Reflection Essay On Negotiation Simulation.

Effective conflict management and dispute resolution is often referred to as an art form - and a difficult skill to develop.  The dynamics of negotiation are intriguing. Stakeholder agendas (some hidden), different personalities, power imbalances and scarce resources combine to make the process of achieving a satisfactory outcome for all concerned a challenge, to say the least.  

In this subject, we have tried to simulate the kind of dispute resolutions and negotiations you might be involved in as a Human Resource practitioner.  Now that you have completed your negotiation simulation, you will have an opportunity to reflect upon your experiences in the role play - to consider what you had learned about negotiation and dispute resolution, and about yourself in this type of situation.

In your reflection on this exercise, provide a response to the following questions:

• What were your negotiation techniques or tactics?  Why did you employ these techniques or tactics?
• What did you learn about the practice of negotiation and dispute resolution as a result of this simulation exercise?  Identify and discuss three things you learnt from this exercise.    
• As an active participant in this negotiation simulation, what did you learn about your own strengths and weaknesses through your participation in the simulation?  Did your reactions to the negotiation process or the behaviour of other actors in the simulation surprise you?  

A reflective piece should be a personal response to new information, which is shaped by your own experiences.  Reflective thinking involves the processing of information, where thinking and learning takes place.   It involves considering how and why you think the way you do, and an examination of your beliefs, values, attitudes and assumptions that form the foundations of your understanding.  In your reflective essay, you can discuss:

• your perceptions of the negotiation process
• experiences, ideas and observations that you have had during the exercise
• what you found confusing, interesting, difficult or inspiring, and why
• any unanswered questions
• comparisons and connections between what you are learning and your experiences or preconceptions
• how new ideas challenge what you already know
• your speculations or hypotheses.

In this essay, the reflective component will be mostly subjective.  You can comment based on your experiences, rather than limiting your discussions to academic evidence.  A reflective essay allows you to use different modes of writing and language, including:

• descriptive (outlining what something is or how it is done)
• explanatory (explaining the why or how)
• expressive (I think or I believe)

Conflict Management and Dispute Resolution

These days it is very common to hear about disagreements between co-workers and employees. Conflicts and disputes can occur between two or more workers, the entire workplace and even between employees and the management. Such conflicts and disputes at a workplace are usual to occur at workplaces. Seldom has any business organization existed where there is no dispute among workers and here, they get along easily. Conflict management and dispute resolution is hence a necessary component for organizations and the leaders of these organizations should possess the skills and techniques of conflict resolution.  

The practice of being able to recognize, identify and deal with conflicts and issues at a workplace in a fair, sensible, efficient and unbiased manner is known as conflict management (Condliffe, 2012). Occurrence of conflicts at a workplace is natural; hence it is very important for people to understand conflicts and arising issues properly and should possess the knowledge to resolve the same. In the contemporary business world, every individual and business strive for showing their value towards the company. This can lead to disputes within the workforce. The implementation of conflict management within the business environment consists of problem-solving abilities, effective communication and negotiation skills for restoring the company’s focus towards its objectives (De Dreu, 2011). The process of resolving disputes between two or more parties is known as dispute resolution (Saundry & Wibberley, 2014). This term is often used interchangeably with conflict resolution. The latter can be used for various distinct scenarios. In the legal sense, certain methods of resolving disputes like through arbitration, meditation and lawsuits are included in dispute resolution. These methods are the three most commonly used ones in courts and jurisdictions across the globe for establishing a conclusion to a variety of disagreements and disputes.

There are various techniques of negotiation for resolving the conflicts and disputes occurring at a workplace. They can help in avoiding the expenditures of a lawsuit, creation of value and most importantly mending the relationship between parties. Firstly, an individual should always avoid getting provoked by another individual or group which could result into becoming an emotional response. In order to question the legitimacy of each other and assert their own power, the negotiators make various moves (Kolb &Williams, 2006). The expertise or competence of an individual might be challenged by a negotiator. The ideas of a person might be demeaned by a negotiator in a way which makes it uneasy for the latter to responding. So, a person should avoid being provoked emotionally. Second, the value-creation strategies should not be abandoned. The negotiators, who possess an understanding of the necessity of collaboration with one another for the creation of value, often choose to abandon the same approach during the time of resolving disputes.  A negotiator views a workplace dispute resolution as a zero-sum game where only one problem is at stake, considering disputes as different from the other features of deal making. Finally, time should be used significantly by negotiators to their advantage. Time can prove to be the best friend of an individual during dispute resolution. During a dispute resolving process, after the passage of sometime, new hope for resolution can be offered by the departure of divisive leaders on either side of a conflict.

