Negotiation Tutorial - Bargaining tactics

Summary

Highlights

• Tom employs a slow, steady approach during his negotiation for flexwork. 🐢
• He meets resistance with creative brainstorming and supportive evidence. 💡
• The negotiation highlights the importance of preparation and strategic questioning. 🎯
• Solid data and examples play a key role in convincing the management. 📊
• The conversation shows how persistence can lead to agreements. ✅

Key Takeaways

• Take a strategic approach to negotiation, focusing on mutual benefits. 🎯
• Counter resistance with creative brainstorming sessions. 💡
• Use evidence and examples to support your case convincingly. 📊
• Patiently stick to your points without rushing the process. 🐢
• Make thorough preparation to facilitate smooth negotiation. 📝

Overview

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Mutual Benefit Negotiation In the chapter "Introduction to Mutual Benefit Negotiation," the focus is on demonstrating a practical example of negotiation techniques. An example negotiation scenario is presented between Tom and his manager Sarah over a flexwork arrangement. As this negotiation unfolds, listeners are encouraged to observe the strategies and tactics previously discussed in the course. Key points to note include how Tom manages to take things slowly, responds to resistance with brainstorming, and maintains his position until his request is well-framed and supported. This chapter aims to solidify the foundational concepts of mutual benefit negotiation by showing them in action.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Tom Initiates Conversation with Sarah Tom initiates a conversation with Sarah, who is in between meetings. They exchange brief pleasantries and discuss Sarah's busy schedule, with Sarah mentioning her goal to get out early to attend her son's class play.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Discussing Tom's Experience with Flex Time This chapter discusses Tom's positive experience with flexible working hours after returning from paternity leave. He expresses gratitude for the opportunity to have spent quality time with his wife and newborn daughter, Olivia, who is only four weeks old. Tom is now transitioning back to full-time work, but he appreciates the benefits that flexible scheduling brought to his family life.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Pitch for Company-wide Flex Time Policy The narrator reflects on how they are more productive working from home compared to being physically present at the office, noting that disruptions at home are often shorter than lengthy meetings in the workplace. This observation leads to a proposal for the implementation of a company-wide flexible working hours policy, which is discussed as a potential benefit for the entire organization.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Challenges of Implementing Flex Time This chapter discusses the challenges of implementing a flexible work schedule in a large company. Initially, there is skepticism about the feasibility of such a policy in a big organization compared to a startup. However, research reveals that several similar-sized or even larger companies, including competitors, have successfully adopted flex time, leading to increased employee satisfaction and productivity.
• 02:30 - 03:00: Tom's Research and Evidence This chapter discusses a shift in business strategy as seen through a specific case: the positive results of a team's performance while their manager, Tom, was away. The chapter highlights a 10 percent decrease in customer complaints and a 10 percent increase in sales when Tom was not physically present to micromanage his team. This data serves as a core piece of evidence in evaluating traditional management styles and their effectiveness. It suggests that giving employees more autonomy could lead to increased productivity.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Discussing Benefits for Colleagues and Sarah The chapter discusses the benefits of a flexible work schedule for colleagues. It highlights that allowing employees to focus on their tasks independently without micromanagement is effective. Steve and Sally, who have long commutes, would benefit from working from home a couple of days a week. The conversation also hints at the potential for the speaker to consider their own needs for flexibility.
• 03:30 - 04:00: Addressing the Executive Team's Concerns The chapter discusses the challenges of balancing work and personal life, particularly the benefits of working from home, such as having a decent lunch and attending personal events without rush. It highlights a disconnect between the executive team's views on employee morale and its impact on the company's bottom line, illustrated by an example of an employee needing time off due to childcare issues.
• 04:00 - 04:30: Sheila's Situation and System Proposal The chapter discusses an issue where an employee named Sheila lost two days of work because she wasn't equipped to work from home. The discussion emphasizes the importance of having a system in place that allows employees to work from anywhere. The key takeaway is that work location shouldn't matter as long as the work gets done efficiently, focusing on results rather than process.
• 04:30 - 05:00: Pilot Plan Proposal The chapter discusses the idea of presenting a pilot plan to an executive team. It suggests that instead of implementing a sweeping change all at once, the proposal could be more gradual. The suggestion is to start with a small team, such as the engineering team, and test the plan over a few months. While there is interest, there is still some hesitation and not full agreement on the proposal.
• 05:00 - 05:30: Conditions for Approval The chapter titled 'Conditions for Approval' involves a discussion regarding achieving a 100% commitment level, moving beyond 99%. The conversation suggests that, although there is a good start with customer service statistics, more is needed. Specifically, making a compelling case for benefits to the bottom line and demonstrating a plan to sustain those numbers over the long haul are seen as necessary conditions for approval.
• 05:30 - 06:00: Tom's Plan for Data and Pilot Program Tom is tasked with designing a set of objectives to track and measure results. He requests to see research related to remote work and asks for examples of how different team members, such as engineers or receptionists, can perform their jobs remotely. Tom emphasizes the need for solid data to support the plan.
• 06:00 - 06:30: Agreement and Next Steps In the chapter titled 'Agreement and Next Steps', the discussion centers on reaching a consensus and planning future actions. One party is willing to agree to terms if the other's data is reliable. They propose to create a pilot plan aligned with the measurement targets that will be shared for approval. A timeline is set to deliver this proposal before the following Friday, expressing the intent to present it in an upcoming executive team meeting, provided the conditions are satisfactory.
• 06:30 - 07:30: Conclusion and Encouragement The chapter 'Conclusion and Encouragement' provides a closing and uplifting message. It recounts the excitement of having made significant progress in negotiations, emphasizing the importance of keeping focused and maintaining momentum even when the journey is far from over. The interaction concludes with expressions of gratitude and a commendation for effectively steering a negotiation. A positive note is reinforced by applause, highlighting the success of the engagement.

