Culture Influences Negotiations

This article by Jeswalde W. Salacuse explains how cultural influences affect negotiation styles. Salacuse states:

"Negotiating styles, like personalities, have a wide range of variation...Ten negotiating traits...can be placed on a spectrum or continuum, as illustrated in the chart below. Its purpose is to identify specific negotiating traits affected by culture and to show the possible variation that each trait or factor may take."

Understanding cultural and other factors affecting the following negotiation traits will enable you to better understand your counterpart and how your negotiating style may be perceived by the person sitting across the table.

Conflict Resolution Skills Kit

"Have you ever had a conflict and wished you could have handled it better?
Conflict comes about from differences - in needs, values and motivations. Sometimes through these differences we complement each other, but sometimes we will conflict. Conflict is not a problem in itself - it is what we do with it that counts.

It is important that we do something because whether we like it or not, conflicts demand our energy. In fact, an unresolved conflict can call on tremendous amounts of our attention. We all know how exhausting an unresolved conflict can be. It is not always easy to fix the problem but a great energy boost can come when we do. Resolving conflict requires skills.

What are Conflict Resolution Skills?
They are the skills that enable us to bypass personal differences and to open up to possibilities. The skills of CR draw us closer to other people, as we jointly search for fair solutions and balanced needs. It involves a powerful shift from adversaries to co-operative partners. In this shift each person benefits.

CR Skills Create Better Work Climates and More Fulfilling Relationships
For the organisational manager, skilful conflict-handling is an important managerial tool. Conflict can be seen as an opportunity for learning more about the company - its bottle-necks and inefficiencies, as well as its areas of expertise. The learning potential of conflict often goes unrecognised when staff and management react with "fight" or "flight". "Flow", the third way, requires Conflict Resolution skills...

The Conflict Resolution Network has put together a toolkit of 12 conflict resolution skills - you can reach in and take out what fits for any occasion. They are: The Win/Win Approach, The Creative Response, Empathy, Appropriate Assertiveness, Co-operative Power, Managing Emotions, Willingness to Resolve, Mapping the Conflict, Development of Options, Negotiation Skills, Third Party Mediation and Broadening Perspectives..."

How Hostage Negotiation Works

"Although hostage situations can vary greatly based on the motivations of the hostage-taker and the exact circumstances surrounding the incident, there are some basic facts that apply to all hostage situations.

The hostage-taker wants to obtain something. This can be as simple as money, personal safety or safe passage to another country, or it can involve complicated political goals.

The target of the hostage-taker is not the hostage; it is some third party (a person, a company or a government) that can provide whatever it is the hostage-taker wants.

The hostages are bargaining chips. They may have symbolic value (as at the 1972 Munich Olympics, in which the target was the Israeli government and the hostages were Israeli athletes), but the hostages themselves could be anyone."

Read more in this article from Howstuffworks.

Negotiation and the Laws of Persuasion

"Being adept at persuasion is often the missing key to success in the workplace and your personal life. If you give people what they want via the Six Laws of Persuasion, they’ll most likely return the favor. And when you recognize that you are being manipulated, you can call the other side on their tactics and counter with an appropriate strategy. This will lead to a more effective way of achieving the goals of all negotiating parties...

Persuasion is the ability to influence people’s thoughts and actions through specific strategies. To become adept at this skill, you must first understand some basic principles, called the Laws of Persuasion. These six laws by themselves are neither good nor bad, but describe how most people respond to certain circumstances.Psychologist Robert Cialdini wrote the seminal book on the Laws of Persuasion, titled Influence:The Psychology
of Persuasion, in which he discusses the prevalent methods of marketing...

Here are Cialdini’s Six Laws of Persuasion:

Law of Reciprocity
Human beings, in general, try to repay in kind what another person has provided to them....

Law of Commitment and Consistency
People like to be (or at least appear to be) consistent in their thoughts, feelings, and actions...

Law of Liking
When you like someone, or believe that they are “just like you,” you are more inclined to want to please them...

Law of Authority
This is the law that uses celebrity endorsements or “expert” testimonials...

Law of Scarcity
If you are not sure you want to buy something, the minute it becomes “the last one available” you tend to have second thoughts...

Law of Social Proof...
You think if others are engaging in a specific behavior, it must be the proper thing to do..."


Read more in this article by Edrie Greer from Bnet.com.

