Internal Alignment and Agreement—3 Key Components

Participants in our negotiation programs consistently rate their internal negotiations more challenging than external negotiations. Many cite that the challenges stem from the need to work together every day, and that making agreements with colleagues are important in every role and project. It’s more difficult to walk away, avoid, ignore, or find a new counterpart. Additionally, today's rapidly changing marketplace and organizational pressure to succeed in it create more stress to align and make progress with team members, managers, and direct reports. The ability to perform well within your organization is dependent on your ability to get others to see your viewpoint and agree to solutions that meet your needs. In other words, negotiating internally is critical to your daily success. To improve how to achieve internal alignment and agreement, it takes three strategic components: crucial relationships, critical interests, and creative options.

To start, let’s make sure we are clear on the broad definition of negotiation. From our experience in the field, the definition goes beyond typical corporate scenarios involving revenue deals, M&A, partnerships, lawsuits, buyouts, global purchases, lawyers and paperwork. With the definition of a negotiation as simply “any discussion aimed at reaching an agreement,” most of us negotiate on a daily basis, even if we’re not responsible for contracts or in sales or purchasing. 

What are typical internal negotiations encountered? People are familiar with the key external negotiations such as sales with customers and procurement with vendor account representatives. Many more internal negotiations occur daily such as department heads with one another for cross-functional project timelines and shared resources or budget owners with Finance or managers with HR. 

What are the main challenges with internal negotiation? The more an organization and its people operate in silos, the more crucial it is to recognize the importance of effective internal negotiations (as opposed to imposing one’s will or maneuvering a power play). It is by tearing down those walls that different parties to a negotiation can identify common objectives for mutual gain. Examples of internal negotiation challenges from our work with clients include non-aligned teams, strained resources, and timing constraints.

Here are three key strategic components for getting great agreements -- the Who, the What and the How.

The Who?  Crucial Relationships

An important first step is to identify key internal parties. We suggest you ask:

·       Who will be affected by this problem/opportunity?

·       Who is interested in this problem/opportunity?

·       Whose support will be necessary to address potential solutions?

·       Who are the decision-makers?

·       Who will serve as your best ally/coach/sponsor?

As part of your negotiation planning, consider preparing a relationship map to spell out these specific parties in your upcoming situations.

How do you maximize these relationships?

Once you have considered the relevant parties, it is important to communicate well with them. Three top-level strategies for doing so include:

1.     Build internal working relationships.

2.     Avoid surprising internal partners.

3.     Enlist internal partners in joint problem solving.

Some useful actions for maximizing relationships include communicate well and often, inform when issues arise, find ways to be a good resource, and keep apprised of progress on projects.

The What?  Critical Interests

A second key ingredient to effective internal negotiations is considering the important interests of all parties in order to find mutually satisfying outcomes. We define interests as all the needs, concerns, wants, and motivators that a person has in a situation. For example, some internal interests might be to utilize my resources well, to make sure people’s time is respected, to achieve a great outcome, to feel respected, or to ensure timelines are met. It’s very challenging to solve a problem when you don’t fully understand what is important to the parties. Without consideration, agreed upon solutions might be suboptimal by missing the opportunity to satisfy key needs. And while it is very useful to consider the other party’s interests before we have the conversation, it is equally important to test and confirm those interests with the party and ask for others that you had not considered. Exploring interactively the critical interests in your situation with the other party is valuable for both building the relationship and uncovering possibilities that will lead to a good solution.

The How? Creative Options

A third strategic component is the ability to consider all of the interests and then creatively brainstorm possible options or solutions. What issues can be resolved and which pieces to an agreement can be crafted to form a solid, mutually satisfying outcome for all parties? When you use effective brainstorming ground rules such as all ideas are worth jotting down, even if pie in the sky as it might spark other possibilities, and no evaluation or commitment while ideas are shared so as not to close down either party’s desire to offer potential solutions, it allows for more expansive thinking and possibly more satisfying outcomes. This type of open conversation can build and enhance trust in relationships while also maximizing the opportunity to develop a substantively strong agreement. And starting with more ideas up front provides a chance that both parties will end up with more in the agreement once you narrow and agree upon the final solution.

In conclusion, successful negotiations in your organization depend on considering both relationship and substance in each situation. Internal alignment and agreement come from understanding that many conversations are negotiations and as such it is useful to know which parties are involved or impacted, what is important to you and to them, and what possible ways you can solve the problem to meet as many interests, needs and concerns as you can. Being creative in these options and solutions is a way to maximize the results. The next time you are trying build alliances and come to agreement inside your organization, make sure you think about Who, What, and How for a few minutes before you have the conversation.