Reflection is considered to be one of the key components of many of the writing classes (Reece & Walker 2016, p.93). It is very important for the success of a service-learning course. It is to mention that reflection refers to the process of interpreting and examining the experiences in order to gain a new understanding regarding a particular topic. In this report I shall be writing a reflection report discussing and analysing the topics of ‘negotiation skills and conflict management’ and ‘interpersonal skills’. In this paper I shall describe these two concepts and my experience and Interpret and evaluate the concepts from my own perspective. I would also shed light on how my experience relates to other things that I know. I would explain my experience and reveal my new insights, connections with the other learning, my hypotheses, and my conclusions. I shall reflect on how this information would be useful to me in my current and near future.
Negotiation refers to the method by means of which individuals settle the differences. It is the process of compromising or coming into an agreement while avoiding the arguments and dispute (George 2019, p.198). On the other hand, the term “conflict” refers to the incompatibilities that are perceived resulting from some or the other form of opposition and interference. Managing conflict is a tough task. Employing strategies for correcting these perceived differences in a positive way is very important to manage conflicts. It is to note that there are a total of six stages of negotiation and they are- a) Preparation b) Discussion c) Clarifying the goals d) Negotiating towards the win-win outcome e) agreement f) implementing a course of action.
Many a time I have experienced the same in my life. Ever since my childhood I hated doing negotiations. I used to see my parents negotiating with the shopkeepers. I just hated those arguments and used to get irked. However, one day I was doing 60 in a 30 zone area with my car at about 6:00 a.m. in the last month of January, the very first week of the year. It was a negotiation with a traffic cop. The road was very slippery but I crossed the stop sign without stopping. Actually, there was no one around in that sleepy residential area at that time other than the police officer. All of a sudden, I heard a blaring sound and saw the flashing blue-white-red lights in my rear-view mirror. The cop was very cautious approaching my speeding car and that was good. It was a surprise or him to see a sober and polite gentlemen who was demonstrating his full submission and was accepting their undoubted superiority in the road. It was me. Actually at that time, my only goal was to get out of the trouble as soon as possible and that too, without any penalty. However, I replied politely to his greeting saying “Good morning Sir. How am I doing? – I was doing great until this very moment”. This immediately brought a smile on his face that he could not resist. He asked me if I knew why he had stopped me. By the way, I looked towards the stop sign and immediately asked sorry to him saying “I am sorry Sir. I didn’t noticed actually. The road wad free and I am already late for my office today. I must have been carried away. You can check my file Sir- I have never had any speeding ticket, I am really sorry”. The officer took my file and after a quick check, he came back and said that I actually had a clean record. He asked me whether I had seen the Stop sign. I repeated the same answer again. Finally, he handed over my file to me along with all the documents and said, “This is the first and the last time. Drive safely and follow the safety rules. Have a good day.” This technique really worked for me and with the same, I have also avoided the conflict that could have taken place in case if I started getting rude and misbehave with the officer.
Moreover, interpersonal skills comprise of a wide range of skills and most of them are centred on communication like questioning, listening and understanding the body language (Anderson et al. 2016, p.57). With the same, it also include the attributes and skills that are associated with the emotional intelligence and being able to manage and understand the emotions of your own and the others. I have used my interpersonal skills in several facet of my life. One of the very recent is that of in my group project. Very recently, my professor has given us a project where I was required to work in a group of five members. Very obviously, the team was made of diverse people. Two of my team mates belonged to South Asian background and one was Indian. Hence, initially, we had encountered several problems because of diversity. They used to find it difficult to understand most of the things. However, I and one of my team mates helped them a lot by providing them proper guidance and trainings. We also communicated effectively. Decision making process was one of the toughest of all. But we had successfully done it by collectively working towards it.
Negotiation is something that human beings always experience throughout their lives. It is something that we all have been doing right since were toddlers, throwing tantrums until and unless we got what we wanted. A successful negation involves two parties to come together and then hammer out an agreement which is acceptable to both of them (De Bono 2018, p.12). From my perspective, I see negotiation skills and conflict management as a means to an end. It is very important that before I begin a negotiation, I know where I want to be at the end of the same. Power, Rights and Interests are three basic levels of negotiation (Ting-Toomey 2017, p.3). The negotiation that depend on the power often involve coercion and threats. It is not a long term strategy and it has very negative impact on the relationship of the involved parties. On the other hand, the negotiation that rely on rights, contracts or precedent often results in legal action that could be expensive and time consuming. While, the interest based negotiations are something that one must strive for. It often involves good collaboration and communication and results in win and win situations for both the involved parties. Moreover, managing conflicts is an important part of negotiations and preventing the conflicts among the involved individuals. It requires communication skills, listening skills, patience, impartial, positive attitude and effective discussion. From the example of my experience mentioned above, I think there are a total of seven points for a successful everyday negotiation and they are- 1) identifying the goal 2) love 3) mirror (repeating the last words) 4) apologising 5) getting personal 6) asking and letting the other side to talk and 7) repeating the above stages.
