Negotiation Stratigies Negotiation Strategies the

Negotiation Stratigies Negotiation Strategies The need to amiably and efficiently resolve conflicts resulted from a constantly increasing number of conflicts that are present in all environments and which are mostly due to the numerous changes affecting all features of social, political or economic life. Several methods of resolving conflicts have been promoted by the specialized literature, but out of these, the preferred one seems to be the negotiation.

This basically implies sitting the parties down around the table and starting to discuss the issues at hand in order for each party to make some adjustments and conclude with a generally accepted solution. The discussions are most of the time presided by a neutral party which could come both from within the organization as well from outside it, such as companies specialized on mediating workforce conflicts. A particular reason why negotiation is often preferred in resolving conflicts is given by the capabilities of the negotiator.

He is generally a tertiary party that has the ability to distance himself from the problems encountered by the two conflicting parties and analyze the matter with an objective and critical eye. Foremost, he often has extensive theoretical knowledge and practical expertise in dealing with people and he can best understand the reasons forwarded by the involved parties. The intermediary between the parties has various interpersonal skills and he has the capability to make himself liked or at least agreed and accepted by the parties.

He is able to communicate with them, offer and retrieve feedback. In addition, the wide array and diversity of the previously handled situations offers the negotiator the chance to best comprehend the lengths of the conflict. He is also capable to offer the parties a new perspective of the matter, as seen by an unbiased outsider. Then, the negotiator has the capability to help the parties see the other side of the problem as presented by the disputant.

In this particular sense, the process has the net advantage that it is unbiased and commences without accepting any facts or opinions, all following to be established throughout open communications. "Any specific negotiation begins with no rules and no accepted facts.

The respective negotiators must reach a consensus concerning a set of rules for conducting the negotiation." (Femberg, 1999) but even if the negotiator is unbiased and does not base his actions on personal preferences, he is well documented on the matter and as such able to implement the best of the strategies available. Negotiation is also to be preferred for the future implications it generates. In this particular sense, it often creates a precedent from which others will benefit and learn.

The resolution of the conflict will then be implemented as a given corporate policy, reducing as such the chances for a similar conflict to once again in the following periods. Further more, the past negotiations, or better said the results of the past negotiations, are yet another characteristic that points out the benefits of the process. Otherwise put, the multitude of problems resolved through negotiation offer the method a positive reputation and makes the parties hope for a positive solution to the impediments.

Another major attribute of the negotiation that makes it preferred in the detriment of other conflict handling procedures is given by its encouragement of communications. "In negotiation, your goal is to maintain an environment that encourages constructive communication. When communication stops, negotiation ends." (Femberg, 1999) in other words, negotiation helps parties get their problems out in the open and also understand the problems faced by the other party.

It encourages them to be open minded and understanding in order to find a middle solution, in which each party reaches at least part of their initially formulated objectives. And the fact that negotiation is objectives-oriented and the parties know their actual demands is yet another reason why negotiation is a preferable procedure. Then, giving the parties the chance to look at the problems from another perspective means one step closer to a viable solution.

Negotiation is foremost important in the context of organizational entities where there is a close and direct connection between the conflicting parties and most importantly, when the overall success of the organization depends on the resolution to the conflict and fruitful future collaboration between the two parties. Then, it also has the benefit of not being biased, situation which sometimes occurs in the case of positional approach.

This generally means that the negotiation is handled from the stand point of a certain position, say for instance the manager, who is not always interested in resolving.