Home isolation will mean more negotiations are done via email – be prepared.

During the Covid-19 disruption, it may be tempting to do nothing when a customer, supplier, key stakeholder, says, ‘let’s negotiate.’ However, during business-as-usual many individuals or organisation choose to negotiate face to face, which is the best.  However, as discussed in my book, there will be times that you will need to apply the negotiation framework to negotiate via other means and email is still popular.

 One benefits of the framework is you can apply it to face-to-face negotiations, via the telephone or Skype type calls or the growing trend to use online or email to negotiate.

This trend is dangerous because in face-to-face meetings you have many practical verbal and non-verbal cues compared to the telephone or even email. Emails are seductive because you are available 24/7, but this is when mistakes happen.

 I had the pleasure of delivering a session on negotiation with the acclaimed lecturer at the Harvard Business School, Andrew Brodsky, to a packed audience at the Business School at the University of Technology, Sydney. Andrew’s shared his approach to email with the group of executives attending the session, and he further elaborates this trend in my book.

 Email and other types of text-based communication have become one of the central methods of conducting business. Whether it be negotiating for a car or hammering out the details of a large corporate contract, many negotiations now occur through email. While email simplifies communication and provides the benefit of being able to communicate with people worldwide, this manner of communicating brings complications, as well.

 Email is a poor method for relaying emotion due to the lack of body language and tone of voice. As a result, people often misinterpret emotion in email messages. Research shows misinterpreting tends to be unequal for both positive and negative emotions; rather, people tend to more frequently misinterpret emails negatively as opposed to positively. In negotiations, even unintentional displays of negative emotions—such as anger and frustration—can eliminate any chance for a cooperative solution.

 People tend to more frequently misinterpret emails negatively as opposed to positively.

 One of the primary drivers of people’s interpretations of emotion in an email is their expectations of the context (as opposed to the message content itself). By their nature, negotiations are competitive and can often become hostile. Negotiation counterparties are likely to use this contextual knowledge to fill in the information gaps caused by email usage and assume that email communications are angrier than they were intended.

Furthermore, the anonymity and distance of email make it easier for people to express negative emotions. For most of us, it is difficult to express anger or rage toward another person directly to their face. However, sitting behind a computer screen makes behaving badly much more comfortable. Together, these factors can make it significantly more complex to reach a collaborative agreement via email.

 The discussion up to this point would suggest that email is always a suboptimal method for negotiating. However, there are many situations in which email is significantly better than face-to-face negotiations. Let’s firstly, layout the situations in which you should avoid using email for negotiations. Then, let’s address the situations in which email may likely be the best method for these types of interactions.

 When to Avoid Email:

1.               When there are complicated issues at play.

One of the advantages of face-to-face interactions is that they allow for rapid back and forth conversations, which often involve spontaneous disclosures. With email, people tend to be shorter with their communication and focus only on the main issues. Collaborative agreements occur through discussing as much information as possible, realising overlapping interests. When there is limited information flow through email, these types of agreements become less frequent.

2.               When there is a lack of trust.

Simply put, you trust people less when you cannot see them. People are much more likely to trust someone when they can observe their facial expressions. Also, trust is often built through communicating informal matters such as family or hobbies. Given that conversations in email tend to be much more direct and formal, the process of informal trust-building is often lost.

3.               When emotions are high.

In cases where there is a risk that strong emotions will be involved in a negotiation, using email can have extremely negative results. Email makes it easier to both misinterpret emotion and to miss early signals of emotion building up. Alternatively, in face-to-face interactions, it is easy to observe when emotions are surfacing and to address them more effectively.

 When to Use Email:

 1.               When a written record is valuable.

One of the main benefits of using email is that it provides a written record. Whether you intend to recall a previous conversation or to offer proof of an agreement not being followed, having a written record can be an invaluable tool. A major disadvantage of verbal negotiations and agreements is that they are susceptible to memory failures or unethical behaviour following the negotiation (e.g., claiming the agreement was different). Email avoids these issues because there is a written record of all communication.

 2.               When negotiating with many parties simultaneously.

Another benefit of email is that it enables rapid communication. Negotiations often involve interacting with a multitude of parties. For example, an individual may reach out to many car dealers before buying a car, or a company may reach out to many potential vendors before signing a service contract. Having face-to-face or telephone conversations with ten parties would be extremely time-consuming. Conversely, it is a simple task to send out ten of the same email to different vendors asking for a preliminary quote. Email can be a valuable tool when there is a benefit to reducing the time spent communicating.

 3.               When your counterparty knows you well.

In situations in which there has been a longstanding relationship, the choice of the communication medium for one interaction will not alter the degree of trust between the parties. Besides, when individuals are familiar with each other’s communication styles, it is much less likely there will be conflict.

 4.               When you feel uncomfortable negotiating.

The anonymity and physical distance associated with email communication can also serve as a major advantage in negotiations. For those who are uncomfortable making large demands and using threats in-person, it can be much easier to do so from being behind a computer screen.

 This can help with the often observed gender gap in negotiation due to men’s tendency to be more aggressive. Research has shown this gender gap is significantly reduced in virtual communication because women feel more comfortable being aggressive in this medium.

While there are both pros and cons to using email for negotiating, there may be some cases in which there is simply no choice in this medium, and email is the only option. In these cases, it is vital to understand how to best leverage this type of communication. Use the three recommendations when to use email to help make the most out of negotiating virtually.

 Tell me in the comments, what have you found works well when you negotiate via email?