428 / DEVELOPING YOUR TECHNIQUE
Negotiating as a team
Deciding when to use a team
Some negotiations demand a diverse
set of abilities. In addition to sound
negotiation and psychosocial skills
you may need specific technical
expertise, for example, in areas of law,
drafting joint ventures, or the planning
system. You may need to exercise
leverage on your counterpart through
the use of PR, or require a keen
appreciation of politics and strategy to
identify the multiple stakeholders in
the negotiation and figure out their
interests. If you lack any of these
abilities, you will probably benefit
from the collective wisdom
of a team.
Many business situations are too complex for a solo negotiator to be
fully informed about every aspect of the deal. In such cases, working in
a team may give better results, though this requires a high degree of
internal coordination and a smooth flow of information between members.
You may need
specific technical
expertise, for
example, in areas
of law, drafting
joint ventures,
or the planning
system
US_428-429_Negotiating_team_1.indd 428 30/05/16 3:07 pm
NEGOTIATING AS A TEAM / 429
MAKE TIME TO
PREPARE
Make sure that you have
enough time to create a
cohesive, trustworthy team,
and allow time to prepare
your strategy as a group
before you enter into a
team negotiation.
Tip
DECISION TIME
Negotiating as a team begs the
question of how to decide on a
course of action. Broadly, there
are three ways to reach a decision.
The first is unanimity, in which all
team members agree on a given
issue. This is a tough rule and not
recommended for most situations.
The second is the majority rule.
The majority will decide and the
minority comply with the decision.
The hazard here is that the
majority may impose a tough
solution that the minority cannot
live with. The third, and usually
best, decision-making rule is
consensus: making a decision that
not all the team members agree
with fully, but that all can live with.
of men in
negotiations lied
to men, but 24%
lied to women
3%
In focus
You may need to
exercise leverage
US_428-429_Negotiating_team_1.indd 429 30/05/16 3:07 pm
430 / DEVELOPING YOUR TECHNIQUE
Understanding the advantages
There are many benefits to negotiating as a
team. Being part of a team provides for multiple
creative trade-offs and options and has other
advantages, too. Sheer “strength in numbers”
makes a team feel secure and powerful and
sends a clear message to the other party that
you are serious about the deal. You are also
likely to feel less pressured when negotiating
as a team, and are unlikely to make too many
concessions too early in the process.
Advantages and pitfalls
US_430-431_Negotiating_team_2.indd 430 30/05/16 3:07 pm
NEGOTIATING AS A TEAM / 431
Avoiding the pitfalls
Working in a team can lead to a lack of focus
and consistency, so appoint a chief negotiator to
lead your team and agree in advance each
member’s roles and responsibilities. Avoid
falling into “group think,” when team members
feel pressured to conform to an existing group
mindset and reluctant to present ideas that
conflict with it. It can also be easy for a team to
create a false sense of cohesiveness: “us,”
the good team, versus “them,” the bad team.
If this happens, genuine conciliatory attempts
made by the other party can be dismissed as
dishonest “tricks” and rejected, resulting in
missed opportunities to make a deal.
US_430-431_Negotiating_team_2.indd 431 30/05/16 3:07 pm
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.