We concluded that there are at least 4 key issues faced when trying to implement a global negotiation planning process in an organization:

(1) Gradient: People tend to fall along a gradient, with 1 pole reflecting the idea that everything is new (the “fly by the seat of your pants” approach), vs. the other pole where people tend to think that there is hardly anything new under the sun (the “knowledge management” approach).  Most people are closer to the “everything is new” pole.  This makes implementing a defined process and ensuring compliance quite challenging.

(2) Sales: A very good idea to get people to embrace a negotiating process is to make a business case as to how it would improve sales.

(3) Meme: Another good idea to advance implementation would be to come up with a unique cultural artifact that people can gravitate towards.

(4) Short Term vs. Long Term Efficiency: People naturally put off to tomorrow what they don’t want to focus on today, even if putting things off means more work in the long run.  A major challenge in implementing a negotiation process is overcoming the omnipresent tendency to overvalue this short term efficiency (commonly stated as, “I don’t have time to plan.“).

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Justin noted that:

To capture some of that spend and have better legal representation, Jason recommends negotiating “incentives that motivate people to do better”. Meaning, structure your relationship with outside counsel so that there are either caps on fees for specific, clearly defined projects OR include “efficiency bonuses” that reward the firm for coming in under budget.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

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