Our New Year's Resolution We Give To You!
This Year Stop thinking of the minimum you need and start thinking about the maximum you could get!
The Weekly Walkaway highlights negotiation in its ‘good’, ‘bad’ and sometimes ‘downright ugly’ forms. Issue No. 58 (12th January 2024). New Years edition.
What to expect?
Message of The Week - From The Management
Thought of The Week - This Year Stop thinking of the minimum you need and start thinking about the maximum you could get!
Remember: You are a negotiator!
You are always managing some form of conflict, a difference of opinion or interest.
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Message of The Week
Happy New Year you wonderful bunch of Walkawayers.
Last year we had an objective to get The Weekly Walkaway off the ground and engage with as many like minded people as we could.
We had no idea how successful you would all make this journey; you grew this niche group from a standing start to over 1000 subscribers.
In fact you have hit 1052.
That’s bloody marvelous and we thank you all for your continued interest and engagement.
The journey continues so lets target 5000 by the end of 2024.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK
Stop thinking of the minimum you need and start thinking about the maximum you could get!
So let's get going.. A New Year and with New Years comes new beginnings and the usual raft of New Year's resolutions. What are yours?
Mine is to cut out processed sugar. God I love chocolate, dark chocolate especially.
But I have decided my goal for 2024 is to stop eating the kids biscuits and sweets.
I mean, come on, they are old enough to protect themselves now, they don't need me eating this stuff to save them from themselves and the dangers of sugar!
But, if I could give you all one resolution to consider for 2024 it would be to stop thinking of the minimum you need and start thinking about the maximum you could get!
These current economic times, the climate we are in, needs negotiators.
You are all negotiators. But to succeed where others will fail will be in this one simple philosophy;
Stop thinking of the minimum you need and start thinking about the maximum you could get!
I’d like you all to challenge yourselves; "Are you focusing on the minimum you need, to hit your goal, your target, your objective or are you focusing on the most you could get?"
When you sit down and plan your negotiations are you still thinking about a target or a goal and is that target and goal a stretch target or just the minimum you need to satisfy your monthly targets.
Are you being asked by senior management “have you planned your BAFO, your best and final offer”? I mean c’mon guys.. where do think you gonna end up..
Think Bigger!
In negotiation we can use the ZOPA analysis (Zone of Potential Agreement) to get a better idea of how much more a negotiator could get in a deal.
This would mean not thinking small; about your own walkaway, breakpoint or BAFO but thinking bigger; focusing on your counterparts' walkaway, breakpoint or BAFO.
Because if you go into a negotiation thinking small and thinking about your own walkaway then you will achieve it!!!!
Yes, well done.. you got a deal and yes, a deal is much better than no deal (usually), and yes, you might now have hit your monthly, quarterly or even annual target, but it is the minimum.. The least you can get.
You thought ‘small’.
Consider this: what happens when someone sets a goal and achieves it? Do they now stop or do they keep going, pushing on for more?
Yes, that's right, they stop!
So if someone was to set a target price and they got it, they stop.. right?
But, what if they could have got more? What if they could have got a lot more..?
So when we talk about getting the minimum you need, this is what we mean. And I’d like you to focus this year on the maximum ‘they’ could give you.
How Can You Use The ZOPA To Maximise Your Outcomes?
We always say that negotiation is an intricate dance. A tango of moves, counter moves, tactics, strategy, verbal and non-verbal communication.
The dance helps you achieve better negotiated outcomes and the goal of the dance, the negotiation, is not just to hit your targets but to surpass them.
One simple tool in your planning arsenal is the ZOPA analysis.
While traditionally applied in negotiation settings, the principles of ZOPA can be extended to everyday life, encouraging you to focus on achieving the maximum rather than settling for the minimum in everything you do.
The ZOPA is the range between yours and their ‘Walkaways’.
Your walkaway is the minimum acceptable offer or the point beyond which you are unwilling to proceed.
However, the key to maximising your outcomes and outperforming your targets lies not in fixating on your own walkaway but in understanding and exploring your counterpart's walkaway.
So before you negotiate you’ll have to plan and make some assumptions. Because although you might be able to give their walkaway a really good guess it will be that, a guess.
FACT: The more wise heads you plan with the better the guess will be.
Opening Extreme and Moving in Ever Decreasing Sizes
Between your own walkaway and theirs is the ZOPA. It is only within the ZOPA that a deal can be done.. How much of that deal will be yours depends entirely on you;
Focusing on their walkaway, concentrate and steady your mind. Make your target, your goal, your objective to hit their walkaway…
Opening extreme, with an exaggerated offer… so you have room to move…
Moving in ever decreasing sizes, giving satisfaction, employing the law of reciprocity and observing their reactions to test your assumption of their walkaway.
Beyond Negotiation - Setting Personal Goals
Life is one grand negotiation, a series of interactions, differences of opinion and conflict.
Setting personal goals is no exception.
If you establish a target and stop once it's achieved, you may miss out on opportunities for personal growth.
Continuously assess your goals, pushing beyond initial benchmarks to discover new potentials.
Apart from cutting sugar out of my life, my other personal goal is to take myself from playing 6-aside touch rugby (last year's goal) to playing full contact 15 aside.
I know, I’m 50.. So what! Its my goal.
You never know I could be called up to help Welsh Rugby but I might have miscalculated my ZOPA assumption.
Think On Your Career Development
Rather than settling for the minimum required for a promotion or a project, consider the broader range of possibilities within your capabilities and the organisation's needs. This proactive approach can lead to more significant achievements.
Conclusion
I keep discussing.. No sorry.. He’s a teenager.. I keep telling my eldest that:
“We are not born equal. Some of us are born with more intelligence. Some are born more sporty. But what we are all born equal with is the amount of effort we can put into something.. Those who put more effort in usually surpass those who were born naturally gifted’
The ZOPA is a versatile tool that rises above the realm of negotiation, offering you an opportunity to maximise your outcomes in various aspects of life.
By shifting your focus away from accepting the minimum required to considering and pushing for the maximum possible, you can unlock hidden potentials and surpass your own limitations and expectations.
Whether in negotiation or personal goal-setting the principles of ZOPA provide a roadmap for navigating life's complexities with a mindset geared towards maximising outcomes.
So. Give it a go.. Accept the challenge.
Stop thinking of the minimum you need and start thinking about the maximum you could get!
#NavigatingBetterNegotiatedOutcomes
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