Week 9: Team work, negotiation and conflict resolution

It’s a mind game Source: Google Images 2015

 Reflection exercise 9.2: Negotiation is something we all do on a regular basis. When did you last negotiate? Was it successful? Write down the factors that you think may influence the results of your personal negotiation experience and why.

Negotiation is a skill, learnt and exercised within our daily occupations in almost all occasions of our lives. It is a skill to be harnessed and practiced accordingly, especially within particular job positions or careers, as for my current position as a Member Liaison Officer. I gain and maintain partnerships on a daily basis, through discussions that are negotiated between both organisations to ensure that both parties are satisfied with the agreements that have been put in place. Below is a primary demonstration utilising 3 important tools during a negotiation, of which all 3 I do practice during my partnership negotiations:

A negotiation can be defined as an operational exchange, between one or more parties for the attempt to agree upon a good deal or offer for a particular resource (Robbins, Judge, Millet & Boyle, 2014). My last negotiation, was a partnership decision with the local cinemas to see if they can allow us to advertise on the big screen in lieu for membership services and benefits of our organisation. The first concern was that I couldn’t get in contact with the manager of the business nor did she have the opportunity to meet in person, secondly I was a third party contributor as a work colleague first initiated the partnership discussion.  So I was against a few odds from the beginning, our negotiation process involved emails back and forth, inadvertently the business manager misinterpreted one of my emails. This lead to a very unpleasant call, with utilising the 3 tools outlined within the above video clip we eventually came to the conclusion of a negotiated partnership agreement. Allowing both parties to be satisfied with the end decision.

As according to Eunson (2013,p.435) an effective negotiator must obtain tactful and good communication skills, whether nonverbal or choosing the right people to contribute or discuss with. Negotiators experience advantages and disadvantages in all aspects of implementing a significant agreement. Good negotiations contribute significantly to a success of a business by understanding the other party’s interests and tactics to respond swiftly to achieve the best outcome (The State of Queensland, 2015). Although negotiations can be an intimidating situation, it is important to fully grasp and understand the needs of your organisation and theirs. As the end result can be achieved with a little no how: 

 

References:

Eunson, B 2012, Communicating in the 21st century, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Milton.

The State of Queensland 2015, Business and industry portal: strategies for negotiating, viewed 22 September 2015, https://www.business.qld.gov.au/business/running/managing-business-relationships/negotiating-successfully

Robbins, S, Judge, T, Millet, B & Boyle, M 2014, Organisational Behaviour, Pearson Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW.

 

Week 1: The Importance of Effective Communication

Talk to the hand (2012)

Reflection Exercise: Reflect upon your communication skills and write down what your strengths and weaknesses are – communication-wise…

Communication is a fundamental tool to our daily interaction with one another, and it can also be a complex subject, as communication comes in various forms and more than one may be communicated at the same time. The most basic level of communication for example; body language or non-verbal communication, can be comprised of graphic illustrations such as art, graffiti, simple sketches, images, down to body gestures, physical appearances and more. Communication in its simplest forms demonstrates to us the wider scope of how effective and important it really is, the key is to know how to communicate well. As according to Lasswell (2007, p. 217) communication is an important feature of life at every level, such as expressing your own needs and concerns, and these discussions may also be difficult. Your cultural identity, morals, values and even your environment, determines how effective your communication may be perceived or analysed (Nordby 2008) thus communication in any form involves an important thought process.

Reflecting upon my communication skills, I must first ask myself the following (Engleberg & Wynn 2013, p. 4, cited in Costigan 2014, p. 3);

1. ‘Personal. Do I have meaningful personal relationships?
2. Intercultural. Do I understand, respect and adapt to people from culturally diverse backgrounds?
3. Professional. Do I communicate effectively within and on behalf of an organisation or work team?
4. Intellectual. Do I analyse and evaluate the meaning of multiple and complex messages in an ever-changing world?’

Through the process of self-evaluation, I believe I have a few strengths and weaknesses within personal, professional, intercultural and intellectual situations (as listed above). For example, I participate in discussions by practicing active listening skills whilst considering the persons body language, cultural background (if applicable) and ensuring I don’t break confidentiality or organisational policies.  However, I do need to work on (from experience) certain aspects within my own professional development. My current role within our organisation involves me dealing with intellectual information especially with key corporate stake-holders within our region. This requires a deep thinking process and to practice self-discipline, to pause and to listen intently. I am developing my career, and am aware that I need to read, discover and self-develop my intellectual literacy and negotiation skills, as well as (thanks to the feedback from my mentor) to pause, listen and ask questions where warranted when it comes to communication with our key stake holders.

The following video by Brian Tracy (2012) demonstrates ‘3 effective ways in improving your communication skills’; by simply adding these effective methods we may improve our conversationalist skills:

Overall during this term of studying ‘Communication in Professional Contexts’, I will further gain and develop my self-awareness in how I communicate, and how to do it effectively. Communication has many layers whether it be professional or personal; it is a fundamental stepping stone in the right direction.

References:

Brian Tracy 2012, Brian Tracy: 3 ways to improve you communication skills, video, 5 October, viewed 12 July 2015, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5hMN_XkPQA

Engleberg, IN & Wynn, DR 2013, Think communication, Pearson Education, Boston.

Laswell, H 2007, ‘The structure and function of communication in society’, Communication theory and research magazine, vol. 24, pp. 216-228.

Nordby, H 2008, ‘Values, Cultural identity and communication: a perspective from philosophy of language’, Journal of Intercultural Communication, vol. 7, viewed 27 July 2015, http://www.immi.se/intercultural/nr17/nordby.htm

Talk to the Hand 2012, digital image, viewed 19 July 2015, https://coachingur3ps.wordpress.com/2012/09/12/effective-communication-guidelines-tips/