The Impact of Framing on Negotiations

One of the authors was once advising a young colleague who was negotiating over the terms of their contract with the dean of the school. After a series of conversations the colleague, who was (and is) a very pleasant and engaging person, and the dean arrived at a satisfactory conclusion. The colleague then proceeded to ask us whether she should ask the dean to put down some of the agreements in writing. The author said no and pointed out that asking for a written confirmation may be tantamount to saying that they did not trust the dean to fulfil their part of the deal. It also moved the negotiation from a relational frame to a transactional one, which means that cooperation and goodwill could not be assumed anymore.