The Art of Outside Negotiation

posted Wed May 16 23:30:19 +0000 2007 - permalink

There are two primary forms of negotiation when operating a team: inside your team, and with the outside world. When dealing with the needs of your customers and the feedback of other internal departments or the management team (aka, Outside World), you need to be patient yet firm, tactical, prepared -- and don't forget to keep your sense of humor. (The following is mostly for internal dealings (I may follow up with a consulting team lead's point of view shortly, but most of the same still apply in one form or another)).

Patient yet firm. People are just as busy as you are, and may be on the road. If they are on the road, don't rely on email alone. Call them with a gentle reminder -- they actually will appreciate it if you give them a heads up. At the same time, you need to keep your team's momentum moving forward, and waiting on decisions that could affect your system's design, implementation, or deployment can be excruciating, so sitting down and talking with road warriors before they go on the road and setting an expectation on how best to remind them (and how often) can be a good approach to letting them know you are serious, but letting them set the bar.

Tactical. Know your outside personnel. This includes team leads from other software teams and in other departments. Know who has who's ear, and who can audit your ideas before you present them. This isn't meant to circumvent anyone, because you should be acting in the best interest of your customer (first and foremost) and your team. As a software development team lead, you have a special insight into how the company operates, and your ideas may be outside the box for the company you work at -- you need to make sure you can be successful, but also audited.

Prepared. Nothing beats a well formed argument backed by a presentation (except maybe a tight schedule). You need to have hard facts to back yourself up. You need to understand the company goals (especially when talking to high level folks). And visuals help... even bad screenshots cut out and taped to butcher paper.

Don't forget to smile. Many people's immediate reaction to the 'tech guy' is one of someone who is a hardass, nitpicking, lawyer-type. Break them down early with a smile -- it'll help set the tone, set the sales people at ease, and loosen you up. Promise.