Negotiations and Decision-Making

In project management, project managers will oftentimes be faced with a lot of possibilities and ways as to how to proceed. However, he can only choose one.

Whether it be internal or external negotiations, there are a few things to be mindful of. First, be objective. Do not let the emotions overpower you. Focus on the interests of the project. Disregard the feelings of anger or angst that you may have with your negotiators. Second, be clear on what you want. Directly convey the message that you want others to know. If it is against the majority, then decision making approaches should be enacted.

There are six decision making approaches: consensus, majority vote, minority delegation, averaging, expert's choice, and authority rule with and without discussion. Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, majority vote is used if the decision is not quite important. Decision can be made right away. However, using majority vote will not make everyone happy. The task of the project manager is to know which approach to use. Group thinking often increases cohesiveness and unity. Different personalities will participate and some may stand out from the rest. Reevaluation of options should be constantly done to arrive at the optimal solution.

These things are easier said than done. Oftentimes, arguments will emerge due to contrasting views. However, what we must first check is maybe the two sides should not argue. Maybe there are similar points and that they can reach into a compromise. Usually, this is seen only after all the arguments and rebuttals have been thrown out. What is needed is a little lowering of pride and acceptance of the proposed compromise.

I often fail to take note of these on group projects. When a decision is needed to be made, I always use authority rule with discussion. My thinking is that they would not vote for me as the team leader if they did not believe in my leadership nor reasoning skills. When it comes to make a decision as a group, and different viewpoints are present, I hear them out first and then make the decision. Sometimes, I think I am right but sometimes, I let my emotions overrule me. For example, one teammate did not participate as much as we did last exercise. When another group exercise is given, I often give him the hardest part even though others would have answered the same part better and easier.