Summary of Implementing Strategies in Extreme Negotiations

The topic of the article “Implementing Strategies on Extreme Negotiations” is a conversation between the hosts HBR and guest Jeff Weiss and Jonathan Hughes. The article explains the principles of a negotiation, preparation for a negotiation, strategies or tactics to apply during a negotiation and develop negotiation skills to apply strategies.

A negotiation is “extreme” when risks and danger to threats are too high. In such, situations it is important to remember the principles of negotiating, moreover, principles are similar to strategies. Motivating the other party, use facts for convincing, construct and evaluate an innovative yet fair solution.

Understanding the other party’s requirement and negotiating tactically is, emphasized, rather than reacting immediately. Understanding the requirement and motivation of the other party involves a few steps. Firstly brainstorm possible motives, secondly assume certain hypothesis and finally test the other party. This will give way to come up with a solution for a win-win. Moreover in scenarios where the expectations of the other party is too high, unexpected and without a warning, it is important to keep cool and question in a way that traps the other party to answer and feel awkward if not answered.

No matter how experienced a negotiator is, preparation plays a vital role to a negotiation’s outcome. The article provides a seven-element checklist to prepare strategically.

1. 1.      Consider the interest of all the parties involved in the negotiation. It could be our own, the other party’s or a third party’s interest.
2. 2.      Look into the alternatives also known as the BATNA abbreviation of Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement.
3. 3.      Brainstorm solutions that all parties can agree to.
4. 4.      Think of standards to validate solutions.
5. 5.      Identify the commitments that parties can make.
6. 6.      Rank the relationship based on importance
7. 7.      Come up with a communication plan

To come with a BATNA there are 3 operations; firstly invent a list of actions, secondly improve some good ideas and convert them into practical options and lastly select the best solution as the BATNA.

Develop negotiation skills to use strategies

Individual Negotiator	The Firm as a Negotiator
Prepare using the seven element checklist	Standardize a negotiation process
Practice in a low risk negotiation, develop a birds-eye view of the problem	Make preparation and review the parts of the process
Review by evaluating the good and bad in a particular negotiation	Develop common tools and methods that the whole firm follows as a unit.
Get Feedback from an observer to evaluate yourself	Send consistent Messages by making sure the result of negotiation is clearly, explained to the negotiator.
Teach and coach others to keep in touch

The strategies prescribed in the article are similar to principles of a negotiation. The strategies; get the picture, uncover and collaborate and elicit genuine buy-in are similar when in action. The strategies focus on the other party’s requirement, involves researching the other party, getting the truth out and equating a win-win solution. The strategy to build trust first is ideal to a mistrust or misunderstood scenario leading to a negotiation. The strategy to focus on process means to change the tone of the negotiation and focus on the real problem.

Conclusively, most of the strategies prescribed in the article cater to certain scenarios and requires a balance of tough and soft negotiator characteristic. In fact, most of the examples given in the article denies, immediate, aggressive and disrespectful reaction when in crunch situation and encourages digging deep, exercising empathy and coming up with innovative solutions.

Negotiation Skill

Negotiation Skills

Negotiation is defined as procedure to settle differences between two parties. It involves avoiding arguments and concluding with an agreement or a compromise (skillsyouneed.com, 2013).

Similarly, negotiations could be defined as facilitating a means to communicate for two parties, allowing them to reach a mutually agreed outcome.

The three elements of negotiations are as follows:
Process - How is the negotiation carried out?
Behavior - The relationship between the parties
Substance - What is the negotiation for?

There are two main types of negotiations namely; distributive and integrative negotiations.

Distributive Negotiations occur when there is no clear solution that both parties can agree on with their different wants. This type of negotiation is also called "The Fixed Pie" because there is only limited amount of things being distributed to the parties involved. Negotiation.com (2013) explains this as a "Who wants the last piece of pizza?" situation, where everybody looks at each other, then the pizza and finally several hands reach out for the pizza. This implies that in a distributive negotiation, one party wins and the other party losses.
Distributive Negotiations always involve parties who neither met before nor meet in the future. It could result in three possible scenarios: win - lose, lose - win or lose – lose.

Example of Distributive Negotiation (ARMPD Lectures)

The scenario was clearly for a distributive negotiation. The three wheel driver had the upper hand because he knew the foreigners would not know the price for a kilometer. The driver won the negotiation getting 1000/= and the foreigners lost the negotiation by giving up and paying off the driver the 1000/=


Integrative Negotiations occur when the parties agree to an outcome or solution which results in a win to both parties. Negotiation.com (2013) describes integrative as a joining of separate parts as a whole. Such a negotiation implies an action to join forces and cooperate with each other to do something together.
Integrative Negotiations do not disrupt the relationship between the parties. It always results in win - win scenario.

