Reflection notes on BootCamp; Negotiation and Teamwork
Background
I would like to make reference to the introduction of this assignment which states ‘Today’s work
life requires good soft skills in addition to solid academic skills’. An example of this soft skill is
communication. I would define communication as a process of sending and receiving
information (feedback). In today’s world, we seem to retrogress in terms of our communication
skills, in other words, effective communication. This could be as a result of language barrier,
cultural background and belief system, mindset etc. The most important part of effective
communication is feedback which could come in different forms.
Negotiation
Going into this session, I’ve only related the word negotiation to competition or winning at the
expense of the other party. Here, I learnt some foundational tools about negotiation and one of
them is effective communication, others include adequate preparation, ability to build trust and
seeing the bigger picture. A theme from this session that stuck with me throughout this session
was ‘seeing the bigger picture’ which could also be attributed to adequate preparation and
research about parties involved in a negotiation. Evidence for this was the exercise given to us
where we needed to procure some oranges to save the lives of our people at any cost. Adequate
preparation would mean knowing the parties involved i.e., other buyers and by large the seller.
Seeing the bigger picture is realizing what part of the orange is needed by us and fellow buyers
as well as reaching a joint compromise for parties to get what they need.
Real life usage
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An outcome of a negotiation could always be a WIN/win situation by making the other
party believe they’ve gained from a deal while we are the ‘bigger winner’.
Building long lasting relationships and trust is more important than short-term gain.
People should be treated the way they deserve to be treated rather than treating people the
way we want them to treat us.
Always respond in like terms i.e., when a party decides to take the gloves off, we must
also do the same and if they would rather show us their card, we can always reciprocate.
The ‘give and take’ rule, known as a show of good faith. This is important because by so
doing, the walls that have been put up prior to a negation comes down. People would
normally let down their guard in other words.
Teamwork (Team building)
During this session, we got to learn about the foundational skills that define the performance of a
team and how to build an efficient team based on individual abilities and traits. We also
undertook some exercises that point out how effective a team could be if they choose to execute
tasks collectively as a team rather than individuals in a team. The KPMG case work session was
highly engaging and educative. Got to analyze and recommend actionable inputs to the case
work.
Real life usage
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Traits or attributes to look out for while putting together a team.
The need to have dynamism in a team. An example of this was the firefighter trying to
put out a fire. Here, there must a leader who gives direction and assign tasks to team
members, a task-oriented person to make sure the stay on track, another is an anchor
(someone who keeps the team together), loyalty (someone that stays true to the cause)
and social dynamism.
Importance of collaboration rather than competition, with the former, result is achieved
quicker, and recommendations implemented.
Analyzing and recognizing one’s traits with respect to building a team could mean
playing to one’s strength.
How to approach a problem as a team and task delegation.
Conclusion
Both sessions were eye opening experience for me and impactful. I picked up some relevant and
applicable tools/skills for the master’s program I’ve chosen. I’d recommend such sessions for
both students and individuals in the business space and beyond.