THE OIL NEGOTIATION

Okey,  new lesson, new post.

Last Friday was so different, there were not explanations or slides. That day was the day in where we have another simulation. But before, we had to agree in which aspects should be evaluated, assessment criteria for the negotiation. I must say that at the beginning it was quite…weird. There were not ideas, and honestly, I was really, really, but really tyred to think about it. However, after a while some ideas came up and the group started discuss about them and giving their opinions. So finally we get it! As a conclusion of this discussion we can assess that is not that easy think about what we should evaluate, because it is also how do we evaluate them? And some issues were pretty similar….where is the line that differences them?

Once we had our criteria, was the real moment for the negotiation. I was really nervous, I felt I should have prepared me better, like thinking about many different scenarios and strategies, but I only had thought in things like: “if (s)he says no, in this point, I can try to convince him/her saying that…like if the other part was saying no just because, without thinking s(he) also has reasons….  That morning I was looking information for work culture in Egypt, just in case Mia could ask us something about it..ahaha But the talk with the group who represented the government, as me, make me feel more confortable… and now I realised I shouldn’t be that worry.

I was negotiating with Sunni, and I was really lucky. I think the negotiation was really friendly, so I was comfortable and relax, knowing that she was not trying to fool me to take more advantage. We both were in a win-win negotiation. Of course, we wanted different things, but we could work together to find something where we 2 were happy. We were listening each other at all the moment, understanding each other’s ‘point of view and giving logical arguments. Both of us made concession, and that is, in my opinion, what a good negotiation is.

I can just say it was a pleasure being with her, but after listening some of my other classmates, I just wanted to know what would I have done If Sunny wasn’t that nice…. What would have happened if she was just saying no to all my arguments and ideas… would I have been nice, trying to convince her? Or on the contrary would have I lose my patient and start being more and more aggressive? Im so curious now, but at the same time, I don’t want to go througt that situation….

NON VERBAL LANGUAJE

Sorry for taking that long in the 3rd post… This week I was so busy!! But let’s start.

Last week lesson was about body language. A topic I was really looking forward. All my friends say I´m very expressive, which sometimes is good, but others… I wish I could hide a little better my feelings (mainly when I am nervous like in a presentation, oral exam, etc) and thoughts (when I know someone is lying or a friend ask me if I know what happens to another friend and is supposed to be a secret).  Trust me, I have been several times in front of the mirror putting different faces. Once, I was in the library and a boy asked me to participate in an experiment cause after watching me “I was the perfect person to it”, just because of my expresions….

However, not only because sometimes I would prefer not to be an open is why I like this topic, but also because I want to interpret better the others…know if they are lying, if they are really enjoying what I´m saying…if they are sad or happy… I think it would be more easier if everybody was honest and direct in their opinion and feelings….but in some cultures doing that is very  rude and impolite, people feel uncomfortable… so you need to judge their real gestures to know how they really feel in that moment.

In the class we were doing different games to realize how mimic is important and that sometimes its easy communicate without speaking!!! (good news to Finnish people hahaha). There were even a competition in where 2 teams had to find out what an other person was trying to represent without speaking! So fun!

One thing that I enjoyed was when  we were talking  about the “normal distance” in a conversation ore if “touching” the other person was good or not. Personal distance in Spain is like in Finland!!! For me would be really uncomfortable having less distance. Of course, it depends on the person you are talking with and in your own personality, but from my personal experience and for what I have been reading now (I was curious) AT LEAST ONE ARM!! , For example once I was drinking in a fountain and an Asian woman was behind me waiting for her turn…. She was like really behind, almost touching me… I just left still thirsty… On the other hand, for me is not that bad if a friend touch my head...or my should to catch my attention….but it depends on the person… I wouldn’t say that is weird but neither that is common.

Just to finish please, watch this video about The Importance of Nonverbal Cues told by (best) TV show "Friends" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvEci5Bjgd4

this is the Harrison Ford picture Mia was talking about

SMALL TALK AND FIRST SIMULATION.

HI EVERYBODY! 

Welcome back! Lets start  describing what we did on Friday (sorry its a little bit long).

After some technical problems, we started a small talk in groups of 3 or 4 and discussed about small talk: what we consider it, if having that kind of conversation is normal in our cultures or not and any other question that just came up in the moment.  As always, in my group, they expected Spanish people to talk a lot…which is true, but I must say that that doesn’t mean we are always talking with everybody…small talks in the bus stop with someone we don’t know are quite weird. However, it was interesting to compare how Finnish people only talk if they think the conversation is useful…cause then, I asked myself, what is a useful conversation?