Example of Integrative Negotiation (ARMPD Lectures)

The scenario was clearly for an integrative negotiation. The two parties were sisters fighting for the division of their father's will. The two parties used a 3rd party to come up with a solution. Ultimately both parties lost some valuable and both parties won some, importantly both parties were satisfied. This is an example of using a mediator to solve a problem and come to mutual agreement.

Negotiation Styles - Self Evaluation
The following graph clear shows the characteristics of the types of negotiation styles.

Competing Style Score 14
Avoiding Style Score 18
Collaborating Style Score 21
Accommodating Style Score 21
Compromising Style Score 21

Assertiveness Index = -4 (Low on Assertiveness)
Cooperativeness Index = +10 (High on Cooperativeness)

The self-assessment scores above proves to be very accurate, it explains the person I am when it comes to a negotiation. A recent incident explains these results. The negotiation was due to an accident between my bike and a strangers van. The accident was my fault, so due to that I gave up the negotiation, the van driver won and I lost a 1000/=. However, it was not a big loss for me, because the van had more damage than the bike so it was worth it solve the issue rather than take it further.

Objectives and Goals

Goals, Objectives and Strategies

Goals can be of short term or long term. Long term goals are similar to a life time achievement. According to Smith Charmayne (2013), goals are a big picture and it is of a broader sense when compared to objectives and strategies. Having a goal in life implies that the individual has a direction to move towards in life and not a ship without a direction in the middle of the sea.

Objectives are more specific than goals, however, leads to achieving the ultimate goal. Strategies are smaller steps that help in achieving the objectives.

There are two methods that could be followed to set goals and objectives;

• Using the SMART technique
• Using the NLP technique

SMART Techniques
The SMART Technique is a goal/objective setting method and it is the most common method used today. Nikitina Arina (goal-setting-guide, 2012) points out that SMART stands for the criteria that needs to be satisfied when setting a goal/obj;

S-Specific
M-Measurable
A-Attainable
R-Realistic
T-Timely

Specific - covers the questions of what, why and how.
Measurable - this makes sure that the progress towards achieving the goal could be measured.
Attainable - ensure that the goal specified is not far fetched, and it is achievable with some real effort and hard work.
Realistic - means the goal must be do-able, which also means that it should not be too easy or impossible to do.
Timely - to impose a time frame to achieve this goal. Giving a deadline provides a clear target to achieve.

My SMART Goals

Short Term	Complete the final draft for the Project Management assignment by the end of this week. Get the character certificate from Alethea International School Dehiwala, next Wednesday at 2.30pm
Medium Term	Reach 100kmph, driving my dad’s bike after maintenance and repairs, in marine drive within 3 months. Complete this semester with minimum of two A s and one B.
Long Term	Become a project manager at Virtusa within 2 years, after graduation. Drive a Lamborghini in Sri Lanka for a period of 2 hours, before turning 25 years.

NLP Technique
Neuro-Linguistic Processing/Programming abbreviated as NLP is also known as The Well Formed Outcome Model, reported by Bodenhamer Bob (neurosemantics.com, 2013). The philosophy behind this technique is making the goal or objective very specific, more specific than the SMART technique, by training ourselves to achieve desired targets through our neurological and physiological capabilities.

Bodenhamer Bob (neurosemantics.com, 2013) advises the following steps that aid in identifying an individual's desired state.

1. State the Goal in positive term - this is to compare the current state and the future goal optimistically. Answering questions like what is needed? where are you now? etc.
2. Specify the goal in Sensory Based Terms - Involves the break-down of the big goal into smaller achievable objectives, analyzing the role played by all senses like see, hear, feel, etc. 
3. Specify the goal in a way that you find compelling - In a nutshell, when you see the goal, make sure to see yourself having achieved that goal.
4. Run a quality control check to make sure the goal fits you - this is to make sure that no part of the individual objects to this goal, also pay attention to how oneself responds to this step in terms of images, sound, words and sensation.
5. Self initiated and maintained - make sure that this goal does not depend or is an influence of another individual, it is purely your goal and is maintainable.
6. State the context of the goal - test the goal by answering the questions of where, when, how and with whom.
7. State the resources required to achieve the goal - identify the resources required to get this goal, ask yourself if it had been done before by some else or yourself, what are the barriers to achieve this goal.
8. Evidence Procedure - finally, state how the achievement is realized or evaluated.