Exploring the Language of Mediation

This research paper from Andrew Rixon, Viv McWaters and Sascha Rixon focuses on the question of “Is there is such a thing as ‘speaking facilitatively’?” Thinking in terms of ecologies of language use, it asks whether there may be a particular style of communication, and language, inherent within the practice of facilitation. Its findings"indicate that facilitators do have an implicit understanding of what it means to ‘speak facilitatively’. Furthermore, this style of speech appears to be based on respect for the group and encompasses linguistic politeness devices..."

The paper includes the following examples of facilitative language:

Setting of ground rules
“Our purpose today…”
“What is the purpose of our meeting?”
“What would be the ideal outcome?”
“Where do you want to have got to when we go out that door?”
“Relax and enjoy the journey”
“Everyone’s opinion is valued, there are no wrong answers”
“All ideas are valued”
“It’s an honour to work with you”

Acknowledging participants’ contributions
“That’s an excellent thought. You are very (sincere praise).”
“That interests me, say more”
“Thank you for sharing”
“Great- good- I like it- excellent- Spot on”

Probing
“Say more…”
“Can you say more about…”
“Could you say more?”
“Tell me more about that…”
“Can you tell me more about that?”
“Please, tell me more about that.”
“Yes, please go on.”
“Say more about that if you will…”
“Please tell me more about what you mean when you stated…”
“Tell us a little more about this.”

Garnering participation
“I’m wondering how this might look/appear/feel/seem to you?”
“I invite you to…”
“I’d like to invite you to participate in…”
“Tell me about a time when…”
“I’m curious to know what others think”
“What do others think?”
“Does anyone else have [something]?”

Reflecting and clarifying
“What I have heard is…”
”Am I correct in observing that…”
“So what you’re saying is…”
“What I’m hearing is…Is that right?”
“Please clarify”
“What I hear you saying…”
“Can you help me be more clear in my mind about…”

Good stuff.

Negotiate to Resolve Conflicts:

"All of us engage in many negotiations during a week but that doesn't mean we become better at it. To become better we need to become aware of the structure and dynamics of negotiation and we need to think systematically, objectively, and critically about our own negotiations. After engaging in a negotiation, reflect on what happened and figure out what you did effectively and what you need to do better.

There is no one "best" style; each of us has to find a style that is comfortable for us. Yet, everyone can negotiate successfully; everyone can reach agreements where all sides feel at least some of their needs have been satisfied. This involves a lot of alertness, active listening, good communication skills, great flexibility, good preparation, and above all it involves a sharing of responsibility for solving the problem, not a view that this is "their" problem.

To summarize the most important keys to successful conflict resolution:

*bargain over interests, not predetermined positions
*de-personalize the problem (separate the person from the problem)
*separate the problem definition from the search for solutions
*try to generate alternative solutions; try to use objective criteria as much as possible
*reflect on your negotiations; learn from your successes and mistakes"

Read more in this excellent negotiations overview from Professor E. Wertheim.

When a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

"Visual-Literacy.org is an online introductory tutorial about how data, abstract thoughts, and concepts can be graphically represented to more easily gain useful insights. One of their knowledge map examples is this excellent Periodic Table of Visualization Methods. Rolling your mouse over each form of visualization brings up an example of the technique. It looks like it would very useful if you think a visualization is in order but you're not sure which specific kind to try."

Quotation comes from this Boing Boing post.

Mediation in Organizational Conflict Management

This article from ballew.org contains a good overview of conflict issues within organizations, suggesting useful ways to manage and resolve conflicts before the organization is irreparably damaged. Among the nuggets is this description of mediation and its potential uses within organizations:

"Mediation is a way of handling conflict in which two or more disputing parties meet with trained, impartial mediators in a good faith attempt to resolve their issues. The mediators facilitate an exchange in which the parties clarify the issues, hear each other's perspectives, provide new information and move toward an agreement. The mediators do not impose decisions or give advice. Mediation is a practical process through which the mediator assists the parties themselves to check facts, share feelings, exchange perceptions and ideas, and work toward agreement. In mediation the parties have responsibility for the resolution. An agreement is reached when the parties are satisfied with all of its terms.

Examples of workplace situations in which mediation works well are:

Disputes between co-workers or colleagues who are unable to function together in the workplace environment.

Interdepartmental conflicts.

Communication breakdowns/barriers."

