Negotiation Process讲解学习

N e g o t i a t i o n P r o c e s s

Negotiation Process

谈判口语 Sep – Dec 2010

Introduction – what is negotiation?

Negotiation is a dialogue intended to resolve disputes, to produce an agreement upon courses of action, to bargain for individual or collective advantage, or to craft outcomes to satisfy various interests. It is the primary method of alternative dispute resolution. (Wikipaedia, accessed 2010/11/7.)

More simply put, negotiation is a discussion between people who try to come to an agreement on something. (One party wants one thing, and the other party wants another thing.)

Negotiation occurs in business, non-profit organizations, government branches, legal proceedings, among nations and in personal situations such as marriage, divorce, parenting, and everyday life. Professional negotiators are often specialized, such as union negotiators, leverage buyout negotiators, peace negotiators, hostage negotiators, or may work under other titles, such as diplomats, legislators or brokers. (Wikipaedia, accessed 2010/11/7.)

Some students have confused negotiation with an argument or a debate. While negotiation can resolve disputes, your project requires you to identify exactly what you want out of the negotiation. It is not enough to say that ‘I am going to engage in an argument with [my friends] about [something.]

Notes on the negotiation process

There are many guidelines available for the negotiation process [use a search engine

to find something free on the Internet]. The following notes comprise a recommended structure for negotiation activities in this course.

You may think of the negotiation process as comprising (i) what goes on before the negotiation event (preparation), (ii) the negotiation event, and (iii) what happens after the negotiation event (post-negotiation –perhaps a ‘post-mortem’ if the negotiation event is a failure!) (We are currently in the pre-negotiation stage, preparing for the negotiation event.)

I. Preparation includes making a clear statement of what you want and identifying the person you are going to negotiate with. It also involves considering your own needs (stated as well as hidden), and the needs of the other person (stated as well as hidden). You will recognise these as the two matters that I have already asked you to document and submit for marking.

II. The next stage in the process is to develop your strategy and to make arrangements for the negotiation event. Your strategy may include deciding your style: are you going to be co-operative or competitive? (Recall that at the start of semester you filled out a questionnaire on your negotiating ‘style’.) You also need to decide the time and place for your negotiation event. You should contact the other person (OP) and make arrangements (an appointment) for the negotiation event.

Although it is preferable for these events to be undertaken face-to-face, by necessity some events will need to take place by phone or even by email. If the other person is in Kunming you should arrange to meet them in person. Your appointment must be AFTER you have rehearsed your negotiation event (see next stage.) Your appointment should be no earlier than Week 14 [Monday 6 December – Sunday 12 December] – you will be rehearsing in Weeks 12 and Week 13 of semester. See me if you need to conduct your negotiation later than Week 14.

III. The next stage in the process is to rehearse your negotiation event (you will do this in class with a class mate.) It is here that you will develop your tactics and practice a range of questions consistent with your tactics. Rehearsal will take place in Weeks 12 and 13 of semester.

IV. The next stage is the negotiation event. The event itself can be broken down into a number of phases. We can think of these phases as:

-Introductions (including, if necessary, ‘small talk’ to build rapport) – ensure that you and the other person know exactly what the meeting is for

-Clarifying the issues being discussed and establishing the limits that each party is willing to agree to

-Searching for a solution among a range of options

-Making your final offer, agreeing to a position, and confirming that position (maybe by writing down the key points in the terms of the agreement)

-In closing, confirm your good relationship with the other person (OP) by agreeing to discuss the matter in the future (if necessary), and to make sure that you ‘follow

through’ on your commitments

V. The final stage is ‘post-negotiation’; this is where you document fully any agreement made at the formal negotiation event, and monitor the agreement to make sure that you and the other person keep to their sides of the agreement.

Notes on the PROJECT process

As previously announced in class, the project consists of a number of stages. Students are expected to submit in writing at each of four of the following milestones (1, 2, 5 and 6):

1. Choose your topic (answering the question “What I want is?”), and nominate the other person (OP) who you will be negotiating with.

2. Document (i) your needs and (ii) the needs of the OP. Needs should be classified according to whether they are ‘stated’ or ‘hidden’ (ie. personal).

3. Summarise your plans for the negotiation event. You may draw on the notes here on process (above.) At this stage you should make arrangements for your negotiation event (such as making an appointment with the other person.)

4. Rehearse the phases of the negotiation event – introduction, differentiation, integration and settlement. You will do this over two weeks in class, rehearsing with a partner. You will use techniques learnt in the Thinking Club, such as discussing a

nominated matter strictly for two minutes and then writing up your findings and results. You will practice a range of Questions used in the negotiation process.

5. Carry out the negotiation and write up your results.

6. Write a report on the project; the subject of this report will be matters that you learnt in the course and how they impacted on your negotiation.

These notes provide material to allow you to complete your preparation for the negotiation event (Step 3 above).

Project marking breakdown

There are four deliverables in this project – you will receive a mark out of five for each deliverable.

1. ‘What I want to negotiate’ question – 5 marks [Your mark out of 5 for this section is included in the summary of projects following.]

2. Needs (your needs/ their needs) – 5 marks [Your mark out of 5 for this section is included in the summary of projects following.]

3. Report on the negotiation event (must be typed) – 5 marks

4. Final write-up (must be typed) – 5 marks

Total marks available for the project – 20. (This is 20% of your final result for the course).