Wikipedia:Negotiation

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
An intense negotiation session.

Negotiation skills often assist editors in delicate situations. This can only be achieved if the editors involved have a common interest and sincerity of commitment for improving the quality of the article.

Cooperative process

personal attacks
and other sorts of problems.

The basics of negotiation are:[1]

  1. Purpose: Without aim, negotiation will lead to wastage of resource, money and time.
  2. Plan: It is necessary to make a plan before going for actual negotiation; Without planning, negotiation will fail.
  3. Pace: Negotiators try to achieve agreements on points of the negotiations before their concentration reduces.
  4. Personalities: Two interested people sit together to arrive at an agreement.
Strategic negotiation

Random House Dictionary defines strategy as “a plan, method, or series of maneuvers for obtaining a specific goal or result”[2]

A strategic negotiation involves:

  • Setting goals, objectives, and boundaries.
  • Understanding the declared incentives within the goals in context of Wikipedia.
  • Rationalizing the range of mutual agreement without losing
    cool
    and maintaining mutual respect.
  • Formulating solutions with
    fair consensus
    .
  • Implementing the solution.

Using

power or destabilising the neutral party with its possible retaliative implications
, etc.

In the 1970s a negotiation tactic for keeping cool included bringing a small farm animal such as a pig to a meeting. This was done to divert attention from the actual meeting thus allowing the negotiator to take the upper hand in the conversation.

Compromise process

Being

cooperative is an important value to Wikipedia. This value can be translated in negotiations through "Splitting the difference" compromise, while often well-intended, this can lead to failure of finding new solutions or the process can become regressive. (See our article on argument to moderation, though philosophers more often call it the "middle ground fallacy".) This should not stop participants from finding compromises when demanded that provides a balanced presentation which adheres to Wikipedia's principles. Compromising in the context of editing can mean a few different things and time is a constraint in any negotiation process.[3]

One of the most serious problems with compromise is that it motivates each party to stake out their most extreme position.

imperfection
is good.

Article topic compromise

If the dispute is over a specific controversial issue which is a topic of the entry, compromise often means inclusion of some of the material which each side has proposed. Doing so will mean that both sides of a debate or issue will receive some coverage. This will ultimately make an entry more balanced and comprehensive provided the result adheres to Wikipedia's content policies such as verifiability and giving appropriate weight to majority and minority views.

Article format and editing compromise

If the dispute is over a specific point of editing the entry itself; in other words, the controversy is not focused on any issue described by the entry, but rather relates to the form, phrasing, structure or any aspect of the editing process itself, then compromise often means finding some editing technique or refactoring which can incorporate both of the proposed styles or techniques. One possible method is to provide a few subsections for the disputed section, in order to incorporate both ideas or proposals.

Article content compromise

The main objective of this is to adhere the content with Wikipedia's policies. Common methods for achieving this is through ensuring the content is

dispute resolution noticeboard, though it is worth understanding too many cooks spoil the broth
.

Work towards objective criteria

Finding objective criteria, to work towards a principled agreement is always a win-win attitude that could be adopted in any negotiations for both maintaining civility and improving social skills in Wikipedia. The goal of Wikipedia, presumably shared by all sides to any dispute, is to produce a useful and reliable reference work. Objective criteria such as accuracy, reliability, and appropriate representation of all significant points of view should be used by participants in dispute for working toward a value based problem solving solution.

Pitfalls

  1. Not understanding the
    policies and guidelines
    .
  2. Engaging with
    arbitrary interests
    than with altruistic ones.
  3. Disregarding civility and burning cordiality.
  4. Ambiguity in stating objectives.

Negotiation Skills

Negotiation skills are qualities that allow two or more parties to reach a compromise. These are often soft skills and include abilities such as:

  1. Communication
  2. Persuasion
  3. Planning
  4. Strategizing
  5. Cooperating

Tips to improve your negotiation skills:

  • Identify the final goal
  • Practice building rapport
  • Be willing to compromise
  • Consider imposing time restrictions
  • Take the multiple offer approach
  • Exercise confidence
  • Don't take "no" personally
  • Understand your weaknesses
  • Practice

See also

Behavioral guideline

Essays

References and further reading