Negotiations tactic - Adjournments

Adjournments are perhaps the only tactic which it is possible unconditionally to label useful and helpful. You may not always need an adjournment as part of your negotiation, but when you are negotiating, do bear in mind that you can adjourn. Adjournments are used or even pre-set in some formal negotiations but are severely under-used in most day-to-day negotiations.

What are they?
An adjournment is a break in negotiations, agreed between both parties. It can last for a long or a short period. Often, we think of adjournments as belonging only to formal negotiations such as union-management meetings, but they can also be useful and appropriate even on the most informal occasions.

When to use them
If you are negotiating as part of a team it is probable that you will need to adjourn at least once during the course of the negotiating meeting in order to consider the various offers and counter offers which have been made. If you have come to a tentative or suggested agreement, you will probably need to discuss how well it fits with the outcome you had agreed before starting.

If you are negotiating on your own, and you need a little thinking time, ask for a short break for a coffee etc, while you think about what has been suggested so far. Thinking on your feet is partly about thinking quickly as you go along, but also being prepared to state your need for a little thinking time, to allow you to check the quality of your speed thinking.

How to use them

- state your need for an adjournment and the reason for it. You don't have to have any better reason than wanting some breathing space or a cup of tea
- suggest and agree the duration of it
- re-open the negotiation with a summary of where you left off
- avoid bringing fresh issues into the meeting straight after the adjournment. If it is unavoidable to do so, leave it until you have got back into the swing of the negoti¬ation.

What to use them for

Use adjournments to:

- check that you have covered all that you need to cover
- assess the offers which have been made against your needs
- assess the offers which you have made - are you getting a fair deal?
- use the opportunity to bring the extra information you now have into your wider picture of how you might achieve your outcome. Does this information give you any other routes to follow?
- cool down or allow the other negotiator to cool down
- surreptitiously contact a boss/colleague/friend to ask advice.

Deadlines
It can be a helpful tactic to set a deadline for completing the negotiation. This should not be a time or date cast in stone, but having a deadline means that issues are more likely to be resolved.