On the road of achieving the win-win
The second meeting of our course was about introducing us to the world of negotiation. Mia went shortly through some theory of negotiations and then we had a chance to do two nice negotiation exercises. In my opinion the teaching part could have been even a bit shorter since we could easily study the slides at home as homework. More action, less lecturing! However, there are usually nice conversations created from Mia's slides which gives credit to going through the theories during the class. It is never a bad thing discussing and questioning theories in a group.
In the first negotiation exercise we got to negotiate about the assessment criteria of our course. This was rather exciting since this topic actually concerned us. What made this negotiation difficult was the fact that there were 20 of us and there were pretty much as many different solutions to our problem. At first the negotiation was a bit all over the place. I think we should have set up some "rules" or process for the negotiation that we then could have followed. Now everyone was just stating their own opinions on the subject and it was very hard to actually direct the conversation to the way of achieving the solution. In the end we ended up voting which at least gave everybody a chance to have their voice heard.
The second negotiation practice was a salary negotiation between an employer and an employee. I got to play the employer's part and as a pair I had wonderful Maria. As a whole we reached a win-win solution, but now when I am looking back our negotiation I think that I may have given up too easily. I think I could have had a chance to hire her with even a bit lower salary if I had been a more clever negotiator. But on the other hand would it then have been a win-win situation anymore? What made it hard this time was the lack of preparation and the fact that Maria was really convincing. She was very good at explaining why she is better that the other applicants and what she really is worth. That self confidence is something I should also learn! All in all very nice exercise and the biggest lesson that I learned was that just be confident and believe in what you are saying.
As a homework we were given a task to find out what do the two different kind of negotiation types distributive and integrative mean. Distributive negotiation is a negotiation where the parties are trying to achieve the best possible value for themselves. Other parties' interests and goals are not valued. In the integrative negotiation the goal is to achieve value together for all parties. Everybody's goals and interests are considered carefully and the final solution is made in a cooperation. A good example of an distributive negotiation would be a buyer-seller negotiation where the seller is aiming for a good profit and the buyer is looking for a cheap price. An example of an integrative negotiation would be negotiation with two business partners who are at the same time trying to make profitable business and achieve some common goals.
A nice negotiation picked from the Simpsons. Although I do not believe this was a win-win situation ;)
Looking forward to the next negotiations,
Sanni
In the first negotiation exercise we got to negotiate about the assessment criteria of our course. This was rather exciting since this topic actually concerned us. What made this negotiation difficult was the fact that there were 20 of us and there were pretty much as many different solutions to our problem. At first the negotiation was a bit all over the place. I think we should have set up some "rules" or process for the negotiation that we then could have followed. Now everyone was just stating their own opinions on the subject and it was very hard to actually direct the conversation to the way of achieving the solution. In the end we ended up voting which at least gave everybody a chance to have their voice heard.
The second negotiation practice was a salary negotiation between an employer and an employee. I got to play the employer's part and as a pair I had wonderful Maria. As a whole we reached a win-win solution, but now when I am looking back our negotiation I think that I may have given up too easily. I think I could have had a chance to hire her with even a bit lower salary if I had been a more clever negotiator. But on the other hand would it then have been a win-win situation anymore? What made it hard this time was the lack of preparation and the fact that Maria was really convincing. She was very good at explaining why she is better that the other applicants and what she really is worth. That self confidence is something I should also learn! All in all very nice exercise and the biggest lesson that I learned was that just be confident and believe in what you are saying.
As a homework we were given a task to find out what do the two different kind of negotiation types distributive and integrative mean. Distributive negotiation is a negotiation where the parties are trying to achieve the best possible value for themselves. Other parties' interests and goals are not valued. In the integrative negotiation the goal is to achieve value together for all parties. Everybody's goals and interests are considered carefully and the final solution is made in a cooperation. A good example of an distributive negotiation would be a buyer-seller negotiation where the seller is aiming for a good profit and the buyer is looking for a cheap price. An example of an integrative negotiation would be negotiation with two business partners who are at the same time trying to make profitable business and achieve some common goals.
A nice negotiation picked from the Simpsons. Although I do not believe this was a win-win situation ;)
Looking forward to the next negotiations,
Sanni
I agree about the first negotiation! It was pretty confusing and not like an actual negotiation at all. I think actual negotiation should a structure as well as clearly defined sides. Preparation is also key. Forming an opinion takes some time, so debating 5 minutes into the problem will not yield the best of outcomes. ^_^
VastaaPoistaI think real negotiations can be very different. Sometimes very good prepared for a salary negotiation and sometimes just a spontaneous negotiation about going home earlier from work. ;)
Poista