Hi. As a warm-up for this video, I would like you to take just a few minutes to note in a piece of paper your answers to the following question. What are, according to you, the typical factors of success for a negotiator? Now press pause and think for a few minutes. Welcome back. Probably some of you wrote down preparation, and you're right. Maybe others wrote down other points such as sharing the right information, knowing who your opposite number is, identifying your red line, having a sound reputation, packaging solutions the right way, etc. Now think again, all these brilliant ideas share one common feature: you need to take care of them before you reach the negotiation table. Otherwise, it will be much more delicate to improvize when you sit around the table. And indeed, all these ideas boil down to the same fundamental principle: preparation before action. As Roger Fisher used to say, there are three keys of success in negotiation: prepare, prepare, and prepare. Now the question is, how to get prepared? How to make sure you get ready for a negotiation even though you might not have a lot of time available? This module two will focus on this crucial topic, proposing a method of preparation which has proven highly reliable. Indeed, this method has several advantages. It is useful whatever the context and the object of the negotiation in question, buying and selling, managing a joint project, solving a dispute, etc. Two, it brings results whatever the time available, from a few minutes to several weeks, according, of course, to the importance of the negotiation. Third, you can use it on your own or with the whole team to prompt joint brainstorming. And as you will see, this method builds upon the three dimensions of any negotiation which have been introduced in module one. It is structured as a system of 10 elements. We've tried hard to identify the missing 11th element, and so far nobody has found it. So as a result, we're pretty confident that this list of 10 points is fully complete. Would you like to try and identify them? I suggest you push pause again for a few minutes and list which points you usually look at when preparing for negotiation. Ready? OK. Welcome back for this rapid overview of the 10 points structured around the three dimensions. The first dimension is about people – who is involved? – in which there are three elements. First, who will be around the negotiation table? Let's evaluate the personal relationships existing between them. Two, who is above the negotiators giving them instructions which must be respected? As these people are the real decision makers, that's what we call the mandate. Third, who is neither around the table, not above the negotiators, but somewhere else in the landscape and holding a stake in the negotiation which will take place without them? We call them stakeholders. The second dimension is about the problem – what is at stake? – in which four elements should be considered in the preparation. What are the objectives, the priorities, the needs, the motivations to be fulfilled? Next, what solutions could satisfy them at the table? Next, which justifications could help support the solutions I want to keep in the deal? And last, what is my plan B should the negotiations stop? This we call this solution away from the table. The third dimension is about process – how do we run the negotiation? – in which there are the three remaining elements. Organization. How do we organize the negotiation? Communication. How do we process information exchange? And last but not least, logistics, the material environment for the negotiation. So the following videos of this module will introduce these 10 points you need to look at. And if you want more details, more examples, you may want to turn to chapter two of our book "The First Move." Now, two more things before you go on. On the one hand, I acknowledge that such a preparation method can look pretty complicated at first sight, but just like any new tool, the more you use it, the more familiar it gets and the more effective it becomes. So go ahead, practice, practice makes perfect. On the other hand, the very spirit of this negotiation method in order to get prepared is not to build a fort, lock yourself into it, and then not move out of it whatever happens at the negotiation table. This sort of positionalism, as we called it in module one, will not bring you very far. The purpose of preparation is, rather, to decide which useful stuff you need to put into your backpack before entering the jungle so that whatever the opportunity, you're able to seize it, and whatever the surprise, you're better equipped to cope with it. Now good luck.
