Sometimes, I run across articles while researching that don’t justify a full-fledged post, but that do provide a few helpful nuggets. This week, I’m having just that issue. So here are three somewhat interesting ideas, with which you can do what you will.
How to manage your negotiating team. There’s not a lot groundbreaking in the Harvard Business School reprint, but the tips are still helpful. Most helpful one for lawyers? Give everyone on your team a role, even that new associate. At best, it facilitates group loyalty and exploits previously untapped strengths. At the very least, it can be cheap training.
Too Little Too Late: How Out-group Negotiation Strategy Drives Intergroup Relations. This paper tests an interesting paradox. When two groups negotiate and reach a late agreement, they’re happier than if they reach an earlier one. But, at the same time, the late concessions that lead to a late-stage agreement reduce trust between the two groups. The conclusions make a weird sort of sense, but should provoke unease in anyone who has to engage in repeated negotiations.
The Framing of Games and the Psychology of Strategic Choice is an interesting followup to previous research on framing and priming. The most interesting nugget from this paper? It is possible to frame some games to create guilt aversion in negotiators–that is, a desire not to let the other side down.