Negotiation skills could make the difference between life and death

Negotiation skills are essential for most modern-day corporate roles. But what can they contribute to other jobs, particularly those where decisions can mean the difference between life and death? We spoke to a doctor and a fighter jet navigator to find out.

OSCAR GROOT

Head of Intensive Care, Meander

Medical Centre Amersfoort, Netherlands

As head of the intensive care unit (ICU) at a top clinical hospital in the Netherlands, Oscar was in the eye of the Covid storm from the beginning. He recalls that as the world woke up to the threat in early 2020, there was, unsurprisingly, a scarcity of information: “We had few facts and little data. But as the situation in Italy deteriorated, so we learned more. The European Society of Intensive Care Medicine had an Italian chair and Dutch co-chair and became a valuable resource for those of us at the coalface.”

This collaboration and information sharing echoes principles that commercial negotiators apply, although albeit for them the stakes aren't generally life-and-death. It was replicated in highly effective inter-country communication too, as Oscar explains. “Every hospital in the Netherlands communicated twice daily with each other; how many beds we had, and what capacity we needed, or could offer. The transparency of the system worked well and resulted in a lot of movement between hospitals to accommodate patients. Plus, getting to know each other helped a lot.”

Oscar’s own hospital responded quickly to the increased demand, doubling intensive care beds from 14 to 28 by taking over half of the adjacent operating theatres – “The peak for us was April 2020, with every bed taken.” Negotiation played a critical role in team engagement given that, “The ICU nurses not only had to work with people from other units that lacked their qualifications, they also had to care for more patients, work longer hours, and change the way they worked.”

How did they manage this with the nursing team? “We were clear we shared a common goal and had to face the pandemic with a common effort. This clarity of objective was crucial in keeping the team motivated and cooperative. Another element was recognizing that, unlike in normal times, perfection was not the goal; the new goal was as many people surviving as possible.”

Clarity around objectives and pragmatism about what good likes like is another familiar theme from commercial negotiation. A key difference is the public appreciation that Oscar and his team received in those early days – “It was really special; people were clapping for healthcare workers” – which proved hugely valuable to morale, given that, “We did 12-hour shifts every day.” To “sweeten the deal” for the team, the hospital management took some positive steps; “You have to take care of the personal stuff. We listened to staff and made sure they were taken care of; for example they had all of their meals delivered and paid for. And, to ensure they had enough rest after a night shift, with kids at home during the lockdown a complicating factor, we offered staff a hotel to sleep in during the day.”

This “give and take” approach was harder to facilitate with surgeons who had patients needing operations – a particular backlog was in orthopaedics. Oscar explains, “To manage treatment prioritization, the management team set up a committee of surgeons, pulmonary specialists, hospital leaders and so on, meeting twice a week to discuss and agree priorities. These discussions could be intense and we made some difficult decisions. But again, the shared goal was critical in ensuring a decision could be reached.”

These ongoing and life-changing negotiations are one reason why those in medicine have been on a steep Covid learning curves. Oscar’s assessment of the response he has been part of is thoughtful and positive. He sums up, “The Dutch way of negotiation is quite straightforward, and in a crisis it’s helpful to say exactly what you need.

I learned as I went; I’d only had one or two days of negotiation training. My advice? Be straightforward and trustworthy. Do what you say. Be as transparent as is possible. And, collaboration is vital.”

DAVID COOPER

Executive General Manager,

Nova Systems and former Commanding Officer, Royal Air Force

David’s illustrious decades-long career in the Royal Air Force (RAF) included leading the famous Dambusters squadron and commanding a frontline station of over three thousand people. He also logged over 1,500 hours flying the iconic Panavia Tornado aircraft. In 2020, David left the RAF and joined a leading aerospace, systems and advisory company, Nova Systems, where negotiation is a central part of his role.

Drawing parallels between the behaviors of an effective negotiator and those of frontline aircrew might appear at first glance a tricky exercise. But David’s military career required core competencies and skills that will sound familiar to commercial negotiators: stakes were high, risk was ever-present, mistakes could result in serious consequences, and the margin of error was small.

But let’s start with where it all begins, whether that’s a military operation or a commercial negotiation: planning. Effective planning skills were crucial requirements for David’s RAF roles, whether he was mapping out reconnaissance missions, preparing for discussions with foreign counterparts, or conducting strategic reviews of airspace: all needed thorough and aligned plans in order to be successful.

However, even the best-laid plans face challenge when circumstances change, or key intelligence or assumptions prove incorrect. As David says, “Time in planning is rarely wasted, but there’s a famous saying that, ‘Plans are worthless, but planning is invaluable’. You can have a plan written down, but you may not stick to it. But by following a planning process you have ‘bricks or constituent parts, and you can rebuild them in a different way depending on how the situation develops.”

That’s where contingency planning comes in, which David says he and his teams spent a “phenomenal” amount of time doing, to mitigate against identified risk and facilitate quick reactions when time is at a premium. However, he concedes it can only take you so far when dealing with highly complex situations, or when large numbers of stakeholders are involved in decision-making. “The bigger and better the plan gets, the more you rely on stakeholders outside your sphere of influence. That’s where contingency planning falls down – it takes too long or relies on too many people to agree.”

So what do you do if presented with a problem that your plans do not adequately account for? How do you ensure you remain in charge and stay in control? David emphasizes the importance of taking “time-outs” in high pressure moments, to give yourself time to think clearly – also highly appropriate in a negotiation.

Within a military context however, situations often require rapid decision-making with no time to pause and reflect. David recounts a time he was leading a large international formation of aircraft and became aware he could lose control of proceedings, presenting a huge risk to the mission. He needed to fix the situation quickly, and the quality that became vital was humility: “The first thing you need to do is recognize something has gone wrong. Then you need to stand up and communicate the issue to your peers and superiors.”

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