As a social entrepreneur, chances are you have had to come to the bargaining table with a prospective partner. When you do this, so many motivations are involved – you want what’s best for your organization, you want to help the people for whom you’re working, and of course the other side has their own interests in making whatever type of deal may be on the table. In instances like these, it can be difficult to come to a resolution that can be mutually positive.

Enter Karl Albrecht. This author of numerous books on organizational and interpersonal intelligence has brought forth a concept that can serve particularly useful in bringing negotiations to mutually amicable and positive outcomes that are good for all parties involved. He has created a 5 step model, which I will share with you now.

Added Value Negotiating: 5 Steps to Win-Win

1. Identify Interests. Typical negotiations are based on the idea of getting as much from the other side as possible. To accomplish this, people are advised to withhold as much information as possible, so as not to “show all their cards.” But this mindset is win-lose. There is a better way. The first step to a win-win outcome is to be up-front with what you hope to get from the deal – not necessarily in terms of actual provisions, but rather in terms of individual aspirations, needs, and goals. It could be helpful to get these interests in some kind of document to serve as a starting point and reference for evaluating possible deals. It might be helpful to guide the process by stating your own interests first, and then interviewing your counterpart to help them articulate their interests.

2. Define the Elements of Value. Before you propose a deal, both you and your counterpart should enter into what Albrecht calls a “wideband” thinking process where you identify a range of possible elements of value that you and your counterpart can bring to the table. This includes everything from money, to property, to actions, or expertise – but should involve what you are willing and are not willing to share. The more creatively you think about this process, the better.

3. Design Multiple (at Least Three) “Deal Packages.” You have an optimal result for you. So make a number of deal packages containing your desired outcome, while also taking into account the relative interests of your counterpart. There may be multiple ways to come to a mutually amicable result. If you design three to five deal packages, all of which you are happy with, you can then present them for your counterpart to choose from. By doing so, they are disarmed as theyrecognize that each deal meets your needs (though possibly in different ways) and your willingness to let them choose signals good faith and confidence in a win-win, balanced-value outcome.

4. Cooperatively Select the Best Deal. Getting the best deal could be as simple as you propose your best-case scenario, and they agree with it. But if not, then you can go back to the drawing board and come up with multiple deal options. Once you have an agreement, you can then move forward with your final settlement.

5. Refine and Perfect the Selected Deal. It could be that one of the proposed deals is appealing to both parties, with little refinement necessary. However both parties can review the agreed solution and think of “extras” they can possibly contribute. In other words, a way to add further value for one if not both parties. Here, you should also pin down the specific “who, what, how, and when factors”.

I learned of this model for added value negotiating while reading the book Social Intelligence: The New Science of Success by Karl Albrecht. I have found this book of immense value, and have learned a number of things about effectively communicating and interacting with others. I most highly recommend it. Karl Albrecht has also published a book specifically about added value negotiation, though I have not read it (it is, however, in my Amazon Wish List). It is called, not surprisingly, Added Value Negotation: The Breakthrough Method for Building Balanced Deals.

You can also learn more about Karl Albrecht at http://KarlAlbrecht.com.

Did you find this article useful? Would you appreciate further specificity? The purpose of my blog is to serve as a resource for social entrepreneurs engaging in the active building and running of their social enterprise. If you mention to me a topic that you have an interest in but are unsure of where to turn, I will do my best to provide you with a resource or expert who can answer your question.

Whenever I list a book on this site, I do so with full disclosure that I am using my Amazon affiliate link. My strictest intention is to provide value for the social entrepreneur at all times; your support helps me keep this site going but if people feel this detracts from the positive messages I aim to relay then I will no longer use the link. I only recommend that which I believe to have significant value for the social entrepreneur in the building and growing of their organization.

(photo courtesy of deforth on Flickr)