On every project, we make commitments based on negotiated agreements, even when we don’t think we’re negotiating. We agree to accomplish certain tasks by a given deadline. We agree to follow a particular process. We agree to work late one day so we can leave early another. Or we agree to work over a weekend because we want to do whatever it takes to make the project succeed.

But sometimes we discover that the negotiated agreement no longer fits for us for some reason. We need to revisit the agreement. We need to re-negotiate.

In talking about this subject with my friend and colleague Dave Smith, he noted, “I find it interesting that people sometimes don’t realize they can re-negotiate.” I thought that was an interesting observation. And I thought about how the phrase, “I stand by my word,” is a point of honor for many. What’s “re-negotiating” to one person can be classified as “weaseling” by another.

And, indeed, re-negotiating can leave a sour taste in people’s mouths.

Consider a trainer who had agreed to lead a class for a training company. The class had been advertised and students had already signed up when the trainer called up the hosting company and informed them that “he wasn’t really sure about doing this class…” He gave the training company an ultimatum: raise his fee or he would not show up to do the class.

Now I don’t know what the circumstances were around the trainer’s demand for more money. What I do know is that my contact at that training company who told me this story was seventeen shades of angry. He felt that the trainer behaved unethically. He vowed never to do business with that trainer again. And the trainer lost a great reference.

Did the trainer have a good reason to re-negotiate? I have no way of knowing. Maybe he did, or maybe he just got greedy. Whether or not he had a good reason, his re-negotiation cost him business.

So how do we recognize the point in time when things have changed enough that the existing agreement can no longer hold? When do the risks in the original agreement outweigh the risks of re-negotiating?

Wishing you’d made a more advantageous deal isn’t enough of a reason to re-negotiate. But it might be time to renegotiate if…

…key assumptions turned out to be invalid. On one project, we assumed that parts of the code that weren’t changing would not need to be retested. When we began testing, we discovered that the changes, though small, affected every part of the system. Our original plan was too risky and we had to revisit the scope of testing.

…the scope, schedule, or resources for the project have fundamentally changed. On another project, we had to bring in the deadline to meet the demands of a huge customer. New date, new project plan. We re-negotiated, scaling back the scope of testing and setting less rigorous release criteria.

…something changes for you, personally, that makes it impossible for you to live up to your commitment. Anyone may discover that they have health issues, family emergencies, or other commitments that conflict with project commitments.

…others aren’t living up to their commitments in a way that affects you directly. When one of my clients stopped paying me, I had to inform them that I couldn’t continue to do work for them until they paid me for work already accomplished. My manager at the client site may have felt that I was using strong-arm tactics, but I simply could not afford to ignore the risk that the company might decide to default on their bills altogether. (Happy ending: they made good on their past-due bills and I finished the project.)

So how do you handle a re-negotiation once you’ve discovered it’s necessary?

That’s a subject for another post.