 I love talking with my friends, with my family… and the most entertaining conversations are those where at the end, we are in a vicious circle….that happens a lot to me with one my best friends….we almost think the same with some small differences, and we are just talking about that differences, knowing that no one is going to change her mind…but that probably we will try again and again in few more days.  So is that conversation a totally waste of time for Finnish??

Anyway, I would like to say that I’m not really a girl who likes these small talks (I’m that kind of person who push the elevator close-doors bottom as fast as possible). In my opinion, normally, they are just something that we do because is what we learned to do, what is supposed to be correct. When we see our neighbours, we ask them about their families, their jobs, if they had fun in their last trip…. But do we really want to know it? I don’t even know their names!!

For me it is really uncomfortable when my neighbours ask me about my last trip or my studies, how do they know where I’m studying? Where I went? The answer is easy: because of their small talks with my parents!! I HATE IT, if I want them to know something about me, I will tell them….but obviously, I cannot get mad, it’s something cultural in my country, is what a small talk is.  (please don’t think I’m an introvert serious person…it’s absolutely the opposite I promise J)

About this I would like to conclude that I think saying hello/goodbye, holding the door, or giving a smile are awesome gestures that can transform someone´s bad day into a really good one.  SO LET’S TRY TO DO IT!!

Once we finished that small talk, we were discussing in the class about our impressions and what surprised us. Rapidly, we moved to answer which questions shouldn’t be asked. I think that about this topic there were (with some cultural differences) a general opinion about salaries. About this, now writing it I have just realised that in Spain is also rude to ask about political opinion….I don’t know if it’s the same for you.

Finally, we had our first negotiation where we were trying to decide the mark percentage for the evaluation. It was interesting how everything went around the blog.... My dear negotiators, I really liked it, we all were really respectful and friendly. In the las minutes of the class, we have firs simulation: I was a really good employer (the best ever, thanks to me the company is successful) looking for a higher salary among other advantages… It was a weird situation… I mean, It was so hard achieving my goal if I didn’t have a feedback, I didn’t know what to say to confirm m reasons to ask for it…. I had worked here really hard for many years…(what could have happen if the boss had said that’s not true? Or had just asked me how many years?). For me is easy to “fight” for that things were I think I’m right, I can negotiate if I’m really into the cause… but here I had nothing….however, at the end, I think I did pretty good, as apparently did all of us.

THATS ALL FOLKS!!

FIRST POST (EVER)!!

HI dear negotatiators!!

Welcome to my blog, I will try to make this blog funny and entertaining.

Firstly, I would like to say why I’m in this class and what I expect about it. Well, in this moment of my life I´m a little bit lost about my future. This is supposed to be my last year and I don’t know what to do…. I study law and business administration (yeah, long story why I’m in TUT if it is for technology haha) so, as you can guess, I have many different options, which is awesome, but make the decision even more complicated… and my problem is that I like everthing haha. The point is that one of the things that most strikes me is the conflict resolution, and this subject is quite similar.  In the branch of business, negotiation is also an issue that I would like to explore, since in Spain it starts to become popular now and would be a good and interesting job.

Moreover, I´m not a god negotiator. When my friends ask me for doing something… I always say yes, even if is not important and for me is going to suppose I really big effort, I don’t even negotiate! So I hope this will help me… I know is a stupid situation, but anyway, we negotiate everyday, even when you are just deciding in which restaurant have dinner….so for sure I hope this subject will help me in my diary life. . Almost forget, as you said I also expect my English to be better. 

Now that you know more about me, lets talk about what we did in class. To be honest, it wasn’t as boring as I expected (introductory classes always are). I pretty liked our circle games (sorry for those name I forgot!) and the last minute talking withsomeone who has something in common with you: Hello Sami! Even the theorical part defining what is negotation and the skills that a negotiator must have was quite good. It was us who were giving different definitions so it turned out to be a enjoyable class, where you do not just listen.

I think that is all I can say (longer of what I expected, sorry about that), just add that it looks we have a really wonderful and multicultural class, which I love, so it was really nice to meet you.

I hope we will have a good time! 

See you next week J J

Oh yes, Mia ask for a picture….but Im so rebel that im goit to put 2. 

Ville upload Tyron Lannister (I meanTywin ) so Im going to choose Harry Potter.