A Strong Set of Interpersonal Relationships in the Workplace of the Organization - Research Paper Example

Negotiation Skills and Strategies for Managers YEAR) The objective of this paper lies in discussing the essential negotiation skills and strategies managers require today for aligning their workforce and other diverse factors to achieve the organizational goals in a viable manner. It will also analyze the main areas where managers normally want to utilize their negotiation skills regardless of their personal interest, in order for enhancing relationship and cohesion in the internal as well as external settings of an organization. This study has incorporated some of the principles related to managers’ negotiation skills and strategies found in various volumes sot that its content may be appreciated as reliable. Furthermore, a genuine effort has been put to analyze the possible causes of negotiation-failure and the vital psychological aspects that would help managers reach favorable compromise. 1. Introduction Every sphere of human life is presumably vulnerable to conflict and therefore requires ceaseless haggle and negotiation. In order to be effective in his/her deal, an individual must be capable of inviting the attention of others in a likable style which will persuade the counterparts to allow the person to gain goal. When it is in organizational surroundings or business affairs, the negotiation process goes rather formal, and it demands outstanding skills from an individual to win the bargain. However, as (Cohen 2002, p. 4) states, a manager must be aware of the fact that he is negotiating to solve a problem and not to fight1. It gives an idea about the real sense of a healthy negotiation which is possible only if mutual understanding is maintained by both the parties. Obviously, negotiation involves various stages of planning and bargaining which might vary according to the characteristics of the issues and parties associated with it. Important stages and strategies of negotiation will also be described in the following lines of this humble work. Regardless of the size, structure, and area of business, negotiation is an integral part of a business operation in domestic as well as international levels. It is an agreement that is made either consciously or naturally between one employee and the other, between manger and employee, between manager and stakeholders, between the sales person and customer, between the company and its competitors, etc. Manager is the responsible individual to demonstrate the company’s position and interest at negotiation after setting a detailed agenda for his organization covering all aspects which require compromise or resolution. The basic skills that a manager requires for negotiation include but not limited to active listening, self control, confidence, patience, perseverance, understanding, planning, flexibility, bargaining, relationship building etc. In the changing business scenario, standard training on negotiation and wide knowledge in managerial psychology will be some added advantages to a manager2. In contrast, there are certain negative aspects that a person should avert in order to avert negotiation flaws. For instance, hatred, prejudice, anger, temperament, stubbornness, and other aggressive behaviors do not favor effective compromise because negotiation is not a one-side triumph that can be attained by fighting with the other party. When a manager utilizes all skills, knowledge, and potential to create a favorable condition for negotiating with someone, the tactics he initiates can be termed as ‘negotiation strategy’. 2. Negotiation Skills Active Listening: It is the most basic quality a person should develop in order to be a good negotiator. Listening to the arguments and suggestions of the other party is important because it will help one to assess the areas of their interests and also the weakness of their position. If it is within a group, the leader can not simply get his decisions carried out without negotiating with the other members. Though conflict of interest may arise frequently, a leader will use his/her skills to convince the members about the significance of the action he proposes; and only if they negotiate with him, the goal can be achieved effectively. However, the manager/leader must heed his genuine concern to the opinion of his group members in order to complete the negotiation. Self Control: An individual driven by emotions is neither a good manager nor a negotiator. There can be unpredictable situation when someone goes outraged or spews harsh words in disgust during a negotiation session. Regardless of the reason, a good manager who knows the psychology and tactics of negotiation will maintain a stable mind, seeking every possible chance of compromise that would lessen the loss of his group. It does not mean that expressing emotion is bad; instead it is good to do so if it helps one as a tool to convince the opponent of the trouble or loss one experience due to the related matter. Confidence: Managers’ personality traits have notable impact on negotiation results (Business wealth)3. As it is in every case, self confidence is another vital quality a person should develop for becoming a good negotiator. In fact this quality is attributed to one’s working experience, knowledge, effective plan, previous success, and many more. If the manager lacks self confidence, he/she can not persuade the audience to be lenient to the proposal. 