Negotiation jujitsu and active listening in conflict mediation

¶ … Negotiator: What are the roles of the negotiator? What is Negotiation Jujitsu? What is active listening?

The role of the negotiator is not to 'win' the argument or to convert either participant engaged in a state of conflict over to one side or the other side. Rather, negotiation is about engaging in a best practices mediation process, whereby an objective satisfactory to both parties is achieved at the end of the process. After all, "most negotiations are repeat performances, and it is "important to recognize and give proper weight to the context in which a negotiation is taking place; if it is within an on-going relationship, the significance of that relationship must be considered. It should be remembered that the "short-term objective of minimizing conflict" must not get in the way of developing and achieving long-range organizational goals. (Banker & Tradesman, 1994)

Thus, the objective of negotiation and the negotiator is to take the sail out of the opponent or the stifling party's wind, in the language of a technique known as negotiation jujutsu, in which the negotiator thus is a middleperson, a mediator between disputing bodies, as well as a decision maker and a positive director of conflict. Active listening, or listening so one hears what is being said so one can repeat what has transpired clearly to another party, in terms that the other party can recognize is key. "The job of a good negotiator is to listen to and understand what others are saying. After all, you can't make an intelligent response to an opinion you do not understand." (Banker & Tradesman, 1994)