The third R: Review

- [Narrator 1] The last part of preparation is really what you do after engagement. So the review, the last call review is what you do, I would say immediately after you hang up the phone, or you walk out of the meeting, or when you're down in the lobby of the building, if you're walking out of a meeting with someone, when you're out of their presence, you really want to take a few minutes, five, 10 minutes, and write down notes about the negotiation you just left. You've got your written agenda, so you can quickly go through it and identify, what did you agree on? What questions do you want to pursue? Your own preparation, the next time you engage, all those things and what worked, what did you notice? Did you realize that when you talked in terms of the value of the organizations working together the person was leaning forward and engaged? When you were talking about market competition they seemed less engaged. So what are the things that really got your counterpart's attention? How can you use those to prepare for the next time you're engaging with them? - [Narrator 2] I love it, I think that's brilliant. And I think we've, for me personally that's something that I need to do a better job of, reviewing afterwards, because when it comes to memory, your memory starts to decay instantly. And so you can't leave it up to chance and hope that you remember. And for you as an Attorney and what you do with review? I'm assuming that includes sending a follow-up email or message to the person with whom you were speaking, is that right? - [Narrator 1] It can be yes. In a way that's another form of engagement. The review is something you're doing yourself about the negotiation. I agree with you though, that many times it's very helpful to do that recap summary that reflects your understanding of where there were agreements or possible agreements, what issues still remain open that can provide an opportunity to ask a simple, perhaps follow up question that'll clarify a point that might not be completely clear in your mind. 'Cause it sounded really good in the room, and then you're like, oh, but what about this kind of thing? So I think, I always feel that sending a follow-up is a good idea. And ideally, before you leave the room, it can be helpful if you try and do a recap of what happened in that after that engagement, what should be even before you leave room so that you get immediate feedback from your counterpart as to whether you're summarizing things, effectively and accurately.