7 - difficulty

• Two main motives for difficult behaviour:​

  1. Intentional​ --> Clear strategic, behavioural, or philosophical choice by the other party​
  2. Due to inadequate skill​

  • Faulty diagnosis of negotiation opportunities​
  • Other party just doesn’t see any value/potential for a collaborative approach or doesn’t know how to craft and pursue such an approach​
• Hard Tactics​ --> Distributive tactics that the other party uses in a negotiation to put pressure on negotiators to do something that is not in their best interests​
• 4 ways of responding to hard tactics:

  1. respond in kind
  2. offer to change to more productive methods
  3. Call them on it
  4. ignore them
• Relative power can be a good predictor of how a conflict will evolve
• With unequal power distribution:​

  • High power parties pay little attention to low-power parties​
  • Low power parties don’t get needs met or use disruptive, attention-getting tactics that make collaboration difficult​
  • Low power parties are not usually in position to trigger and advance integrative process​
• Negotiators use 4 tactics when dealing with higher-power parties:

  1. protect themselves (remember resistance point and stick to it)
  2. cultivating BATNA (better BATNA means more power)
  3. formulate tripwire alert system (for a warning zone)
  4. correct power imbalance
• • Low-power parties take power​
  • Not feasible in negotiation situations ​
  • Use disruptive techniques instead ​
  • High-power parties give power​
  • Share resources, control, focus on common interests, educate low-power party on their power and how to use it​
  • Third parties managing the transfer/balance of power ​
  • E.g. mediators and arbitrators ​
• • Sharing power facilitates integrative negotiation​
  • When one party does have power over the other, frequently the best outcome the high-power party can achieve is compliance rather than enthusiastic cooperation​
• Identifying an ultimatum --> An attempt to induce compliance or force concessions from a presumably uncooperative opponent​
• Ultimatums typically have three components: 

  1. ​A demand ​
  2. An attempt to create a sense of urgency, such that compliance is required​
  3. A threat of punishment if compliance does not occur
• Exploding offer :

  • One party presents the other with a classic no-win, use-it-or-lose-it dilemma​
  • Specific time limit or deadline attached to it​
  • Clear asymmetry of power between the parties​
  • Pressure-inducing test of faith for the receiver​
  • Restricted set of options​
  • Lack of consideration and respect for the offerer​
  • Apparent lack of good faith on the offerer’s part
• 2 ways of Responding to Ultimatums​:

  1. Try a reasonable approach​

  • Be forthright in addressing the ultimatum​
  • Make sensible, reasonable counteroffers​
  • Attempt to engage the offeror in joint problem solving​
  • 2. If the above two options fail, then agree to the ultimatum for the time being​
• When to use, “Yes, but…”​:

  • The initiator is perceived as behaving unethically and ignores appeals to reason​
  • The respondent is truly interested in the basic offer but needs more time to consider it​
  • There are issues central to the deal that genuinely need clarification​
• 2 reasons why people become difficult:

  1. Negotiator does not know any other way to negotiate ​
  2. Other party has a difficult personality and acts consistently inside and outside the negotiation context 
• • Ury’s “Breakthrough Approach” suggests creating a favourable negotiation environment by:​
  • Regaining mental balance and controlling one’s own behaviour ​
  • Helping the other party achieve similar balance and control​
  • Changing the approach from distributive to integrative​
  • Overcoming the other party’s skepticism by jointly crafting a mutually satisfactory agreement​
  • Achieving closure through firm, even-handed use of negotiating power​
• 5 steps to Ury's "breakthrough approach":

  1. don't react
  2. disarm them
  3. change the game
  4. make it easy to say yes; build them a golden bridge
  5. make it hard to say no (use a BATNA)
• Responding to difficult people:

  • Everyone can exhibit difficult behaviours or be difficult to deal with at times​
  • What is difficult behaviour to one person may not be difficult for another​
  • Negotiators must effectively counterbalance the potential power these behaviours give to those who use them
• Preparing for conversations with difficult people:

  • Understand your comfort level​
  • Visualize how the conversation will unfold​
  • Practise the upcoming difficult conversation with a neutral party​
  • Construct a team that has wide variety of strengths and weaknesses when dealing with difficult others
• Managing the conversation with difficult people:

  • Clarity ​
  • Use precise language and void euphemisms ​
  • Tone​
  • Strike a neutral tone when having a stressful conversation, especially about bad news​
  • A negative tone along with bad news will likely increase their motivation for revenge in the future​
  • Temperate Phrasing​
  • Choose language carefully to deliver a message that will not provoke the other side​