IntraOrganization Negotiation December 28, 2012

Hearing Both Sides in a Negotiation

The exchange of information and ideas within an organization starts not with policies or directives from the highest level but with those who interact in solving the problems and differences that emerge. To encourage innovation and collaboration, we as participants must break down the barriers that impede the flow of information from person to person. This is especially important where ideas or differences are in direct conflict and tempers are high.

Let’s start with the realities of today’s workplace. As members of a modern team or group, we usually associate with people whose technical knowledge is so sophisticated and different from our own that we sometimes find ourselves bewildered by what they are saying.

Many of these highly trained specialists have never learned at school or elsewhere how to express themselves in terms familiar to us. Like an international chorus trying to sing “The Star Spangled Banner” in a medley of languages, their voices are poorly heard. Yet, if we are to get the project completed successfully, all must be clearly heard and understood.

We work side-by-side with people who are unlike us in many ways: in terms of culture, language or religious belief. Some prefer to bring in bags of food to work that, when opened, overwhelm our sense of smell. Some prefer to relax and speak to others who share their language and make us wonder what they are saying. Some, when expressing themselves, are so sensitive to their heavy accents that they talk in whispers as if wishing that by speaking so quietly they will avoid being contradicted. The American melting pot, more diverse than ever, meets face-to-face more closely on the workplace floor than in any other social setting. Solving the problem of communicating effectively is tethered to our economic well-being.

Whatever our position in the organization, our job responsibility calls for helping others express themselves. We depend on the knowledge of co-workers, suppliers and customers to compete in building our better mousetraps and economic future. Close collaboration is crucial to success.