Coaching practices for Fair Standards Negotiation

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Fair Standards Negotiation, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

  • It’s turned into a pure contest of who’ll budge first, and I hate that whoever caves just loses face
  • This has turned into a pure contest of who’s more stubborn, and whoever caves first "loses"
  • Every time this negotiation starts we go straight to trading numbers and it instantly becomes a tug-of-war with no shared footing
  • Every time I push back on the terms it somehow turns into them feeling attacked, and then we’re fighting about us instead of the actual issue
  • We’re both playing it so close to the chest that neither of us can find a better deal, but I’m scared that if I open up about what I actually want they’ll just use it against me

Practices that may help

  1. Insist on objective criteria to evaluate options
    Agree on an independent standard — market rate, precedent, expert opinion — before applying it to the specific deal.
    Principled Negotiation, Made Practical
  2. Insist on objective criteria
    Anchor the deal to independent standards — market rates, precedent, expert opinion — not willpower.
    Getting to Yes: Principled Negotiation
  3. Anchor the conversation on criteria first
    Set the standard the number should follow before any figure is named.
    Anchoring Bias in Negotiation and Judgment
  4. Separate the people from the problem
    Address relationship concerns and substantive issues in different registers — treating people well and the problem hard.
    Principled Negotiation, Made Practical
  5. Share information to unlock value
    Reveal interests (not your bottom line) so both sides can find the better deal.
    Win-Win Thinking: Expanding the Pie
  6. Principled Negotiation, Made Practical
    Principled negotiation, developed by Roger Fisher and William Ury in Getting to Yes, replaces positional bargaining with a method built on four elements: separate the people from the problem, focus on interests rather than positions, generate options for mutual gain, and insist on objective criteria. It aims for agreements that are better for both parties than their alternatives — without requiring either to capitulate or play hardball.
  7. Run a negotiation debrief to learn what value was left on the table
    After closing, compare priorities with the other side to see the trades you both missed.
    Expanding the Pie: Negotiation Beyond Splitting the Difference
  8. Logroll by trading issues of unequal importance
    Concede on what matters less to you in exchange for gains on what matters more.
    Expanding the Pie: Negotiation Beyond Splitting the Difference
  9. Identify compatible interests for joint gain
    When both sides care about the same thing — quality, reputation, timing — agreements that serve that shared interest outperform splits.
    Interests vs. Positions: The Core of Integrative Negotiation
  10. Frame proposals as "yesable propositions"
    Make your proposals easy for the counterpart to say yes to — not easy on your terms, but easy to accept as legitimate.
    Principled Negotiation, Made Practical

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