Managing Interpersonal Conflict Case Study

Managing interpersonal Conflict case study

Emotional managing in negotiation

Ruohong Duan

Northeastern University

Abstract

When a negotiation occurs confliction between two negotiating parties, it often makes negative emotions of indignation, frustration, grievance and a sense of personal inadequacy. Intense emotional conflicts are showed and rationalized as potential problems, so, when these passive emotions showing on conference table, it is necessary to apply some remedial action to fix these issues (HBS,1985). This paper will introduce the reasons of conflicts formatting during negotiation with negative emotions and the solution ways: how to deal with emotions problems to avoid further conflicts.

The reasons of conflictions arising during negotiation process

In managing interpersonal conflict, the author illustrates “ the resulting feeling of anger, anxiety and frustration contribute to the emotional escalation of conflict.’’ when people has various character, convenience of value and personal style, these elements will have huge infection on their working customs. For example, a very outgoing, talkative and aggressive mutual funding manager and introverted, silent and retained financial risk-managing employee, when they investments ideas are not compatible, one is aggressively expressing idea, the other is quiet but still persist original idea, as a conclusion, when they feel intensively about their style of dealing things, conflict is often inevitable.

Beside personal inner reasons, the outside environments elements also affect people’s emotion to make confliction. Like working pressures, when people under stressful working environment, they will become more intolerable of others’ opposite ideas and mistakes, it is very hard to keep two peoples not blaming each other on working problems when they suffering stressful emotion.

How to deal with emotions problems to avoid further conflicts

When negative emotion showing on negotiation process, the following three steps can be applied. First, the concern and understanding of each other's emotions. If opponent is very angry, or rush you furious, then it must to pay close attention to each other's emotional changes. Figuring out the reasons for the negotiators’ angry. Is the other side in the search for revenge? or personal family problems interfere with business problems? Maybe, the other side is to get through the means of temper to get your concessions, or he or he just find an emotional vent because in the situation of helplessness. Finding out the reason is the only effective methods to solve the problem. But in the other side in emotional instability situation, it should not rush to explain and clarify the conflicts. Second, let the opponent's emotions get vent (Scheff 1994) It is not the best time to solve the problem when others’ emotions are still venting, at this time, the best way is to listen to each other quietly, do not fight back. In order to be able to make the other side transferring to the emotional stability, at the same time, we should guide each other be reasonable to make it clear and make the other side continually to vent to the best situation. Third, we can use of symbolic body language to ease emotional conflict. In business, there is no real meaning on personal feelings of winning or losing, the ultimate goal is not who stand in the absolute right side. Negotiators are pursuing the interests of both sides are achieved on the basis of a win-win situation. Therefore, in the alleviation of emotional conflict, some symbolic body language will often play an unexpected role in reversing the situation, such as shaking hands with each other, presented a small gift, invite other side for a great meal and so on. Experienced negotiators argue that apology is expressed in terms of behavior is the least costly of the negotiations and the highest return on investment.

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