Both the above describes techniques are proven to be helpful in goal setting and achieving. However, personally, the SMART goal setting technique is more preferable, because it has less planning when compared with the NLP technique. Also, the short term goal listed in the table above was achieved and I am comfortable with the technique.

In conclusion, the SMART technique is a way of putting down the goal in a mind in a specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely manner. Where as the NLP technique trains an individual to work towards the goal. It more specific and it digs deep to achieve the desire.

Time Management

Time management is simply using common sense, which helps in using time effectively and productively (mindtools.com, 2013). "This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it", quoted by Ralph Waldo Emerson (2013), agree, that if the time available is synchronized well with the workload of a person, there will always be enough of time.

Managing time is, for some people, a tedious task, because anything involving planning is tedious. However, application of such a plan on a daily basis shows the virtues of time management. Out of the many theories put forward for time management, Pareto’s 80-20 rule, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the pickle jar theory helps us to understand the time management concept.

Pareto’s 80-20 rule
Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist came up with a formula to explain the unequal distribution of wealth in his country (Reh John F About.com, 2013). According to Reh John F (2013), Pareto came up with the 80 is to 20 rule, observing that 80% of the wealth was owned by only 20% of the population.

This theory is applicable for many events, according to vectorstudy.com (2012), in the field of business the 80-20 acts as a common rule of thumb. This implies that the 80-20 rule is applicable when it comes to time management too.

Typical application of this rule is to remind ourselves to focus 80% of our time to concentrate on only 20% of the most important work.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Abraham Maslow put forward a motivational theory, now known as the Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs (Cherry, K. Psychology.about.com, 2013). According to Ridenour Lee (2013, selfevloution.net) there are five levels in the hierarchy. 

The lowest level at the bottom is Physiological needs: this includes the basic needs such as air, water, food, sleep and shelter. 
The next level is safety, which is the feeling to be protected and secure from any dangerous event.
Above safety is the social need, which is the need to belonging, love and affection. Friendship, romantic relationship and family bonds help achieve this need.
Esteem needs becomes increasingly important when the 3 previous needs are satisfied. Esteem needs includes, the feeling to be valued, respected, personally worthy and socially recognized.
Lastly, the highest level of the hierarchy is self – actualization. Self – actualization is when, all other needs are satisfied and a person meets his highest potential, find the true meaning in his/her life and seeks inner happiness.

Maslow’s theory classifies the importance of human needs and this helps us to prioritize our workload based on the time available to us.

The Pickle Jar Theory
The pickle jar theory explains the concept to successful time management using an example involving a large jar, thereby giving the name for the theory. According to Wright Jeremy (alistapart.com, 2002) the first step of the example is to fill the jar with stones, once it is full, put a handful of pebbles and shake the jar for the pebbles to settle between the stones. Afterwards, fill the jar with sand until no sand could fill in. Finally, add water to the jar to fill every molecule of space available. However, the wrong way to this example is to start by putting the water, sand, pebbles and stones respectively, this way the jar will not be able to hold all the stones. 

When it comes to time management, the stones become the most important tasks, pebbles are activities we enjoy doing, sand are the routine activities and water are activities that clutter up our lives and get in everywhere (inesemillere.com, 2012).

Out of the three theories described above, the pickle jar theory is a simple one and practically shows the importance of time management.

Other Time management tools are as follows:
•         Reminders
•         Planners
•         Diary entries
•         To-Do list
•         Time Tables
•         Avoiding interruptions and distractions
•         Prioritize work
•         Delegate work  

Prioritize activities

	Urgent	Not Urgent
Important	·         Completing project management assignment ·         Update ARMPD Blog ·         Get Character certificate from school	·         Football practices ·         Checking Emails
Not Important	·         Check stumbleupon.com ·         Watch lectures on ted.com	·         Watching movies and TV Series ·         Playing PC games

Conclusively, time management is an important skill for a post-graduate student. However, I do not use any of the tools and techniques explained above, I am a more of a with the flow type of person. Moreover, research on time management shows me the virtues of it and application of certain tools like; timetables and prioritized to do list have reduced stress when nearing deadlines when compared with previous deadlines.

Applied Research Methods and Professional Development (ARMPD)

Aim of this module is to submit a research report, useful for the final year based on a business problem solvable through Information Technology.

A portfolio report based on independent research and a project proposal (final year project research) will assess the student’s performance. Each assignment accommodates 50% of the marks.

ARMPD covers two main aspects, i.e. research methods and professional development. The research methods, includes learning vital techniques to carry out a research. These techniques allow us to eliminate and get exactly what is required for our research from different research sources.

The professional development aspect of this module elaborates methods such as time management, which applying on day-to-day living will bring about personal and professional development.