Most of us have been involved in more than one negotiation process. Some have gone great. Some have gone ok and some have been downright awful. The best negotiations happen when everybody wins at least at little - or when everybody saves face. According to a recent Harvard Business Review article, "face is how people want to be perceived and connected to identity and dignity." At work this is often tied to the reputation of our companies or employers, as well. So how can we help everyone at the meeting and negotiating table save face?
We can recognize the place that face and getting a small win has with negotiation.
Will a solution lead to one or more people losing? If yes, it's not a viable solution.
Is the negotiator the final word with their team or will they have to take discussions and results back to the office or up the chain? If they aren't the final word, saving face will be critical in whatever proposed solutions they take back to their company or team.
If there is a problem that his hard to identify, it likely has to do with saving face. Find the source and help that person save face.
Negotiations can be hard. Even if we win, it can seem like a loss. I do think that construction pros are pretty good at handling confrontations and negotiations. One or both of these happen on a daily basis but somehow we manage to avoid "burning bridges" to build great team and things. Not to get too political but I think most of our political universe could learn a thing or two from a challenging and confrontational project. Even with severe disagreements we almost always find a solution that helps everyone win at least a bit. We know that the zero sum game might work today but it won't work tomorrow and it won't work in recurring negotiations. I think politicians could learn a thing or two from construction pros about getting along while we build their world.
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