Conflict Dynamics Checklists

For people struggling with difficult conflicts, these checklists from BeyondIntractability for intermediaries and adversaries hghlight conflict dynamics that are helpful to understand, as well as options for dealing with common problems. Topics covered include:

"International Conflict, Peacebuilding, Post-Conflict Stabilization
Public Policy
Workplace / Organizational Conflict
Interpersonal Conflict"

Six Tips fo Women Negotiators

"1. Get optimistic and set yourself high goals
2. Be prepared. Look for information in unexpected places.
3. Create a support network and search out a mentor.
4. Negotiate the relationship – just how do you want them to see you ?
5. Look for signals that your being a woman is the (unspoken) issue.
6. Work on projecting confidence."

Read more in EuropeanPWN - Do women negotiate differently from men?

Designing an Effective Workplace Dispute Resolution Program

An excellent article from Strategic HR Lawyer about the importance of design in administering workplace dispute resolution (DR) programs contains the following insights:

"The design of the program is critical to its success...The most effective programs are those that focus not only on legal compliance and litigation avoidance, but also focus on fairness. In addition, organizational support and the availability of professional resources to assist employees will promote this goal. Some of the systems characteristics that are important include:

-Availability of expert resources to aid employees in
the processing of their grievances
-Level of input employees have into the process
-Impartiality or degree of independence from management
of the person making the actual decision
-Timeliness and speed of the process
-Consistency with which complaints are resolved
-Degree of top management and line management support
of the program
-Extent to which the process fits the organizational culture...

Organizational research clearly demonstrates that the most effective DR programs are those that promote fairness and objectivity. Often, employees are less concerned about the outcome than they are about the process itself. Thus, if employees view the process as one that is fair and equitable, they are less likely to doubt it or ultimately challenge its findings.

The following are some suggested concepts to discuss when designing a DR program:

-Are the individuals who are charged with administering
the program properly trained?
-Are the individuals charged with administering the program
trustworthy?
-Is the outcome of the process clearly explained to the complainant?
-Is there an appeal mechanism that is administered consistently and fairly and more than merely a “rubber
stamp” for management?
-Are delineated timelines realistic and followed consistently?
-Are employees involved in the administration of the system?
-How impartial or independent of management is the
fact finder in any investigation or review of a complaint?
-How impartial or independent of management is any
decision-maker?
-Does the process itself fit within the organization’s
culture?
-Does top management support the program, or does it
exercise discretion to resolve matters outside of the program in a seemingly arbitrary manner?

Legal standards of compliance for DR programs do not necessarily effectively address all of these due process issues. The gap between passing legal muster and one that
addresses these due process issues is often the hallmark of a successful program versus a merely adequate program."

Business Tools for Negotiation

These BNET: Business Tools for Busy Leaders cover everything from initiating a conversation to uncovering lies to getting everything in writing, including the following:

"Strategic Sourcing: Contract Negotiation
Good contracts thoroughly document the business and legal agreements that govern a business relationship, and they should be relatively easy to follow and understand. This article defines eight critical issues to consider during the negotiation and documentation of successful contracts.

Ten Lessons in Detecting Deception
Most people think they can detect deception, but most over-estimate their ability to do so. For the negotiator, this misapprehension can have severe consequences. This article offers suggestions for understanding the limitations of perception and better identifying and dealing with deception.

Using the Six Laws of Persuasion During Negotiation
To be successful in negotiations, you have to "sell" your ideas and, in a win-win situation, provide the other side with a fair deal. You must appeal to the intellect using logical and objective criteria as well as engaging the emotions of the negotiators. The result of a successful negotiation is that all parties should believe they got a good deal.

What To Watch For When It's Time to Get the Deal in Writing
Most people think of negotiating as the verbal give and take that brings two opposing parties to a point of agreement. That is the heart of negotiating, but just as important is the transition to the written contract that formalizes the verbal agreement. This article outlines key steps in developing a written contract.

27 Principles Of Negotiating
If people ask for something before a contract is signed, it is called negotiating. If they ask for something after a contract is signed, it is called begging. In business, it's better to be a good negotiator than an expert beggar. This concise article covers the basics of negotiating, including some fundamental principles and negotiating tactics."

