Remember Your SCARF…
About Honor Desmond-Tetlow
Ms. Desmond-Tetlow is a senior associate in the firm’s litigation group and advises on all areas of matrimonial and family law and in general civil litigation. She is also a trained mediator and collaborative law practitioner.
Honor Desmond-Tetlow’s full profile on mjm.bm.
“Remember to take your SCARF into negotiations” may seem like odd advice. It isn’t. SCARF, an acronym for Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness and Fairness, should not be overlooked and should be taken into account when entering into negotiations.
Briefly:
- “Status” refers to the need to be respected and treated as an equal;
- “Certainty” to the need for some predictability and security;
- “Autonomy” the sense of having choices and some control;
- “Relatedness” the need for collegiality and a sense of belonging/trust; and
- “Fairness” is a justice/rule driven priority.
The importance attached to each of these concepts may vary widely from one person to another, but they are key to successful negotiations according to a leading neuroscientist at UCLA, Naomi Eisenberger, and David Rock, authors of the book “Strategy and Business: Managing with the Brain In Mind”.
Eisenberger and Rock’s advice was underscored at a recent Neuro Family Law Conference held at MJM Limited. This conference was arranged by Jackie MacLellan and the writer, Honor Desmond-Tetlow, a family law practitioner at MJM Limited. Both of us are experienced collaborative lawyers and litigators here in Bermuda.
The conference wasn’t just aimed at lawyers. It was attended by local psychologists as well.
Attendees were reminded that whenever a negotiated settlement is the main goal, the negotiator should remember the psychological “triggers” that their clients are subject to and their individual and varying definitions of what constitutes a successful negotiation. That’s where the SCARF principle can be very useful as an exercise: it offers a systematic, disciplined way of addressing these concerns, and prevents us from overlooking them.
While the emphasis of the conference was on family and matrimonial law, the negotiating principles clearly apply across the board and in particular when there has been some “relationship” between the contesting parties e.g. employment and property disputes, trusts and estates.
Successful negotiations stem from an in-depth understanding of the clients’ underlying priorities and the onus is on us (the lawyer/negotiator) to ensure that we have a clear picture of clients’ real aims and concerns. A recognition of the underlying stresses and psychological triggers, a willingness to assist clients in moving through them and a touch of imagination can go a very long way to reaching a satisfactory resolution.