This task is designed to help you understand how to frame an issue and direct the negotiation to your position.
You will watch the “Framing the issue toward a joint solution” video and notice how Miles Pomper:
- Re-frames the issues to support his positions
- Legitimizes his positions and delegitimizes the opposing positions
- How he supports his views with factual information about the the problems
- Introduces collaboration ideas for joint solutions.
- Go to: http://sansspace.middlebury.edu/file?id=8133/m5-recording-assignment-miles-framing-the-issue-new-mp4
- Follow the instructions you find there.
Reminders About Reframing
A negotiator uses a “frame” to cause the counterpart to focus on an features of an issue useful to the negotiator’s position, and to disregard other features of the same issue not useful to the negotiator’s positions—those that fall outside this frame.
Reframing changes the discourse from the counterpart’s frame to the negotiator’s frame.
Reframing can be useful for:
- Toning down a blaming or critical statement to state it in a more positive frame
- Shifting from negative to positive
- Shifting from past to future
- Expanding the resources from which they are drawing (sometimes referred to as “expanding the pie”), redefining what one side wants so that everyone can have what they want at the same time, even with limited resources
- Moving from positions to interests
- Moving from self-serving to problem solving
- Cooperating for mutual agreement on the definition of the problem
- Identifying the needs or concerns behind a stated position to shift focus on needs and alternatives to meeting those needs
- Identifying the issue that needs to be resolved; can be a start to building an agenda
- Emphasize common concerns/common ground
- Acknowledge emotions but shift the focus so emotions are not central
- Shift from one side’s responsibility to shared responsibility
Phrases used for reframing:
- Let’s look at the bigger picture…
- So it is important to you that…
- What I understand you to say is…
- What you are concerned with is…
- What you need to see here is…
- Your goal would be to…
