Costing Uncertainty
Costing Uncertainty This week’s blog is based on a discussion I had with my spouse recently while booking a vacation. It touches on an important negotiation principle: valuing or costing uncertainty. Most labour negotiations involve some degree of uncertainty. The future state of the economy, the performance of the business and labour market conditions all […]
4 Easy Rules for Bargaining Late
Years ago when I first got elected to a union bargaining team, I had images of bargaining late with night bargaining sessions and tense exchanges in the early morning hours. After nearly a decade chairing teams and negotiating agreements worth anywhere from a few million dollars to hundreds of millions of dollars, only a few […]
Endowment Bias: I got it & I like it
Our friends at the Harvard Negotiation Project and authors of books like Getting to Yes would have you believe that negotiations is or ought to be a perfectly rational process. We know from our lived experience and countless pop psych books that people are not perfect rational actors. Cognitive biases affect how we process information […]
Define ZOPA: Zone of Potential Agreement
Define ZOPA One of the most popular articles on this blog is my article on the definition of BATNA. This week I thought I would cover another fundamental negotiation term and define ZOPA. ZOPA is an acronym that means zone of potential agreement. Put simply ZOPA is the range where the parties could agree. ZOPA […]
Negotiation Mastery at HBX: A Student’s Review
Negotiation Mastery at HBX I recently took a certificate in Negotiation Mastery at HBX, the Harvard Business Extension School. In this post I am going to talk about my experience at HBX with the negotiation mastery course. What is Harvard Business Extension School? Harvard business extension school or HBX for sort it is Harvard Business […]
Say Yes in a Negotiation
How to Say Yes in a Negotiation Lots of negotiation texts make a lot of the concept of being able to disagree without being disagreeable. Given significantly less attention is the concept of been able to agree without being disagreeable or how to say yes in a negotiation. In this post I’m going to review […]
Life Saving Negotiation: A Case Study
Highly persuasive negotiation techniques that allow you to continue the conversation while looking for an agreement are important in a myriad of circumstances. One of the most obvious examples of when highly persuasive techniques are important are when you undertake a life saving negotiation. In his book Don’t Split The Difference Chris Voss teaches negotiation […]
Spectrum of Mediation: Facilitative Mediation
This is the long over due second of a three part series on the spectrum of mediation. If you missed it, check out part one on evaluative mediation.The spectrum of mediation hosts three main types or styles of mediation. They flow from the most direction and influence from the mediator to the least. These styles […]
3 Mediation Location Rules
I was asked by a client where their mediation should be performed. It got me thinking that I should probably share what goes into the decision about mediation location. For me it’s pretty much an even split on the question of who books the location for a mediation. Sometimes it’s the parties and other times […]
Mediator Codes of Conduct Canada
Mediator Codes of Conduct Canada Mediators in Ontario are not regulated by legislation. However, all three professional organizations for mediators require members to abide by mediator codes of conduct. Two of the organizations, Ontario Association of Family Mediators (OAFM) and Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario (FDRIO), set standards and codes of practice for family […]