Negotiation Process Overview

Negotiation Process

• Process for reaching agreement between parties considering influencing factors.
• Issues triggering negotiations: Grievance, working conditions, wages, retrenchment, dismissal.
• Motivation to negotiate: Aspiration (achieving something), identity (image), initiation (motivation of other party), social (distribution outcomes), epistemic (knowledge validation).
• Environmental influences: Macro-economic (inflation, policy), micro-economic (market, competition), technological advances, societal factors, political factors (media, demographics, public policy), and skills (delimiting bargaining unit).
• Skills for successful negotiation: Trust, commitment, willingness to act, knowledge, expectations, past relationship, negotiator skills.
• Power influence in negotiation: Reward, coercive, referent, expert, legitimate.
• Negotiation Strategies: Willing to take risks, dominance, gain support, make other party look bad, time advantage, knowledge, courageous act, sufficient information, maintain contact with constituents, principles.

Good Negotiators

• Profile: Wide range of options and outcomes, co-operation, establish upper/lower limits, flexible, long-term objectives, avoid irritating expressions.
• Qualities: Tact, flexible, communication skills, information handling, listening skills, handling stress, reasoned arguments, depth of knowledge.

Negotiation Preparation

• Process includes initiator, negotiation planning sheet, conventions, objectives, area of negotiation, negotiating team selection, main issues, interests definition, and bargaining range.

Conducting Negotiations

• Opening phase: Establish position, feel out other party.
• Body: Present arguments, counter arguments, display commitment, concessions, caucuses, impasses, and deadlocks.
• Final offers: Threats, bluffs, sanctions.
• Closure: Deadlines, funny money, language, fatigue, limited authority, strategies, killing with kindness, change of pace good/bad cop.

Agreement Types

• Agreement to bargain.
• Wages, conditions, and procedures.
• Subject-related agreements.
• Monitoring agreements.

Enforceability

• Check progress and what employees, unions, negotiators have done.
• Enforceability of an agreement (e.g., dispute referral to CCMA).

Explore the essential components of the negotiation process, including the various influencing factors, motivations to negotiate, and key skills required for success. Understand how power dynamics and negotiation strategies come into play in reaching agreements between parties.