The seven elements of the Harvard method

 

Fisher, Ury and Patto, established 7 elements of the process that intervene and relate to each other, which provide an important analytical and conceptual framework for obtaining win-win agreements, the main objective of this method: interests, alternatives, Options, legitimate criteria, commitment, communication and relationship

 

1. Alternatives to non-agreement

 

Not all negotiations end with an agreement. Or the agreement is reached precipitated by the pressure exerted by the other party: "Take it or leave it." We must have well prepared what happens if I leave it. What are my alternatives and theirs?

 

2. Interests and positions

 

Interest is everything that we cannot exchange with the other parties.

 

And the positions is the attitude you have about the topic to negotiate.

 

One example would be: in the construction industry, when we want to buy a material but we are in the stretch and the loosen in the price, in that we offer one to a lower price but also to lower quality, so the dilemma is to choose between one of the two materials

 

It is easy to confuse the objectives to the negotiating issues with the interests.

 

3. Options

 

Identify the full range of possibilities where the parties could reach an agreement and satisfy their interests.

 

A deal is better if you incorporate the best of many options.

Basic points to generate options:

 

To know very well the processes of creating value, to claim value and the choice of REC. Create.

Separate the process of inventing and generate ideas of decision. Carry out brainstorming sessions with both parties ' negotiating teams.

The best values are in the differences. For example, attitude towards risk, temporal cadence, perceptions, marginal value of the same thing.

4. Criteria

 

The criteria must be perfectly delineated so that the agreement to be reached should be prudent and fair for both sides.

It is important to us that the other side has the feeling that we have ' won ', even if that is not true and we have achieved our goals. This exercise will also help to discover new interests and useful options for negotiation.

 

5. Relationship

 

The most important negotiations are made with the people or institutions with whom we have negotiated before and will negotiate again.

 

For a good relationship you should not mix personal relationship problems with essential negotiation problems.

 

6. Communication

 

The way it is used to communicate has a critical impact on the outcome of the negotiation, especially when the two parties are not known ' the benefit can be much greater for both when negotiating face-to-face because only in this way it is possible to share Vital information.

 

If the volume of the transactions to be made is important, it is worth to go to know personally the person with whom we will then have to negotiate by telephone or e-mail. We have found that if both sides have a positive personal knowledge in common, then the method of communication (telephone, e-mail, etc.) must be important for the good result. If negotiators, on the contrary do not know each other or are strangers, the medium becomes critical and makes a difference.

 

Trust and contribution are set much more easily when the parties are known, which would be impossible to do by phone or e-mail among strangers.

 

7. Commitments

 

Commitments are verbal or written approaches that specify what a party will do or will not do. We could call them the ' draft of the contract '. They can be done in the course of a negotiation. In general, an agreement will be better to the extent that promises have had: approach, structuring and have been designed to become durable, easy-to-understand and verifiable agreements.

 

William Ury, one of the forerunners of the "Harvard Method of negotiation"

 

Interest-based negotiation is part of the idea that the interests of both parties can be satisfied so that everyone wins. Here's the magic: it's about finding outputs that make a mutual gain: a win-win result. This result can only occur when the parties collaborate and cease to be seen as adversaries.

 

Let us see as an example the nuclear missile crisis in Cuba in the year 1962. Kennedy got the Russians to take the missiles they had sent to Cuba, which was not known until recently that the Russians managed to get the Americans to remove the nuclear missiles they had installed in Turkey. Thus we see how both sides achieved their main shared goal (avoid a global nuclear contest) and also other own targets like eliminating the missiles in areas near each country. The Americans also got the Russians not to divulge the withdrawal of the missiles in Turkey whereupon Kennedy did not seem to do. 

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Sources: 

http://www.sergerente.net/los-siete-elementos-de-negociacion-de-harvard

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