Negotiation & Conflict Resolution - Essay Example

I was negotiating with him to lower the rent. My tangible goal was to lower the rent, while my intangible goal was to negotiate in a manner so as not to spoil my amicable relationship with my landlord. My landlord’s tangible goal was to fix the rent according to his desire, whereas his intangible goal was to get hold of a new tenant if I could not meet his terms. My position was to negotiate till I could reduce the rental amount. However, my landlord’s position was not revealed during the negotiation.

My interest was in the fact that too high rent will be unaffordable for me and my landlord’s interest was to increase the rent to cover the increasing rate of inflation. I could not have paid the rent if it exceeded ten per cent of my salary. My landlord’s resistance point was not revealed during the negotiation. Any negotiation is incomplete if the involved parties do not consider and evaluate their BATNA. The BATNA not only acts as an alternate action plan, but also places the person in a stronger position with respect to the opponent in negotiation.

For this reason, it is advisable that one works on discovering and strengthening his BATNA and also showcases it to the other party. However, one must keep in mind that he should reveal his BATNA only and only if he feels it is strong enough to give him an upper hand in the negotiation. A weak BATNA should better not be revealed as it may backfire by working against the person. My BATNA was strong because there were two similar apartments in my neighbourhood with similar amenities, landlords carrying a good reputation and rent well within my budget.

However, at that point of time, the landlord of one of those buildings was also involved in serious rent negotiation with his tenants and moreover, a few other persons were interested in taking up my apartment on rent, in case I vacated it. For this reason, my landlord’s BATNA was also strong. I strengthened my BATNA by studying landlords are charging for similar accommodation in my locality, and whether houses with reasonable amenities are available at lower prices. I did my homework by seeing nearby places, checking their rents and making a note of details such as square footage, furnishings, appliances, amenities and proximity to workplace, gym and marketplace.

Then I played them off against each other and made sure that there are many alternative accommodations available in the area. My landlord had revealed that his interest was to cover the growing inflation by raising the rent. He had therefore prepared his BATNA by considering some new prospects for filling up the vacancy in case I quit. Before entering into a verbal discussion process with my landlord, I had clearly outlined the purpose of our discussion as an attempt to reach a collaborative decision by finalizing a rent amount that suited both of us and helped in keeping our cordial ties intact.

Having thus developed the agenda, we started off a brainstorming session in order to evaluate all the possible alternatives available to us. Various ideas were generated from both parties as an alternative to the rent hike. My landlord suggested options such as longer lease period, advance payment of multiple months’ rent or longer notice period in the lease termination agreement. On the other hand, I offered to give up the parking space and made a deal for referrals for his other apartment that he was planning