1. Separate the people from the problem.
   Negotiators are people, and people problems often arise in negotiation. This is frequently due to misunderstandings and/or distrust resulting from real or perceived past interactions. A negotiator needs to maintain a working relationship good enough to produce an accep-table agreement if one is possible, given each side's interests. It is important to set aside past history and depersonalize individual differences in order to establish the objectivity necessary for effective collaborative problemsolving.

2. Focus on interests, not positions.
   The object of a negotiation is to satisfy people's interests. This includes their underlying motivations, needs and concerns, fears and aspira-tions. Each side has multiple interests, and the most powerful of them are basic human needs. If people focus on a negotiating position, it may obscure what they really want and limit their ability to invent options for mutual gain.

3. Invent options for mutual gain.
   It is important to separate the process of inventing possible options for agreement from the process of deciding among those options. To invent creative options, it is necessary to broaden the options on the table rather than to look for a single answer, and to search for mutual gains. Look for shared interests and different interests to dovetail.

4. Insist on objective standards.
   Objective standards are independent benchmarks of comparison. For example, they may include: market value, precedent, industry practice, law, costs, equal treatment, professional standards, etc. Some-times it is not possible to find a creative option that will reconcile conflicting interests. Independent objective standards can then be used to help the parties reach an agreement when interests conflict, without either side having to back down.

5. Keep your Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) in your hip pocket.
   You are never fully prepared for a negotiation unless you know what you will do if the negotiation fails to reach an agreement. Your BATNA is the best alternative that satisfies your interests in the event of no agreement. It protects you from accepting a less than satisfactory agreement.

6. Reframe tactics to change the game back to a win/win discussion.
   If the other side uses tactics that are intended to derail a problem-solving discussion, you may need to change the game. There are three basic tactics: stone walls, attacks, and tricks and lies, which are effective only if you are unaware they are being used against you. Once you recognize the tactic, you can reframe what the other side says in a form that directs attention back to the problem of satisfying both sides’ interests. You act as if s/he were negotiating in good faith, and thus you draw the other side back into a win/win negotiation.

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