Information can be the most important ingredient to successful negotiations. When determining your negotiating goals, you use information to set them. The more information you possess on the topic or issues to be negotiated upon, the easier it will be to set your goals and plan accordingly. Part of your strategy may be in how you get and share information. And as new information is discovered, you can reevaluate your goals and change them accordingly.
Learn from negotiation books and mentors
Because information is so key to the negotiation process, it only makes sense that it is also a key element when breaking an impasse. Whenever negotiations bog down and are ceasing to move forward, one thing to evaluate is the information you have gathered, and what information has been shared. You may need to gather or share more information to get negotiations moving forward again.
Share More Information
We know that information is power in a negotiation. The more you learn about what you are negotiating about, the better your odds at reaching a good deal. The party with the most information usually has the upper hand. However, during the heat of battle, we sometimes forget that sharing information with the opposite party can help them evaluate their position, better understand your position, more accurately asses the issues, and find compatible interests to make a deal.
We understand that giving too much too soon can negatively effect our position and the deal we eventually make. But we must also look at what information we can provide to the opposing side to further the process and break impasses. There is no absolute answer to what information you provide and when to offer it. A general guideline may be to share only enough to move the negotiation past impasse and to keep it moving forward.
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Learn from negotiation books and mentors
Because information is so key to the negotiation process, it only makes sense that it is also a key element when breaking an impasse. Whenever negotiations bog down and are ceasing to move forward, one thing to evaluate is the information you have gathered, and what information has been shared. You may need to gather or share more information to get negotiations moving forward again.
| Gather More Information Sometimes negotiations fail to move forward because the parties have not gathered sufficient information to accurately evaluate each side's alternatives to a negotiated agreement. I remember a matter I mediated that took months because I had to repeatedly send the parties off to gather additional information regarding the issues we were mediating. After each session, the parties left to complete their "homework" before reconvening at our next arranged meeting. We would use the additional information to move forward until we hit another stopping point. I was able to keep the parties engaged, and focused on how we were making progress, as I sent them off to find additional missing pieces that we needed to finalize the resolution. Sometimes this included the parties themselves actually doing something, and other times they had to seek out experts to gain the additional needed knowledge. Regardless of how the additional information was obtained, it was needed to get past the breaking point and move the negotiations forward. |
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We know that information is power in a negotiation. The more you learn about what you are negotiating about, the better your odds at reaching a good deal. The party with the most information usually has the upper hand. However, during the heat of battle, we sometimes forget that sharing information with the opposite party can help them evaluate their position, better understand your position, more accurately asses the issues, and find compatible interests to make a deal.
We understand that giving too much too soon can negatively effect our position and the deal we eventually make. But we must also look at what information we can provide to the opposing side to further the process and break impasses. There is no absolute answer to what information you provide and when to offer it. A general guideline may be to share only enough to move the negotiation past impasse and to keep it moving forward.
Similar Article
Money Is Not Always the Most Essential Concern in Negotiations
Seven Steps To Negotiating Successfully
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