How to avoid attention failures
Be present. Planning can help you with that, but so can taking regular breaks. Marathon meetings are hard to endure, so take plenty of time for adjournments so you can gather yourself and stay in the moment. You can help the other side by regularly summarizing talks. This will keep them focused on the negotiation’s most salient points while also preventing critical details from getting lost. Bring a team. Have people on your side who can help you maneuver through the negotiation, including someone who can take notes or be a second pair of eyes and ears. And give them permission to call a time out when they see you losing control. How to avoid lack of control
And there you have it: With a little bit of awareness and cleverness on your part, you can definitely mitigate stupid so that you don’t have to negotiate with it.
You can help the other side by taking breaks when you notice tensions rise or when both parties begin to repeat arguments. These situations can only lead to hostility and bring unnecessary heat to the conversation.
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