Oct. 3 and response to chapter 5

 Today we evaluated our instincts as negotiators through answering a number of questions concerning with our preferences in times of negotiations. I found my own results interesting because I had “competing” and “collaborating” as my predominant negotiation style with the same points. These two styles share nothing in common but rather are in the opposite extreme. I agree with the results because I tend to change attitude depending on the person who I am negotiating with. In the negotiations we had in class, adding to the goal to reach a win-win relation, we are in intimate terms with whom we interacted with so I was able to collaborate with my peers, trying to build trust to achieve the most out of the negotiation. However, in real-life cases when we often have to face complete strangers, I may find it uncomfortable to disclose information I have freely before building trust. Unless my partner adopts an accommodating style or a compromising style, I might be more offensive/defensive and persisting to ensure my own profit. I think I should rework this kind of behavior to avoid conflicts in my future negotiations.

 After the questionnaire, we moved to a discussion about teamwork. In my experience, Shackleton’s strategy to constantly reinforce the bonds within the team mobilizes and enhances the team’s abilities. Each member can be more motivated as they become aware that each one of them plays an important role that cannot be substituted easily. As Perkins states, this way they can feel responsibility and a sense of contribution to the group’s success possibly in both short and long run. I think that sharing a sense of unity through creating a common identity exerts positive affects to a team; however this may also have flaws that may agonize adherents. As it came out in our discussion, sharing the idea that every individual possess a responsibility to the group’s success or failure may put pressure on them and prevent them from practicing their maximum potential. Other than sharing a common idea, we also felt that such external forces have limits on how much influence it has on keeping up motivation. To enhance motivation within an individual who composes a team, I think it is also important to nurture their interests towards their tasks, considering that a sense of cooperation has been made already.