Page 13 - Mini-Module 2

The Process of Positional Negotiation
Event Comment
Develop your ‘log of claims’. Don't forget that it is likely that you will be forced to compromise so, ‘build’ in
more than you want in your initial position . . . about business, not personali-

Separate people from the problem. It’s not personal but business leave emotions out of it. There is no place for
anger, being upset, being depressed, etc

Focus on the other party’s offer. How committed are they to their position? How much will they be prepared to
Generate ‘counter offers’. The difficult part - each party should work towards giving up a certain amount
from their initial positions.
Reach Agreement Both parties agree on a solution.
Test against objective standards. Is the agreement still OK after a cooling off period, and when measured

Consider the following example of Positional Negotiation in a school. We will use the
case study of Henry Li to illustrate this story. your position and do as you want.

Event Comment
Develop your ‘log of claims’. Henry is used to schools being open until 5.30, but his new school is used to shutting
the office at 4.30. Henry’s ‘log of claims’ is that a roster is to be drawn up so that of-
fice staff take turns working until 5.30 pm. He actually only wants the office open until
5, but that is his initial bargaining position.
[The office staff ‘log of claims’ is that they only want to work until 4.30]

Separate people from the Henry has to make sure this is not a personal issue. He has to make it clear to staff
problem. that he does not think they are lazy or ‘getting away’ with anything. It is a business
matter and nothing to do with personalities. He will tell the staff that they also have to
leave their personal lives out of this negotiation. Just because a staff member wants to
go home at 4.30 to meet her own children is of no consequence. We all have personal
likes and dislikes, we cannot allow one person any special privileges.

Focus on the other party’s How committed are the staff to their positions? Do they want to continue working at
offer. the school in the front office or are they willing to quit if they have to work until 5pm?
Do they have the support of the teaching staff? Is there a Union involved?

Generate ‘counter offers’. The difficult part – Henry is willing to offer the Administration Staff Flexi-time, which
means they can start work later on in order to make up for the extra time taken to stay
until 5.30pm. The staff do not want to start work later but prefer starting early and
going home to their own families early.

Reach Agreement Office staff will work until 5 p.m. on a rotational basic can start 15 minutes later after

Test against objective stan- Is the agreement still OK after a cooling off period and when looked at against what the
dards. school was doing before? Are parent’s happy? Is anyone coming in after 4.30?

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