ADVANTAGES OF PRE-NEGOTIATION MEETINGS

When you pursue a complex contract negotiation with one or more parties, here are some tips that may be useful.

1) Scheduling a preliminary meeting can afford an opportunity to get to know the other party(ies) at a social level. This kind of meeting can be useful to determine whether your communication and operating styles are in sync. In other words, do you relate to one another.

2) Part of any negotiation involves personal chemistry. Complex negotiations all the more so. Should you not seem to get along well at an introductory meeting, the odds are against your working co-operatively once the heavy lifting begins.

3) If the personal dynamics prove positive, your preliminary meeting can be used to set goals and an agenda.

4) Your meeting can also be used to exchange and discuss important information that will come up for discussion during your formal negotiation.

5) Lastly, you may want to set some ground rules for your formal negotiation, list the subjects to be negotiated, look at a ‘draft contract’  and sign a non-disclosure agreement or NDA to protect everyone’s confidential information.