Checklist
Rank the issues before you start conceding
A concession has no price until you know what the issue is worth to you.
When it fits
- A negotiation includes several terms and it is easy to react to each one as if it mattered equally.
When to avoid it
- Priority rankings are preparation hypotheses and may change when new information changes the value of an issue.
Checklist
- You can identify at least one issue you would trade more readily and one you would protect more strongly.
Why it matters
List the issues you expect to negotiate and rank their importance before the conversation. Note where you have flexibility and where a term protects a hard constraint. This creates a map for tradeoffs: you can give movement on a lower-priority issue to protect something that matters more.
An example
In a consulting assignment, travel frequency may matter more than title while start date has more flexibility.
Check your result
You can identify at least one issue you would trade more readily and one you would protect more strongly.
Keep this limit in mind
- Priority rankings are preparation hypotheses and may change when new information changes the value of an issue.
Connected ideas
Use beforeTrade on differences instead of splitting every issue
Evidence and sources
The Program on Negotiation recommends identifying and ranking one's interests before negotiation.
Priorities can change as new information appears; the ranking should guide tradeoffs rather than become an inflexible script.
A Negotiation Preparation Checklist · Question 8