#167: Why Negotiations Are Like Playing a Game of Squash

Introduction

In today's "People Skills" newsletter, we're showcasing another one of our Professional Development Programme (PDP) presentations.

Today's topic is on "A Negotiation Game Plan".

If you want to succeed at negotiations, you need to understand that negotiations are like a game.

And, just like any game, the prizes go to the side that understands the rules and plays better.

In this topic, we’ll look at 7 rules taken from the game of squash that can make you a winner in the game of negotiations...

01. Rule 1: Get Fit

Good negotiating is an art that is learned from experience. Like any game, the more matches you play, the fitter you get...

02. Keep Within the Rules of the Negotiation Game

As with any sport, the more you play, the more tactics you will find being available to you. Some tactics, feints and ruses are acceptable in negotiations, some are not...

03. How Lying Can Catch You Out in Negotiations

It’s sometimes difficult to decide exactly how to answer your negotiating opponents’ questions without giving your whole position away. Deliberately deceiving them with outright lies is not a good response, as this story from an old Alfred Hitchcock film shows...

04. Rule 2: Follow the Ball

In squash, it is what happens to the ball that matters not what happens to the player. In the same way, in negotiations, it is the issues that are important not the personalities...

05. The Advantage in Negotiations is Always to the Server

When you serve in a game of squash, you have the advantage of deciding how you'd like the point to be played. You put the onus on the other side to respond to your moves. You can take the part of “server” in negotiations in the following 8 ways...

06. Rule 3: Cover the Ground

The best squash players are the most versatile ones. They can serve, block, defend, attack, rally, wait their turn, go for a winner. The same is true of top negotiators...

07. Ten Try-Ons

A try-on is also known as a "gambit" (from the ancient Italian word, gambetto, meaning "to trip"). A gambit is a chess opening in which a player sacrifices something, usually a pawn, with the hope of achieving a resulting advantageous position. Here are 10 gambits or try-ons...

08. Rule 4: Look Ahead

The skilful in all sports are those who are able to think ahead and see possibilities. The same kind of anticipation is valuable in negotiations...

09. Go to the T

The "T" is the centre of the squash court. Whoever occupies it has command of play. The person on the T is in the best position to play the ball anywhere in the court without moving themselves. It is the place every negotiator should aim to be...

10. Rule 5: Don't Relax

There is just a brief moment after you play a good shot in squash when you become vulnerable. You allow yourself a congratulatory smile for being on top. This is when you can let down your guard. It’s the same in negotiations...

11. Why You Should Never Show Your Feelings

In negotiations, there is always a danger of believing things are going your way and so relaxing your guard. For example, when you look round your dream house, and realise it's what you want, it is hard not to show it...

12. Rule 6: Think It Through

Every shot you make in squash should be made mentally before you make it physically. Do the same in negotiations. Whenever you make a proposal or reply to one, think it through...

13. Versatility

The best squash players are the most versatile ones. They can serve, block, defend, attack, rally, wait their turn, go for a winner. In negotiations, the advantage goes to the side who are most versatile...

14. Deception in War and Negotiations

Sun Tzu was a general, strategist, and tactician and is thought to have written "The Art of War" in 513 BC. It is commonly thought of as the definitive work on military strategy. Here are 10 tactics of deception...

15. Rule 7: Stay in Crouch

The "crouch" position in squash is the ready position. You should start in crouch and stay in crouch until the match is won. The equivalent position in negotiations is the "tough" position...

16. Call Their Bluff

When your opponents “try it on”, for example by saying they can’t consider any more, there’s one thing you can do that will stop them dead in their tracks: call their bluff and walk away...

What Next?

Just as in any sport or game, winning at negotiations depends on knowing, using, and mastering the rituals, tactics and gambits of the process.

Practise these rules until they are second nature to you, and you’ll not only win at squash, you’ll also be a top negotiator.

And we, at Manage Train Learn, are here to help you.

With over 22,000 learning resources on our 6 websites, and 2 sites offering free downloads, you can now take charge of your own learning and go deeper into this topic.

With regular daily practise, reflection, and review, you will not only become a skilled negotiator. You'll win a higher prize in also becoming a skilled learner.

Well done and good luck!

Click this link to view and download the full PowerPoint presentation on "A Negotiation Game Plan": https://www.managetrainlearn.com/#/slide/1329