Big idea #6–Why is a negotiation agenda important? by Gerard I. Nierenberg, The Complete Negotiator

In my previous post, from Nierenberg's book, I talked about Individual vs. Team Negotiation", today I'll talk about big idea #6 " Why is a negotiation agenda important?

Nierenberg discusses the pros and cons of presenting your agenda and the detail of the information provided, the recommendation is to create two agendas, a general agenda to be provided to the other side and a detailed agenda for yourself. Having the other side accepting your agenda has its advantages. It can put them on the defensive. Your agenda contains the definitions of your terms in your own way. You should remember however, that your agenda reveals your position in advance, and it may permit the other side to prepare a reaction to the areas you have planned to discuss. You are also not able to hear out the other side before presenting your agenda positions, this too is a disadvantage, as this does not leave you with enough flexibility to hear out the other side's interests and positions and adapt your strategy as required.

Nierenberg goes on to discuss the sequence of issues to be discussed, do you present the major issues first, the minor issues, or a group of issues bundled together by topic. If you present the major issues first, this will strategically leave you enough time to work on the most important issues first, without getting drowned in the smaller issues (if time is an issue). As an alternative, minor issues might be easier to discuss at the start of negotiations, providing both parties the chance to build trust, goodwill, and rapport, by agreeing on the “easier” issues first, before getting into the “tough” issues. Another approach is to bundle issues into groups, based on topics, for example, “monetary” issues (Price, discounts, payment terms) and “non-monetary” (legal terms) are discussed separately and only after one topic is agreed, then proceed to the next “topic”.

Never forget the saying “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”.