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Major Negotiation Ideas For A Middle Ground Compromise

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Fishers book Major negotiation ideas Negotiations often take the form of positional bargaining. People would stake out extreme positions in the beginning and then negotiate towards a middle ground compromise. This is bad for several reasons. Firstly, if explicit demands are made in the beginning, both sides become personally committed to their positions and will defend them with unnecessary and counterproductive force. Secondly, it encourages stubbornness when egos become intertwined with issues. Furthermore, the process of haggling towards a middle ground is time consuming. Last but not the least, such negotiating styles endanger relationships if one side feels it has lost at the expense of the other party. Fisher and Ury maintain that …show more content…

The parties should try to step back and put themselves in the other 's shoes. The more that the parties are involved in the process, the more likely they are to be involved in and to support the outcome. Emotions are a second source of people problems. Negotiation can be a frustrating process. People often react with fear or anger when they feel that their interests are threatened. The first step in dealing with emotions is to acknowledge them, and to try to understand their source. The parties must acknowledge the fact that certain emotions are present, even when they don 't see those feelings as reasonable. The parties must allow the other side to express their emotions. They must not react emotionally to emotional outbursts. Symbolic gestures such as apologies or an expression of sympathy can help to defuse strong emotions. Communication is the third main source of people problems. Negotiators may not be speaking to each other, but may simply be grandstanding for their respective constituencies. The parties may not be listening to each other, but may instead be planning their own responses. Even when the parties are speaking to each other and are listening, misunderstandings may occur. To combat these problems, the parties should employ active listening. The listeners should give the speaker their full attention, occasionally summarizing the speaker 's points to confirm their understanding. It is important to remember

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