3. Negotiation Strategies A strong negotiation strategy is needed in settling majority of the disputes in an organization. The scope and intent of the strategy varies from one organization to another depending upon the size and the mechanism involved in the operation of business. The strategy is technically identified as to belong to two main streams; some organizations base on an interest based strategy while the others go for a competitive strategy. The first sort of the two strategies aims at developing reciprocal agreement on issues related to interests of the disputants. In this strategy, various elements such as needs, desires, concerns and fears of the two parties are considered important to each other (Silkenat 2009, pp. 208-209). It also explores the possibility of mutual understanding with best possible means. On the other hand, the competitive strategy involves tactics to exert high demands, leaving little chance for information sharing, which therefore can be termed as a ‘battle of the wills’ (Arnold 2002, p. 136)4. However, irrespective of the various styles, negotiation strategy essentially follows certain steps in the process of its operation 1. Prepare for Negotiation: Negotiation of the dispute is easily possible only if the elements of issues are identified and analyzed well. While selecting a strategy to settle the dispute, the manager has to differentiate between the concepts of both goals and objective of the result. It is important to study all gathered information and scan through all possible resources and alternatives. For this, a manager has to consider the interests of his counterpart too. Guarantee of success of a negotiation process depends on how the manager gets ready with a list of potential negotiation points. Such points must be framed on the basis of the estimation on issues likely to be placed by the opponent and the value of a coincidence of some elements common in nature. 2. Communicate to persuade: Primary objective of the managerial communication is finding the best result from the working group. And in business, it is all about meeting the objective in the smoothest possible way. In the making of a negotiation process, effective communication leads a major way. Communication is the only device to convince or control the opponents with what one has to say. There are many personal and individual elements in influential communication. Clarity of the content, time of expression, conviction of expression and confidence in the strategy chosen etc may be considered factors of communication for influence. Though the talks in negotiations are aimed at settling disputes, the manager has to be time sensual. In short, the outcome of negotiation depends on the style of communication you choose (bizhelp24)5. 3. Removing Cultural Barriers In the international level of management, the workplace is open to all potential incumbents irrespective of his caste, creed or region. There were particular segments for marketing meant of the colored people. As Sunshine (1990, p. 80) states, communicating across linguistic and cultural barriers is inevitably confusing, frustrating, and draining; and therefore, a manager has to train himself to tolerate high levels of stress and ambiguity.6 In order to avoid a possible problem, the manager must be aware of the culture and system of life practiced by the country where the outsiders come from. He must also possess respect for other countries, simply for the reason that he is in the business. Usual problems of cultural barriers are from the discrimination or easygoingness of a manager towards some particular groups in consideration with their culture and heritage. This erupts a lot of problems and the manager can find solutions only after due consideration of the interest of other nationals to work together with the disputant groups also. 4. Negotiation Process Negotiation is a wider term when concerned to the strategic management issues of an organization. It requires careful study of the issues and a great process to execute while being taken into operation. The process of negotiation intensively sets its focus on the result rather than the issue itself. Every business organization at some point or the other is subject to have negotiations. Though the procedures for negotiation are not complicated, they must be aligned in a particular process with distributive elements as discussed in the following; 1. Blueprint Setting While making a frame of agenda setting in negotiations, the organizer has to get through elements like behavioral prospective, conceptual frame work and other influential propositions which can be termed as a ‘blue print’ according to which the final activities of the face-to-face meeting will be determined (Dietmeyer 2004, p. 13). There should be study on the possible advantages of conditions where sequential negotiations taking on simultaneous negotiations. There should also be focus mainly on promotion of integrity of ideas and agreements between parties involved in negotiations. A great portion of the agenda should be meant for utility of the negotiation with consideration for time of implementation of the result derived from the discussion. A strong agenda focuses largely on the positive aspects of the company’s goals. 2. Building Confidence A manager at the top position in an organization is highly responsible for the stability of the tenure of management affairs in the fairest possible way. He has to comply with the fact that the disputants from either side are with equal vigor to win the debate. There should be no room for discouraging elements in the negotiation in the form of oppression of ideas of the disputants. Confidence building is exceedingly important in international level negotiations in order to fill the absence of a law (Allenby & Richards 1994, p. 111).7 A workforce thus encouraged by the management is sure to work for the benefit of the organization with improved spirit and driven motivation for the achievement of almost any task without disputes among groups. 3. Bargaining Bargaining is a very important element in negotiation of a dispute. Even for the common settlements of fights among neighbors or relatives, more pressure is always exerted by the bidder of the strongest bargain. According to the general concept, negotiation is meant to bridge the gap between two parties on contradictory values; and the gain of bargaining to any party means the loss of the other (Agarwal & Dupont 2001, p. 10474)8. Based on the size of the organization, the manager should consider the comparative possibility of a more cooperative integrated strategy with a rather competitive distributive strategy. While considering the suggestions of most economists and management thinkers the manager has to consider that integrated negotiation is better than distributive negotiation as it allows growth of the organization as a whole. 