To Succeed in a Negotiation, Help Your Counterpart Save Face

 

Face saving negotiation is being discussed here using three real-life examples from the various fields. 

• Human rights negotiation in Afghanistan.
• Crisis negotiation in Calgary
• A business dispute between a Brazilian & a Frenchman

A face is a public image that every member of the society that everyone wants to project. This is how people want to be perceived and connected to identity and dignity. In negotiations both the sides want to preserve their and the organisation's reputations. 

Afghanistan - freeing the hostages.

A UNHCR team working in Afghanistan got information that some 20 women were being held as hostages in a village nearby. They got in touch with the informer and got full details. they realised that they could not approach their superiors also as some were already compromised. They could not go the public route as that would have meant a loss of face to the local officials. Instead, the team contacted privately and explained to them they were duty-bound to investigate further as it has been brought to their attention. After many meetings and negotiations, the women were freed. The Afgan foreign ministry recognised that they had a problem and the UNHCR team gave them a way out without losing their face. 

Calgary - a crisis negotiation

late night, a crisis negotiator got a call about a person, high on drugs, threatening suicide. His wife, who was an addict, had checked in to a rehab centre but he refused to do so. The negotiator started a dialogue with the man, who had already climbed a tree with a rope to hang himself. he gave an answer to a question the man asked. Though he did not know the answer at first, he got the answer from his wife and the man immediately came down. On being asked why he did this, he said that he wanted to abort the suicide attempt, but did not want to be seen to be a loser. So he asked a simple question and when the answer was found he could come down without losing face. Once again a face-saving solution was found without hurting both the sides.

A business tug of war.

Two executives, Fench and Brazilian, got involved in a dispute over a company bo were involved in. Booth spent millions of dollars in trying to outdo each other. An advisor to the deal found that more than dollars and control, each wanted dignity and respect. Each wanted to get out of the fight without losing face. 

The solution devised was to focus on maximising what they wanted and they quickly came to an agreement with one person leaving the board and handing over control to the other person. The other person, in turn, allowed him to sell his share in the market to benefit from the wealth generated and also revoked the non-compete clause. Thus both could save face and come out of the dispute successfully.

Four ways to help save face during negotiations

• Recognise the critical role face plays in all negotiations.
• Any proposal that will cause a loss of face toe ither party must be modified to ensure it does not happen.
• Map out all players in the negotiations, and recognise that face-saving to all players is very important to find a satisfactory solution.
• When a hidden problem arises in negotiation, think about the face as the source.

In a negotiation, what is visible is important but what is not visible is the key to success.

To Succeed in a Negotiation, Help Your Counterpart Save Face
by Joshua N. Weiss HBR 2020/10