Want to cut on-the-job stress, confusion, and hassles?
Look no farther than the upfront agreement, a powerful and underutilized trick to reduce the pain of leading, improve attitudes, and ensure positive outcomes.
An “upfront agreement” is a statement or discussion you have prior to an issue arising. In short, you discuss the possible challenges that may happen and decide in advance how to handle them.
This way, you preemptively address possible issues to diffuse them and often prevent them from happening at all.
This four-step process will put your upfront-agreement strategy to work and ensure that you are ready to address issues up front before they become seeds of distrust.
- Identify Areas for Possible Confusion, Disagreements, or Discomfort
Consider a situation or topic for which you’d like to create an upfront agreement (project start, new hire, career/performance coaching conversation, repetitive conflict you wish to resolve, clarifying deliverables/deadlines, etc.). Anticipate challenges that might arise and things you tend to disagree on, miscommunicate about, approach differently, etc.?
In the case of business, for example, this could mean having an upfront conversation and agreement about how and when invoices will be paid. Brainstorm answers to these questions to get started.
2. List a “Best Case” for Each Scenario and Person
Once you’ve listed your scenarios, brainstorm a best-case outcome for each. For example, a preferred approach to getting paid might be requiring clients to pay in full before engagements begin. If the client counters with a different strategy, you’ll need to negotiate a payment approach that works for both of you. Consider these questions:
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- What do you believe is most important to the other person?
- What is most important to you?
- What are you willing to negotiate on and what are your “non-negotiables”?
- What are your ideas or suggestions for addressing possible issues?
3. Determine Feasibility
Just because we want something, doesn’t mean we will get it. Review your best-case scenarios, objectively and honestly. How likely is it that another person or organization will accept your terms? Ask yourself a few more questions:
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- “What’s in it for them?”
- “What will it take to make this a win-win for both of us?”
- “If I were on the other side, how would I perceive this request?”
If your answers are positive, you may be onto something good. If your answers are mixed, you might need to do some fine-tuning to ensure most of your needs are met, and the other party is happy, too.
4. Consider Your Non-Negotiables or “Walk aways”
Setting upfront agreements, discussing, and agreeing to them with another person is the first step. But what do you do if they don’t follow through? What if they (or you) keep violating the agreements or your non-negotiables? Then it might be time to walk away or decide the next steps for exiting. Always keep the communication open and honest. If you have set an effective upfront agreement, you will have included steps for walking away. I like to give it two “heads up” conversations before moving into action. It’s important to be fair and avoid exiting in anger or frustration. Always steer clear of burning bridges. Walking way is a hard disciplined practice but it will allow you to open more doors to situations and relationships that honor both parties.
You might find these sample upfront agreements helpful as you consider creating your own:
“Conflicts are unavoidable in the workplace. Let’s discuss how to handle disagreements before they occur, to manage and resolve them effectively.”
“As your manager, my job is to help you grow in your role. How would you like me to address performance issues with you? Once we have decided on a plan, what can I expect you to do to follow through?”
“How would you like to receive critical feedback and in what ways should I communicate with you about areas in which you can improve?”
“We’re equal partners on this team. Which parts of the project do you want to lead, and which should I lead? How will we address issues with each other and the team as a whole?”
“Let’s agree on the rules of engagement for this cross-functional team to ensure our meetings are productive. How will we communicate and track our status updates? How will we hold each other accountable?
“Are you up for establishing timelines for the project and creating milestones together that ensure we stay on track?”
