Bullard Houses Assignment requirements

In these entries you will analyze the negotiation exercises. Entries should be complete, precise, and thoughtful descriptions of your reactions, perceptions, feelings, impressions, or significant insights gained from participation in or reflection on the previous negotiation. These should not be play-by-play reports of everything that happened in the negotiation. Instead, focus your analysis on key insights about your behavior and your classmates’ behaviors apply any course concepts to the negotiation situation. You should talk candidly about yourself, your effectiveness, and the behavior of other people*. You should attempt to write each entry immediately after the negotiation session when the details are fresh, or jot down your thoughts within hours of the negotiation and finalize it closer to the deadline.  The following questions are useful if you don’t know where to start to analyze the negotiation:

1. Who was the person (or people) you negotiated against? Did you reach an impasse? If so, what led up to it? How could you have avoided it? Identify key events or processes that took place, e.g., How was the time allocated? Was there anything significant about the opening-offer or counter-offer? Was there a progression of offers? How was information exchanged? Were there pivotal turning points in the exchange of information or ideas? (NOTE: this is NOT a play-by-play)
2. THE RELATIONSHIP: What was the tone of your relationship with the other side, and how did it get to be that way? What made it change? How effective were you in dealing with the other person(s)? What should you have done differently? How effective was the other person in dealing with you?
3. YOUR BEHAVIOR: Did you experiment with your own behavior? What surprised you about your own behavior? What would you do differently next time? If the negotiation involved a group, how satisfied were you with your role in the group? What did you learn about yourself?
4. OTHERS’ BEHAVIOR: What did you learn about other people? What surprised you about others’ behavior? What should that person have done differently?
5. NEGOTIATION SITUATIONS in general: How does this experience compare with others that you have had in comparable circumstances?  What did you learn about negotiation in this exercise?

*In these post-negotiation analyses, it is important for you to be very accurate. (1) Use actual names (not “some people”). (2) Use “I” rather than “we” when discussing thoughts and feelings, such as “I think” or “I felt”. It’s okay to use “we” when describing actions (“we counteroffered” or “we revealed information…”).  (3) State objective observations about others’ behavior. Do not describe intent, beliefs, or motivation – you don’t know that. You only have first-hand knowledge of your own intent, motivations, and beliefs. So, don’t make a statement such as “everyone agreed that…,” or “everyone was frustrated” unless you can prove it. If you observed their body language and inferred frustration or agreement, you still don’t know. You can only state your inference, or the behaviors you saw. Remember, don’t make assumptions. A lack of objections or complaints doesn’t mean that everyone agreed; it just means there were no outward responses.