confrontation on this issue and knew he would get little support
from his members, who did not see new technology as a real
issue. But he felt that if he had to give a concession he should get
something back. In other words, he wanted a trade-off.
He therefore agreed to go along with the idea, so long as the
company let the union monitor the introduction of any major
new technology schemes over the next six months. This was
accepted by the industrial relations manager. Both parties under-
stood the convention that there was no commitment and that no
reference would be made to their discussion in future formal
meetings. They then cleared the informal understanding with
their respective committees and, at the subsequent formal
meeting, the terms were agreed without any difficulty. What
looked like being a major problem had been solved by corridor
negotiations.
(b) Opening
Your tactics when opening the negotiation should be to:
■ Open realistically and move moderately.
■ Challenge your opponents’ position as it stands, but on no
account limit their ability to move.
■ Explore attitudes, ask questions, observe behaviour and,
above all, listen; assess your opponents’ strengths and weak-
nesses, their tactics and the extent to which they may be
bluffing.
■ Make no concessions of any kind at this stage.
■ Be non-committal about proposals and explanations (do not
talk too much).
(c) Bargaining
Your aim is to narrow the gap between the two initial positions
and to persuade your opponents that your case is so strong that
they must accept less than they had planned. You should:
■ Always make conditional proposals: ‘If you will do this I will
consider doing that’.
■ Never make one-sided concessions: always trade-off against
a concession from the other party: ‘If I concede x then I
expect you to concede y’.
How to Negotiate 239