“Want to open up negotiations … then go take a "walk”
What does the environment do to a Negotiation? …. a great deal more than you realise!
A change of scenery can be cathartic to a negotiation room where tensions can build up like bowstrings ready to snap in the air.
With those tensions wound so tight it can be impossible to deliver upon the real power of what negotiation truly is … Problem Solving!
Solutions to this can be very very simple. Head to the coffee shop, no books, no files, no laptops… just good old fashioned quality time.
Or take a walk around the block, through the park (not the car park!) or even on a country trail.
Yep… you heard me! I’ve walked miles though the woods with my counter part only to find that we could find meaning and ideas that eluded us at the negotiation table.
So if you want to inject some energy, some life and make your negotiations truly deliver then all you need to do is .... take a walk!
… same thing. If you can induce your interviewer to a gentle stroll for your job interview, you might find it creates more empathy, understanding and rapport than sitting crossed legged in a musty office room.
(… and it gets your steps up too .. win-win if ever I saw one)