Techniques of negotiation and reasons for employing them

Conflict resolution refers to ending a conflict and finding solutions to an argument, disagreement and opposition between people within any organization. Conflict resolution is an important function of any management authority. It is important for organizations to resolve the conflicts at an early stage as if it allowed to stand for long, it may be difficult to resolve it (Wallensteen, 2018). In order to find the solutions to issues, the cause of the conflict should be removed. The intention of parties in conflict should come be to forward and resolve the issues. The parties should be flexible in their attitudes to settle the matter. A win-win policy is a strategy utilized by organizations to benefit individuals and groups. A conflict arises out of loss in mutual trust among employees (Moore, 2014). This misunderstanding can be rectified through effective communication which will narrow down the differences between employees and protecting the goodwill of the organization. Appointing an arbitrator can help in resolving the conflicts between the parties by listening to the issue and giving a verdict after considering the practical solution. Participation of employees in management decision making also proves to resolve conflicts. If employees can participate in decision making, it will make them feel as an important part of the management.

I discovered that I was a good leader in managing the team throughout the simulation game. I understood the importance and need of communication which was lacking in the teams that gave rise to poor coordination and cooperation among the team. I was able to accommodate the issues and resolve the matter from both sides of the parties. I used the Collaboration strategy effectively to bring out a creative solution to the issue which is acceptable by all parties in dispute. This strategy helped me to analyze the situations well and accordingly figure out the solution in interest of all the parties (Rahim, 2017). The compromising strategy is also applied at times where the parties need to sacrifice some part of their demands in order to reach to a solution. My strength lies in bringing all the parties together to address their issues and taking decisions in all their interests. It is also the responsibility of the parties in conflict to soften their attitudes for the team’s benefit. I acknowledge that all employees of organization need self-awareness in order to achieve better interpersonal relations. Finally, I appreciate the power of leadership that helps me to inspire all the employees and motivate them to achieve the organizational goals (Saeed, Almas, Anis-ul-Haq & Niazi, 2014). However, I was not able to integrate the thought processes and the opinions of my teammates. The primary reason to this was the teammates belonged to different cultures. Hence, the cultural aspect was a hindrance throughout the simulation game and my inability to resolving the same was my weakness throughout the assessment. 

Conclusion

A conflict starts only when individuals perceive things in a different manner and are not able to find adequate solutions to their issues. No organization can be free of conflicts if their employees are constantly engaged in disagreements. Conflicts must be avoided at workplaces for a healthy and safe working environment. Employees and employers must take precautions and measures to prevent conflicts arising within teams or individuals. Conflicts often lead to tension and non-productivity at work which directly affects the overall productivity of the organization. Therefore, it is necessary for organizations to adopt conflict management and dispute resolution measures to make the office environment a better place to work.

References

Condliffe, P. (2012). Conflict Management: a practical guide. London, United Kingdom: LexisNexis Butterworths.

De Dreu, C. K. W. (2011). Conflict at work: Basic principles and applied issues. In S. Zedeck (Ed.), APA Handbooks in Psychology. APA handbook of industrial and organizational psychology, Vol. 3. Maintaining, expanding, and contracting the organization (pp. 461-493). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association.

Kolb, D. & Williams, J. (2006). Everyday negotiation: Navigating the hidden agendas in bargaining. New Jersey, United States of America: John Wiley & Sons.

Moore, C.W. (2014). The mediation process: Practical strategies for resolving conflict. New Jersey, United States of America: John Wiley & Sons.

Rahim, M.A. (2017). Managing conflict in organizations. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge.

Saeed, T., Almas, S., Anis-ul-Haq, M. & Niazi, G.S.K. (2014). Leadership styles: relationship with conflict management styles. International Journal of Conflict Management, 25(3), pp.214-225.

Saundry, R.A. & Wibberley, G. (2014). Workplace dispute resolution and the management of individual conflict—A thematic analysis of five case studies. London, UK: Sage.

Wallensteen, P. (2018). Understanding conflict resolution. Thousand Oaks, United States of America: SAGE Publications Limited.