help you resolve the issue.

What went wrong?

Sean getting aggressive, making personal judgment on Andrew (inexperience)

Andrew getting defensive in the face of this pressure from Sean

Sean and Francoise not working as a team

What’s going right?

Sean expressing his concerns with a ‘soft on people, hard on issues’ approach More indirect language politeness expressions when interrupting

and saying face-threatening things Andrew listening, acknowledging

concerns, asking questions

What’s going wrong?

Sean makes demands before listening to other party

Sean adopting aggressive, threatening tone

Andrew acting defensive – not using a calm, principled response

What’s going right?

Sean and Francoise listen to proposal first

Karen acknowledges their concerns before making proposal

Sean politely but clearly stating further concerns

Both parties think creatively about options, work as a larger team to solve problem

Negotiation Practice

Situation: Negotiating the building of an apartment complex in Palo Alto.

Details: Refer to handoutGroups of 4-5, two teams prepare

first for 10 minutes

Negotiation (20 minutes)

Introductions, small talk, transition to agenda

Discuss interests (remember shared ones!)

Discuss optionsCome to an agreement, or agree

on next steps

Practicing remaining principled under pressure 5 or so minutes into the negotiation, I will

ask the Committee for a Beautiful Palo Alto to become ‘difficult’ in some way (intimidating, or angry, or morose, or inflexible…) for about 5 minutes.

Don’t exaggerate too much, however. The City Council will maintain a principled

approach during this 5 minutes. Both sides finish with a principled

approach.