Negotiating with teams

Last week we were assigned with the task of negotiating in teams. Unfortunately, due to absences I was forced to negotiate alone. Fortunately, our group had met the class before so I had some guidelines for what the team wanted. In the reading "How to Manage Your Negotiating Team" there is a section on aligning my teams interests. This was a challenging aspect with the Connecticut Valley Schools negotiation. The reading states that it is common to wrestle with internal conflicts. During the negotiation it was tempting to promote my own personal agenda. This can also be known as the principal agent theory. This theory states that it may be difficult for a person representing someone to act in the other parties best interest. Although it was tempting for me to do this, I stuck with the teams plans and negotiated with them in mind.
I feel that team negotiations are a good idea when the issues at hand are difficult in nature. It can be difficult to address every issue on the agenda which is when a partner is essential. Teammates may notice these issues that are missed and bring them up at the appropriate time. This can lead to a better deal for the team in the end. Team negotiations may also allow for subcommittees which focus on certain areas of the large scale issue. These subcommittee members are experts in the area they are assigned to and use this knowledge to negotiate a deal.
Team negotiations can also be negative in nature if the team is not well prepared. If a team member is in the process of negotiating a fellow team member may bring up an issue that was not addressed earlier. This can lead to the team getting weighed down with issues that are not relevant taking away from the larger scope. This can be a risky move that could determine the final deal to not be favorable.

The final offer reaction.

I will have to admit that when I first heard we were watching the movie "The Final Offer" I did not know what to expect. I was surprised to find it a fairly entertaining movie that pertained to a lot of the things that we have discussed in class. I feel that the way both parties initially approached this idea was with the dual concern model. Both parties seemed to want to complete the negotiation in a timely manner with a strong relationship still intact. However, this was not the case which led to a very nasty back and forth between both sides of the table.
General Motors wanted to introduce profit sharing to the Canadian branch of the UAW, which was a concept that was already adopted by the American branch of the union. The Canadians did not want this, and instead preferred annual cost of living raises over the life of the contract. They claimed this is what the majority of the union wanted and would not be able to get a contract ratified with profit sharing on the table.
I agree that the Canadian union should have fought for what the union truly wanted. I feel that if they would have settled for something just to achieve a quick resolution this would have led to a disgruntled workforce who in turn could decertify the union.
In the end, the union was able to achieve what it wanted after a hard fought battle. After this deal was struck the union ratified the contract, and a process was put into motion to break away from the UAW. This plan eventually came to fruition, and the Canadians were able to separate for the UAW. They were able to create their own union which still stands to this day.

Negotiating with emotion

On Tuesday 11/15 I will be participating in a mock labor negation for my Labor Relations course. This is a crucial aspect of the course worth a large portion of my final grade. It is important to utilize the skills that I have learned in our negotiation course so far in order to get the best deal. After reading over the article "Negotiating with Emotion" I hope to use the six steps listed in the section to achieve this goal. 

1) How do I want to feel going into this negotiation?- I want to go into this negotiation with the right mindset. The book mentions that I should go into this task almost on edge which is how I will approach this. I say this in regards to my preparedness. If I can anticipate what the other party will offer I can be ready to counter it and throw the other party off guard. This in turn will keep my emotions at bay and will help me avoid irrational decisions. 

2) Why? By achieving the goals listed above, I will be able to achieve the best outcome possible. This will lead to a better grade for my group and increase my confidence for the real world negotiation activity that I will be doing later this week. 

3)What can I do beforehand to put myself in an ideal emotional state? I feel that the best way to put myself in this state is to prepare by knowing the key issues. I need to know what the key issues for my group will be and focus the majority of my time on them. If our group spends to much time trying reach agreements on the less critical issues, the critical ones may fall through the cracks. If I know what these issues are and how to prepare for them, this will put me in the best situation to do this. 

4)What can throw off my balance during a negotiation? I feel that I can be thrown off balance if the other side uses the same strategy as myself. If I expect a negotiation to go a certain way and it does not, I may loose focus on the large scale issues. This could turn the table in the other sides favor which may be hard to recover from. 

5) What can I do in the midst of a negotiation to gain my balance? The best way to gain the balance back on my side is to bring the focus back to the key issues. This will keep me from loosing focus and conceding on issues that should be the main focus of the negotiation. 

6) How do I want to feel when I am finished? I want to feel that both sides were able to achieve something that they wanted. I feel the best way to deal with any negotiation is to have a win-win mentality. This will create a good attitude towards future negotiations. I also want to feel that I did the best for my group. This negotiation deals with more than one party and requires different parties to be happy. This can be achieved by a win-win strategy. As long as I can keep my emotions in check during this negotiation using these steps I can use emotion to my advantage.