Negotiations in Organizations

Why Negotiation Skills are so critical now? Blurring of Organizational Boundaries New Organizational Structures (flax, flexible) New Managerial Roles (linking, liaison) Working with distributed resources Change initiatives from below Others?

Forms of Conflict Management Forcing -- use of power and position Smoothing/Avoidance -- gloss over differences Negotiation -- compromise/mutual agreements Third Party --adjudication/mediation

Issues, Positions & Interests The issue is team meetings The position is a demand –I want to do less work in teams. The interests are the reasons for the demands –I don’t have enough time. –I know the material already. –My partner hardly sees me.

Distributive Negotiations/ Claiming Value Assumptions –others are adversaries –what I gain you loose Process –control information –argue persuasively –use power tactics (bluffs, threats, etc.) Outcome –compromise / split the difference

Integrative Negotiations/ Creating Value Assumptions –others are adversaries and partners –possible to solve each other’s problems Process –establish a dialogue –talk about interests and concerns –identify differences and possible of trade-offs –emphasize interdependencies Outcome –mutual gains agreements –transformation of the problem

Language of Constructive Conflict Talk about the problem (not who is right or wrong) Talk in ways that validate and include others Talk in by giving reasons for why you feel a certain way Talk about interdependencies Talk about the future--what we want, not what has been Talk in language of trades--“what if” proposals

Level of concern for one’s own outcome Level of concern for the other’s outcome high low high Distributive Negotiation Integrative Negotiation Conflict Avoidance Accommodation Negotiation versus Other Ways of Handling a Conflict

Take-Aways Most negotiation situations start as a zero- sum game –a fixed pie or distributive negotiations To move beyond this we need to work to expand the pie –both create value and claim value