I am heading overseas tomorrow for a trip with my family.
Travel, especially in foreign countries, can bring out the worst in people so I am planning to try out some new negotiation and conflict management techniques on them.
I might try a bit of “you’re not coming with us today!” or maybe some “you really should be more appreciative of how much this is costing!”.
Kidding …
What I will be doing is asking for honest conversations about how everyone is feeling, acknowledging the things that are hard for each of us, recognising any brewing conflicts and identifying common ground.
As it happens, there are a lot of similarities between travel and negotiation.
With travel, it’s tempting to daydream about the exciting destination, but we can’t go anywhere without lots of groundwork, planning and getting everything in place for those travelling (did I mention we got our visas approved with only two business days to spare?!)
In negotiations, we can get too focused on the outcomes we are looking for (an agreed contract, the new job, the sale) and overlook the need to plan the strategy and do the emotional prep required to perform well.
To prove the point, these questions work just as well for a holiday as they do for a negotiation:
- Where are you heading?
- What do you want to achieve?
- How will you get there?
- Who is involved?
- What needs arranging?
- Are you ready?
What other questions fit both categories?