Negotiation Tip: The Art of Re-Framing
As part of mediation preparation, really good negotiators try to set the frame of the negotiation by placing the issues in a context which furthers their negotiation strategy.
Once the negotiation begins, somewhere along the way, a party will get stuck, which sets up an impasse in mediation. The real art in negotiation comes in the re-framing of the other side’s negotiation point-of-view.
Re-framing is described by Jonathan Fields, in Uncertainty, as:
“[L]ooking at the facts, taking yourself out of the middle, and asking how you can view [the facts] in a different light, one that empowers you rather than shuts you down.”
Fields is talking about how you can create a new story about something that has happened to you that allows you to reframe it, so as to empower you, rather than paralyze you.
I’d like to suggest that you can use re-framing to influence the other side to create a new story that they tell themselves. This requires you to do what all negotiation experts recommend, but lawyers sometimes fail to do: consider the other side’s needs and interests. The reason is obvious: if you know their needs and interests, you can craft a settlement that meets some of theirs and some of yours. If you don’t know their needs and interests, you end up guessing what they want. Sometimes you’ll be right, but wouldn’t you rather be better informed when making counter offers?
You can re-frame their obstacles into challenges, your small moves into “at least they moved,” their frustration into curiosity, and their negativity into useful information. This gives the other side a different frame to look through: challenges, reciprocal negotiation moves, curiosity and useful information. It helps them to re-write the story in their head, making it more positive and therefore more likely to move them through impasse and into further negotiation.
The idea is to empower the other side, rather than shutting them down. Unfortunately, as lawyers we tend to want to prove we’re right by arguing (which we are trained to do), rather than by taking a larger view and letting the other side think they’re right. As a wise trial lawyer recently said, once we’re negotiating, we need to move from warrior mode to collaborative mode.