Negotiations in committees

Julius Hoffmann

Background speaker

• Studied at the TU Dresden for 6 years, lots of experience with committee work
• Research assistant at the KIT
• Course on negotiations in America

Introductory example: Negotiations between the Greens and the FDP

• What does this picture have to do with daily committee work?
  • Outnumbered in negotiation situations - and yet the real determinants in government formation
  • if you form a clever coalition, you can achieve your goals even when you are outnumbered

Round of introductions

• Name + university
• Years in the student body
• Previous committee work
• Motivation for the workshop
• Is muesli with milk soup?

Book recommendation

• Bargaining for Advantage - G. Richard Shell
• Getting to yes - Roger Fisher

What are negotiations?

• Two parties
• something is at issue
• an attempt is made to reach an agreement
• not exclusively opposing interests
  • you often find common interests that you can capitalise on
• It's not just about money, it can be about anything

Concrete objective

• "No wind blows favourably for a ship that does not know its harbour"
• You have a goal before every negotiation, otherwise you wouldn't go into the meeting
• What do you want to achieve in the meeting?
• Is the goal in line with the student body's strategy?
• In the meeting: Am I acting in accordance with the goal?
• Tip: Write down the goal (notebook)

Negotiation process

• Classic according to Shell
  • 1. preparation
  • 2. exchange of information
  • 3. negotiation
  • 4. agreement
• Remarks
  • Phases occasionally jump
  • Negotiations sometimes extend over several meetings
  • Decision has often already been made before the meeting
    • -> previous (individual) meetings can be decisive

Information is power

• Shows the actual interests of the participants
  • -> Can solutions be found in the interests of both parties?
  • -> Can new aspects be included?
  • -> How can you "make the cake bigger"?
• Reveals participants' alternatives to the deal
• Only pass on information yourself that will help you further
  • -> Talking is silver, listening is gold

Standards

• Elements for defining rules for negotiation
• Justify your offers
  • -> e.g. regulations at other Schools
• do not always have to be objective

Ultimatum Game

• 11 groups of two
• One person receives an imaginary 100 euros
• They have to share the money with the other person
• Offer must be between 1 and 100
• the other person accepts or rejects the offer
• if they reject it, neither of them gets any money
• there are no discussions in advance
• second round with reversed roles
• Lessons learnt from the game:
  • Fairness plays an important role
    • if you feel unfairly treated, you'd rather get nothing than unfairly little (offers of 30 euros were rejected several times)
    • sometimes your only option in committees
  • Reproducibility of the negotiations
    • Opportunity for future debates

Relationships

• Help for longer-term goals
• can also be worked on outside of meetings
  • can also mean playing flunkyball with professors
• however: depending on the negotiation type of the person
  • there are also people who completely shy away from negotiations
  • there are the uncompromising
  • there are the considerate ones
    • -> Adapt your negotiating style

petrol station game

• Prisoner's dilemma
• two petrol stations within sight set the prices for petrol every day -> price cannot be changed during the day
• The petrol station's profit depends on its own chosen price and the price set by the competitor
• The following profit table applies to both competitors:

B high B low A high 120/120 200/80 A low 80/200 160/160

• first round without negotiations
• second round with negotiations, offer still secret
• then another three rounds, each with negotiations in advance and then a secret offer
• Lessons learnt:
  • Reproducibility ends with the relationship (less considerate decisions are made in the last round)
    • "After me, the deluge" mentality
    • -> Keep those involved in the relationship, relationships must be nurtured
    • -> Pay attention to departing members

Leverage

• Creates pressure on the other party to accept an offer
  • -> Make yourselves indispensable
  • -> Look for things that the other side needs
    • -> in committee work, for example: How does the university appear to the outside world? A bad reputation leads to fewer students and therefore less money
• Time is a powerful lever
• ! Threats made cannot be withdrawn

Threats

• effective, but used with caution
  • Are the demands disproportionate?
  • Are the threats credible?
  • Will the situation improve?
  • Is it emotion-based?
• Ill-considered threats usually put a strain on relationships

Tips against being outnumbered

• Concentrate on the interests of individual people
• Make several offers at once
• Coalition with other groups (mid-level staff)
  • Mittelbau: doctoral candidates, employees, ... -> between students and professors
• "There is always an even bigger fish"
  • for example the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs
  • Who is the party you are dependent on?