New Content: Negotiation Strategies and Communications Plan
According to Nazmi, negotiation is “…the interactive social process in which people engage, when they aim to reach an agreement with another party or parties on behalf of themselves” (2008). There several instances or situations which may lead to a negotiation. Moore proposes that “Negotiation occurs between spouses, parents and children, managers and staff, employers and employees, professionals and clients, within and between organizations and between agencies and the public” (n.d.). From these instances pointed out by Moore, five main situations can be identified that may lead to a negotiation, namely: family matters, employment interests, business deals, politics, and other social and interpersonal conflicts.
Nazmi summarizes the styles of negotiation into three: cooperative style, competitive style, and problem-solving style (2008). In each situation that would lead to a negotiation, different techniques and strategies may be used. For family matters, cooperative style can be effective since the family members need to stick together to maintain harmonious and nurturing relationships with each other. When an employee seeks to negotiate his/ her salary or ranking, the style that is applicable for successful negotiation would be competitive due to the possible number of employees who also aim to get the same promotion or perks. The same style is being used in business deals. Business-minded people are often quite competitive themselves because of their interest in being the best business in the market. Politics and social conflicts, on the other hand, require a problem-solving style for negotiating since these matters affect a large number of people. Negotiating for the purpose of solving problems that would benefit the majority of the population is supposedly the interest of politicians and the public.
Moreover, Maiese defined several steps to undergo before tackling a negation (2003). These steps include the following: parties must frame the problem, negotiators must determine goals, negotiators must list issues to be discussed, and negotiators must prioritize goals based on issues. Nazmi also lists down the 12 stages of negotiation: (Stage 1) Evaluate and Select a Strategy to Guide Problem Solving, (Stage 2) Make Contact with Other Party or Parties, (Stage 3) Collect and Analyze Background Information, (Stage 4) Design a Detailed Plan for Negotiation, (Stage 5) Build Trust and Cooperation, (Stage 6) Beginning the Negotiation Session, (Stage 7) Define Issues and Set an Agenda, (Stage 8) Uncover Hidden Interests, (Stage 9) Generate Options for Settlement, (Stage 10) Assess Options for Settlement, (Stage 11) Final Bargaining, and (Stage 12) Achieving Formal Settlement (2008). The person who closes the negotiation should be a person of authority and good judgement, such as the manager, the court judge, or police authorities.
The negotiation process flow begins with establishing the tone of the negotiation. Next, an exchange of information between both parties will take place. After this process, one party after another will propose an initial demand or offer. Bargaining may then be done once offers and demands are raised on the table. Once a decision has been placed, documentation may be done as evidence of the negotiation.
In communicating the negotiation to both parties, various types of media may be used. In this paper, the focus for communication will be via e-mail. In order to present the message, a powerpoint presentation will be used. This presentation will be structured appropriately so as to relay the message effectively to the receiver. It will also include multimedia effects that can further emphasize the message being delivered.
