Q & A Table of Contents
Do We Need A Formal Negotiation Process?
From: Rosario, San Salvador, El Salvador
Question: I read that a best practice for ensuring internal alignment is to establish a formal negotiation process that is communicated to managers. Are there any points that should be included? How effective do you think this is?
Response: Establishing a formal negotiation process is risky; one finds that no matter how well one knows another person, there can still be surprises. Moreover, unless every single negotiation that takes place within an organization deals with exactly the same issues, it is not wise to get locked into a ‘one size fits all’ mentality for negotiation.
It is far wiser to develop a consistent negotiation philosophy: respect for others, openness to creativity, good preparation, and clarity of communication are critical elements of an approach to negotiation that is most likely to lead to favorable — and wise — agreements.
If the management staff is to be informed of the variety of good ways to negotiate, the most effective way to communicate the negotiation philosophy is to undertake a common training process, where each participant manager has a chance to develop a ‘gut instinct’ approach to negotiation that takes in the elements of negotiation philosophy listed above — and hopefully other strategies and tactics as well.
Some people view negotiation solely as a means for conflict resolution. It can also be used for conflict management and conflict prevention. However the most creative approach is to pursue conflict transformation — where the energy folks are expending on conflict can be channeled into energy used to bring about solutions and approaches that yield positive results.
Good luck,
Steve
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