How to Negotiate — Virtually

Virtual negotiations tend to leave parties with poorer results and feeling less warmth and trust toward each other. When the group does not communicate with each other face to face, decision making is less effective, more protracted, and less satisfying.

If virtual negotiations face additional barriers to feel satisfied with the outcome, there are ways to enhance the chances for success of virtual meetings. 

When planning virtual negotiations

Assign clear roles to the teams: Who will open the meeting? Explain a proposal? Answer questions? Summarise the next steps? How will we communicate with each other offline? Plan these steps to be prepared for any eventuality.

Specify offline methods for hatting and practice: Ensure private messages do not pop up on everyone's screen. Use different programs for chatting. 

Keep chatting brief: Messaging during negotiations may be important but it may also be perceived as rude, less professional, less trustworthy by the counterparts. When communicating with colleagues keep it short.

Video is best - bigger the better: Negotiators communicating by video performed better than negotiators using emails or text. Using a computer screen is even better than a smaller screen makes it easy to see the negotiators and less strain.

Short and sweet: Video and telephone conferencing provides a richer experience but is very taxing. There could be gaps, glitches, time lags and negotiators have to work hard to fill in the gaps. Short, structured videos and teleconferences can keep the parties engaged and at their best.

When leading virtual negotiations

Connect at the outset: At the start of the meeting, take a few minutes for small talk with the negotiators which will set the stage for collaborative interaction. Starting negotiations with humor, led to better economic outcomes and better feelings between parties. Making a personal connection can have a powerful effect on negotiations.

Clarify, constraints and objections: Video and phone conferences can have a ragged start when parties join at different times. make sure to clarify the meeting purpose and the time to be committed. If someone has to leave early, modify the agenda.

Hide your self-view:  Many people become acutely conscious when the see themselves during a video conference and may get distracted during the meeting. Switch off or disable self-view to avoid this problem.

There is no substitute for the experience of face to face negotiations about in uncertain times when such meetings become difficult we need to make connections remotely and make this experience rewarding. Digital tools and media can help make the negotiations more efficient and help us to stay connected provided we understand how to put them to best use.

How to Negotiate — Virtually

by Hal Movius HBR June 10, 2020