What Power Means in Negotiations.

Power, in terms of negotiations, means a party’s ability to bring about outcomes they desire or the ability to get things done the way they want them done.  Parties often struggle to obtain power because they believe, in error, that the person who holds the power dictates the resolution.  Parties who are constantly focused on the power imbalance are often blinded by it to their detriment.  No party to a negotiation is completely powerless.  Those who feel that they do not have the power in the relationship need to take a step back and look at the situation from a distance. 

Take for example a person injured in a car accident who is suing the insurance company that represents the driver at fault.  Right off the bat the injured person would feel that they have a power disadvantage.  The insurance company has so many resources, money, time to waste, experience, lawyers, etc.  What the injured person often fails to consider is the power that they have.  They were in the injured person, i.e. the non-at fault party to the accident.  They have absolutely no liability whatsoever regarding this accident.  This position can be turned into a power when the injured person confronts the insurance company that is either unwilling to compensate the injured person or, if willing to compensate, offers an amount far below what is proper and reasonable.  The injured person has resources such as the courts, the news, and fellow co-workers or friends.  Businesses have a lot vested in their reputations and our society has a tendency to regard big companies that hurt the “little guys” unfavorably.  Should information be publicized about the insurance company’s treatment of the injured person, the insurance company may lose a considerable amount of reputation and customers.  Furthermore, the threat of a public trial would expose all the dirt on the insurance company and reveal their unfair and improper treatment of the injured person. 

The example above clearly demonstrates that, although the parties have vastly different resources and bargaining positions, the party with what is perceived to be the least amount of power can gain a considerable amount of power by simply evaluating his or her circumstances and thinking outside the plaintiff’s box.  Parties that use information, resources, networks, and relationships to help influence the other party to the negotiation has the ability to even the playing fields.  However, parties should not focus on the balance or imbalance of their respective powers throughout the negotiation.  Acknowledgement of the power indifferences from the onset will enable the parties to evaluate strategies and tactics, but as the negotiation progresses, the parties should move away from the power imbalance and focus on ways to resolve the conflict and achieve their respective goals.