Q & A Table of Contents
What About Negotiating In Teams?
From: Twaha, Kampala, Uganda
Question: What are the advantages and disadvantages of team negotiation?
Response: Sometimes negotiation needs the collaborative work of people with a variety of skills and fields of knowledge. For example, if a manufacturer of clothing is dealing with a customer who sells clothing in retail stores, there can be issues relating to design, logistics, manufacturing processes, decisions about
materials to be used, and many other factors that depend on different kinds of expertise. In that case, while it is possible that a single person who has undertaken good preparatory conversations with many colleagues may be able to represent their interests, it may well be far more efficient -- and convincing -- to have a negotiating team including relevant experts so that each expert can contribute to the quality of the ultimate agreement.
In other circumstances, deciding whether to negotiate as a team may relate to negotiation strategy. For example, the well-known tactic of 'good cop/bad cop' can only work if the negotiating party using that tactic has a team prepared to play the appropriate part. There is a question, however, whether such tactics represent good ethics and fairness. Unless negotiation is fair, there are high odds that a party who feels treated unfairly will not really fulfill the agreement as demanded by the unfair party.
One of my favorite examples of team negotiation happened several years ago when a colleague of mine expected a one-on-one meeting with his client. Surprisingly, the client arrived with nine additional people and my colleague felt he was alone against a massive onslaught. When he came to me for advice I explained (from previous knowledge of the situation) that the nine 'extras' were not there to overwhelm my colleague. They simply didn't trust his client enough to let him negotiate alone. So in some circumstances, a large negotiation team is a sign of weakness -- rather than a sign of teamwork as in the case of multiple experts brought in to make the process clearer and more effective.
I hope this is helpful.
Good luck,
Steve
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