Hi, I'm Julie Tietz, and welcome to Conflict Resolution-- Putting the Pieces Together. Today, we're going to talk about multiple positions and how we can figure out that one single or hidden interest parties are having within their conflict.
So we're talking about positions and interests. And interest is what we need to feel happy and satisfied. And a position is one way of having our interests met. It's not the only way, but it's a way that we can find our interest so we can feel happy or satisfied.
And another way to look at this is, your position is what we say we want. So what we verbally say that we want and that we need. Whereas, the interest is the underlying reasons why we want what we say we want.
When parties are in conflict and are about to enter a conflict resolution process, they typically come in with multiple positions. So multiple statements on their demands or what they say they want in order to resolve the issue. And we see this in a variety of different areas in conflict.
So for example, with labor or contract disputes, the labor side may come in with demands or positions surrounding health care benefits, pay raises, job safety, those types of things. Also, we could see this in a family inheritance dispute. Maybe a family's parents have passed on and they're dividing up the assets among their parents and they have different positions on who should get certain items, how the items should be split up, and different positions surrounding money in general.
It could also be seen in international conflicts. Let's say a peace treaty is about to be negotiated and each side has different positions on their economy, their security, and their national sovereignty.
And so in a variety of different conflicts, parties can come in with multiple positions and their ideas of how the conflict can be best resolved. And so we need to look at these positions and really dig down to find those interests, so those underlying reasons why they feel that this is going to be the right way to resolve their conflict.
So when we are talking about conflict resolution, there are a couple of approaches that we can go about in resolving the conflict. We do have a positional bargaining habit in the United States. And positional bargaining is where we are trading back and forth parties' positions.
And in doing this, we don't really meet all of the interests of the parties. And so the parties may not feel fully satisfied after the process.
A better approach is interest-based negotiation. And this is where we are focusing on the parties interests rather than their positions. And when we focus on the interests, the parties feel more satisfied at the end. And hopefully, this will resolve their conflict and they can move forward.
In the conflict resolution process, it's our job as the conflict intervener to look at the parties' multiple positions and analyze them to help them uncover their underlying interests. And we can do this by presenting them with alternative positions.
When we do this, however, we have to do it in a way in which we aren't seeming like we are advocating for that suggested position. We have to put it in a way as, well, what would happen if we did this. And so the parties can have a clear understanding of what their interests are.
And when we present these alternative positions, we really are helping them, again, uncover their interests, and to realize that their interests are not necessarily the same as their stated positions. So that's what we really want to focus on with parties who are coming in with multiple positions.
So now that we've gone over multiple positions in conflict, let's go over some of our key points. When we are in a conflict resolution process, we really want to move away from the positional bargaining culture that we have in the United States and move towards an interest-based negotiation approach where we are focusing on the parties' underlying interests.
And we need to understand and help parties understand that although they have many positions, they really may have one interest. And when we present parties with alternative positions, hopefully, they will discover those underlying interests.
Well, that's all that we have for you today. Here are the key terms for this tutorial. Feel free to pause and look them over.
Thank you so much for taking the time out to view this. And I can't wait to catch you again next time.