Negotiation Planning is more than a b.s. session at a local Starbucks.
February 10th, 2009 I have a confession to make – I listened in on someone else’s conversation at a Starbucks. In fact, I listed as two lawyers, who I am guessing worked as in-house counsel for one of the large Seattle based corporations, complained about a particular negotiation. What’s more, I was so happy to listen to them, that I was delighted to get a text message that my colleague was running late. I listened to them with my negotiation coaches’ hat on. Here was the rhythm. #1 Guy started by asking #2 Guy what their next move should be at the bargaining table. #2 Guy complained about the personality of their counterpart. #1 Guy agreed and added a few words. #2 Guy added that their counterpart’s requests were unreasonable. #1 Guy agreed and complained again about their counterpart’s personality. And on it went for 15 minutes. Then they left.
Ok, maybe they were blowing off steam, and they were at a Starbuks, but still! Even when my clients blow off steam with me, we look for hidden motivations, or misuse of leverage, or wrong assumptions. We do way more than just complain that the person’s personality could use improvement or that their positions are unreasonable. I want to know what is DRIVING this behavior, position or tactic. Getting to the bottom of those issues will prove to be worth your while at the bargaining session.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 7:29 pm and is filed under Planning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
