MANUAL TEAMWORK, LEADERSHIP AND NEGOTIATION

TEAMWORK, LEADERSHIP AND NEGOTIATION

the issues to be negotiated and the order to be followed. In some cases, it is even a good idea to present the starting position of each of the parties for each of the elements at stake. • It is also necessary to define what the basic outline of the negotiation will be, who will be involved and what format you plan to follow (number of meetings, locations, etc.). Don't be afraid to be overly formal; these small agreements can be very useful for planning and will relieve you of the need to constantly monitor the framework of the negotiation. • Level of authority. At the beginning of the course we talked about power in negotiation, a term that should not be confused with authority. At this point, we define level of authority as the ability of the participants in a negotiation to make decisions and reach agreements. • It is very important that our level of authority is equal to or lower than that of the other party's representatives. We should never negotiate with someone who has less decision-making authority than we do, as this position clearly benefits our counterpart, who is not attending the sessions. In this case, the most advisable thing to do is to remove our apparent level of authority, with phrases such as: "I will also have to consult with my superior on the principle of the agreement we reach" or "in this case, I would prefer not to take the decision alone and to discuss it first with my team".

10.6.2. Initial phase

The basic objectives of the initial phase are:

• Set out the starting position. • Check each other's starting position.

We have talked before about boundaries and how to set them. At this point we just want to insist on the desirability of first establishing the initial position.

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