Why Do Some Negotiations Fail?

Let's face it, not every negotiation is going to end with resounding success. That sucks, there's no doubt about it, but you can almost always learn something from failure. I would encourage you to do a post-mortem on each of your major negotiations to see if you can learn something from them, but this is especially important in cases where you end up with bad deals or no deal at all.

The following is a short list of areas of concern for most negotiators.  Rate yourself - how well would you say you are performing in each of these areas.  Try and put yourself in the shoes of your counterpart. How would you react if you were hearing the same information?

1. Goal Setting: Good goals allow for negotiators to operate with a Zone Of Possible Agreement (ZOPA).  They don't have to be rigid or set in stone, but they should give you direction in your negotiations.  Without an idea of where you're going, how will you know when you get there?
   
2. Emotions & Body Language: We've talked about some of the "intangibles" of negotiating on this blog before.  Don't underestimate the impact of emotions or ignore the information you may be able to receive via body language. Don't forget to examine your own emotions.  Are you letting emotions cloud your thinking or negotiation tactics? Taking these intangibles into account can only help you!
   
3. Communication: This is critical to the success of any negotiation. Ensure that everyone understands how the negotiations are progressing and put it in writing! Any complex negotiation will inevitably have milestones of agreement that will need to be reached before the group can progress. If these milestones are captures accurately and communicated to all interested parties you will significantly reduce the risk that a further milestone will be compromised by a failure to adequately understand what has gone before to prepare the way. 
4. Listen: This is practically a sub-point of communication, but it's so important that it deserves its own place on the list. Don't be afraid to shut up. Maybe you know everything there is to know about this negotiation. Maybe you are the world's foremost expert on this subject. Maybe you are certain you know exactly what the other side is going to say.  Then again, maybe you don't. You can learn a lot just by letting someone else do the talking. 
5. Stay on target...stay on target: Ok, I worked really hard to fit a Star Wars reference in here so stay with me. Agendas are worth their weight in gold. Send one out to the interested parties some time in advance to allow for changes and suggestions. Once you have a solid agenda this helps everyone prepare for the areas of interest that will be discussed in your negotiations that day.  This will help you avoid a free-for-all style negotiation where everyone with a stake in the outcome tries to assert their goals at the same time.
   

Hopefully this will help you with your next negotiation review. Remember, making mistakes isn't what can make you a poor negotiator, but failing to learn from your mistakes will!