Lecture 19 - Negotiation

Figure 1: Negotiations

"Negotiating means getting the best of your opponent."

 

Many people think of negotiation as a formal process involving businesses closing a multimillion dollar deal. However, this is only a small part of the picture. In fact, whether they know it or not, everyone in their every day lives is a negotiator. Getting what you want in these everyday situations can improve your life and well-being by reducing stress and contention. Getting what you want more often affirms your personality, identity, and confidence. When you often succeed in everyday negotiations, you will feel greater synchronicity and serendipity in your life. Things will really be going your way.

Learning from Class:

Today our lecture conducted by an invited lecturer Mr. Shamer an he started the lecture by specifying what is Negotiation and where it take place. Lecturer stated that negotiations happen when people try to solve a problem.  After that lecturer mentioned that the area mainly focus under this chapter as,

• Methodical ways of negotiations

• Improvements in negotiations

What is Negotiations?

Negotiation is a settlement of problems in order to come to an agreement that acceptable to both parties. This negotiations process can be happen individually as well in a scenario like a person dealing with his thoughts to come to come to a final decision to take.

Negotiation Styles

After stating the definition of the negotiation lecturer stated that Negotiation is basically a choice which includes different ways of sorting an particular problem. Each person adopting different styles (strategies) of negotiations depending on each persons characteristics and behavior. Lecturer mentioned that those strategies can categorize mainly into five types based on Thomas Killman's identification.

Figure 1: Thomas Kilmann Negotiation Model

Avoidance - Ignore or avoid the issue rather than confront them directly. Employ strategies such as denying there is an issue, using jokes as a way to deflect, conflict or trying to change the topic.

Competing - Person try to persuade another person and forcing the other person to come to an conclusion. This is a win end strategy.

Accommodation - Let the other person to decide agree to that opinion. This is a lose win strategy.

Compromise - Occurs half way between competition and accommodation. Both parties give up something and come to a conclusion or settlement by considering the both parties ideas where it outcome better fair conclusion by resulting some downgrade in the strength of argument levels in each parties.

Collaboration - Both parties agrees to positive settlement to the issue and attend fully to the other's concerns while not sacrificing or suppressing their own. The issue not resolved until each side is reasonably satisfied and can support solution. This is a win-win strategy.

After discussing above negotiation styles lecturer directed the lecture to Negotiation Skills

Negotiation Skills

• Search for Interest - Before getting into the negotiation, consider each parties interest.

• Try to Understand - Listen to others carefully and encourage them to explain their side first then they will be willing to listen to you. Also listen carefully to the arguments of the other party and assess the logic of their reasoning.

• Control Emotions - Keep calm and use assertive rather than aggressive behavior. Use tact and diplomacy to diffuse tensions.

• Avoid the presumption of Evil -  Always be optimistic when negotiating. Never consider about the bad side of the subject rather than thinking on the positive side of the subject. 

Beside above main negotiation skills people can use below skills to make the negotiation process more realistic and effective.

• Break down bigger issue to smaller parts - List all the issues and identify key issues depending on that focus on smaller issues that ultimately which settle the core issue.

• Move Away from Blame - Make other party happy and through that achieve the objective hat looking for.

• Maintain Integrity - Having the character quality of being honest, reliable and fair.

Before concluding the lecture for the day lecturer stated that negotiation has two basic approaches. They are,

BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Settlement) - The negotiation carries out depending on the best consequences (options) that a particular person already have.

WATNA (Worst Alternatives to a Negotiated Agreement) - The negotiation carries out when there is no any consequences (options) that a particular person owns.

           

Activity Done:

Lecturer gave a court case and asked for students opinion based on the lecture specified three answers. Those answers were,

- Would he hanged death penalty
- Should be jailed
- Should not be punished

Based on the answer lecture jotted students were put into groups, where a group consists of 6 or 7 members in each. 

Reality of the lecture:

From this lecture I understood all the theoretical aspect of negotiations which consist of types and styles that enables myself to come to a better conclusion when a problem courses by following a successful negotiation with related parties. Since negotiation known to be an common process to everyone the main advantage of learning the concept of it is to how well, that I could apply different types of strategies to a one particular scenario to overcome the problem with a better settlement.