Mediation and Negotiation-A Manager's Guide

Disagreement and conflict are common in most organizations and if not resolved can become costly in regard to both productivity and relationships. Mediation and negotiation are two core skills that help managers avoid unwarranted and unnecessary delays that conflict or disagreements generate in the workplace. Both skills have an application for helping parties formulate agreement; however, there are clearly times when a manager will be best served by using mediation skills and others when it makes more sense to negotiate a position. Managers who are able to implement these two strategies when appropriate are in a position to explore the best possible alternatives for obtaining collaborative agreements in the least amount of time. This avoids disruption to productivity and helps prevent interpersonal conflict from negatively impacting the corporate culture. This program introduces these two skills and helps managers apply them in their daily roles. William A. Howatt, PhD, EdD, Post Doc Behavioral Science UCLA School of Medicine is CEO of Howatt HR Consulting Inc., a strategic human resources management company. Howatt HR Consulting focuses on assisting companies to gain a significant competitive edge by minimizing risk to talent equity. This is accomplished through defining, designing, and developing talent management solutions for removing potential talent equity risks and filling gaps.