I was once part of a team planning a complex contract negotiation which involved a planned walk out if certain circumstances occurred. We had a group consisting of a business leader, a contracts officer, a finance representative, myself as a lawyer and an engineer. We rehearsed what would happen very carefully or at least thought we had.
The big moment came and we all stood up and started walking out - all that is except the engineer who obviously had either not understood the plan, or if he had got too involved in the meeting to recognise what was happening. When he suddenly twigged and stood up the spontaneity of our plan had gone.
Making sure everybody on your side of a negotiation is on the same page in terms of objectives, tactics and approach is to my mind critical. You must have a common purpose and plan and follow it and not work at cross purposes. If somebody disagrees during the discussion than have a prearranged way of calling a time out to discuss it.
There is nothing worse than, for example, going in with a position on some aspect of the contract only for say a senior salesperson who has not been closely involved to step in when they think the other side might disagree and offer to compromise some complex issue you have worked really hard to argue and are close to getting accepted.
The other challenge is to have the senior management of the business behind you. There can be different agendas at management levels in any organisation and it is really disheartening to have the other side escalate a point because they are getting nowhere in the room and have it conceded by an uninvolved and uninformed director.
All of this can be prevented by careful planning and by briefing not only the team but the ultimate decision makers if they are not directly involved. Not only briefing but explaining and getting informed and understanding buy in and then testing this. Unlike our engineer colleague there should be a group and organisation consensus as to what is to be achieved and how.
The big moment came and we all stood up and started walking out - all that is except the engineer who obviously had either not understood the plan, or if he had got too involved in the meeting to recognise what was happening. When he suddenly twigged and stood up the spontaneity of our plan had gone.
Making sure everybody on your side of a negotiation is on the same page in terms of objectives, tactics and approach is to my mind critical. You must have a common purpose and plan and follow it and not work at cross purposes. If somebody disagrees during the discussion than have a prearranged way of calling a time out to discuss it.
There is nothing worse than, for example, going in with a position on some aspect of the contract only for say a senior salesperson who has not been closely involved to step in when they think the other side might disagree and offer to compromise some complex issue you have worked really hard to argue and are close to getting accepted.
The other challenge is to have the senior management of the business behind you. There can be different agendas at management levels in any organisation and it is really disheartening to have the other side escalate a point because they are getting nowhere in the room and have it conceded by an uninvolved and uninformed director.
All of this can be prevented by careful planning and by briefing not only the team but the ultimate decision makers if they are not directly involved. Not only briefing but explaining and getting informed and understanding buy in and then testing this. Unlike our engineer colleague there should be a group and organisation consensus as to what is to be achieved and how.
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