Quo vadis?

Many resources wrongly suggest that a negotiation should start with setting the target. This sequence might work if negotiations were performed in a vacuum. In reality, a negotiation is seldom isolated from the overall context of operational activities. A negotiation mission is much broader than the target. It is the starting point for the whole negotiation process.

If there is no mission, all the individual negotiators will apply their habitual negotiation approach. They will engage in creative negotiating, with each actor operating according to their individual preferences, rules and standards. The result will be a mosaic of negotiation styles and a lack of a distinctive flavor that the other business partners can recognize and appreciate.

Negotiations aside, think for a moment about what happens to the companies with no overarching operational mission. How can the employees know which direction to go, and how can the customers and other stakeholders know what to expect from doing business with the company? Even though the omission of a mission is obviously counter-productive when viewed from a company perspective, this is exactly what is lacking in the negotiation arena.
The purpose of a mission is to announce exactly where you are heading, both internally and externally. Values depict those behaviors and actions that will help get you there. They need to be concrete and not leave too much margin for interpretation.

Having a clear sense of direction and knowing what to do to get there has many benefits. Perhaps the key advantage of a mission is that it allows focus and a directional effort. Energy and time can be channeled into goal achievement instead of questioning each step. Furthermore, a mission statement attributes meaning to the activity.

In order to define a mission statement, it is helpful to start with the fundamental question:
How will we win? This question will serve as a screening mechanism. It will require you to make choices about the allocation of time and other precious resources. As a result, those discussions, meetings, alls and other components of the negotiation process that will prevent you from winning a high stakes negotiation will be limited. Each decision, such as making a concession or placing a demand, will then be linked to the mission statement.

The How will we win question has a dual nature. It is task oriented in the sense that it is focused on winning, understood as the maximization of monetary gains. On the other hand, it is values oriented. It forces you to choose which behaviors you will accept (and which not) in order to achieve a win.