Library Module 2 - Negotiation
About Negotiation
In this module:
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About Negotiation
Negotiation could be simply described as a process used where two or more parties seek to reach agreement. This is often done informally but can be done formally so that everyone can see the steps involved and understands how the group or parties got from A to B.
Documenting the process is useful when group members change or organisational representatives change.
Participants deciding to go through a negotiation process may or may not:
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have a historical relationship
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have a history of conflict
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have a history of collaboration and trust.
If it is your role to help groups or individuals through a negotiation, there are things you should find out before you proceed:
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What is the history of the relationships involved? How do you know this? How reliable are your sources?
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What 'power' do those negotiating have over their own time, over common resources, over public funds?
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What role would the negotiating parties like you to play, eg. observer, facilitator, mediator?
Things to keep in mind
Through any process of negotiation it is worth remembering:
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to be mindful of building relationships
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to make sure everyone is satisfied before moving on to the next stage
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to identify deeply embedded conflict (but try to avoid solving it in the negotiation). By identifying it at this stage, we ensure that we are aware of the impact this may have on what we agree to and leave room for resolving it at the appropriate time.
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that sometimes people have different views of what is ethical
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that it is okay not to reach agreement, rather than reach the wrong one that wastes everyone's time and effort
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to make sure you have valid reasons for using your expertise
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to establish feedback and next meeting dates before everyone leaves the meeting.
Facilitating Negotiation
When you facilitate a negotiation you are there to help others through the process. You don't actively participate by offering solutions, delineating roles or setting rules, but assist others to reach these outcomes. As a facilitator you manage the process eg. time management, documentation, easing tension and challenging assumptions to produce more rigorous discussion.
You should negotiate your role before the process begins. When we start facilitating a negotiation we may ask the group:
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In general terms, what are you negotiating about?
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What are the underlying issues relevant to this negotiation?
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What outcomes are required of the negotiation process?
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What other agendas do people have?
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What time is available?
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What evaluation is possible?
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What written confirmation is needed?
Mediating a Negotiation
If you are asked to mediate (rather than facilitate) a negotiation, you will play an active role in resolving conflict and building alliances.
Mediation Steps
Link to a document outlining steps of the mediation process. [PDF]
Person 1
- Tells their story
- Describes what it means to them
- Describes what it means to the other
- States what it would take to resolve it
- Generates two or more solutions
- Identifies common elements of solutions
- Co-creates shared solution
- Confirms details
- Signs agreement.
Person 2
- Tells their story
- Describes what it means to them
- Describes what it means to the other
- States what it would take to resolve it
- Generates two or more solutions
- Identifies common elements of solutions
- Co-creates shared solution
- Confirms details
- Signs agreement.
To preserve difference and ensure equity and interdependence in the difference, invite people to define what their positions are not, as well as what they are, and chart the links between the differentiated positions.
Make sure that you do not settle for compromise - this will only cause trouble later. Encourage creative solutions that preserve each person's values but in a form that acknowledges the values of others.
Having identified the links between their positions they can then name how essential these links are to overall inquiry. (A mind map is excellent for this.)
The following description is a template for how to manage a negotiation to set the frame of reference for a research project. Allow between one to three hours depending on the number of participants.
Stage 1
1. Make sure all those who have expressed interest in the research initiative know that the negotiation is taking place (follow up with community assessment contacts).
2. Inform them of the time, location and process.
3. Clarify the facilitator's role with all parties.
4. Invite the key stakeholder groups to select their negotiating representative - at least one representative from the prospective co-researcher group and one from the prospective critical reference group.
Stage 2
5. Arrange the negotiating space (inside or outside) with comfortable seating, water and glasses, large pieces of paper on solid surfaces and marking pens.
6. On arrival, introduce the participants to each other (if a small group of ten or fewer, do a Round Robin and list their names; if a big group, invite participants to introduce themselves to their neighbours on either side of them and ensure that a registration form is circulated to record all participants).
7. Brief the participants about the purpose of the negotiation, its benefit to individuals, the community and the region, and the proposed process.
