A few thoughts on Negotiations

Quick thoughts on Negotiation

I’ve just finished delivering a coaching session on negotiating with internal & external stakeholders and noticed some reoccurring items of improvement that I thought would be useful to share.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, just a quick summary of my session today.

-       Be efficient in your conversation. Instead of saying “I can’t do that…”, be solution based and say what you CAN do. You’re both on the same team working towards an interest in the company, not you personally. If you’re dealing with 3rd parties, you still need to be solution based because you’re (ideally) aiming for a win-win.

-       Don’t assume anything is or isn’t possible. Turn assumptions into theories (which need to be checked). Many times, things you thought were or were not possible, are in fact the opposite.

-       Repeatedly check for understanding and clarify if things are totally clear throughout the discussion. It’s incredible how many things we think are clear, but are actually not.

-       Lay out all options on the table and openly discuss the options. This means open and honest communication. Be creative.

-       Use the magic phrase “what would it take to….?” If you need to push the conversation forward. Ex. “What would it take to get this done in one week instead of two?”.

-       Create additional value for each other rather than compete on a set of variables that you think are constrained.

- Alex