The main goal of negotiation with your opposition is to come to an agreement that benefits all parties.
Some other good reasons to negotiate are:
- To understand more about those whose ideas, beliefs and backgrounds may be different from your own. In order to resolve a conflict, you‘ll need to look at the conflict from your opponent‘s point of view and learn more about this person or
group‘s perspective and motivations. - To ensure that your relationships with opponents continue to grow. If you make peace with your opponents, you increase your allies in the community. Successful negotiations pave the way from smooth relationship in the future.
- To find peaceful solutions to difficult situations. Full-blown battles use up resources times, energy, good reputation, motivation. By negotiating, you avoid wasting these resources and you may actually make new allies and find new resources.
When should you resolve conflict?
Conflict resolution is appropriate for almost any disagreement. Our daily lives offer plenty of opportunities for negotiation- between parents and children, co-workers, friends etc. and as a result, you probably already have a variety of effective strategies for resolving minor conflicts. But for more serious conflicts, and conflicts between groups rather than individuals, you may need some additional skills. How, for example should you structure a meeting between your group and your opponent? When should you settle, and when should you fight for more? How should you react if your opponent attacks your personality? Read on for more information on specific conflict resolution techniques
