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Presentation
at the Leadership Nursing Training Program at the National Neuroscience
Institute King Fahad Medical City on August 18, 2013 by Professor Omar Hasan
Kasule Sr.
1.0 OVERVIEW
Negotiations
are pervasive: Leaders spend a lot of their time in negotiations. Daily life,
public or private, revolves around negotiating with others. You may not even be
conscious of being involved in negotiations. Most major decisions, private and
public, are not unilateral. They involve negotiations with others to reach an
acceptable consensus.
2.0 PURPOSES
OF NEGOTIATIONS
Negotiation
is necessary to protect your interests, and get as much advantage as possible
without entering into costly and bruising confrontations. Most conflicts can be
resolved through negotiation. Good negotiation turns confrontation into
cooperation. Physicians must be able to negotiate with their patients and
relative to agree on a treatment plan otherwise a lot of conflicts and
misunderstandings will occur.
Learning
negotiation skills: Negotiation skills can be learned. They can be improved by
experience and discussions with experienced negotiators.
3.0 WIN-WIN
NEGOTIATIONS
What
is win-win negotiation?: Negotiations can be win-win in which each party leaves
satisfied or win-lose in which one party leaves with a feeling of winning and
the other leaves with a feeling of having lost. A win-win outcome is the best
in a negotiation. It ensures that each party gets the maximum it can from the
transaction, part as friends who can work together again. Both objectives and
relations have to be considered. Future relationships may be lost by aggressive
pursuit of objectives.
Win-win
negotiation requires avoiding stereotyping the other party. Such stereotypes
confuse your judgment. Win-win negotiation requires avoiding extremes. The just
equilibrium is the way to negotiate. Win-win negotiation is joint
problem-solving; the alternative is power negotiation using threats,
intimidation, and other power tactics that will end in deadlock. Win-win
negotiation focuses on positive solutions. It aims at reaching an agreement
satisfactory to both sides by a process that is as painless as possible.
Satisfaction could be achieved even if one party has through miscalculation
compromised its interests. It is all well as long as they are not aware of
their mistake.
Elements
of win-win negotiation: Win-win negotiation has the following elements:
separating people from the problem, looking at interests and not positions,
creating options for mutual gain, getting all parties to use objective
criteria, enough time to prepare for and carry out negotiations and optimum
circumstances under which negotiation is carried. The focus should be on
solving problems and not on personalities. Interests and not positions should
be defended. A negotiating position can be given up or changed without giving
up your interests. Options for mutual gains should be vigorously explored.
Win-win negotiators concentrate on objective criteria. A win-win outcome in negotiations
requires enough time to prepare so that decisions and moves are well-studied
and are not emotional reactions.
Alternative
to win-win: If you are not interested in a win-win outcome, you have the
liberty not to negotiate at all and to use other approaches to solving the
problem.