Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that, when you are trying to schedule something,
Speaker 1: offer three options that work for you. You will be
Speaker 1: perceived as helpful and flexible, and you are more likely
Speaker 1: to land on a time you are happy about. Today's tip,
Speaker 1: like some other recent ones, comes from Alison Forgale, a
Speaker 1: professor at the University of North Carolina's Business School. Forgale
Speaker 1: studies status, power, and negotiation and has written extensively about
Speaker 1: these topics. In her writing, Forgail advises against being what
Speaker 1: she calls a second mover with your calendar. In other words,
Speaker 1: don't put yourself in the position of responding to the
Speaker 1: day and times offered by other people. I mean, maybe
Speaker 1: the options they offer will be perfect, but probably not.
Speaker 1: It's hard to know what to do when the other
Speaker 1: person offers a time when you are theoretically free, but
Speaker 1: you have other things you'd like to do. You don't
Speaker 1: really want to accept a time that would be inconvenient,
Speaker 1: but many people won't decline when there is no actual conflict.
Speaker 1: So instead of being a second mover, as soon as
Speaker 1: you suspect something's getting scheduled, offer three options that work
Speaker 1: for you, as in, yes, let's get coffee. Could you
Speaker 1: do Thursday at two or three? Or Friday at three
Speaker 1: or I'd love to talk about revamping our onboarding materials.
Speaker 1: I could meet at X, Y or Z time. This
Speaker 1: practice offers several advantages. First, most likely the event will
Speaker 1: happen at a time you want. But by suggesting multiple
Speaker 1: options that work for you, not just one, you are
Speaker 1: conveying warmth. People like people who give them options, so
Speaker 1: that is great. And practically speaking, offering more than one
Speaker 1: time increases the likelihood that one of those times will
Speaker 1: work for the other person. That saves you from endless
Speaker 1: back and forth emails. Of course, you may be wondering
Speaker 1: why offer only three options instead of more. Frigil recommends
Speaker 1: three because she says that's enough to come across as warm,
Speaker 1: but not so many as to be overwhelming. I think
Speaker 1: it's also wise to be reasonably specific about what constitutes
Speaker 1: an option. In my view, Tuesday from nine to ten
Speaker 1: am is an option Tuesday morning or the week of
Speaker 1: July fourteenth, isn't. It's hard to believe that all of
Speaker 1: the week of the fourteenth is equally good, so best
Speaker 1: not to suggest it. Of course, you can offer three
Speaker 1: options when you are scheduling in your personal life too,
Speaker 1: three options for when to have lunch with a friend,
Speaker 1: or go for a walk with your neighbor, or have
Speaker 1: a playdate for your kid and his friend. Forgale points
Speaker 1: out that offering three options works for other negotiations beyond scheduling.
Speaker 1: For instance, when you are planning drinks with a friend,
Speaker 1: you could suggest three restaurants and then invite her to choose.
Speaker 1: When you are taking a dish to your parents' house
Speaker 1: for a family gathering, you can offer three options of
Speaker 1: things you could make and let your parents pick the
Speaker 1: one that would be most helpful. When you are figuring
Speaker 1: out how to spend a Saturday with your family, you
Speaker 1: could make three suggestions to guide the decision. When you
Speaker 1: are the first mover, you can guide the decision in
Speaker 1: a direction that will work for you, and by giving
Speaker 1: three options, you make it likely that an option will
Speaker 1: work for the other person as well, so it is
Speaker 1: a win all the way around. In the meantime, this
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Thanks for listening. To Before Breakfast.
Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.