TIPO Model

was my goal to focus on collaborative negotiation strategies. I have been involved in a huge number of

The negotiations class was an insightful experience. It helped me attain a better understanding of my strengths and weaknesses both personally and professionally. It helped put into perspective a lot of my theoretical analysis conducted on group dynamics and, most importantly, has helped me become a more effective negotiator. My goal with this paper is to communicate the evolution of my negotiation skills during the progression of the course.

In this course, I have learned that it is possible to dramatically improve my ability to negotiate. I can improve my monetary returns and feel better about myself and the people with whom I deal. I also learned that there are several ways to test my intuition and approach. The course provided me with an opportunity to assess my “instinctive” bargaining style and provides suggestions for how to further develop my bargaining abilities. The negotiation exercises were a good way to cement several of the concepts from the book and lecture and gave me several opportunities to get to know my classmate more and test some new insights with them.

The exchange of information is vital to succeeding in any negotiation. The quote, "knowledge is power", applies directly to attaining a win-win negotiated agreement. It helps to avoid thinking about a negotiation as a game or war between sides. This type of thinking will naturally discourage you from wanting to truthfully share information. Willingly exchanging information with an "opponent" or "enemy" is seen as a bad idea in war and most games. A good negotiator should approach a negotiation as if they are dealing with their "fraternal twin". A negotiator should expect to share information that he/she would expect the other side to share. By sharing information, a negotiator can build trust between all parties, and create an atmosphere where the other parties feel comfortable

Also, I learned that although it may seem a lot better to maintain cordiality and an atmosphere of trust during the negotiation, at some point, when it is not going anywhere, it might be better to adopt a stronger position. Mainly, it had to be used to show the other party that even if an agreement is profitable for both parties, there is a point of no return, that it is time to really start looking for other solutions, more creative ones.

Learning from each other - Everyone has their own individual approach to changes and by working together and learning from each other, they are able to view the situation from a fresh perspective and it gives them the chance to be flexible and innovative with their approach.

Throughout every career, military or civilian, is an inherent requirement to conduct effective negotiations. For example, as a civilian this is commonly how a career starts, with a negotiation over starting salary. However, in a military career, the opportunity to barter and negotiate is a privilege earned after proving that you have the ability to follow orders regardless of personal preference. The skill of highly effective negotiation could be described as an art, if that is so then there are variables that, to continue the metaphor, are the colors the artist would use to paint. The variables are trust, information, power, and options and are abbreviated as TIPO. I found the TIPO model the most important concept in module 8 because

Another interesting concept that I came across was that, I personally witnessed myself competing and avoiding to be less cooperative at times and was immediately pulled back to see this. However, I also believe that I brought a culture into the group, which fulfilled the role of a negotiator in order to avoid conflict and save time on decision making. This was to me a breakthrough in my learning experience only because I did not know I had them(skills). I understood the fact that many tradeoffs are made in a project, and a mediator was always in favor of the group. My intuition that our group had an integrative characteristic to its negotiation policies proved right. A lot of this was to make each other happy at the moment and also the fact that we were peers hoping to maintain long term relationship was also a reason. However, it was not possible for me to create a win win situation all the time. I believe that my reasoning and persuasion skills helped to some extent to avoid conflict. This was also a perfect opportunity for me to put a number of other alternatives on the table for discussion and thus exploring my creative side. Overall, I must say that looking back at our achievements, I think it was worth the time and effort and was not bad at

Throughout completing these modules, I learned multiple lessons that will help me in future negotiating situations. I learned to take

Consequently, negotiation is a process that can be approached in many ways. No matter what strategy we choose, success lies in how well we prepared. The key to negotiating a beneficial outcome is the negotiators’ ability to consider all the elements of the situation carefully and to identify and think through the options. At the same time, negotiators must be able to keep events in perspective and be as fair and honest as circumstance allows. Because a common ground or interest has brought the parties to the negotiating table, a negotiator can benefit by trying to capitalize on this common

Pre-negotiation preparation is essential for the optimal outcome of a negotiation, as it allows one to design a strategy and plan that can increase the probability of a beneficial agreement. Good preparation means thorough understanding of one’s own and the other party’s relevant information, including interests, constraints, and tradable resources. An effective negotiator should know one’s own best

To improve the likelihood for success, one must know what he/she will do if the negotiation is unsuccessful, what are the alternative actions, and will those actions negatively or positively influence one s ability to reach the desired goal. According to Lewicki, Barry, and Saunders (2011), having the right strategy greatly improves a negotiation 's success. Peggy has the following negotiation information:

These include perception, emotion, and communication. Perception focuses on understanding the other side’s thought process and putting on their shoes to understand their point of view on the negotiation. This is often difficult as you are commonly defending your own standpoint but must be done in order to make sense of what is and is not an acceptable deal. The best way to do this is to step back and look at the issue objectively as if you were not involved. Emotion is also an important trait to be aware of as a healthy mindset promotes healthy negotiation. If both parties have a strong emotional attachment to the issue, the are more likely to battle one another than to work together to solve the problem. In order to support emotions, consider all of them as legitamate and try to be understanding of the other parties issues. Also, do not react to emotional outbursts as emotions on one side can often generate emotions on the other side and both parties may lose focus of the overall goal. Lastly, communication must be supported between both parties and should focus on talking to, hearing, and understanding the other party (Ury, 1981). It is important to speak to the other party in a way that is easy to understand and not send mixed messages. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Also, hear the other party’s concerns and actually focus on them without dismissing them to address your own needs. Also, be sure that all

Although, I am not that strong in leading a negotiation towards it’s ultimate goal. In order to increase the probability of a successful negotiation, for me as an individual, first I should identify the required steps and the order they should be taken in the course of a negotiation and try not to skip any step. The second item in my action plan is to improve my ability to construct trust-based negotiation. If trust is the basis of a negotiation, then both involved parties can think of a long relationship rather than one time transaction and it is what matters.

An effective negotiator is a strategic negotiator, who is able to switch back and forth between different phases of a negotiation without losing the goal in mind. An effective negotiator takes time to process what is happening during the negotiation and ensures that the right problem is being resolved while taking into consideration other party’s intrests to finding a common ground. Concequently those type of actions facilitate in the process of a negotiation by creating a cooperative environment and enhance the furture relationship between the parties (Fells 2012; Sebenius 2001). An effective negotiator aknowledges that no party is the same and as every negotiation, every negotiator is different from one another. These variations explain the DNA of negotiation that requires an effective negotiator to take into considerations the strands of the DNA, such as “reciprocity, trust, power, information exchange, ethics, and outcome” that vary from person to person (Fells 2012, pg 8).