Project Management

Vineet Kumar,./24th Sep, 2014 4/166/5

We need to understand that the conflicting parties are not enemies but are actually allies having difference in opinions. So, it becomes the requirement of the conflicting parties to seek for the solution which not only their own individual needs but also shall serve other parties to the conflict and also to the interest of the parent organization. Fisher developed a negotiation skill based on these requirements called the principled negotiation or Win-Win. This method has basically four points:

1. Separate the people from the problem: when the emotions take over the conflicting parties, they see the difference in opinion very distinctly and try to impose their interest on others and others do the same, this makes the situation rampant and the main objective of the project is lost. So in order to avoid this, the substantive problem should be carefully defined so that everyone can work on it rather than on each other.

Non-work example: Suppose in any project there occurs a situation of shortage of funds, the finance can poke the operations department that they did not escalate the requirements accurately, the operations can prove their point by saying they encountered unforeseen situations to be taken care of. This Situation has to be understood on the basis of the requirement of the objectives rather than getting involved in interpersonal conflicts.

2. Focus on interest, not on positions: This refers that the parties should have open discussion based on focus on the main objectives rather than based on each other’s ego involvement in his/her position. When the negotiations focuses on interest, the negotiator must determine the underlying concern of the other party. Knowledge on the other party’s interests allows a negotiator to suggest solutions that satisfy the other party interest without agreeing with the...