Overview of Negotiations and Conflict Resolution Principles

This webpage of Professor E. Wertheim, College of Business Administration, Northeastern University, provides an excellent overview of relevant concepts and suggestions for more effective negotiations, including the following:

"Pay particular attention to these generalizations:

Conflict is an ongoing process that occurs against a backdrop of continuing relationships and events;

Such conflict involves the thoughts, perceptions, memories, and emotions of the people involved; these must be considered.

Negotiations are like a chess match; have a strategy; anticipate how the other will respond; how strong is your position, and situation; how important is the issue; how important will it be to stick to a hardened position

Begin with a positive approach: Try to establish rapport and mutual trust before starting; try for a small concession early

Pay little attention to initial offers: these are points of departure; they tend to be extreme and idealistic; focus on the other person's interests and your own goals and principles, while you generate other possibilities"

and

"Keys to Integrative Bargaining

Orient yourself towards a win-win approach: your attitude going into negotiation plays a huge role in the outcome

Plan and have a concrete strategy...be clear on what is important to you and why it is important

Know your BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Alternative)

Separate people from the problem

Focus on interests, not positions; consider the other party's situation:

Create Options for Mutual Gain:

Generate a variety of possibilities before deciding what to do

Aim for an outcome based on some objective standard

Pay a lot of attention to the flow of negotiation;

Take the Intangibles into account; communicate carefully

Use Active Listening Skills; rephrase, ask questions and then ask some more"

Coming At Conflict With Compassion

"To resolve conflict, no matter how exasperating the disagreement at hand, we should approach our adversary with an open heart laden with compassion. Judgments and blame must be cast aside and replaced with mutual respect. Conflict is frequently motivated by unspoken needs that are masked by confrontational attitudes or aggressive behavior. When we come at conflict with love and acceptance in our hearts, we empower ourselves to discover a means to attaining collective resolution...

Make a conscious effort to release any anger or resentment you feel...This can help you approach your disagreement rationally, with a steady voice and a willingness to compromise...

Examine your thoughts and feelings carefully. You may discover stubbornness within yourself that is causing resistance or that you are unwittingly feeding yourself negative messages about your adversary. As your part in disagreements becomes gradually more clear, each new conflict becomes another chance to further hone your empathy, compassion, and tolerance."

Read more in this DailyOM post.

Conflict Resolution in Ten Steps

Darren Rowse offers these 10 Steps to Conflict Resolution in the context of attempting to resolve disputes among bloggers. He notes that the points come out of a resource by the ‘Prepare/Enrich’ marriage counselling program and are designed for couples working through specific areas of conflict in an ongoing relationship. He contends, and I agree, they have more general application. The ten steps are:

"1. Set a time and place for discussion...
2. Define the problem or issue of disagreement...
3. How do you each contribute to the problem?...
4. List past attempts to resolve the issue that were not successful...
5. Brainstorm. List all possible solutions...
6. Discuss and evaluate these possible solutions...
7. Agree on one solution to try...
8. Agree on how each individual will work toward this solution...
9. Set up another meeting. Discuss your progress...
10. Reward each other as you each contribute toward the solution..."

Mediation is Good for Business

"Madison, Wisc.-based attorney, Terry Peppard, says that mediation, 'is now an exceptionally well-proven business process, and there should be no business executive anywhere in America who is not intimately familiar with the mediation process and its benefits.' Peppard, who recently published Arbitration and Mediation of Business Disputes says, 'You can't be a good executive if you don't know that this is out there and what it can do for you.' According to Peppard, there are several instances when mediation is the 'best way for a business to go.' These are when:

• It is important to maintain a valuable business relationship between the parties while still resolving the dispute.

• It is important for a client to avoid disclosure of confidential business data.

• It is important that the case be resolved as fast as possible to avoid disrupting business operations."

For more, including links to attorney Peppard's article and other related links and items, see this National Arbitration Forum Blog post.

Conflict is Unavoidable; Suffering is Optional

"Conflict is an unavoidable part of business life...If disagreements or misunderstandings between team members or departments is hurting productivity, it's time to find a solution. It's easy to hope things will blow over, but that rarely happens. You need to open lines of communication, resolve differences, and put the focus back on getting work done.

These BNET resources will help you improve your own conflict resolution skills and avoid the worst conflicts in the future:

Alternative Dispute Resolution...
Alternative dispute resolution, particularly if it is entered into voluntarily by the parties rather than being forced on them by a court order, can bring with it substantial savings in time, money, and the expenditure of human resources that would otherwise be needed to engage in a long and stressful court battle.

