The Negotiation Basics station establishes a shared, organisation-wide approach to negotiation between the business and the legal team.

This station on the Internal Client Line is not about creating star negotiators or teaching advanced tactics in isolation.

It is about ensuring that everyone who negotiates on behalf of the business understands the fundamentals, the boundaries, and the team-based nature of negotiation.

In high-performing organisations, negotiation is not an individual sport. It is a coordinated team activity, where legal, commercial, and operational stakeholders align around strategy, authority, and risk appetite.

When negotiation basics are not shared, outcomes fragment, leverage is lost, and risk increases silently.

The Negotiation Basics station should enable:

◼️ Shared Negotiation Language: Common terminology and concepts.

◼️ Role Clarity: Who leads, who supports, and who approves.

◼️ Authority Awareness: Understanding negotiation limits and escalation points.

◼️ Preparation Discipline: Negotiations start with a plan.

◼️ Position vs Interest Awareness: Clarity on what matters most.

◼️ Risk Sensitivity: Knowing when legal risk is being traded.

◼️ Consistency: Similar issues are negotiated similarly.

◼️ Alignment with Legal Policy: Negotiation reflects approved positions.

◼️ Escalation Integration: Deviations are surfaced early.

◼️ Post-Negotiation Learning: Outcomes feed back into playbooks.

The Negotiation Basics station is considered a Repeater and a Specialist resource within the GLS Legal Operations model.

A Foundational Resource: Is responsible for determining the overall performance capabilities of a “critical” legal function. If it is not optimised, the function can never be optimised. 

A Repeater Resource: Supports the performance of multiple "critical" legal functions and as such represents a "ripple effect" productivity intervention point. 

A Specialist Resource: Is responsible for driving the performance of a very specific part of an individual legal function. Its productivity contribution is limited to that single legal function. 

Best practice Negotiation Basics demonstrate:

◼️ Team-Based Framing: Negotiation is coordinated, not individualised.

◼️ Clear Guardrails: What can and cannot be conceded is known.

◼️ Preparation Standards: Negotiations do not start cold.

◼️ Legal–Commercial Alignment: Strategy is agreed upfront.

◼️ Consistent Positions: Legal risk appetite is enforced.

◼️ Escalation Discipline: Red lines are respected.

◼️ Practical Training: Real scenarios, not theory.

◼️ Integration with Playbooks: Guidance is actionable.

◼️ Repeatability: Training is refreshed and reinforced.

◼️ Leadership Endorsement: Negotiation discipline is expected.

Negotiation Basics deliver business value by:

◼️ Improving Deal Outcomes: Better-prepared negotiations perform better.

◼️ Reducing Risk Leakage: Concessions are intentional.

◼️ Increasing Speed: Fewer resets and reversals.

◼️ Improving Consistency: Outcomes are predictable.

◼️ Strengthening Leverage: The business negotiates as one.

◼️ Reducing Cost: Less rework and escalation.

◼️ Supporting Growth: Negotiation scales safely.

◼️ Improving Counterparty Experience: Clear, confident engagement.

◼️ Reducing Internal Friction: Fewer disputes between teams.

◼️ Protecting Value: Commercial positions are preserved.

For the legal department, Negotiation Basics provide:

◼️ Risk Control: Approved positions are respected.

◼️ Reduced Firefighting: Fewer late-stage escalations.

◼️ Better Collaboration: Legal is involved appropriately.

◼️ Consistency of Advice: Fewer ad hoc concessions.

◼️ Clear Escalation Signals: Issues surface earlier.

◼️ Improved Credibility: Legal supports commercial success.

◼️ Knowledge Capture: Negotiation patterns inform playbooks.

◼️ Capacity Relief: Legal focuses on true exceptions.

◼️ Stronger Governance: Decisions are defensible.

◼️ Sustainable Performance: Negotiation quality holds at scale.

Negotiation Basics are essential for:

◼️ Commercial & Sales Teams

◼️ Procurement Teams

◼️ Business Unit Leaders

◼️ Project & Transformation Teams

◼️ Finance Teams

◼️ Operations Teams

◼️ Legal Operations Teams

◼️ In-House Legal Teams

◼️ Senior Leaders

◼️ Anyone negotiating on behalf of the business

Where Negotiation Basics are weak or absent, organisations experience:

◼️ Inconsistent Outcomes: Similar deals look very different.

◼️ Risk Drift: Concessions accumulate unnoticed.

◼️ Lost Leverage: Negotiations are fragmented.

◼️ Late Legal Intervention: Issues surface too late.

◼️ Internal Conflict: Legal and business clash post-fact.

◼️ Deal Delays: Negotiations reset repeatedly.

◼️ Value Leakage: Commercial positions erode.

◼️ Burnout: Legal teams firefight.

◼️ Poor Learning: Mistakes are repeated.

◼️ Stalled Maturity: Negotiation capability plateaus.

Supporting Negotiation Basics requires:

◼️ Playbook Platforms: Accessible negotiation guidance.

◼️ Template & Clause Controls: Approved positions enforced.

◼️ Decision Support Tools: Clear escalation triggers.

◼️ Knowledge Repositories: Lessons captured.

◼️ Workflow Integration: Negotiation tied to execution.

◼️ Usage Analytics: Insight into concession patterns.

◼️ Collaboration Tools: Legal and business alignment.

◼️ Scalability: Works across teams and regions.

◼️ Security Controls: Sensitive strategy protected.

◼️ Change Enablement: Continuous refinement.