Eazl’s Negotiation Preparation Worksheet

Feel free to copy or download.

Eazl’s Negotiation Preparation Worksheet1

Step 1: What’s the Optimal Outcome?

What are your goals in this negotiation? Try to describe an optimal and reasonable outcome
where you achieve your goals and the other side is also satisfied with the outcome.

Step 2: What’s the Value of the Best Alternatives?

A Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) is the value (or price) of the course of
action someone would take if this agreement is not reached. To calculate a BATNA, first,
generate an idea the best alternative that you (or, that you think the other party) would take.
Then, calculate a value for each one of those alternatives. The alternative with the highest value
is the BATNA and should guide your thinking about when you’re inside and outside of the
“agreement zone.”

Here’s an example. Let’s say that you own a 50% stake in a company that’s worth $10m and
your former partner owns the other 50%. They want to buy you out and offer you $4.8mm,
which seems low since half of $10m is $5m. So, you talk to a lawyer and they tell you that, if
you sue your former partner you have an 80% chance of winning, which would get you $5m,
and that they estimate that your legal fees will be $250,000. What would be your BATNA if you
sued? It would be $4.45m, which is lower than the $4.8m on offer, so you should take the deal.
Here’s how the BATNA was found:

$5m x .8 Award if I Sue and Win the Lawsuit x 80% Probability that I’ll Win
$3.5m x .2 Award if I Lose the Lawsuit x 20% Probability that I’ll Lose
-$.25m Legal Fees
$4.45m BATNA

Step 3: What are the Most Important Issues?

Issue 1: [Title the Issue]--[Their Issue, My Issue, Shared Issue]--(Level of Importance)
What’s the issue and why is it an issue? Now, is this their issue, your issue, or a shared issue?
1. If it’s their issue, create bullet points that segments the issue into parts, then identify
which of those parts is least costly (in terms of time, money, strategic value etc.) for you.

1 Sources used in the creation of this worksheet:

Harvard Law School. “BATNA Basics: Boost Your Power at the Negotiating Table.” Harvard University, 2012. Online.
Accessed at http://goo.gl/w36qWA.
Thompson, Leigh. “The Mind and Heart of the Negotiator (5th Ed.).” Prentice Hall, August 2011. Print. Available at
http://goo.gl/iFY0Yw.

This worksheet is part of Eazl’s negotiation training toolkit.

It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License. It is attributed to Eazl, and the original version can be found here.
 Eazl’s Negotiation Preparation Worksheet
Feel free to copy or download.

2. If it’s your issue, identify specific examples that bring the issue “to life.”
3. If it’s a shared issue, create bullet points to segment the issue into parts and then
identify the parts that impact you. Then, identify examples that bring those parts of the
problem to life.
Finally, what data is relevant to this issue?
…
Issue n: [Title the Issue]

Here’s an example issue from an employer’s perspective in a personnel contract scenario:

Issue 1: Annual Salary--a Shared Issue (Very Important)
We cannot exceed our personnel budget of $120,000 annually for this position. Based
on salary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average market salary for this
position adjusted for living expenses in this area is $115,000.
Parts of the issue:
● Internal Politics (Very Important to Us) Last year, when we brought on a new
senior accountant at $7k/year more than a counterpart, Tom, a Senior
Accountant with 5 years of tenure with us, felt betrayed and left us for the
competition. Then, the whole accounting department resented the incoming
accountant.
● Departmental Budget (Somewhat Important to Us) If we go beyond $130,000,
we’d have to re-work the annual budget. Last time we did this, it slowed down
the whole department and the CFO was unhappy with us.
● Professional Development Budget (Very Important to Them) After two years with
the company, we’ll contribute $50,000 to a professional development program.
Decision points here: do we have mutual agreement on the program? Is this paid
time off or non-paid?
● Transportation Expenses (Important to Them) We would be happy to pay for all
of the employee’s toll fees that they incur during their commute. Decision points
here: gas reimbursement too? Depreciation on their car?
● ...etc.

Step 3: Which Bargaining Chips are not Related to Core Issues?

Which resources could be creatively included from your organization and from theirs to help
reach a better agreement? Ideally, you want to identify sources of value that you can offer at
relatively low cost (in terms of money, time, strategic value, etc.).

Here’s an example from a musician / record label negotiation:

This worksheet is part of Eazl’s negotiation training toolkit.

It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License. It is attributed to Eazl, and the original version can be found here.
 Eazl’s Negotiation Preparation Worksheet
Feel free to copy or download.

From the musician’s team:

● License previously-unreleased, unencumbered tracks (low cost)
● Allow a new artist on the label to open a promotional tour (medium cost)
● Offer the label x% of concert merchandise sales (high cost)
● … etc.
From the record label:
● Priority placement in record label catalog and online assets (low cost)
● Elimination of the option on future records if sales goals are not met (high cost)
● Budget guarantees on future album releases (high cost)
● … etc.

Step 4: What Information will You Use to Open Discussions?

You need to get the other side to open up about the issues that are important to them and who
the parties are that are influencing their position. Identify which discussion points you can
share regarding:
● Your Needs from the Negotiation
● Information about Your Alternatives
● Your Perspective on Key Trade-offs

Here’s an example from a vendor management scenario:

● Your Needs from the Negotiation: “Our current contractor has a problem keeping
deadlines. How would you make sure that the project is effectively managed?”
● Information about Your Alternatives: “We are also speaking with Billan
Associates about providing us these services. Does your organization have the
capacity to serve us regardless of your relationship with other potential clients?”
● Your Perspectives on Key Trade-offs: “We would be willing to pay more up front.
What would you be willing to give us in return?”

This worksheet is part of Eazl’s negotiation training toolkit.

It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License. It is attributed to Eazl, and the original version can be found here.