Negotiating - MIR-Online

The Power of Questions‘I keep six honest serving men, they taught me all I knew, their names are What?and Why? and When? and How? and Where? and Who?’Rudyard KiplingWhy ask a lot of questions? At (especially) the early stage, you are still, effectively,researching the WOBL for you and your opponent.Questions help you establish things that only your opponent knows, and asking questionsenables you to control the early flow of the negotiation.a) Open QuestionsQuestions that start with What and Why and When and How and Where and Who. Theyare designed to elicit information and give the opponent a reasonable amount of leewayin the answers they give you. Because of that, they are good for establishinginformation.(i) General Open Questions- What would you like to get out of this negotiation?- How would you like to resolve this issue?FOR:AGAINST:These give them free rein to put over their point of view.Can lose your control of the process and/or make it look like you areunder prepared.(ii) Leading Open Questions- Where do you think the best place to save money would be?- How do you think this change of procedure will be accepted?FOR:AGAINST:Give you more control, direct the conversation in the way you want itto go.You may not get the answer you want. They do not get a free chanceto give you extra information.7©inspirechangewww.inspirechange.comDeveloping Healthcare Leaders 01908 511572