As you’ll see in this poster, two women have come to a fork in the road. Prior to proceeding, they have decided to sit down and create an upfront agreement about the next leg of their journey. Some items to which they will need to agree might involve:

• Which direction at the fork will they take?
• Which one of them will take the lead?
• How fast will they proceed?
• What will be the determination of success?
• At what interval will they evaluate the wisdom of their decision?

Making those decisions prior to beginning the journey will align expectations and cause less tension and misunderstanding in the long run. Most joint ventures (i.e. meetings, sales processes, projects, etc.) will benefit significantly from establishing upfront contracts before proceeding.

Both parties must be willing to sign the agreement. However, neither party must sign the agreement. It is at this stage in the process that emotional investment is at its lowest point and disagreements can oftentimes be negotiated without the emotion that occurs once ego investment has increased.

Although as with anything new there will some uncomfortableness in the first practices of the Upfront Contracts. However, the leader knows it’s well worth it.

Please see the posters Don’t Lead The Witness, Mutual Mystification, and Let Them Tell You for more specifics on this subject.