- Feb 17, 2018
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A student recently had a question about the negotiation exercise on a vacation scheme. Thought I'd share this post with you guys here:
· Start with your best possible outcome. A little obvious but it’s important – that way, if you have to concede, the outcome may still be optimal.
· Work out what outcome you don’t want. If you can define this point during your preparation, it can ensure you and your team don’t accept a bad deal.
· Be willing to concede. I’ve seen some teams be very unwilling to concede on anything, that isn’t the sign of a good negotiator.
· Make it seem like you want to concede. This is great if your negotiation exercise has you read out your team position first. The idea is that you seem to be reasonable negotiators, so the other team thinks it’s easy (when you may actually be negotiating a better deal).
· During your preparation, signpost goals and discuss within your team what you’d be willing to concede. That way you’ll be less influenced by the other side’s negotiation tactics and you’ll be able to steer the outcome towards what you want.
· (A slightly cheeky addition to the above, but sometimes it can work if you pretend a particular issue is very important to you and then let it go. The other team will likely concede something in return – only consider this if it actually fits within the task!)
· Ask lots of questions. Often each party is given a different set of information. If you have more information you’ll be more informed during your negotiation.
· Silence can be a good thing. If you’ve said what you need to say and another party is deciding, let them think. If they want you to jump to an answer, don’t be afraid to pause and think.
· Usually you’re allowed to go back to your teams to discuss, you may want to use this if the other side has proposed something or if things aren’t going too well.
· Write notes – so when you go back to your teams, you have all the information to form an outcome. This is especially helpful if numbers are involved!
· Stay calm and be patient – the quickest way to ruin your assessment is to let things get heated. It’s fine to be firm, but getting into a shouting match never ends well.
· On the other side of that, try not to get too excited if the other team is about to accept a bad deal – if they notice it, they may reconsider.
· Be careful negotiating on future promises, unless you have a way to ensure performance e.g. security over an asset. If you can’t, focus on what’s there at the moment.
· Start with your best possible outcome. A little obvious but it’s important – that way, if you have to concede, the outcome may still be optimal.
· Work out what outcome you don’t want. If you can define this point during your preparation, it can ensure you and your team don’t accept a bad deal.
· Be willing to concede. I’ve seen some teams be very unwilling to concede on anything, that isn’t the sign of a good negotiator.
· Make it seem like you want to concede. This is great if your negotiation exercise has you read out your team position first. The idea is that you seem to be reasonable negotiators, so the other team thinks it’s easy (when you may actually be negotiating a better deal).
· During your preparation, signpost goals and discuss within your team what you’d be willing to concede. That way you’ll be less influenced by the other side’s negotiation tactics and you’ll be able to steer the outcome towards what you want.
· (A slightly cheeky addition to the above, but sometimes it can work if you pretend a particular issue is very important to you and then let it go. The other team will likely concede something in return – only consider this if it actually fits within the task!)
· Ask lots of questions. Often each party is given a different set of information. If you have more information you’ll be more informed during your negotiation.
· Silence can be a good thing. If you’ve said what you need to say and another party is deciding, let them think. If they want you to jump to an answer, don’t be afraid to pause and think.
· Usually you’re allowed to go back to your teams to discuss, you may want to use this if the other side has proposed something or if things aren’t going too well.
· Write notes – so when you go back to your teams, you have all the information to form an outcome. This is especially helpful if numbers are involved!
· Stay calm and be patient – the quickest way to ruin your assessment is to let things get heated. It’s fine to be firm, but getting into a shouting match never ends well.
· On the other side of that, try not to get too excited if the other team is about to accept a bad deal – if they notice it, they may reconsider.
· Be careful negotiating on future promises, unless you have a way to ensure performance e.g. security over an asset. If you can’t, focus on what’s there at the moment.
