Overconfident, Underprepared: Why You May Not Be Ready to Negotiate

The article discusses the key points required for successful bargaining in business negotiations. According to research, inaccurate self-predictions about one's own feelings and behavior lead to poor performance in negotiations. Thorough preparation and identifying one's interests and alternatives may prove helpful in performing best while bargaining. The accuracy of negotiation forecasts and negotiated outcomes can be improved by training. The author has suggested few guidelines using which one can minimize the impact of errors due to inaccurate prediction on one's negotiations. These guidelines reflect that negotiators inaccurately predict their behavior due to overly optimism.