Multiple parties and teams

Multiple parties and teams

1. The nature of multiparty negotiations

   • negotiations where more than two parties are working together to achieve a collective objective
   • each party is representing his/her own interests

2. differences between two-party negotiations and muyltiparty negotiations. In every case the differences are what make multiparty negotiations more complex.

   • number of parties
     • multiparty negotiations have more negotiators at the table
   • informational and computational compexity
     • more issues, perspectives, total information are introdced
   • social complexity
     • as the number of parties increases, the social environment changes from one-on-one dialogue to a small-group discussion
   • procedural complexity
     • the process that miltiparty negoriations have to follow is more complicated
   • strategic complexity
     • multiparty negotiations are more strategically complex than two-party ones. the negotiator must consider the strategies of all the other parties and decide whether to deal with each of them separately or as a group

3. what is an effective group?

   • understanding miltiparty negotiation means understanding the attributes of an effective group. Effective groups and their members do the following:
     • test assumptions and inferences
       • make assumptions and check them with others
       • conduct a self-critique
     • Share all relevant information
       • parties should share their information and perspectives in order to maximize the information available to the group to find solutions that meet the interests of all parties
     • focus on interests, not positions
       • group deliberations should use procedures that surface the underlying interests of individual members, rather than just positions
     • be specific
       • parties should talk directly
     • agree on what important words mean
       • when people are talking in specifics they sould be cafeful to explain and define key words or language that may be part of the agreement
     • explain the reasons behind one's statements, questions and answers
       • disclosing interests helps the other parties understand what we want and why, giving them full information that can be incorporated into a group decision
     • disagree openly with any member of the group
     • make statements, then invite questions and comments
       • it encourages others to clarify their own understanding of your interests and needs
     • jointly design ways to test disagreements and solutions
     • discuss undiscussable issues
     • keep the discussion focused
     • do not take cheap shots or otherwise distract the group
       • sarcasm, irrelevant stories and humor are all distractions that take the group off task and off focus
     • expect to have all members participate in all phases of the process
     • exchange relevant information with nongroup members
     • make decisions by consensus
       • groups should strive dor consensus whenever possible

4. managing multiparty negotiations