Taking and exchanging notes

It isn't easy to contribute to a negotiation meeting – talking, listening and making notes, but working notes of the meeting will be an essential foundation for any subsequent agreement or contract. In the commercial world, it is quite usual for a representative's memorandum of sale and a buyer's order to be drafted during the meeting, and exchanged at the end. This provides the first check that both sides have a common understanding of what has been agreed and, with experience and trust built up over time, one side may be prepared to accept the other's notes.

In staff relations meetings it is common for both parties to nominate their own secretary to take minutes of the meeting and the notes are then used to form the ultimate record of the meeting.

Get it in writing!

Even when notes have been exchanged at the end of the meeting it is still important for a formal record of the agreement to be exchanged. Most negotiations commit two organisations as well as the various players and formal records will need to be exchanged.

Confirmations may take the form of:

• Purchase requisitions

• Sales order notes

• Letters of confirmation

• Revised proposals (bringing letters of acceptance)

• Formal contracts

• Joint communiques or treaties

• Procedural agreements and bargains

A cautionary check is to ask yourself:

'Am I covered in law if anything should go wrong? Who could I sue?'

This is not to say that you would wish to – most disputes between contractors are resolved by negotiation. But skilled negotiators will not put themselves into a position where they have no recourse if the opponent should renege on the agreement.