4. Building Long-term Commitment The need for a negotiation arises only when there is lack of mutual concern. If the management insists the same in the organizational operations, it is easy to find linking factors that work for the betterment of any condition in the group. A manager needs to be fair and transparent in his deeds and dealings all the time. His motivated spirit inspires the employees for a long standing relationship with the organization. Building confidence and long term commitment must be the part of negotiation. The manager should develop a strategy to protect the interest of all parties concerned. There can be parameters of measuring the conviction of one end in connection with the argument but it should never mean that failure is everything in the dispute. 5. Compromise & Contract Compromise is obviously the greatest tool in dispute settlement. The negotiation process usually ends in signing a contract which includes the provisions to move from the identified problems to new policies and their implementation (Kennedy 2007, p. 60)9. The facilitator of the argument must consider the possibility of mutual compromise in various elements and put forth the same to the disputants. Thus he can safeguard the honor of the organization from being drawn to the attention of share holders and the public. 5. Interview with Lee, the Negotiator In order to understand the practical feasibility of negotiation theories and processes I decided to conduct an interview with a local business owner who started his sales position in retail and after a couple of years of experience decided to open a wholesale line to meet the demands requests of hundreds of customers. His name is Rich Lee. He’s the owner of Automotive Distribution Service Company. He started his business in 1993 when he decided to leave his sales job at San Jose Honda Dealership. He had been working at Honda for the past few years. He used to deal with customer almost every day and realized that customer satisfaction is the number one priority for the company. His performance on Honda was considerably fine. He could sell more than twenty cars in one month. He earned a good income from the sales commission that left him little worry about his life. At this juncture, he learns that local mechanic shop get parts from dealership at wholesale price and then exert cheaper labor to make more margins. He thought why independent mechanic shop doesn’t want to use genuine product Lee started his own business as an answer to this question. He said that “in 1994 there was nobody in San Jose supplied non genuine parts claiming genuine quality to local mechanic shop, they have to rely on dealership alone. From his answers I could understand that he is a man with high potential of negotiation skills for he demonstrated genuine concern to the complaints of customers, and tried to update the quality of the service. Obviously it was his skills and strategies that brought him from a sales person at Honda dealership to one of the largest auto parts wholesalers’ in California. Conclusion A successful out come of a clear cut negotiation reflects in the trust and respect the clients possess for the company. The terms and dialogues in the argument need to be reciprocal and the approach to the opposition must be considerate of the status of the opponent and the value of their position in the organization. Negotiation therefore, is the amalgamation of ideas of concerned people who come to an agreement that serves the best interest of everyone. A manager has to see that the internal disputes are settled well with the consideration of satisfaction of both parties involved in the arbitration. The objective of negotiation is not to take advantage of the other people; if it happens thus, the party might feel discontented and leave the proposal (Cohen, p. 3). There should be provisions for negotiation of approaches of disputing people and their behavior to form constructive ideas for the benefit of the management. There lies the ability of the manager to promote collaborative relationships in the organization among different departments by arranging frequent meetings where people exchange there ideas and feel comfortable of being recognized. He should also facilitate programs for positive behavior building and open speaking session in the organization through which people get extra energy to lessen the burden of responsibility. Viability of the strategy should be reinforced with the construction of a motivational spirit within the organizational objective as a whole. The manager must take initiative to educate the employees of the fact that the organization has a larger view of things than the group of individuals that form a part of it. It is never so easy to make internal negotiation successful by keeping both parties equally content. How great and clever the manager may be, he has to build a strong net of interpersonal relationships in the workplace. This requires a lot of effort on study and analysis of the problems from the grass-root level. Finally, his success depends on the feasibility of the much needed both-win condition in every probable dispute within the organization. References Allenby, B.R. & Richards, D. J. (Eds). (Eds.). (1994). The Greening of Industrial Ecosystem. Washington. National Academies. Agarwal, V. K. & Dupont, C. (2001). Negotiation & Bargaining. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Elsevier Science Ltd. Retrieved from http://basc.berkeley.edu/pdf/articles/Negotiation%20and%20Bargaining.pdf Arnold, C. A. & Jewell, L. A. (Eds). Beyond Litigation: Case Studies in Water Rights Disputes. Environmental Law Institute. Cohen, S. (2002). Negotiating Skills for Managers, McGraw-Hill Professional. Dietmeyer, B. J. & Kaplan, R. (2004). Strategic Negotiation: A Breakthrough 4-Step Process for Effective Business Negotiation. US. Kaplan Publishing. Kennedy, G. (2007). Strategic Negotiation. Hampshire. Gower Publishing, Ltd. Negotiation Skills. (July 21, 2010). Bizhelp24. Retrieved from http://www.bizhelp24.com/personal/employment-and-personal-development/negotiation-skills.html Negotiation Skills. Businesswealth.com. retrieved from, http://www.businesswealth.com.au/business/management/relationships/negotiation-skills.asp Silkenet, J. R., Aresty, J. M. & Klosek, J. (Eds.). (2009). The ABA Guide to International Business Negotiations. Edn 3, American Bar Association. Sunshine, R. B. (1990). Negotiating for International Development: A Practitioner’s Handbook. Netherlands. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. Read More