Moreover, I think interpersonal skills are also some incredible asset to the success. In absence of interpersonal skills, my life would be inherently more challenging. These skills are the abilities that could easily transpose and transmute over each and every spectrum of our lives (Hebert & Hauf 2015, p.39). There is not any single facet of my experience that these skills would not be of use. It includes the attributes and skills that are associated with the emotional intelligence and being able to manage and understand the emotions of your own and the others. Two of the most important interpersonal skills to my point of view are that of active listening and our body language. Active listening is one of the most invaluable tool for the purpose of facilitating some really effective communication. It is a technique of communication which involves active and full application of the listener to what is being said. It includes eye contact, smiling, verbal affirmations and nodding head. Also, the interpersonal skill of body language is highly focused on the stories that are been depicted from our faces, postures, hands and eyes. Very common example of boy language that communicates about the disinterest include folded arms, avoiding eye contact, fidgeting etc.
To my knowledge, every job descriptions often list the skills of negotiation as a very important asset for the candidates. However, the potential or the ability of negotiating needs a collection of communication and interpersonal skills that are used together for bringing a desired outcome. The situations of negotiation takes place when two groups or parties or individuals disagree on the solution for an issue or the goal for a contract. In my future career, I would be involved in several negotiations where I would need a better strategy and better skills than just screaming and kicking like used to do when I was young. Negotiation skills is very high in demand, especially in the mathematics and computer related jobs like software development and data analysis. With the same, it is also very critical in the arts and design. However, I want to become a business man. Being a business man, I need to look outside of my office walls in order to seek high quality services and goods. If I cannot complete a project in-house, I then might be required for speaking to the agencies, suppliers and contractors in order to meet the deadlines. And if I order products in a bulk, or on a regular basis I would be using an agency for the same. For that purpose I could use my negotiation skills in order to secure the discounts. With the same, many of times, I shall be requiring to negotiate with my colleagues as well. Improving my negotiation skill would help me in keeping my cool under pressure and coming up with some really workable solutions.
Moreover, today’s jobs demand for high level of social interaction and communication. People who have strong and effective interpersonal skills are able to do more than just collaborating effectively (Muller 2018, p.161). In my future job roles, I could use my interpersonal skills to interact effectively with my clients, shareholders, subordinates and customers. Using these skills, I can be perceived as being calm, confident, charismatic and optimistic. It is to note that our interpersonal skills speaks a lot about who we as an individual. People would form an impression of us on the basis of our ability to communicate. In my future, I can use these skills of mine to attract more customers towards my business and to build up an effective and trustworthy relationship with them.
Conclusion
Hence, from the above analysis it is to state that both the interpersonal skills and the negotiation and conflict management skills are the most important attributes of success in personal and professional life. Conflict management and negotiation skills are very important for dealing with difficult people and angry public and coming to a win and win agreement. We always encounter negotiation situations in our day to day life, whether we are bargaining for a product at the grocery store or mediating the international conflicts. Negotiation is a part of each and everything. Some of the negotiation examples in the real life demonstrate the advantages of the effective conflict resolution skills which than those disputes that take place in the home like the ones with our parents and other dear ones. However, in professional life, these skills are of utmost importance and play a significant role in the overall growth, success and achievement of ours and our business. Interpersonal skills on the other hand is very effective in near about each and every type of job. Today, every careers require effective client management and these skills are of great importance to ensure effective management.
References:
Anderson, T., McClintock, A.S., Himawan, L., Song, X. & Patterson, C.L., 2016. A prospective study of therapist facilitative interpersonal skills as a predictor of treatment outcome. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 84(1), p.57.
De Bono, E., 2018. Conflicts: A better way to resolve them. Random House, 36(1), p.12.
George, A.L., 2019. Case studies and theory development: The method of structured, focused comparison. In Alexander L. George: A Pioneer in Political and Social Sciences (pp. 191-214). Springer, Cham.
Hebert, A. & Hauf, P., 2015. Student learning through service learning: Effects on academic development, civic responsibility, interpersonal skills and practical skills. Active Learning in Higher Education, 16(1), pp.37-49.
Muller, G., 2018. Human Side: Interpersonal Skills.
Reece, I. & Walker, S., 2016. Teaching, training and learning: A practical guide. Business Education Publishers Ltd.
Ting?Toomey, S., 2017. Identity negotiation theory. The International Encyclopedia of Intercultural Communication, pp.1-6.
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