Battle Stations! How to Prepare Your Team for Negotiations

Posted By Jesse Suarez, Nov 14, 2011

This posting is a brief overview of the tips imparted by Jeanne Brett, Ray Friedman, and Kristin Behfar in How to Manage Your Negotiating Team.  87 Harv. Bus. REv. 105 (2009).  Basing their analysis of 45 negotiation teams from different industries, the researchers outline several techniques designed to improve the control and flow of information between opposing sides and within the group.  To break it down simply, here’s what they propose:

First, align your team’s interests before the negotiation, since many of the team members may be sitting at the table from different departments and may have different goals.  To do so, they suggest: (1) Identifying diverging interests by speaking to each team member; (2) Working with each team member’s constituents to find the underlying reasons for their positions ; (3) Mediating any remaining conflicts; and (4) If necessary, using data that the other department may not have to show your rationale for taking a contrary position.

Once you have come to specific agreements about the positions your team will take into the negotiation, the authors suggest creating a coherent strategy within the team.   They suggest several ways to accomplish this: (1) simulate the negotiation through role-playing; (2) assign specific roles depending on each member’s strengths and weaknesses; (3) establish a way for team members to communicate with each other during the negotiation.

The underlying message of How to Manage Your Negotiating Team is this: be prepared.   Be ready to stand on a united front against your opponents by lining-up interests and goals with your team members, and be able to respond quickly and effectively to information shared, and demands made, by the other side.  While helpful in distributive negotiations where the two sides are directly opposed, the tips they outline will also allow your team to analyze creative and collaborative solutions efficiently. 

Obviously, many of these problems don’t exist when you’re walking into a solo negotiation.  But, for complex matters, team members are typically brought in to meet the demands of specific departments. For instance, if two companies are negotiating licensing agreements, each company will probably create a negotiation team composed of people representing the company’s legal, financial, and business departments.   It is possible that the interests of these team members will not line up precisely.  However, even in situations where the team members represent the same constituents within a company or organization, these tips may still be useful.  After all, being able to communicate with your partner without your opposition noticing is an easy way to prevent the deadly appearance of dissonance.