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NEGOTIATION
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CHAPTER 7
The message from your team needs to be consistent, both verbally and non-
verbally. It is worth spending some preparation time aligning body language
and non-verbal communication throughout the team. Any team member who
behaves differently from the rest weakens the team’s overall impact and sets
him/herself up for possible individual attacks from the counterpart.
7.10 GENERAL PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED WHILE NEGOTIATING
So, all the preparation has, in theory, been completed: you know your overall
goals, you have worked out your and your counterpart’s LIMs, you have decided
on the sensible strategy and you have built in useful tactics, assigned roles
and even worked out a set of signals to ensure success. And then it all goes
horribly wrong.
In war, a battle plan will typically survive until the first shot is fired, after which
soldiers live on their wits and their training. In negotiation, the nervousness
experienced when face-to-face with your counterpart can reduce the best-laid
plans in minutes. Below are listed the most common problems encountered
when seated around the negotiating table.
• The needs of the other party are not established:
Even though we have
no clue what the other party is looking for, we blunder on with our demands,
facing mounting opposition, stonewalling and even hostility. This approach is
highly dangerous, as it quickly turns an attempt at win-win into an apparent
win-lose strategy. Your counterpart’s fight-or-flight reflex will kick in and
you will be left either tactically or strategically with less than you wanted.
Tactically, if your counterpart decides to fight, your demands will be refused;
or strategically, if flight is the option chosen, you will not benefit from a long-
term relationship. Either way, the loss is yours.
• Assumptions are not tested:
Similar to the above, if you assume your
counterpart’s standpoint without validating your assumption by asking them,
you run the risk of going in the wrong direction with your proposals. This will
once again generate fight or flight.
• Ground rules are not agreed upon:
In the heat of the first few moments
of a negotiation, it is easy to forget to set the stage. Here you run the risk
of losing control of the discussion at a crucial point. Once control has been
lost, it is difficult and embarrassing to have to backtrack and establish ground
rules after the fact. Whatever the outcome, you will look foolish and thus lose
power in the negotiation.
• No summaries made during the negotiation:
Attempting to summarise
a two-hour, emotionally-charged and complicated negotiation after the fact
would test the memory of anyone. Furthermore, one mistake or inaccuracy
can ruin any mutual trust established over the two hours.