Team Negotiation

Quick reference

• 00:04 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
• 00:06 When teams run into problems, often the solution requires a negotiation,
• 00:09 either a negotiation between team members or a negotiation with management and
• 00:14 stakeholders in the organization.
• 00:16 A team leader needs to be adept at negotiating.
• 00:20 They may be directly participating in the negotiations as one of the parties or
• 00:24 they may be acting as a facilitator for
• 00:26 team members who need help negotiating with each other.
• 00:29 The Thomas-Killman model is a great framework for
• 00:32 use when approaching a negotiation.
• 00:34 It starts by first assessing the concern for getting the substance of
• 00:38 the negotiation exactly right and assessing the concern of both parties for
• 00:42 the long term relationship between themselves.
• 00:45 Of course, everyone wants a great answer and for
• 00:47 people to be friends at the end, but each negotiation is different.
• 00:51 So take a minute to honestly assess each of these.
• 00:55 If any answer is acceptable, just pick one and there is no need to build or
• 00:59 strengthen the relationship, withdraw from negotiation.
• 01:03 You don't have to win every fight, in fact,
• 01:05 you don't even have to fight every fight.
• 01:07 Withdraw and let the other side press on.
• 01:10 If the concern for the substance is very high, there's only one acceptable answer,
• 01:15 and the concern for the relationship is not, well then, defeat the other side.
• 01:19 Win at any cost.
• 01:21 This will destroy team unity if the negotiation's between team members,
• 01:25 because the relationship is broken.
• 01:27 If the negotiation's between team members,
• 01:29 the team leader should probably step in and try to facilitate a better solution.
• 01:34 If any solution is acceptable, then negotiation can be a way to strengthen
• 01:37 team relationships through the accommodation approach.
• 01:41 This is different from withdraw.
• 01:42 In withdraw, one party said, do whatever you want, I won't stand in your way.
• 01:46 With accommodation, that party says, do whatever you want and
• 01:50 I will help you with it.
• 01:52 Now, when both substance of the solution and the relationship are important,
• 01:56 the best approach is to find a collaborative win-win solution.
• 02:01 Often an outside facilitator is needed to help the two parties find that solution.
• 02:06 The problem with this approach is that it may take a long time and
• 02:10 sometimes there is no win-win solution.
• 02:12 When that happens, the negotiating parties normally must settle for
• 02:16 a compromise solution.
• 02:17 They don't get everything they want, but they get some of what they need.
• 02:21 The relationship isn't strengthened, but it isn't broken either.
• 02:25 One caution when seeking a compromise, in the American culture today,
• 02:29 compromise is considered evil and wicked.
• 02:32 It's an insult to most Americans to call them a compromiser.
• 02:36 It's just the opposite in most of the rest of the world.
• 02:39 So in America, if using compromise approach, try using another term.
• 02:44 One that I've found that seems to work better is,
• 02:46 let's find the next best alternative.
• 02:50 So let's look at some of the negotiation techniques.
• 02:53 I'll discuss both some positive and some negative techniques.
• 02:56 Just to be clear, I am not endorsing the negative techniques, rather, I'm
• 03:01 discussing them so that you can recognize them and know how to counter them.
• 03:05 Of course, we've all been negotiating since we were old enough to talk.
• 03:09 We tried to negotiate with our parents to stay up late or to not eat our spinach.
• 03:14 So we all are negotiators, but we may have picked up some bad habits.
• 03:19 I'll start with the red herring.
• 03:21 In this case, one party creates a major focus on a minor issue in order to
• 03:25 get a concession on the major issue.
• 03:29 When that happens, the appropriate response is to isolate the minor issue,
• 03:33 set it aside, resolve the major issues, and then come back to the minor one.
• 03:39 Next is outrageous behavior.
• 03:40 You may have learned this from your two year old throwing a tantrum.
• 03:44 One of the parties accident outrageous manner, yelling,
• 03:47 screaming, throwing things or some other behavior,
• 03:50 hoping that the other party will give in to their demand just to get them to stop.
• 03:55 You probably can't put that person in a timeout chair like you would with your
• 03:58 two year old.
• 03:59 However, you can just ignore the behavior and stay focused on the issue.
• 04:04 The salami game is a favorite of some people.
• 04:06 In fact, I know it's even taught in some negotiation classes.
• 04:10 In this case, the two parties get to a tentative agreement,
• 04:14 and then one side tries to stick in just one more thing.
• 04:17 In the euphoria, having reached an agreement, the other side quickly agrees.
• 04:21 Instead, they should either counter with a tradeoff that they still want, or
• 04:26 stop and reopen the negotiation.
• 04:30 The last negative technique I want to discuss is the vise.
• 04:33 In this case, one party keeps demanding more and more.
• 04:37 Whatever is offered, they respond with, not good enough, do better.
• 04:41 The best response to this is to demand that the party requesting you to do
• 04:45 better, put out a target or threshold that they desire.
• 04:49 The other party can then quickly determine if it is even reasonable to continue to
• 04:53 negotiate.
• 04:55 Well, all those negotiation techniques were manipulative in nature,
• 04:58 but there are also some positive negotiation techniques.
• 05:01 Let's take a few minutes and look at those.
• 05:04 The trial balloon, this is where one side offers a hypothetical solution for
• 05:08 the negotiation.
• 05:10 Often this will be something very different from what was first proposed.
• 05:14 When this occurs, weigh the pros and cons of the hypothesis.
• 05:17 If it can be made acceptable, work with it.
• 05:21 Next is the trade-off, and it is the most commonly used approach.
• 05:25 In this case, one side offers something the other wants in exchange for
• 05:29 something they want.
• 05:31 You should go into a negotiation knowing what you're willing to concede so
• 05:35 that you're able to negotiate trade-offs.
• 05:38 Finally, let's talk about the higher authority approach.
• 05:41 This one can be negative if it's used to manipulate someone, but
• 05:44 it can also be positive.
• 05:46 When negotiating a trial balloon or win-win, it is quite possible that you may
• 05:51 be proposing something that is outside the authority of the individuals negotiating.
• 05:56 If they appeal to a higher authority,
• 05:58 ask them if they're appealing with a recommendation for acceptance.
• 06:02 If they won't, keep negotiating until you find something that they
• 06:06 will endorse when meeting with the higher authority.
• 06:10 I want to close with this thought.
• 06:12 The number one reason that team members are not able
• 06:14 to negotiate successfully is that because one or both of them becomes emotional.
• 06:19 At that point, their judgment is clouded, they make unfortunate comments, and
• 06:23 negotiations are derailed.
• 06:25 Keep calm using the positive negotiation tactics.
• 06:29 Negotiation is a fact of life.
• 06:31 And that's true in the life of a team also.
• 06:34 As a team leader, help your team members negotiate well.

Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.