Q: Do you have some ideas on how to negotiate within large groups? We do a lot of big breakout meetings and it's a challenge to let everyone contribute and create something cohesive from the ideas of a dozen people.

A: Organizations are increasingly using groups and teams to get work done. Being an effective negotiator in a group requires the ability to influence others, manage conflict, overcome disagreements and help the group reach a wise decision. To do that well, you have to balance your role as an advocate of your ideas with the need to help facilitate the process the group uses in its work. The following guidelines are aimed at helping you consistently and successfully achieve both aims.

1. Build Good Rapport and Communication
Let's face reality -- whenever a group of people forms to tackle a problem, conflicts will inevitably arise as different people advocate various perspectives and opinions. Instead of falling into debates and arguments, effective groups build internal rapport and relationships that allow people to problem-solve together even when they disagree. You can help the group do this and increase the chances of people listening to your ideas by making sure folks try to listen to and understand each other before pushing for an agreement.

2. Act as a Problem Solver
If they are not careful, people working in groups often fall into the trap of staking out positions and then try to force others into accepting their point of view. Once this happens, the group will either deadlock -- as nobody wants to back down from their position or feel coerced into adopting someone else's -- or reach a lowest common denominator solution by compromising among those positions. You can help the group reach a better outcome and ensure your views get a fair hearing by doing the following:

• Clarifying and analyzing the real business needs, concerns and goals that underlie the various positions that people take.
• Coming up with creative ideas that address those interests as well as possible.
• Using objective criteria -- like external benchmarks or market standards -- to evaluate those options and determine which ones are most appropriate for the task at hand.

3. Use the Group Wisely and Appropriately
Most groups that fail do so either because the entire group tries to discuss and solve the problem -- which leads to lengthy, tiresome meetings -- or a subcommittee hammers out a deal behind closed doors and imposes it on the remainder. In either case, your ideas can get lost or ignored. You can help the group take an approach that more efficiently uses the numerous perspectives, ideas and talents in the room -- and allows people to focus on what you are saying -- by suggesting the following:

• The entire group is used to establish the group's task, define the problems and issues that need to be addressed, provide feedback on potential ideas and commit to a decision.
• Smaller subcommittees are used to brainstorm ideas and draft potential solutions to be presented to the entire group, then revise those ideas to address feedback received from the group and present them for further criticism.

It is never easy to create a workable solution from the ideas of many people, but these guidelines should give you a fighting chance.