The Art of Negotiation in 535 words

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The Art of Negotiation in 535 words

The Art of Negotiation in 535 words

I want to get better at negotiation, but where to start? UK Amazon currently has 2332 books on negotiation. Google indexed nearly 4 million relevant (yeah right) pages. All I need is a simple, straightforward model that I can put to use now.

Phased by the glut of information, I went within and remembered the wise teachings from a senior manager in my early working life. So, come closer, listen up, because he was very wise indeed?

He said "Do you know your LIMits?"

"My what? said I cautiously, wondering if he was asking about my drinking capacity, driving speed or something equally off the wall.

Being worldlier than I, he noticed my confusion and helped me out.

"Lyndsay, if you want to be successful in life, you need to know your LIMits. Let me explain. What would you Like to have? What do you Intend to have? What Must you have? What are your LIMit's?"

Slowly it dawned on me that he was talking the strange management language of mnemonics.

He wrote down the word for me like this.

L
I
M
I
T
S

And next to the letters he wrote

L ? like to have: your number 1, top of the pile, best outcome
I ? intend to have: your realistic, shoot for the stars but reach the moon outcome
M ? must have: your bottom line. Deal is off if this is not met.

(The I,T and S are irrelevant, just convenient additions to prevent asking what your LIM are!)

Testing the Theory

And so ended his lesson. Off I scampered like the eager young graduate I was, itching to put this into practice. Thinking about a possible secondment opportunity I wrote the following:

Like ? 10% bonus, new laptop, mentoring with new senior manager
Intend ? 5% bonus, attendance at special course, return to new job after secondment
Must ? same pay, relocation expenses paid, credit in my appraisal

The final deal I struck landed somewhere between Like and Intend, with a few perks I had not even considered, so I felt it was a success.

Why Negotiation Works

There are a couple of reasons why simple models are useful but often forgotten.

The LIMits negotiation model encourages flexible thinking in that there are 3 potential good outcomes. Compare this with the most common alternative - success or failure ? and you can see there is only 1 measly good outcome. You don't have to be a gambling pro to work out which approach is best! The secret of the LIMits model is if you don't meet all the criteria for success, then the opposite is not failure, just a different outcome.

The other benefit of using the LIMits negotiation model is it forces you to prepare, gaining you vital spare capacity when you are in the thick of the negotiation. You will be clear about your position and better able to get that across.

Information overload

As I demonstrated, simple models are forgotten because we seek out newer, shinier ideas in books, the internet or from other sources. Reduce information overload by re-using what you already know or recycling an old idea into one that works today. Old knowledge is not always redundant.

So, negotiate that new job, better deal or contract. All you need is to know your LIMits.

Lyndsay Swinton is an experienced team leader, people manager and business coach. Her website is www.mftrou.com - 'Management for the rest of us'. Subscribe to her free no-nonsense Management Tips newsletter at mftrou.com today.

In The News:

The Majalla Magazine
Negotiating with Iran: A better way forward
UPI.com
Negotiation will be deemed a long process. Optimistic claims of progress resulting from trivial concessions will be framed as political victories. And, not surprisingly, Iranian officials will herald the talks as fruitful and call for continued ...
Iranian nuclear negotiations: A little ray of sunshine?The Majalla Magazine
Iran-West Nuclear Negotiations Will Continue in JuneFiredoglake
Inspection at Iran nuclear facility finds higher-level traces of uranium, UN saysCNN
Washington Post -Minneapolis Star Tribune -Huffington Post
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Sudan and South Sudan to resume negotiations
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After weeks of fighting, in which South Sudan took out one of Sudan's last remaining oil fields, the two countries are returning to the negotiation table, under African Union mediation. By Scott Baldauf, Staff writer / May 25, 2012 After a series of ...

and more »

Negotiation is not a solution in itself
Montreal Gazette
“Negotiation” – almost everybody in Quebec still seems to believe in its magical powers to solve the current protest crisis, even after it's already failed once. Three-quarters of Quebecers in a recent poll by Léger Marketing for Québecor-owned media ...

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IBNLive.com
International climate negotiations: Moving parts and much-more slowly moving ...
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Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) met in Bonn, Germany, May 14-25 and negotiated reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases along three separate tracks. First, the Kyoto Protocol: Delegates to the 17 th ...
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How coaching baseball helps negotiating deals
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As it turns out, coaching has helped me in my real job, namely, negotiating agreements on behalf of commercial real estate and corporate clients. • The Similarities Between Creating a Lineup and a Commercial Lease. Several days before a game, ...

Austin American-Statesman
City approves negotiations to buy Joe's Crab Shack land
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By Shonda Novak The Austin City Council on Thursday gave the go-ahead for city real estate officials to negotiate a contract to buy the 1.8-acre site that is home to the Joe's Crab Shack restaurant on East Riverside Drive. The City Council approved the ...

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GAUVIN: Negotiating with taxpayers in mind has not been council's strong point
Barnstable Patriot
The word “negotiate” appears several times in the story. The young man, let's call him John Smith, then glances wistfully through the expansive window to the commuter traffic slowly passing by outside with its assortment of various car models driven by ...

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KOIN Local 6
Reynolds negotiations end in stalemate, uncertainty
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By Rob Cullivan Reynolds School District contract negotiations have again concluded without an agreement, and it's likely both sides won't meet again until Tuesday, May 29, at the earliest, district officials said. Meanwhile, school has been cancelled ...

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Teaneck teacher contract negotiations move to fact-finding stage
NorthJersey.com
BY DENISA R. SUPERVILLE TEANECK — Negotiations between the school board and the teachers' union will move from mediation to fact-finding after discussions reached an impasse on Wednesday night, a union official said Thursday.

China.org.cn
Negotiations for Rio+20 'painfully slow'
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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Thursday expressed frustration at the slow pace of negotiations over a draft outcome document for the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), urging member states to look at the "bigger picture" ...

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