Most times, people narrow their thought process to a win-lose or lose-win situation due to the difficulty they have encountered for the umpteenth time to strike win-win deals.
They’ve concluded that a win-win deal is practically impossible. But is it really true?
Well, for someone to win, someone else doesn’t always have to lose. We can adopt a strategy that makes every feel like a winner.
Everyone can go home happy. A win-win deal is possible!
What is a win-win situation?
A win-win is a situation or outcome where everyone comes away happy; a situation where all the parties involved in a deal are able to benefit after a careful exploration of the positions that result in making deliberate compromises.
In the end, all parties see themselves as successful and they are positive about the situation.
For instance, Kelah loves Coca Cola. Kelvin prefers to give his sister, Kelah, a Coca Cola drink in exchange for her Hamburger which he loves, but she dislikes.
Yearly, many companies receive innovative and creative students from various colleges with diverse skills, while the students on the other hand gain real-world experience in their chosen field as they work in the company.
The company choses to raise the salary of their employees, and that has tremendously motivated the workers, boosting their effectiveness in the company.
All these painted scenarios are just some examples of practicable win-win situations that can exist in the real world.
In business, career, and little matters of our daily lives, striking a win-win deal is possible.
All parties involved are eventually comfortable with the outcome.
Now, let’s see how we can do that in business.
1. Focus on the business, not the personalities involved.
There’s this temptation to place more emphasis on the personalities (perception, communication, table manners, language, etc), instead of the business deal.
Everyone cannot have your perceived standard of “perfect behavior or mannerism.” Don’t be carried away.
Focus on the business deal.
2. Give a detailed analysis of the benefits and interests of the business.
As much as you know, in all sincerity, lay out all the possible benefits of the business. For a win-win negotiation to be successful, there should be a high level of openness from all parties involved.
Nothing should be done with a selfish motive.
3. Create options for mutual gain.
All parties should invent options of mutual benefits that will eventually result to a favourable outcome for everyone on the negotiation table.
In cases where you can’t get anything you want from the business deal, fallback to BATNA, if possible.
BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) is a fallback option that helps you to select the most attractive alternative, which is favourable to all parties involved.
In achieving the best possible outcome from a negotiation deal, the accumulation of essential knowledge on negotiation cannot be overemphasized.
For more guidance before striking a business deal or going into a win-win negotiation, you can go online to read more about essential negotiation skills, common negotiation mistakes, principled negotiation, just to mention a few.
Best wishes!
