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C6.01. Negotiation

Negotiation refers to the discussion process involving two or more actors in trying to solve a conflict. Managing water in a way that maximises social and economic benefits without jeopardising the environment inherently involves some degree of negotiation, thus underlying the importance of negotiation in IWRM processes. This Tool defines negotiation and the criteria for successful negotiation, details the benefits from adopting an interest-based negotiation approach, discusses pre-negotiation preparations and introduces the mutual gains approach.

Defining Negotiation

Negotiation is defined as a discussion happening between two or more disputants who are trying to solve a common problem (Maiese, 2003). In legal terms, it is “communication for the purpose of persuasion and the preeminent mode of dispute resolution as well as deal making” (Goldberg et al., 2012, 63). Negotiation is one of the building blocks of alternative dispute resolution procedures, which pertain to settling disputes outside of the courtroom (Legal Information Institute, 2022). As opposed to “dispute resolution” for conflictual situations, another type of negotiation, where there is willingness to cooperate despite diverse and complex interests, will be called referred to as “consensus building” (Fairman and Smith, 2019). The type of views and strategies that people adopt during negotiation processes can be categorised into three main buckets:



Conditions and Criteria for Successful Negotiations

Here are some principles and conditions to follow as a good basis for successful negotiations (Priscoli, 2003):

In turn, the criteria used to evaluate the extent to which a negotiation can be deemed successful include: (Fisher et al., 1991; Warner, 2009):



Position- vs Interest-Based Negotiation

There are two main negotiation paradigms or approaches:

Interest-based negotiation can lead to “win-win” situation, while position-based negotiation typically lead to “win-loose” or “loose-loose” scenarios. Here is a simple example that explains the difference between the two negotiation approaches. Consider a situation where two people are fighting over a fixed amount of water. Using a position-based approach, parties would probably end up agreeing that splitting the water in half would be the fairest scenario. Now, consider under that scenario that one person wants to use the water to clean dishes and the other for irrigating their plants. An interest-based negotiation process would help set the focus away from “what” they want, i.e., water, to “why” they want it, i.e., for washing and irrigating. Having understood each others needs, they are likely to decide for one person to wash their dishes and recuperate the grey water which could then be used for irrigation, thus creating a “win-win” outcome where both needs were satisfied.

Steps to Prepare for Interest-Based Negotiation

Pre-negotiation preparations are fundamental for a productive negotiation process. Here are the five commonly cited steps in the pre-negotiation stage (Successful Negotiators Club, 2017):



The Mutual Gains Approach

The mutual gain approach to negotiation aims for a “win-win” outcome and embeds itself in the principles of interest-based negotiations. The mutual gains approach includes four key steps, the first step being the pre-negotiation preparation that was described in the previous section (CBI, 2014):