negotiation-prep

Prepares for a negotiation using Fisher and Ury's principled, interest-based method (Getting to Yes), anchored on BATNA and ZOPA. Catches the failure of haggling over positions while blind to both sides' interests, best alternatives, and the zone where a deal actually exists.

The four principles, positions versus interests, BATNA, reservation point and ZOPA, and the tactics live in references/negotiation.md. Load that file before preparing and key every stage to it.

When to use

The user is preparing for a specific negotiation and wants the groundwork done: a salary or offer, a sales or purchase deal, a partnership, a vendor contract, a dispute settlement. The unit of work is one negotiation with identifiable parties, not a relationship in general. Use thomas-kilmann to choose a conflict mode (compete, collaborate, compromise, accommodate, avoid); use stakeholder-analysis to map who holds power across a wider field; use weighted-decision-matrix to score the offers once they are on the table. This skill prepares the room before you enter it.

Language

Conduct the session and write the report in the language the user is writing in. The reference file is English; keep the framework keyed to it regardless of the output language.

Inputs

• NEGOTIATION (required): what is being negotiated and with whom. Push for one defined negotiation with identifiable parties. If it is vague, narrow it with one or two questions first.
• GOAL (optional): what a good outcome looks like for the user, the stakes, and the deadline. This shapes the target and the synthesis, not the analysis of interests.
• CONTEXT (optional): the relationship and its future, prior dealings, known constraints on either side, and any numbers already on the table. This grounds the BATNA and ZOPA estimates.