As the leader of your team, you are responsible for representing it in negotiations. By negotiations, I am talking not only about the traditional negotiations you might use in dealing with vendors, customers, or potential allies but also about nontraditional negotiating situations—what I call horse trading—that you use to get critical resources from peers or senior management and to get support from your employees.
This kind of negotiation involves understanding the other party’s needs and working out deals in which you both feel like winners. If you follow the advice in this chapter, you can win more points than you lose and do so without alienating the other person.
How do you make deals so that everyone can come out satisfied? Staff members, peers, managers, and customers each relate differently to you, and so they each require different guidelines. Let’s look, first, at how you can negotiate to gain the cooperation of your work team.
The key to winning over your employees is a little concept called WIIFM. The acronym stands for the words What’s In It For Me, and it entails clearly communicating the benefits to employees in doing what you would like them to do.
Let’s say that you are trying to convince your assistant to learn a new software program, because it would enable her to design better looking documents for client presentations. She argues that she has the time neither to learn the new package nor to apply what she learns because she already has a full workload. Don’t demand that she learn the skill. As the old adage says, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” You can insist that your assistant take the training, but you can’t make her learn or apply the information unless you threaten to terminate her. If your relationship is a good one, there really is no reason to force the issue and, thereby, alienate your staff member. Try, instead, to convince your assistant that her best interests lie in learning the new software package.
Begin by determining if your assistant has any reason other than those she told you for not learning the new software. Is she uncomfortable with learning something new? Has she been led to believe that she might be transferred to another part of the organization—to a job she doesn’t want—if she masters her training?
Let’s assume that, in speaking with her, you discover that she has some concern about her job security—after all, some employees have been transferred, and others have been asked to take on the work of employees who were laid off. But it appears that her biggest fear is that she won’t be able to assume more administrative tasks if she masters new computer skills.
“Actually, Nancy, I think this new software program will save you a lot of time, freeing you to help me more with some of my own responsibilities.” Because this is what Nancy wants, she should be more receptive to your offer. You can also address her other concern by reassuring her, “The systems personnel tell me that the training would mean that you would be out of the office for only a week. I can get a temp to help with the basics until you return. If you find you need help to catch up with other work, we can either keep the temp on longer to help you or get some assistance from another administrative assistant.”
“If we could do that, then I would be able to complete the training,” she answers. “Do you really think I’d have more time so I could do more than clerical work?” she asks. As you reaffirm your earlier statement, you know you have won her over. You have made clear to Nancy what is in it for her (WIIFM) in going along with your request.
Both you and she have won. Your assistant gets more opportunity to show her capabilities, and you get someone skilled in a software program that will enable you to make better client presentations, plus you may have freed yourself of some of your paperwork. That means you will have more time yourself to take on greater responsibilities. Of course, to make this deal win/win, you need to keep your promise, which is to give Nancy the opportunity to assume greater responsibilities.
The same approach can be used with your team as a whole. Let’s assume that you meet with your staff to inform them about some operating changes. Before you meet with them, think how you will present the information. How can the changes make their jobs easier, more interesting, or more efficient? If there is a problem, be prepared to point out some of the good work your staff has been doing before discussing the problem. After telling them about the change and its benefits, express your confidence in your team’s ability to show management how well it can perform. Become a cheerleader for your team.
If one of your staff members raises some questions, answer them to the best of your ability. You want to maintain their confidence and sustain morale by accepting your employees’ concerns rather than denying them.
Many years ago, I attended a meeting led by an organization’s VP of marketing. A major change in organization was under consideration. After the idea was presented, a creative manager raised her hand. She had a question about the change’s impact on current staffing. Rather than answer the question, the VP demanded, “Why should you know that now?” The room became eerily silent.
The VP glared at the poor woman, who had merely asked what everyone else in the room was thinking. Fortunately, the VP of sales stood up. He told the group, “We don’t yet know fully what these changes will do to the organization. We do know that we must make these changes to ensure the organization’s competitive position in the market. And I personally promise that we will notify staff as soon as we determine if these changes will necessitate cutbacks.”
Notice that the VP of sales did not remind the staff members of his position of authority. Instead, he focused on regaining the employees’ confidence.