N10: Multiple Parties and Team

 

 

            The purpose of this chapter is to understand how the negotiation process changes when there are more than two parties at the table simultaneously. Most of what has been addressed in earlier chapters assumed a “one-on-one” negotiation situation. In this chapter, we examine how dynamics change when groups, teams, and task forces have to present individual views and come to a collective agreement about a problem, plan, or future course of action.

 

            We define a multiparty negotiation as one in which more than two parties are working together to achieve a collective objective. We show the ways that multiparty negotiation are complex and highly susceptible to breakdown and show that managing them effectively requires a conscious commitment from the parties and a facilitators as they work toward an effective multiparty agreement.

 

            Effective groups and their members do the following things: test assumptions and inferences, Share as much relevant information as possible, focus on interests, explain the reasons, be specific-use examples, keep the discussion focused, make decisions by consensus, and conduct a self-critique.

 

            There are three key stages that characterize multilateral negotiations: the renegotiation stage, this stage is characterized by a great deal of informal contact among the parties. The parties tend to work on a number of important issues. The formal negotiation stage, much of the multiparty negotiation process is a combination of the group discussion bilateral negotiation, and coalition-building activities described earlier in this volume. The third and final stage in managing multiparty negotiations is the agreement stage. The parties must select the best solution, develop an action plan, implement the action plan, and evaluate outcomes and the process.

 

Question

1.  Defined of Multiple-Party?

            Multiple-Party is consisting of three or more political parties with no single party having a majority (the multiple-party system prevailing in some European countries).

 

2. Who do you manage problem team members?

            - Be specific about problem behaviors

            - Describe problem as team problem (“we vs. you”)

            - Focus on behaviors the other can control

            - Wait to give constructive criticism

            - Keep feedback professional

            - Verify that the other has heard and understood

 

3. What’s the difference between multiparty negotiations?

            The differences between two-party and multiparty negotiations:

            - Number of parties

            - Informational and computational complexity

            - Social complexity

            - Procedural complexity

            - Strategic complexity