Negotiation and Conflict Management Post-Assignment

NEGOTIATION AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT POST-ASSIGNMENT
By Robert C. KRAMER
SYNOPSIS
First of all, let me tell you that I never participated in a business negotiation, or at least there were
no formal negotiations in my career. But I have always worked in sales, and in one way or another,
negotiations were part of my life, because basically sale is a negotiation. Even now, as a GSM
director, which is, I am taking care of everything in that department, I don’t participate in too
many negotiations.
As a reflection, I think I’m to blame. There can be a lot of negociating that I can do and I don’t
realize I can do it. I can negotiate my sales targets (even though I am not used to do this, my sales
education is in such way that I am very proud to take on every challenge), my projects
implementation (even though I always approach the support departments from a power stance,
and I don’t why I do that) or even the strategic objectives (since they can even generate
discomfort and mayhem, if not the crash of the previous performances)
KEY CONCEPTS TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN MY PROFFESIONAL LIFE
BATNA – well, this was a brand new concept for me. To have a minimal gain in a situation and to
have it dimensioned in your head before a negotiation/discussion is a very useful tool. Having a
clear BATNA means preparation, means realism and it means that whatever you do, you care.
Also, it is your duty to find out what is the other party’s BATNA. This is important because if you
do not get to know what is important to him/her, if you do not know the minimum requirements
for them, then also your BATNA might not be realistically proportioned. BATNA is also very
important when you’re attending a boss-employee negotiation. This will, for instance, improve my
chances of increasing my salary, because this year this is one of my personal objectives. The
alternative to a BATNA is having a bottom line, or a “this is my limit”, which is very rigid and it sets
boundaries instantly. Setting boundaries means that you will not have a negotiation, but a stand-
off at best, if not a competition or a fight. So, I will start defining my BATNA’s and I will actively try
to find the other party’s BATNA.
ZOPA – this is very related to BATNA, as you need to know what the range of your possibilities are,
in order to even consider what are your goals and how satisfactory the results will be. Often, I
enter a discussion or negotiation with a take it all attitude, but in fact I don’t have a ZOPA. There
are many gains with a ZOPA. Sometimes, winning it all leaves the other party with no alternative
of doing or giving you what you won, because you surely didn’t negotiated when you win it all.
Having a ZOPA can also help to size the negociating partner’s limits. After all, “if you give me some
of what I want, I will give you some of what you want.”
RESOLVING CONFLICTS WITH INTEREST APPROACH – This is a very important lesson for me. I’m
not saying that I’m a ruthless negociator, because I haven’t done much negociating. But I realize
now that I never took time to find out what the other party’s interests and needs are. Everything,
nowadays, is happening at such a fast pace, that we ourselves are in a hurry. Finding another’s
needs and interests takes time, so you have to be patient for this. The questioning strategy works
like a charm, and from last year on, when I took some Kaizen concept classes and in there I
learned the 5 whys method in resolving a problem. Also, in a conflict, if you ask the right
questions, the why and what questions will reveal the interest of the person you are in conflict
with. I started doing that and what do you know? Problems begun to reveal their roots, and so
interest started revealing; if you ask questions and don’t just jump to conclusions. In using an
interest approach to a conflict, I will also have to separate the person from the problem. The
person is not the problem, the problem is a problem. And there is no problem, there is only a
solution to the problem. There is no conflict that cannot be settled in a satisfactory way if you just
concentrate on resolving it in a way that makes everybody happy, together with the BATNA and
ZOPA.
PRESENTATIONS – As I have told you during class, I have never held an official presentation, and
the capstone presentation is really worrying me, because for sure I will be nervous. But I then
remembered that I have no problem presenting a new project to the board of directors or a new
procedure that aligns to the new strategy to my team. So my problem lies with the audience. The
audience that I am not familiar with.
I will try to remember to keep my feet on the ground and don’t move them. I will also try to park
my hands in neutral and not exaggerate my gestures more than a second or so. I will remember
the DCP concept : I will direct attention with my hands, connect with the audience through eye
contact and project my thoughts with the words from my presentation. After all, the people are
not there for me especially, or to watch an artistic representation, but want to find out what I
have to say or if my capstone project is good or not.
EPIPHANY PHRASES – One of the sentences that I kept in memory is : “You cannot solve problems
if you think the same way as you did when you created them”, by A.Einstein. Which for me means
that I have to think outside the box if I want to solve a problem, to be innovative and try to look at
problems from any point of view available. When the problem or conflict was created, you had a
certain point of view, related to what you knew at the moment. But at least after, you can surely
find out more about the issue and approach the issue with a different mindset.
Another phrase that stuck in my mind : “you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you
negotiate”, by C. Karrass, which explains a lot of frustrations in the world. People expect to receive
everything they think they deserve just because it fits their moral compass or their set of values.
Well, it’s not how the song is played. You have to argument what you think you deserve and also
enter a negotiation being aware that the other part also considers some things are just deserved
by them just because it’s their expectation.
H.I.T. LIST - is something of great value. For me, having a HIT list means knowing precisely what I
really want and must have, also knowing what else I can obtain and achieve, and what little thing I
can trade in order to sweeten the deal. So when I decide it’s time for me to negotiate my salary, I
will certainly have a hit list, because it will give me clarity on the purpose.
THE NEGOTIATION PROCESS – it is essential that the phases of a negotiation are respected and
you pass through all stages. Every stage has its importance : the preparation stage helps you
identify important data that will help in the negotiation and will allow you to understand the
issues and the other party; the information stage builds trust, because you are assesing interests
and you are showing what you are interested in talking about and what issues you want to tackle;
the propositions stage creates value and addresses interests directly or indirectly and also takes
concessions into consideration; the summarizing stage confirms that interests have been met and
it shapes the value of what has been achieved; and the closing stage is sealing the deal and
strenghthens the relationship that has been created during the negotiation or has existed prior to
that.
In conclusion, from now on I’ll concentrate on the opportunity of having a negotiation every time I
deal with a choice and it involves another party, keeping in mind that the happy sides of the
situation means further collaboration and better results in the long run for everybody. I will also
not hurry into a positional bargaining, but wil concentrate on a win-win, integrative approach. All
in all, this module was enlightening!

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NEGOTIATION AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT POST-ASSIGNMENT

KEY CONCEPTS TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN MY PROFFESIONAL LIFE

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