Objective: To emphasize the importance of the implementation phase of an agreement so that the negotiation is effective, that is efficient and efficacious.

1. Title: There’s life after the deal
Objective: To emphasize the importance of the implementation phase of an agreement
so that the negotiation is effective, that is efficient and efficacious.
You’re the talent and culture director at your organization. In a meeting with the board of
directors, they expressed concern that agreements frequently were forgotten and never
implemented. They asked you to develop an implementation strategy using a process to
change the mentality from one oriented to achieving agreements to one that would seek to
implement those agreements and evaluate their effectiveness.
Of course you will meet significant resistance from the fusion and acquisition department,
who are used to jumping from deal to deal, without looking at the consequences of their
decisions. Because of that, it’s important to help them develop implementation skills in their
future negotiations.
The managers don’t have a culture of evaluating results, nor are they accustomed to including
other parties in the different stages of the negotiation process. Most of them have been in the
company more than 15 years, enjoying admittedly excellent achievements related to
sustainable development, but having no worries about competencies that didn’t even exist in
the past. Now things have changed significantly and a radical cultural transformation is
needed.
The implementation strategy should be incorporated into the process of organizational
learning to promote a culture in which agreements are only seen as the beginning of the
implementation process and not as the end goal. By doing so, we would be able to change the
mentality of the organization and seek for better implementation and evaluation of
agreements.
I would implement the following cycle to all departments and introduce it as part of
the organizational culture. Employees that comply with the implementation strategy
will be identified as a good fit in the company.
1. Study previous negotiations and learn from those.
2. Prepare based on current situations and previous negotiations. Understand
what results would be expected to be achieved and organize proper discussion
around the agreement strategy.
3. Carry on with negotiations which will result in agreements or disagreements.
4. Negotiations must be evaluated by all the parties involved by gathering to
dialogue and give and receive feedback from co-workers. They will engage in
“post-mortem” experience to look at their victories and losses, reflect upon
them and learn from that. This way they will learn and be prepared for future
negotiations. This is the phase in which organizational learning will happen
and where competencies will be developed. By doing so, the Talent team can
come up with training programs to further develop those skills.
5. Implement the strategy. Here there must be a follow up in which
organizational learning will happen and where competencies will be
developed. By doing so, the Talent team can come up with training programs

2. to further develop those skills and strengthen the entire negotiation cycle. Here
KPIS will also be evaluated to have tangible evidence of progress.
6. This then goes back into step one, since they will use those experiences in the
Pr-negotiation phase.
Best practices:
● Business readiness and preparedness
● Develop communication plans
● Schedule meetings and emphasize punctuality
● Logistics leader
● Make sure all needed resources are ready
● Proper training
After this, create a work map for what work must be completed, by whom, and by when: The
following data must be considered:
■ Name of the negotiation
■ Goal
■ Expected results
■ Organizational scope
■ Risks of negotiation
■ Risk mitigation strategies
■ Communications plan
■ Change management plan
■ Name of parties involved
■ Budgeting
■ Estimate of organizational staffing assumed for the project
■ Start date
■ End date