Negotiations are inevitable when running a videogame studio. Maybe you want to use a song that someone else has the rights to, or a publisher approaches you about publishing your game; in both cases—and in many others—you probably will, at some point, have to sit down at the negotiation table.
Now, we’ve written about the art of negotiating in the past here at Lawyer.se, but because it’s so important, we’re now bringing you a three-part series on the psychology of negotiating. The first part will cover some of the basics: how to prepare, how to read your counterpart, and how to turn it around when things aren’t going your way. The second and third parts will focus on soft and hard negotiations, respectively, as which kind of negotiation you’re going into impacts your planning and execution.
For this series, we spoke with Annette Stavenow, president of Lawyer.se, who’s successfully negotiated countless deals on behalf of our clients. Annette also has a great experience in negotiating after having spent more than 12 years as a politician. Aside from her current position at Lawyer.se, being a professional board member for 25 years in various businesses has also taught her a great deal about negotiating. Today, the subject ”negotiating” is one of the subjects she loves the most to give talks on, which happens quite frequently.
I love it because it’s so helpful for everybody, Annette said, and especially when it comes to the point where both parties agree and leave the table happy and full of energy. Learning how to negotiate well can be a true game changer for your studio!
How does she prepare for a negotiation?
“Mentally, what I try to do is not do anything else prior to the negotiation. Sometimes I prepare myself, thinking a lot about what the negotiation is going to be about and what it is I’m after, or I’m doing something completely mundane at home while not doing anything else mentally. Emptying the brain, so to say. But I never let other things into my head before a negotiation,” Annette said.
Why is preparation so important?
“You become more powerful; you feel totally secure about what it is you’re trying to achieve and what result you’re after—and you don’t mix that up with other things going on in your head at the same time. Instead, there is a calmness that makes you so much better once it actually comes down to it, once the negotiation is about to happen,” she said.
What about if you’re nervous? A lot of people aren’t used to negotiating and it can feel intimidating.
“You can tell yourself that it will always work out somehow—because no matter how it goes, it’ll be resolved soon enough, you’ll get there one way or another regardless,” she said, half-joking. “But the classic old trick is just to breathe when you’re nervous. And you can take a break, saying, ‘Oh, I need to go get a glass of water,’ and that being an excuse for you to relax, get your focus and breathe. This creates an immediate helpful calmness inside, for what’s to come. Those are a few of my tricks.”
How does she read the other side during a negotiation, to build a picture of how that person thinks, beyond what they actually say? What is there, in terms of expressions, movement, behavior, that she picks up on?
“Research about the other party is the essential key. It’s also good to get the other person to laugh somehow, and notice when their sense of humor comes out. Try to do your best to really see the other person. And then you will notice pretty quickly how they react, which is a huge step when it comes to get to know them,” Annette said, adding that accomplishing your goals of the negotiation is about building momentum toward them. “Over time, you will gradually build up a conviction in the other person that we could really work well together.”
What if you’re not getting that positive momentum? How does Annette turn it around to get something out of the negotiation, anyway?
”What I sometimes do is: when I notice things starting to feel stuck and difficult, I quickly switch to a different topic. For example: ‘So how was the quarterly report? Are there still 250 people on staff, or has that changed? How do you see the future?’ Just to get the other person thinking about something else. Then you slide back to what you’re actually supposed to be talking about. It’s a pretty good trick that often helps getting the right focus again,” Annette said. “Or if you can get the other person talking about something they love, which you know if you’ve done your research, they get to talk about it for a bit and become really relaxed, and then suddenly it’s sharp and focused again, without the other person not even noticing what I did.”
Annette often says that a great negotiator separates the person from the problem. But what does that mean, exactly?
”It means that, even if you might not like the person in front of you, you handle things in a nice and professional way because you still need to win the negotiation,” Annette said. “So you have to keep those two things separate, the actual problem that we are trying to solve together and the relationship. Be professional the whole time, don’t let anybody upset you whatever they might try, and stay true to your original plan the whole time.”