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Who are you negotiating your contract with? (Part 1)
One of the most important factors for a successful contract negotiation outcome is your ability to "put yourself in the shoes" of the person(s) you are negotiating with. However, each person is different and negotiates in a different way. What "types" of negotiators exist?
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In a series of 3 articles we will summarize three different models that each categorize negotiators into three different types. While these models and types are oversimplifications, it will help to detect patterns, classify behavior and ultimately achieve a more succesful negotiation outcome.
In this first of three articles we will review Hard, Soft and Principled Negotiators, described by The Harvard Negotiation Project, in the book Getting to Yes.
The Harvard Negotiation Project has identified three basic types of negotiators based on their research:
- Soft negotiators
- Hard negotiators
- Principled negotiators
Soft negotiators
Soft negotiators are driven by conflict avoidance, which is an often deeply rooted behavior to avoid upsetting others. Since negotiations have typically at least some zero-sum or so-called "distributive" related issues, two parties taking opposing sides are very common and that will be perceived as a conflict by the Soft negotiator. Since the soft negotiator aims to avoid conflicts and focus on the relationship, they will often give-in on these distributive type issues.
If you are negotiating with a Soft negotiator, it may seem easy: just push very hard and you get what you want. However, while that may bring you value in the short term, for the long-term that is not a good strategy since the Soft Negotiator will get resentful and the overal relationship will get damaged beyond repair. If you are interacting with a Soft negotiator, think about what valuable points they may need to capture to ensure they will keep being satisfied with the relationship in the long term.
Hard negotiators
Hard negotiators want to "win" a negotiation and capture as much value as they can. Robert H. Mnookin has described 10 common tactics in his book Beyond Winning that you may use to recognize these types of negotiators. Examples include: a take-it-or-leave-it approach, threats and warnings or using extreme demands followed by tiny concessions.
Depending on your personal style, there are a number of tactics that you can use if you are dealing with a hard negotiator. Eliminate an emotional response from yourself, perhaps even taking yourself out of the negotiator role and moving to a decision maker role instead (when applicable). Further, it is important that you are thoroughly prepared and stay focused on the content throughout the negotiation. While you want to be nice to your counterpart (even if they are not), you want to be tough on the issues that matter.
Principled negotiators
The third type of negotiator that is described by the Harvard Negotiation Project is the Principled negotiator. The four elements that make up for a principled negotiator are:
- Separate the people from the problem
- Focus on interests, not positions
- Invent options for mutual gain
- Insist on using objective criteria
The common factors amongst these principles are objectivity and driving the outcomes towards the deeper needs and interests of both counterparties. If you're observing that your counterpart is a principled negotiator then it may work well to follow the same principles, however critics of the principled negotiation approach argue that this is not always possible:
While the principled bargaining or ‘problem-solving’ approach to negotiation advanced in Getting to Yes is not without fault, it is arguably the most successful method of negotiation that has been developed. (..)
Getting to Yes by Fisher and Ury has some major limitations. Principled bargaining will often be unsuccessful where there is an irreconcilable conflict and the parties’ interests are directly opposed. This is often the case in single-issue disputes, where it is impossible to ‘expand the pie’ for mutual gain
Most contract negotiations do not end up being single issue disputes which therefore makes it a solid approach especially if you're noticing that your counterpart is also a principled negotiator.
Conclusion
Harvard's model, which describes different types of negotiators, is strongly influenced by their vision that a "principled negotiation" strategy is the way to go. In many cases this may indeed be the right approach for your next contract negotation but it is interesting to learn about other types of negotiation strategies and personalities that may exist.
In our next article in this series we will review The Poker Player, Idealist and Pragmatist schools of bargaining. Described by G. Richard Shell, a Wharton School Professor of Business Ethics and Negotiation. Stay tuned and like us on LinkedIn or Twitter to receive a notification when it's published.
About Canveo
Canveo is a contract negotiation and management platform. Contact us if you are interested to learn more about what we do or would like to see a demo.
