Stranded negotiations - try this technique

Let's use a practical example from the National Football League (NFL) in the US to illustrate how this works. In 2011, negotiations between club owners and players had reached an impasse. The key issue was revenue sharing between owners and players with the owners wanting a $2 billion carve-out to support investment and then sharing the remaining revenue with 58% going to the players. The players, on the other hand, demanded a 50-50% split of all revenues.

The solution came when, instead of focusing on one distribution key, it was proposed to split it into three different categories:

- Media revenues

- NFL partnerships (companies related to the NFL)

- Stadium revenue

Re-framing is effective for several reasons. First of all, it provides more negotiating variables. Although it may sound like it would complicate things, it is actually the opposite. By having more options on the table, you avoid a discussion on a specific issue.

In the end, the agreed split for the above categories gave players on average 48% of the total revenue. Now you may be thinking, and rightly so, that it is not that far from 50%. Why go through all this trouble? That brings us to the second major benefit of re-framing. By adding these categories, it's easier for each side to declare a victory. Say, for example, the players were more interested in media revenue while the owners' interest was mainly in stadium revenue. They both now had a chance to convey a message of having secured their primary goals.

Being able to declare victory and saving face should never be underestimated in a negotiation and are two reasons why many negotiations fail!

See our course on negotiation