Interest Based Negotiation, answering conflict with success!

Finding the “win-win” in us all!!

There is no doubt that the vast majority of conflict, whether it is in the office or on the battlefield is fuelled by misunderstanding and miscommunication between two or more parties. Of course, one can assume that conflicting positions produce conflict but I argue that the risk of escalation can be decreased and the probability of resolution increased if all parties actively look to reconcile their interests from the beginning through interest based negotiation.

Williams & Schneider in 1983 conducted a study on counter party negotiation techniques and found 4 different clusters of negotiator existed. The negotiator clusters were classed as ethical and unethical “adversarial” along with true and cautious “problem solving”. The results were startling! The counterparty in the study when asked to evaluate the style of the negotiator found the most effective negotiator to be “true problem solving” (72%) which is taking a genuine interest in the position and interests of the counter party and making a real effort to accommodate the interests of the counter party whilst protecting their own. At the bottom of the rankings was “unethical adversarial” (3%) which was defined by an aggressive posture and unwillingness to budge from their “position”.

So what can collaboratively engaging a counter party in a negotiation do for you? Seeking to understand your counterparty position, their interests that lie behind it and how their interests are impacted by your interests sets a negotiation on a more likely trajectory to success.

A well executed interest based negotiation technique can also:

Focus on best interests creating objective focus on best outcome, and not subjective bias driven positioning which often leads to failure

Addresses unethical behaviour designed to achieve leverage such as undercutting, non related blaming, discrediting, etc.

Un-fixes confrontational positioning by aggressive negotiators, thus becomes directional to collaborative outcomes.

Create a dynamic approach thus increases communication effectiveness and success probability through gaining best outcome for the collaborative negotiator who is assertive in IBN.

To get the most out ‘IBN’, I would submit the following be used as a process in any counter party negotiation:

• Focus your Mind-set to be assertive yet collaborative. Clear your thoughts of unrelated issues and feelings, especially negative ones.
• Address all party aggression with assertion by opening with a position of confidence leading to your statement of interests, not your statement of position which should remain open and unfixed until you have a clear understanding of your counterparty’s interests.
• Identify your counter party misdirects by understanding their interest centre
• Openly reconcile your interests to your conterparty interests for feasibility, which leads to credible counterparty acceptance and debunks hostile positions in-conflict with it
• Be prepared to adjust your own “interest centre” if your own real interests are better served by such an adjustment.
• If other party aggression supersedes acceptable levels, remember to never waiver tone of voice, increase volume to reassert one-self into the negotiation. Only do so if you can redirect to best interests and not inset positioning. If best interests cannot be refocused on, adjorn the negotiation rather then escalate into aggression.
• When best interests are found which have being prioritized through the rationalization and comparison of all interests at the table, then a resolution can be agreed upon and documented including agreed follow ups.
• Follow up on post agreement implementation issues and resolve on the basis of best interests being served for all.

With the collaborative approach to conflict resolution at any level in any environment, one can see how even unethical adversarial positions can be moved through interest based negotiation producing a “win-win” outcome. Concluding, I would suggest that in today’s conflict ridden world, maybe its time to abandon “win-lose” outcomes in favour of interest based negotiation which can bring all a better tomorrow in a manner, which can heal the wounds of today.

Sources/Credits

Williams & Schneider Results: Forbes  & Harv. Negot. Rev. 143

Interest Based Negotiation Chart: US Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution

Pics:

www.marsdd.com

http://www.fiercehealthcare.com

www.massedpartnerships.org

True Balance, the power of one!

Move forward and be your own Leader...

John Maxwell famously said, “A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.” In tough times like these with the global banking crises, innumerable economic travesties and bad news affecting our very view on today’s world, I would say to feel a little world weary is very understandable and very human! We often look to leaders for inspiration, security and direction with mixed results and an open question remains when we lay down our heads at night, which is “will it be alright?”

In order to answer this question, I think we have to reframe our mindsets especially if we have known nothing but good times flowing freely in our lives and never really needed to summon our “internal leader”. Denis Waitley once said “you must stick to your convictions, but be ready to abandon your assumptions”.  This is something to live by in order to be flexible enough to adapt to a sometimes unfair but always changing world.

 In reframing our mindsets in pursuit of the future state of ‘you’, we should consider the following in my view:

Draw from your past, don’t let your past draw from you. It is very natural to sit into a “silo mentality” and think our chosen professions will see us through to retirement with our company’s management group planning our progression. This is often not the case and one should not be caught unaware of this. You are your own best career advocate! You need to stay active in your own career research, guidance and planning.

Givers will be givers and takers will be takers! We naturally seek out those of like mind but often carry a learnt assumption that we can handle those whom are not like us in today’s connected world. Maybe we can, but if we don’t approach this scientifically and verify, then we leave ourselves exposed to bad behaviour and exploitation especially through the down side of the economic cycle like we have had for the last 6 years or so.  Surround yourself with people whom believe like you do and you will not fail!

Know yourself, your company culture and your colleagues. Honest self-reflection of strengths, weakness, fears and hopes should leave us with two enormous questions. Who am I? Who do I want to be? Once answered, one should have a sense of one’s present and future desired state of ‘you’. Knowing this, we then can ask the next round of questions. Do I know my company culture and am I compatible with it?? Do I know my colleagues and do we share some common values and beliefs? If we can reconcile these elements positively, then we have a workplace avenue in our lives that can help deliver the desired future state of ‘you’.

If we cannot make it, make something else. There is nothing more terrifying then a career professional having to consider ‘something else’! Life can be unfair and unfortunately, we have to deal with it. How we deal with it can determine success or failure starting with approach. If we are good at what we do, chances are we will get to where we need to go in life and achieve our desired state of ‘you’. However, if we cannot reconcile the present ‘you’ to the future ‘you’ due to incompatibilities in one’s company culture, job/profession, who we call our colleagues or indeed our friends, then we need to remember that those inconsistences could in aggregate deny us our desired future state, which acts are a barrier to being truly happy. Sometimes those painful steps in becoming something else can transform our personal lives enabling our achievement of life’s goals.

A balanced mind is a powerful mind! Excess is a temporary state that fulfills a temporary need just as scarcity is a temporary state that creates temporary needs. The key to balance is not only in the likes of exercise, meditation and work-life balance, it also lies in a wider realisation of the world around us and how this reconciles to our future desired state of who we want to be. If we can achieve a sense of balance in ourselves, then we open a new world of possibility as we travel down life’s path.

There is no single right answer to any of the above, only what’s right for you. The lessons we have learnt in life do not prepare us for everything, which is why a balanced learning mind will always be mindful of the future whilst enjoying the greatest gift the universe offers us, which is the present; an indelible reality fulfilled by those whom embrace it believing today can deliver a better tomorrow. 

Source/Credits:

www.edinboro.edu

www.shrewsbury.net