Team Negotiation

Quick reference

• 00:03 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
• 00:05 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
• 00:13 stake holders in the organization.
• 00:17 A team leader needs to be adept in negotiating.
• 00:19 They maybe direct participants in negotiation as one of the parties,
• 00:23 or they maybe acting as facilitator for
• 00:25 team members who needs help negotiating with each other.
• 00:28 The Thomas-Killman model is a great framework to use when approaching
• 00:31 a negotiation.
• 00:33 It starts by first assessing the concern for getting the substance of negotiation
• 00:37 exactly right, and assessing the concern of both parties for
• 00:41 the long-term relationship between themselves.
• 00:44 Of course, everyone wants a great answer and for people to be best friends.
• 00:48 But each negotiation is different, so take a minute to honestly assess each of those.
• 00:54 If any answer is acceptable and there's no need to build or
• 00:57 strengthen the relationship, withdraw.
• 01:00 You don't have to win every fight.
• 01:01 In fact, you don't have to fight every fight.
• 01:04 Withdraw and let the other side press on.
• 01:07 If the concern for the substance is very high, there's only one acceptable answer,
• 01:12 and the concern for the relationship is naught, defeat the other side.
• 01:16 Win at any cost.
• 01:18 This will destroy team unity if the negotiation is between team members.
• 01:22 If the negotiation is between team members,
• 01:24 the team leader should probably step in and try to facilitate a better solution.
• 01:30 If any solution is acceptable, the negotiation can be a way to strengthen
• 01:34 team relationships through the accommodation approach.
• 01:37 This is different from withdraw.
• 01:39 In withdraw, one party says do whatever you want, I won't stand in your way.
• 01:44 With accommodation, one party says do whatever you want and
• 01:48 I will help you with it.
• 01:49 Next, when both the substance of the solution and the relationship
• 01:52 are important, the best approach is to find a collaborative, win-win solution.
• 01:56 Often an outside facilitator is needed to help the two parties find that solution.
• 02:01 The problem with this approach is that it may take a long time, and
• 02:04 sometimes there is no win-win solution.
• 02:07 When that happens, the negotiating parties normally must settle for
• 02:10 a compromise solution.
• 02:12 They don't get everything they want, but they do get some of what they need.
• 02:16 The relationship isn't necessarily strengthened, but
• 02:18 it isn't necessarily broken either.
• 02:21 So let's look at some negotiating techniques.
• 02:23 I will discuss both some positive and some negative techniques.
• 02:26 Just to be clear, I'm not endorsing any of the negative techniques.
• 02:30 Rather, I'm discussing them so you can recognize them and counter them.
• 02:34 Of course, we have all been negotiating since we were old enough to talk.
• 02:38 We tried to negotiate with our parents to stay up late, or to not eat spinach.
• 02:42 Or, you were negotiating with friends as you traded the toys or
• 02:45 dares on the playground.
• 02:47 So we're all negotiators, but we may have picked up some bad habits along the way.
• 02:52 I'll start with the red herring.
• 02:54 In this case, one party creates a major focus on a minor issue,
• 02:58 in order to get a concession on a major issue.
• 03:00 When that happens, the appropriate response is to isolate the minor issue,
• 03:04 set it aside.
• 03:05 Resolve the major ones, and then come back to the minor ones.
• 03:10 Next is outrageous behavior.
• 03:12 You may have learned this from your two-year-old throwing a tantrum.
• 03:15 One of the parties acts in an outrageous manner, yelling, screaming,
• 03:19 throwing things, or some other behavior,
• 03:21 hoping that the other party will give into their demands just to get them to stop.
• 03:25 You probably can't put that person on a timeout chair
• 03:28 like you would with your two-year-old.
• 03:30 However, you can just ignore the behavior and stay focused on the issue.
• 03:34 The salami game is a favorite of some people.
• 03:36 In fact, I know it is taught in some negotiation classes.
• 03:39 In this case, the two parties get to a tentative agreement.
• 03:42 And then one side asks for just more thing.
• 03:45 In the euphoria of having reached an agreement,
• 03:47 the other side quickly gives in.
• 03:49 Instead, they should counter with a trade-off that they still want,
• 03:52 or stop and reopen the negotiations.
• 03:56 The last negative technique I wanna discuss is the vise.
• 03:59 In this case, one party keeps demanding more.
• 04:01 Whatever is offered, they respond with, that's just not good enough, do better.
• 04:06 The best response at this point is to demand that the party
• 04:09 requesting you to do better put out a target or a threshold that they desire.
• 04:14 The other party can then quickly determine if it's even reasonable
• 04:17 to continue to negotiate.
• 04:19 There are also some positive negotiating techniques.
• 04:22 Let's review a few of those.
• 04:24 The trial balloon,
• 04:25 this is where one side offers a hypothetical solution to the negotiation.
• 04:29 Often this will be something very different from what was initially
• 04:32 proposed.
• 04:33 When this occurs, weigh the pros and cons in the hypothetical.
• 04:36 And if it can be made acceptable, work with it.
• 04:39 Next is the trade-off, and it is the most commonly used approach.
• 04:42 In this case, one side offers something the other side wants, in exchange for
• 04:46 getting something they want.
• 04:48 You should go into a negotiation knowing what you are willing to concede, so
• 04:51 that you're able to negotiate trade-offs.
• 04:54 Finally, let's talk about the higher authority approach.
• 04:57 This one can be negative if it used to manipulate someone.
• 05:00 Think about the last time you went to buy a car and
• 05:03 the salesman said, I need to check with my boss about that.
• 05:07 However, when negotiating a trial balloon or
• 05:09 win-win it is quite possible that you may be proposing something that is outside
• 05:13 the authority of the individual negotiating.
• 05:16 If they appeal to higher authority,
• 05:17 ask them if they are appealing with their recommendation for acceptance.
• 05:21 If they won't, keep negotiating until you find something that they will endorse
• 05:25 when they meet with the higher authority.
• 05:27 I want to close with this thought.
• 05:29 The number one reason that team members are not able to negotiate successfully
• 05:33 is that both of them get emotional.
• 05:35 At that point, their judgement is clouded, they make unfortunate comments, and
• 05:39 negotiations are derailed.
• 05:41 Keep your focus and stay calm, using positive negotiation tactics.
• 05:48 Negotiation is a fact of life, and that is true in the life of a team also.
• 05:52 As a team leader, help your team members negotiate well.

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