Getting three yeses on the board is one way of moving into a successful negotiation. ‘It was good enough to bring the Russians and the Americans together’, Clayton Utz partner and uber-negotiator Michael Klug told delegates at the Extreme Negotiation conference in Sydney yesterday.

Klug suggests saying yes three times gives Graduated Reduction In Tension (GRIT) and allow parties to draw closer to reaching negotiation. 'A good negotiator thinks more about the other side's position than their own’, Klug said.

Klug was recently hired to negotiate the deadlock in the contentious situation in Queensland between the salaried doctors and the Queensland Health Department.

In a deal worth $644 million the protagonists emerged as colleagues and friends as the Queensland Health Department went through its rebuilding process following the Dr Death scandal. Trained as a litigator, Klug realised some years ago that he was cutting deals in 93 per cent of his cases and litigating in only 7 per cent.

'For 93 per cent of the cases I was cutting deals in conference rooms, on the phone, on the street, or going up the courthouse stairs,’ Klug said. 'The most important part of negotiating is to prepare’, Klug said. ‘Your starting point has more to do with the outcome of the negotiation’.

The Extreme Negotiation conference continues in Sydney today with speakers including George Negus and Tim Fischer.

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