Group- Power and Politics, Conflict and Negotiation

     

photo-credit-proswrite.com 

    
      This session was packed with various analytical approaches to power and politics, conflict, and negotiation in-group setting.  Joe Polish interviewed Dr. Richard Cialdini; During Dr. Cialdini’s interview, he discussed the six principles of influence, three kinds of influence practitioners, and the interesting question of: Is education a form of manipulation?  Dr. Cialdini defines influence as creating change.  I never looked at the definition of influence from that perspective.  When I think of influence, I think of someone or something persuading a situation to go a different way than what was initially planned.  The six principles of influence are reciprocity, scarcity, authority, commitment, liking, and consensus.  Reciprocity, in a business or a group setting, is giving back what was fundamentally given to you.  The first principle reminds me of the golden rule: “Do onto others as you would like them to do to you.” Basically, treat others how you would like to be treated.  From a manager’s position, one example would be sharing information with your employees so they can produce quality work.  If employees can see that management or leaders truly care, then they will return the same positive energy.  I think the “liking” is the second most important principle because if customers or employees do not like the company or management they are most likely not to cooperate.  If the employees do not like their management team, it is hard to establish any kind of ground rules.  People tend to listen to authorities because this person is knowledgeable on a particular topic, but it is hard to work toward a common goal if no one likes the head of authority.  Scarcity and consensus both have an underlying factor of communication.  Communicating to customers or employers that having your services are very important, and if they do not choose your services it is their lost.  Scarcity can also be viewed from a negotiation tactic.  From a customer service angle, scarcity is ensuring the customer that the product you are selling is rare and that people just like them are buying this product.  Just then, two of the six principles were packaged together; scarcity and consensus can be used as marketing strategies.  I really agree with Dr. Cialdini’s concepts on commitment.  Getting someone to commit publicly is a guaranteed way to have an effective outcome.  For example, Dr. Cialdini conducted a study with college freshmen who have bad studying habits.  All three groups had to make commitments on better studying habits.

A.      Group 1- Made commitments to study on regular basics and they kept it to themselves.

B.      Group 2- Wrote their commitment down and kept it private among their selves.

C.      Group 3-Wrote their commitment down and showed everyone in the room.

     The results were as follows: the first two groups did not improve on the next test; in-group three, 83% of the members improved on their test scores and received a letter grade higher on the following test.  This is a great example of giving people the opportunity to live up to their expectations that they set for themselves publicly.  Dr. Cialdini stated, “Do not invent principles where they do not exist, but uncover them by using a detective strategy.”  All six principles were around in business, marketing, and managing.   Good business entrepreneurs raise these principles to the surface.

photo-credit-internationaladventure.com 

           The second methodology that discussed this week was negotiation.  Margaret A. Neale’s presentation on Negotiation: Learn A Simple Framework for Approaching Negotiation in A Whole New Light was the perfect example for people who are in leadership and management.  She started her discussion with an excellent analogy.  She explained that her husband is a professional trained chef, and that he often made amazing sauces without a recipe.  Since he knew the basic ingredients for a sauce, he could make any sauce.  This concept works for negotiations as well.  Using a set structure to negotiate your objectives will always yield desirable results.  Ask yourself the following questions before entering into a negotiation: what is your goal of the negotiation, what are your alternatives and reservation price, and what are your aspirations?  Remember, your goal is to get the best deal!  Secondly, follow the four steps of negotiations identified by Professor Neale:

1.      Do the benefits out way the outcome

2.      Prepare- Understand your interest and the counterparts interest

3.      Engage- Ask questions when problems arise. Inform the counterpart that you have unique information that they do not have.  This adds value to the relationship.

4.      Package- Do not negotiates issue by issue, but combine multiply issues to address the overall problem.  Then you can propose an alternative solution to the problem. 

     I agree with all four of these steps, especially in the work place.  In addition, I think by identifying your expertise while negotiating to a counterpart will increase your chances of a better deal.  I do not have any outstanding concerns with Professor Neale or Dr. Cialdini’s information; applying the six principles of influence while implementing the proper negotiation skills will increase an effective “change” in-group dynamics and in a place of business. 

            In the article:  In a Negotiation Leaders Make The First Move by Samuel Bacharach, he discussed the first rule of negotiation that should never be forgotten.

“When we negotiate we inevitably ask, who’s going to make this first move?  Simply say I am considering… or I am thinking about….specifies perimeters”

These are all ways to initiate a negotiation during a meeting.  Bacharach insists that leaders should be the first to speak during negotiations.  This gives the leader or speaker the home court advantage.  By specifying the perimeters of your negations to the counterparts, now makes them aware of your expectations.   As mentioned in Dr. Cialdini interview, when you act first as a leader or manger, this sets the tone for the rest of the group.  Dr. Cialdini’s principles are scientific based evidence.  Although this article is not scientific based, Bacharach’s suggestions do line up with Professor Neale’s ways of negotiation.  Bacharach provides three essential things to consider while negotiating. 

1.      Provide room to negotiate- While it is important to make the first move, it has to be a concrete offer.  He suggests leaving a little wiggle room for change.

2.      Ask questions- You may begin to negotiate by first making an inquiry-not an offer.

3.      Throw out some ideas- You can always suggest ideas and state speculative possibilities that reflect our general direction by defining broad concerns.  

He also discusses that one of the mistakes that negotiators make is thinking that their first offer or move must be the right one.  I disagree with this because Professor Neale informs us on the correct ways of negotiating and the first step is to go in being prepared with an offer.  So essentially, you have all of the evidence to support your first offer.  Bacharach’s principle of the first offer might not work under extreme negotiation circumstances.

            This session is overflowing with realistic evidence based management principles to improve group settings of negotiation and influence.  The one concept that really stuck out was the concept of education being a form of manipulation.  According to Dr. Cialdini, education is a form of persuasion.  Educating someone is just persuading him or her to see something from your point of view. Dr. Cialdini called this tactic the weapon of influence.  Just think: if we could use this weapon of influence in positive light then negotiations would go a lot smoother.  I think education as a form of persuasion is an excellent segway into the upcoming session on Organizations- Culture and Change Management.  It is power in understanding other cultures and way of life.