Good for You, Great for Me_Finding the Trading Zone and Winning at Win-Win Negotiation by Lawrence Susskind

Author:Lawrence Susskind [Susskind, Lawrence]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Business & Economics, Negotiating, Conflict Resolution & Mediation, Organizational Behavior
ISBN: 9781610394260
Google: 6tPbAgAAQBAJ
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Published: 2014-06-03T14:47:08+00:00

Managing Group Interactions

WHEN MULTIPLE PARTIES GATHER to discuss a packed agenda, the process can descend into chaos or stalemate, making it difficult to find the trading zone or build a winning coalition. It’s usually too much to expect that one of the parties will be able to manage the conversation in an even-handed way. If one party, however well intentioned, tries to assume the role of chair, others may view that as a power grab. And in multiparty negotiation, process opportunism—the possibility that a manager or faction will wrest control of the agenda—is a constant worry.

Right from the start of multiparty talks, the parties may want to enlist a trained neutral—a professional facilitator or mediator. Some people think you bring in a mediator only after a dispute has erupted. But the fact is, a neutral party can guide participants into the trading zone much more effectively than they can find it on their own. (More on this in chapter 5.) Neutrals can be particularly helpful in the information-gathering stage. Through a process of joint fact-finding (as discussed in chapter 1), a mediator can help parties generate data and forecasts that everyone can use to build proposals or packages.

As the number of parties in a negotiation increases, group management becomes a bigger challenge. One factor is the phenomenon known as “groupthink,” a term coined by psychologist Irving Janis. When people work together, sometimes their wish for unanimity overrides their commitment to weighing alternatives carefully. In their desire to please the group, participants are sometimes persuaded to accept solutions that are not in their own best interest. For this reason, negotiators in multiparty situations need to remain in close contact with their back tables. Otherwise, the pressure at the table to reach agreement may cause them to lose touch with the interests they are supposed to be representing.

When multiple parties are considering numerous issues at the same time, it often makes sense to break into smaller working groups. For example, when multiple companies or units are considering a possible merger, they might create separate working groups, populated by experts from all sides, to consider a range of technical issues. These subgroups contribute their findings to the larger conversation. That is, they don’t have decision-making responsibility. Also, they must communicate their input in a way that is understandable to others who are not as well versed in specific technical issues as they are. But the packages that emerge, once the separate pieces have been put together, are more likely to be credible to all sides if they are prepared through appropriately structured working groups.

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