Business meetings are often held at a table or desk. One side of the negotiation (or argument) sits on one side of the table; the other side of the negotiation sits… on the other side. (amazing insight, I know)
If business is war, then the negotiation table is the battle field.
But good negotiations don’t have to be a battle. In reality, they should be a collaborative approach to problem solving.
Here are a few tips to improve your influence… just based on where you sit.
1, Height. This is well known, that sitting at a higher elevation puts one in a position of power. Judges and kings sit higher than those around them. So do some bosses. If you can elevate yourself, you have an advantage.
Image “Throne” by Glen Bledsoe, Flickr CC-By-2.0
2, Light. If you have a powerful light at your back, such as a window, you have an advantage. People looking into the brighter light are generally uncomfortable, giving you an edge.
3, The Best Seat. I learned this from Jeffrey J Fox in his book How to Become a Rainmaker. You don’t want your negotiation counterpart to be distracted by events behind you. If you sit in ‘the best seat’ and the counterpart faces the wall, you have the best chance of keeping her attention.
4, Sit on the Same Side. People feel safer going on the attack when there’s a table or desk between you. If you expect a few fireworks, sitting next to your counterpart will lower the likelihood of them launching an attack at you.
5, Sit to their Left. When you sit to someone’s left, you’re engaging their right brain — the creative side of the brain. This helps reduce analytical left-brain thought which might otherwise find flaws in your plan. Every plan has flaws, of course, and those might best be worked through as they come up instead of sinking the whole deal before it’s even begun.
There you have it, five ways to increase your influence just based on where you sit. Which will you use in your next meeting?