8. Consult with all participants about the rules of negotiation and write them down.
9. Confirm you have consensus on the purpose, process and ground rules.
10. State the authority of the negotiating parties.
11. If it is a large group, identify those who have been given the mandate to negotiate.
Stage 3
12. Invite the representatives into a circle with those they represent and ask them to identify the following elements:
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how do they want to be a part of the inquiry (field of action)
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what the project needs to look after (their rights)
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what responsibilities they can bring to the project (terms of engagement)
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the skills, resources, experiences and qualities that they bring to the project
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the purpose of the inquiry (terms of reference)
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what they need to see to know that it is worth their investment (performance indicators) and what would indicate that it was not worth their investment (risk indicators).
It is very important that this negotiation is not about the issue that the research intends to address, but about the terms of participation in this form of research.
13. Ask each representative to map a group statement on a large sheet of paper (taken from each person's hand out).
Stage 4
14. Invite the representing negotiators into a circle separate from the other participants, but visible and audible to all.
15. Create a mind map out of the participants' hand out questions. Map them so that each branch of the map represents one of the questions and so that all of the participants' contributions share a branch.
16. Use code numbers, colours or patterns to identify with the representatives those details that are the same or supporting each other (convergent).
17. On a separate piece of paper, list the convergent details under each element heading.
18. Return to the original mind map and identify with coding or colours those details that are disassociated (but not contradictory).
19. Find out if any of these can be picked up or modified by the other representatives to become convergent - add them to the agreement listing.
20. Return to those that remain divergent and give them and the other divergent issues codes or identifying colours.
Stage 5
21. Negotiate an equal amount of presentation time (say, 2 minutes per issue) and ask each of the representatives that brought divergent issues into the negotiation to:
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describe the issue and its origins to all participants
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describe the representative's position and ethical aspects regarding the issue
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where they see that there is flexibility to facilitate agreement to participate in the research (not the inquiry direction)
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the best possible outcome to the issue with regard to participation.
22. Facilitate participant focus on the issue - not the negotiator.
23. Listen well and facilitate good listening with the participants (intervene with chat, loss of concentration or antagonistic non-verbal communication).
24. Invite all participants to note down anything that is unclear, uncertain, untrue, impractical and unjust as they listen to the presentations.
25. Invite participants to respond to the presentations by communicating what they understood.
26. Confirm shared understanding about the issues with the participants and identify impediments to shared understanding.
27. Ensure that any claims are supported by evidence or information about how to access evidence.
28. Ask the other participants to reflect on the issues, the origins, flexibility and the intended outcomes from their points of view and from the original speaker's point of view.
29. Invite contributions and solutions - facilitator may or not contribute.
30. Clarify the speaker's right and responsibility to reach agreement using the newly proposed solutions - if this seems to be unclear, list the unresolved issue and the options for its solution for discussion with the appropriate person in the presence of the representing speaker at another time.
31. If the person has the authority to reach agreement ask them to consider if any of the solutions are possible - if so, seek agreement, and if agreement is reached add this item to the list of agreements.
32. If the issue cannot be resolved with the offered solutions, ask the representative to name the issue that is blocking resolution and to consider how it impacts on the research project and the wider community interest (ethical justification for the lack of resolution).
33. Ask the representative and those they represent to generate questions about this issue.
34. Ask if the issue and the questions can be included as an aspect of the inquiry direction - if so, record the question to be included in the first participatory learning event and move on to the next issue or step 37.
35. If not, ask what it would take to resolve it. If there is an answer ascertain whether this action can be included in the inquiry direction - if so, record the potential action strategy for inclusion in the first participatory learning event and move on to the next issue or step 37.
36. If not, isolate the issue/s from the rest of the listed agreements.
Stage 6
37. Formalise what can be agreed to and what can not be agreed to, by focusing the participants on the listed agreements.
38. Invite all participants to contribute to the next step outside of the negotiation, to resolve the issue so that inquiry can be initiated.
39. List options, seek agreement.
40. If agreement cannot be reached, identify those people who feel unsatisfied, arrange a follow up meeting with them and anyone else who they think may help to resolve the issue.
41. Arrange the next meeting date, time and location for negotiating agreement with the whole group.
42. State the facilitator's commitment to circulate documentation that records the agreement and those issues yet to be agreed or arrange this to be carried out by a group member.
43. Carry out a review of the process, a reflection of its value to the participants and their community, an assessment of the extent to which it adhered to agreed ground rules and a decision about whether it could be done differently/better next time.
44. Collect all records from the event, label them with the date and location and use them to create the draft agreement that is to be circulated before the next meeting.
Tools
Link to useful tools on this module.
