Negotiations: honest questions we might want to ask ourselves.

This writing was motivated by a discussion we had at Topside Talk last year and got me thinking more about how many questions are still out there regarding negotiations. So, I thought, why not focus on the questions we may want to be asking ourselves?

Questions to think about:

• What do I hope to achieve through my negotiations?
• Are we honest with ourselves about our negotiation skills?
• Do we rush negotiations to get to the fun stuff?
• How often do we practice the skill of negotiation?
• Are we truly willing to walk away from play if it isn’t the right situation?
• Do we ask our play partners for feedback on our negotiation skills?
• When was the last time we took a class on negotiation?
• If we use primarily verbal negotiations, have we tried written negotiations recently? Or vice versa?
• Am I spending an appropriate amount of time negotiating for the type of play I am doing?
• When was the last time I had a 3rd party sit in on my negotiation and give feedback?
• Do I know the right questions to be asking for the type of play I am doing?
• What are 3 things I want to improve in my negotiation skills?
• Am I relying on my potential play partner to drive the negotiation all the time?

I’m not writing this for answers to all of these questions. These are meant to help all of us learn more about ourselves and where we can all grow.