Rotary Informer

Posted by Terry Newton 
on Jun 08, 2016
 

Petoskey Rotary Noon Club NEWSLETTER

June 8, 2016

 

Four Way Test:  Thank you John Scholten               

Howard Richards:  Led us in "God Bless America"

Invocation:  Thank you Melissa Thompson

Visiting Rotarians:  It is summer so we had many visiting Rotarians   

Other Visitors:  Lt. Matt Breed and an intern with Harbor Brenn Agency

Calendar Winners:  Calendar winners were read and can be viewed on the following Link

Life Events:  None    

Song of the Week:  “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and “Smile” were sung, the first in recognition of attending Saturday’s Ball Game in Traverse City

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Chris Etienne:  Chris drew names from the Paul Harris Pools. Two pools are still active and one was drawn from each pool. Jim Erhart and Ashley Witney’s names were drawn

Roger Winslow:  Roger let us know that on July 6th we will be meeting on the Bay View Campus for a program on aviation and the Wright Brothers

Jim Beno:  Jim sent around the sign up for Officer Exchange schedule for June 28 at the Perry.  Cocktails are at 6:00 p.m. and dinner is at 7:00 p.m.

Beach Bums:  The game is Saturday June 11th, tickets will be at the front ticket office. Please join us for a great time

Anne McDevitt:  Anne let us know that there is a concert this Sunday the 12th at 7:00 p.m. in John Hall Auditorium

PROGRAM

Scott Brinkmeyer presented our program on Principled Negotiating

Principled negotiation is a concept that is based on the book Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and Bill Ury. This approach to negotiation focuses on the interests of the parties and emphasizes conflict management and conflict resolution.

Because the goal of principled negotiation is to find a mutually shared outcome, it is sometimes referred to as “win-win”. This represents a very different approach from the stereotypical view of a tough negotiation where one party will inevitably lose, while the other wins. (A win-win negotiation is one where the agreement cannot be improved by further discussions. There is no value left on the table and all creative options have been thoroughly explored.)

If we delve into principled negotiation in more detail, we find that there are four central guidelines to the approach:

  1. Separate people from the problem being negotiated. Issues should be decided on their merits, rather than being influenced by emotions or by the individuals who are involved.

  2. Focus on the negotiating parties’ interests, not their positions. The underlying interests or motivations that drive individuals in a negotiation are often quite similar. By focusing on interests, the parties may see that they are not as opposed as they thought they were initially. Any discussion about interests should offer concrete and specific details. This makes the interests more real and credible.

  3. Generate different options for mutual gain. Sometimes people will focus too narrowly when generating ideas. For example, they may judge the ideas during a brainstorming session, rather than simply proposing ideas and evaluating them later. Alternatively, parties may limit their focus to their own immediate interests. This stifles options that have appeal to all involved in the negotiation.

  4. Base the outcome from a principled negotiation session on objective criteria. For example, if two parties are involved in the purchase and sale of a house, certain objective criteria might be applied to the price, such as the recent sale prices of comparable homes in the area, adjustments for depreciation, or the opinion of an independent appraiser.

Principled negotiation is not right for all situations

The principled negotiation approach is most popular among academics and mediators. It is not often used in business negotiations. It is important to bear in mind that compromise is not the same as win-win. In a compromise situation, both parties make some sacrifices to find an agreeable outcome. With win-win, both parties achieve their desired outcomes, but neither sacrifices to do so.

Certain scenarios do not lend themselves to principled negotiation:

  • Instances where one party assumes a competitive strategy and is focused on winning at the other party’s expense.

  • Situations where negotiation involves a widely available commodity product that is either inexpensive or does not play a strategic role in the business.

Next Week’s Speaker:  Maria Modelski and some of her students will be presenting on St. Michael’s Academy