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The pivotal negotiation skill required to unlock the best value from complex commercial negotiation environments is to identify and understand the interests of all the parties impacted by or participating in the negotiation. In some cases, it is easy to understand both the positions & interests of participants in the negotiation. In most cases, however, it is not only hard to identify the interests of all parties; it is also difficult to identify all the key players.

How to negotiate in complex, multi-party negotiations?

1. Identify all the stakeholders in the negotiation

This may be stating the obvious but in practice, it is often difficult to spot and keep track of all the stakeholders in a negotiation. In a commercial environment, we should at minimum attempt to identify the following stakeholders:

a. Financial stakeholders

These are the individuals or groups that will finance, underwrite or give consent to conclude an agreement based on the monetary terms proposed. It is important to uncover all potential individuals that may have an interest in the purely financial aspects of the negotiation.

b. User/consumer stakeholders

These are the individuals or groups that will implement and support the outcome of the agreement that is reached. These are the people that will live and work with the output of the negotiations on a day to day basis.

c. Technical & legal stakeholders

These are the individuals or groups that will agree to and agree to the technical and contractual elements of the negotiations.

d. Guides/Gurus & other Influencers

These are the people or groups that hold significant influence over the central decision makers involved in the negotiation.

2. Identify the interests of each stakeholder in the negotiation

There are essentially two ways to identify an individual or group's interest in a commercial negotiation. The 1st way is to put yourself in that person or group's position and to attempt to see things from his/her/their perspective. What supporting data would you require? What precedents would apply? What assumptions can you make, and test? The second way is to ask the individual or group a number of questions to assist you (and them) to accurately identify their key interests. The best question to ask is "Why?" "Why is this negotiation important to you? Why are you assuming this position? Why are these options being explored?"

3. Create a frame that is appropriate for each stakeholder

Having identified the interests of each stakeholder party, you should now create the appropriate frame. Different people take decisions for different reasons. It is not appropriate to highlight the same points to support decision making to all stakeholders. You should focus on communicating the most appropriate frame to each participant or potential participant.

4. Create an effective management structure for the negotiation

If our counter parties experience us to be rational, the odds are significantly enhanced that they will also respond to us in a rational fashion. We can only present a unified and rational 'front' if we have considered the roles & responsibilities within our negotiation team. Split the focus in the team between those that will manage the Relationship dimensions, and those that will manage or be involved in the Task dimensions.

Negotiation skills training teaches us to create an agenda that addresses the interests of all potential stakeholders. A successful way to simplify complex business negotiations is to add structure. We need to focus on the process elements to ensure that we make progress at every level of the negotiation. You will find that complexity can be managed with the use of an appropriate supporting structure.

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