Chapter 2
Choosing your team
Big guns, little guns
How big should the team be?
There are several reasons to keep your negotiation team (NT) as small as possible. The first few deal with the expense and difficulties that arise when your NT must operate overseas. Flights, ground transport, meals, hotels, communication, conference centers, taxes, and cargo can make trip for even a small team extremely expensive. Arranging for passports, visas, inoculations, and potential medical care for a large group can easily become unmanageable. Problems and additional expenses may also arise when attempting to deal with various family and business schedules. Finally, for NT’s operating overseas, keeping track of large groups in a foreign country is nightmarish at best-ask any tour guide.
The rest of reasons for keeping the NT compact apply to both domestic and overseas assign
ments. Primarily, communication is a source of strength within any organization and never more so than within the NT. Premeetings, recaps and midmeeting breaks demand that communication be both precise, as major decisions are made in a matter of seconds. The CN must be able to seek the input of the team quickly, and large group are cumbersome.
Secondly, as mentioned earlier, presenting a unified front is key. The CN must be able to redirect tactics as counterparts bring new issues to the table. Agreement on tactics become more difficult in direct proportion to group size, even when there’s agreement on strategy. Keeping the NT small enables the CN to make timely adjustments to the negotiating plan and to disseminate that information quickly. Additionally, small teams are more easily able to withstand the “wedges” that counterparts may attempt to drive between members of large teams.
Thirdly, the members of the NT have other job duties unrelated to the negotiations. The fewer you pull away from their regular assignments the better. There’s no sense disrupting the company’s core business. As exciting as the international arena is, keep in mind that someone must oversee the old business while others look for new opportunities.
Don’t use the assignment as a reward
A very common mistake that executives or CNs make is assigning membership to the NT as a reward for other success unrelated to the task at hand. This is especially true when the team is headed for exotic locales. Many employees see the trip as a minivacation and a way for them to broaden their personal horizons. Even when the NT will be receiving foreign counterparts at the company offices, being a member if the NT is perceived as adding to internal prestige. Some employees even see it as their right by seniority to be a part of the negotiations. Unfortunately, what (and who) succeeds in the domestic market doesn’t always play well internationally. Wise CNs must keep in mind that the blustering Vice President of sales and marketing isn’t going to impress the reserved Japanese; nor will the brilliant, but reticent, chief engineer be able to withstand the verbal onslaught of the impatient Americans.
There can be a great deal of “fallout” when a staff member fails to be selected for the NT. The best way to avoid it is to make it clear that only talents very specific to the success of t
defendinghe NT are being considered. Technical, cultural, linguistic, social, and travel skills should be compiled in checklist form (not dissimilar to that for the CN) and circulated among potential team members. Inclusion on the NT should be based on this profile alone, and CNs will find they have much better grounds for defending their personnel choices when approached by determined, but unsuitable, staff members. This is especially true when other executives and managers assume they’re going to be part of the NT. As a way of preserving morale among those left off of the NT roster, some CNs make the deferrees part of the prenegotiation strategy planning process.
A balance of skills and strengths
It’s unlikely that any single team member will embody all of the talents necessary to achieve the company’s strategy. The CN must choose a cross-section of technical skills and personal attributes that will create a compact and efficient team. One team member’s weakness must be offset by another’s strength. Technical prowess must be a accompanied by the ability to communicate and apply that prowess. Putting a team together is similar to assembling a jigsaw puzzle: there’s no success unless all of the pieces fit.
A common practice among experienced travelers when packing for trips is to never put anything in the suitcase that has “only one use”; the same applies to choosing NT members. A specialist candidate is eschewed in favor of the generalist unless the technical expertise is absolutely crucial to the effort. If the CN must include these “one trick ponies,” every attempt should be made to make them a part of the wider strategy and tactics discussions. If that’s unsuccessful, these specialist members should be cautioned to advise in private during negotiations and to avoid direct involvement.

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