Fisher and Ury's book Getting to Yes offers a win-win negotiation model (when possible). The book makes the following points:
Negotiation is a way to settle differences. There are ways to make it easier. There are principles to start with:
1. DON'T bargain over POSITIONS
2. Separate the PEOPLE from the PROBLEM
3. Focus on INTERESTS not positions
4. Invent OPTIONS for mutual gain
5. Insist on using OBJECTIVE CRITERIA.
6. Develop or determine your BATNA (Best Alternative to No Agreement).
Right off the bat I got one key point from the book: If possible negotiate HOW you're going to negotiate before you negotiate WHAT you're going to negotiate. What do you think?
There are four pressures impacting any negotiations: Power, time, knowledge and leverage. How does the book address these? Specifically:
POWER - How does BATNA address power?
TIME - Traditionally, 90 per cent of negotiation occurs in the last 10 per cent of time. Will this book's techniques mean better use of time? For you? For the other party?
KNOWLEDGE - A lot of negotiation seems to be, "You show me yours - then I'll show you mine". How does this book view knowledge? In this book, is it knowledge or understanding that make the difference?
LEVERAGE - Can there be mutual leverage if negotiation is done by the book (this book)?
These are starter questions. Feel free to inject personal experiences that may apply to the above.
I have found that approach described in Getting to Yes is an effective way to resolve conflict situations or situations involving competing interests in a library.
ReplyDeleteA key insight is separating the person from the problem. Failure to do so prevents progress. Another very useful concept is the idea that contrary to popular opinion not all negotiation is a zero-sum game (i.e. I win, you lose or you win, I lose). Once the underlying legitimate interests of both parties are clarified and each party is in some way committed to addressing these legitimate interests, the way is cleared for developing creative options that can result in a win-win resolution improving the position of all parties to the negotiation. Finally, the idea of using objective external standards to measure what is a fair outcome is critical to the process.
While it may not seem at first that negotiation plays a significant role in library work, many of the critical things we do from resolving personnel issues, to dividing up tasks or resources between divisions, to securing adequate budgets all involve negotiation. Applying best practices to these tasks improves results for everyone.