One of the big challenges of group decision-making is that group members typically have different needs, interests, preferences, and priorities. Even when groups have perfectly accurate information, and a full set of possible ideas, they may struggle to reach agreement because everybody in the group wants something different.

One simple way to make a decision amidst disagreement is to take a vote. The analysis of the advantage and disadvantages of different voting methods is known as social choice theory, and may be covered in other modules.

However, voting has limitations. For example, it presupposes a relatively limited set of discrete options.

Moreover, it is sometimes desirable for groups to reach consensus. Consensus can be important when it is operationally necessary to have all group members involved (i.e. one dissenter can wield an effective veto) and can also be desirable simply for generating "buy in."

The practice of making decisions amidst agreement is known as negotiation.

It's important to realize that negotiation is not always about wheeling and dealing. Imagine a family trying to agree on vacation plans, a group of freelancers trying to agree on a shared office space, or a team of political technologists trying to design a project together.

Notably, reaching agreement is not only a social problem but a computational problem. It's a matter of searching the space of all possible solutions until you find one that gets everybody to "yes."

Negotiation is a huge topic, and I have a variety of syllabuses ranging from a 2 hour workshop to a full 30 hour university course. An important part of negotiation education is hands on skills practice, i.e. completing simulated negotiation exercises to build your experience and try out different techniques.

A big part of negotiation education is theoretical learning, and you can see excerpts from my MBA lecture videos in my free online course.

Some of that theory translates into direct techniques you can apply, like a negotiator's toolbox.   For example, a common technique is "multiple equivalent simultaneous offers" aka MESOs. In this technique, someone will literally make multiple offers at the same time that are of equivalent value ("I can offer you either A, B, or C — which do you prefer?") which offers a variety of tactical and strategic benefits.