Is Conflict Prevention the Same as Conflict Avoidance?
Some people think that prevenging conflict is the same as avoiding conflict, which is not the case. This article describes the difference between the two approaches, and how conflict prevention involves the elimination of unnecessary conflict in the workplace.

Conflict Coaching for Leaders
Conflict arises from a clash of divergent perspectives and ideas on a particular issue. Several methodologies are available for amicable resolution of conflicts. Conflict coaching is an individualized approach towards imparting conflict resolution skills in leaders and managers. It provides a practical forum for those whose effectiveness suffers due to the lack of conflict competence. The paper examines the nuances of conflict coaching and discusses issues involved therein.

Conflict and Cooperation in the Workplace
In the workplace, you are likely to find two forms of conflict. The first is conflict about decisions, ideas, directions and actions. The second form, "personalized conflict" is often called a personality conflict. In this form, the two parties simply don't like each other much. This article reveiws elements of both types conflict, how they escalate over time, and how to use a few general strategies to deal with them.

Seven Tips for Cross-Cultural Conflict Resolution
Team members work in increasingly diverse environments. They include age, gender, race, language, and nationality. Beyond these differences, there are also deeper cultural differences that influence the way conflict is approached. One reason that teams fail to meet performance expectations is their paralysis through unresolved conflict. The paper discusses the impact of culture on the prevention and resolution of conflict in teams and suggests seven ways to resolve problems.

Tough Conversations at the Top
Managers spend an inordinate amount of time putting out fires, particularly interpersonal ones. It is not uncommon for a manager to spend 20 percent of his or her time managing conflict of one degree or another. Conflict is not something to be suppressed in an organization, nor is it to be ignored. There is a strong link between the ability to resolve conflict effectively and being perceived effectiveness as a leader. Managers who resolve conflict by perspective taking, creating solutions, expressing emotions and reaching out are considered to be more effective. Executives who demonstrate these behaviors are seen as successful and more suitable for promotion.

Conflict Resolution Training Helps...
Most senior managers and line managers do not recognize the incredible cost of conflict to organizations. Conflict resolution programs can defuse problems before they escalate to strikes or lawsuits, as well as improve employee morale, increase productivity, decrease absenteeism, and lower turnover. Employees can resolve some issues without involving senior management, and without increasing tensions on the floor."

Technorati Tags: mediation, adr, negotiation, disputeresolution, alternativedisputeresolution

Stages of Collaboration

"A typical collaborative process has three well-defined stages, each containing a number of steps, tasks or objectives...

Stage 1: Getting Started: The Pre-Deliberation Phase
A stakeholder or a trusted outsider raises the possibility of collaboration and initiates the process. Following initiation, the pre-deliberation, or planning stage, should be carried out with a group of stakeholders who are knowledgeable about, and committed to the issue and are willing to participate in the process from the beginning...


Stage 2: Searching for Agreement: The Deliberation Stage
Once all the stakeholders have been contacted, the first meeting convened, and the protocols ratified, the participants can begin to deliberate the substantive issues...

Stage 3: After the Agreement is Reached: The Post-Deliberation Phase
Once an acceptable solution has been identified, it must be approved and implemented by all responsible parties..."

Read more in this NC State webpage.

Guy Kawasaki on Negotiation

"How to negotiate. Don’t believe what you see in reality television shows about negotiation and teamwork. They’re all bull shiitake. The only method that works in the real world involves five steps: (1) Prepare for the negotiation by knowing your facts; (2) Figure out what you really want; (3) Figure out what you don’t care about; (4) Figure out what the other party really wants (per Kai); and (5) Create a win-win outcome to ensure that everyone is happy. You’ll be a negotiating maven if you do this."

From this Guy Kawasaki post

Technorati Tags: mediation, adr, negotiation, disputeresolution, alternativedisputeresolution

Detecting Lies

"Watching facial expressions in order to determine whether a person is lying might just save you from being a victim of fraud, or it could help you figure out when somebody's being genuine. Jury analysts do this when assisting in jury selection. The police do this during an interrogation. A lie detector of course does this, but is a little heavy to carry with you. Therefore, you have to learn the little facial and body expressions that can help you learn to recognize a lie from the truth."

Read more in this WikiHow article.