Negotiation Tutorial - Bargaining tactics Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 now that we've explored the fundamentals of mutual benefit negotiation we're going to put it all together by letting you eavesdrop on a negotiation for flexwork between tom and his manager sarah as the negotiation unfolds we'll identify the strategies and tactics we explored in the course pay special attention to how tom takes things slowly how he meets resistance with brainstorming and stays at the table until he's fully framed and supported his request
• 00:30 - 01:00 hey still have a few minutes of course grab a chair thanks i know you've been in and out of meetings all day it never ends oh no lunch oh well i'm trying to get out early my son has a class play tonight
• 01:00 - 01:30 he's going to be a fig tree [Laughter] well you have to start somewhere all right so how's your own little one olivia oh she's amazing yeah she's four weeks old tomorrow ah congrats thanks um that's actually what i'm here about um paternity leave was fantastic working flex time for the last several weeks was it was just great being able to spend time with my wife and my daughter but now that i'm back full time
• 01:30 - 02:00 i'm realizing that i actually got more work done at home than i do here um you know a baby cries for five minutes but a meeting goes on for two hours i see so what you're saying is you want to work flex time on a long-term basis what i'm saying is i think the whole company could benefit from a flex time policy uh-huh what do you think
• 02:00 - 02:30 well that's ambitious and i think it might be fine for a startup but for someone as big as us i i don't see it that's how i thought at first um but i did a lot of research and i found at least half a dozen companies our size or or larger also competitors who have flex time policies and they all say the same thing employee satisfaction goes up productivity goes up and employee
• 02:30 - 03:00 turnaround goes down look that might be great for them but it's such a radical departure from the way we do business i wouldn't even know where to start well have you seen the customer service stats from when i was away yeah i have and what did they say complaints were down about 10 percent sales were up about the same amount i get it tom you were more productive at home it wasn't just me though it was my whole team without me here micromanaging them
• 03:00 - 03:30 everybody got to focus on their own tasks on their own time and lo and behold it turns out that micromanaging wasn't the answer can i ask you another question who do you think would benefit from a more flexible schedule well steve and sally both have long commutes i'm sure they would both love to work from home a couple of days a week how about yourself
• 03:30 - 04:00 well i mean if you were able to work from home today you'd have been able to have a decent lunch and you'd be able to get to your son's play without being rushed well it sounds great when you put it that way but the um the executive team doesn't necessarily believe that employee morale directly affects the bottom line well look at it this way um you know sheila from my department well she had to take two days off last week because her kid was home from school and she didn't have a sitter
• 04:00 - 04:30 now that's two days of lost work because she wasn't set up to work from home and the thing is if we had known about this ahead of time it wouldn't have been hard to do so you're saying we just need to have a system in place where if anybody had to work from home they could or from anywhere so it doesn't matter where they are when they get their work done as long as it gets done exactly results are results that's all that
• 04:30 - 05:00 matters i do see where you're coming from but pitching this to the executive team just brainstorming here it doesn't have to be one big sweeping change all at once we could try one team not even my own team maybe engineering and try it out for a few months i'm not a hundred percent with you yet
• 05:00 - 05:30 okay well i just sparring this on you yeah i understand what do you think you would need for me to get to that 100 commitment not 99 but 100 well let's see um [Music] you've got a good start with those customer service stats if you could make a compelling case that benefits the bottom line and demonstrate how you plan to maintain those numbers over the long haul that help
• 05:30 - 06:00 i'm on it i'll design a set of objectives that we can track and measure results okay what else um well though that research you were talking about i'll need to see that and give me some examples about how your own team can remotely do their jobs and um engineering or or anybody even the receptionist basically just give me the data and if it's rock solid
• 06:00 - 06:30 i'll sign on 100 yes if your data is rock solid all right i think i can make this happen okay and and i'll go one up on you okay what if i were to design a pilot plan to go along with these measurement targets you're gonna present that's what i'm looking for okay and if i were to get this to you before next friday would you be willing to present this at the next executive team meeting well if the date is good and our
• 06:30 - 07:00 proposal is tight i would excellent i'm thrilled about this there thank you so much now you realize you still have a long way to go yeah but i'm a lot closer than i was five minutes ago okay all right i'll be talking to you all right thank you so much you're very welcome [Applause] so that was a great example of how to keep a negotiation on track
• 07:00 - 07:30 and it was great to hear tom make his way through the conversation with ease and yet persistence sounded like an everyday workplace conversation right but everything we covered throughout the course from diagnostic questions to handling a lack of cooperation made its way into the negotiation authentically due to tom's preparation watching that example may have triggered possibilities for you to practice asking for what you want in your workplace
• 07:30 - 08:00 when thinking about a request you've been wanting to make use this conversation as a template for reaching your goals and finding your way to agreement