Today in Pangyo, I ran a full-day negotiation simulation training with KOICA managers.
We ran hands-on, team-based role-plays built on four real cases that staff handling overseas ODA projects actually face in the field.
Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Labor, Egypt, India, Uganda
Each group practiced against a different country and counterpart.
In every country
Cultures and counterpart personalities differed, but analyzing every case revealed one clear common pattern.
Three out of four were not the final decision-makers.
The counterparts we face at the negotiating table were, in fact, mostly proxies.
The real decisions were made higher up, at the minister or division-head level.
Yet we tend to put all our effort into persuading only the person sitting right in front of us.
While the person who actually holds the decision-making power is somewhere else.
If you fail to grasp this structure, negotiations drag on and you end up without the result you wanted.
Here are the five core negotiation principles we summarized with participants at the end of today’s training.
First, question who the decision-maker really is.
You need to verify whether the person in front of you can truly make the final decision.
Second, read the hidden needs.
What matters is identifying the real needs hidden behind the requirements on the surface.
Third, respect cultural codes.
In every country and organization
Each has its own decision-making style and communication culture.
Fourth, work around the red lines.
Don’t try to push straight through the line the other side can never concede; find a way around it.
Fifth, design for the long-term relationship.
Go into a negotiation with a sustainable partnership in mind, not a one-off deal.
I hope participants took away practical insights they can apply to their work right away.
A week has already flown by.
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.
