Q & A Table of Contents
Negotiating In Teams
From: Nina, Shropshire, UK
Question: Please can you clarify the advantages and disadvantages of team negotiations?
Response: Negotiating as part of a team requires very careful preparation. The biggest danger in team negotiation is that the party or parties with whom your team is negotiating will see or hear that you and your colleagues don't agree with each other. If they can find differences, they may spot opportunities to drive wedges between your team members.
Teams that work together ahead of time on strategy: who is going to be the spokesperson on which issues? what information do we need and who is going to ask the relevant questions? who can communicate what decisions to the 'other side'? what members of the team are the experts on technical matters, business matters, etc.?
You will find that even if a group of colleagues works hard at developing a commonly-agreed strategy, there is still a risk that someone will say something out of turn or which is not part of his/her role. You need to explore how to cope with such problems during the actual negotiation; a problem contemplated is most likely a problem with a solution.
Individual negotiations have certain other advantages: the negotiator can present him/herself as the decision-maker -- or as the spokesperson for their company or colleagues. This gives the individual negotiator considerable flexibility that may not be available in team negotiation situations.
Good luck,
Steve
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