A very ‘’Happy New Year’’ greetings to you as we begin the journey of year 2017. How did the holidays go? I suppose it was restful and provided an opportunity for a reflection on how far we have come in the respective spheres of our lives. During the holidays I received a social media post that touched me. It was on the importance of saying ‘’thank you’’ to all who have in one way or the other impacted our lives. The story is told about a military pilot whose fighter jet was brought down in a hail of enemy fire. He however successfully ejected himself to safety using the parachute.
Months after the incident he went to an outing with his spouse, perhaps to celebrate his survival. In the course of the meal he got information that stunned him and changed his life forever. A young man he had never met had walked up to his table, greeted him respectfully and inquired if he was not the military pilot whose plane recently came down in battle. He was stunned. He looked up at the youngster in surprise and asked how he got to know. The young man then told him ’’I packed your parachute’’. Now humbled and full of gratitude, the gallant officer took his hands, shook him warmly and said to him ’’Thank you; you saved my life’’. The morale of this story is that in whatever achievement we make in life, some monumental, there is always someone at the background who has made it possible – the one who packed our parachute. So while you celebrate your successes and breakthroughs always spare a thought for those who packed your parachute. Go thank them if you know them or say a word of prayer for them if it is otherwise.
The predictions of economists and others who claim some knowledge of economic management is that in this year of 2017, we shall all need persons to help pack our parachutes. It will be a year of negotiations; negotiations to keep our jobs, negotiations to keep our families afloat and negotiations to keep our rented homes and office apartments etc. We shall need to gird our loins and devise multiple strategies of survival in our respective callings.
Negotiation is an art that need to be learned. Yes, everyone can negotiate. But not everyone can negotiate properly. And if you miss it, you mess it up; there will be no deal. There are five stages in negotiation that should be learned as a guide to mediation, particularly when it is formal. The process should necessarily begin from what is referred to as the ‘Negotiation Back Office.’ The Back Office is where all the preparation and planning stages must begin. It does not make for a successful outcome to go into negotiation without adequate preparation. True, we say negotiation is a discussion aimed at solving joint problems. While this simple definition can hold true and be usable in everyday life, the process must assume a more professional or tactical approach when it has to do with the more serious official or family matters.
At the preparation or Back Office stage, you need to do a good research and analysis of the people and issues you are going to confront at the negotiation. You need to know what is driving them. You need to know the powers they have over you, if any. It is important to know what they stand to lose if you start from a tough and uncompromising position. Would they buckle or simply chuckle at your bluff knowing that they stand to lose nothing if the mediation fails. What are your own options in the case that this plays out? Would you still be comfortable particularly in the knowledge that you have alternatives to what you had wished to get from them? It is only when you research people and issues well before the negotiation session that you can truly flow with the dynamics of negotiations. Let us take for example the case of an employee or workers Union desiring to go into negotiation for a salary increase with an employer. Must they go into such negotiation with the mindset of banging tables like in the days of yore to threaten a take it or leave it stance. Have they done an environmental scan to know the market share of the organization in their line of production? Have they researched the organization revenues to ascertain if the organization can afford their desired salary increase in a sustainable position? Where the employer presents a position of financial incapacity does the employee or Union have any ideas on how the fortunes of the company can be turn around in such manner as to make employer and employee benefit. Suppose in a fit of anger the employer threatens sack, do the employees have a fallback option of alternative jobs? These and many more are relevant issues that should be brainstormed at the Back Office.