CPPSEC3002A

Manage conflict through

negotiation

Version 1.2 Draft JPR CPPSEC3002A Manage Conflict Through Negotiation Nov 2011
Manage Conflict through Negotiation

Legal and Organisational Obligations
Conflict comes in many forms and Security and Law enforcement generally get to see some
of the worst forms of conflict resulting in physical violence. Having knowledge of the causes
of conflict or harmful behaviour is one way to minimize the potential negative aspects of
conflict.

Conflict that is commonly dealt within the Security Industry occurs when:

A person is refused entry into a premise, venue or property for any number of
reasons
A person is removed either physically or under escort from a premise, venue or
property for any number of reasons
An aggressive confrontation has occurred, is threatened or is expected for any
number of reasons against persons or property
Opposing parties might be making threats of or engaged in actual physical violence
in a premise, venue or property you are providing Security services for or on behalf
of.
Any activity relating to the Lawful arrest or apprehension of person or persons who
have committed offences in direct sight of the arresting officer or citizen.

When dealing with conflict in public, there are many considerations that must be factored
into your response to any situation you may encounter. You must be aware of the following
Pyramid of Legal Obligation when you respond to a situation:





Law / Legislation - Use
of Force
Law / Legislation - OHS
Policy / Procedures -
Employer Requirements
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You must have a strong working knowledge of your legal and organisational responsibilities
and obligations. You must have complete awareness of what your role is, what is expected
of you and what actions you are to perform when responding to prescribed security
situations involving actual or potential conflict.
You could face potentially serious consequences including criminal charges and financial
penalties for your actions or failure to perform certain actions related to other actions you
have performed. (For example, if you were to arrest and handcuff someone and then not
ensure they were safe whilst in your custody you directly could face criminal and civil
actions)

Conflict vs. Response
Any incident involving actual or potential conflict must first be assessed to ensure an
appropriate response can occur. Earlier we identified the general times when security
officers will encounter conflict in their typical roles, but let us look closer at what may have
led to the conflict occurring:
Opposing points of view (May include religious, political and social views)
Aggression as a tool of dominance (Bullies, street gangs etc.)
Aggression as a tool of grievance resolution (Someone responding physically
because they have or believed they have been aggrieved)
Intoxication
Drug or medication affected
Mental health issues
Physical disabilities including brain injuries
Termination of employment
Termination of building or property lease
Termination of finance / asset seizure
Denial of Access to premises, property or assets by lawful seizure or foreclosure
Apprehending alleged offenders
Defending self or others
How you respond to real or potential conflict can mean the difference between a negotiated
resolution and possible escalation. As mentioned earlier, you must be aware of the laws and
legislation relating to Use of Force and OHS when responding to any conflict situation.
Your employer or client will have detailed instructions in written format that outline what you
are required to do when confronted by conflict situations. Many of those will explicitly instruct
you that any Use of Force is only to be used as a last resort in situations of defence of self or
others from grievous harm.
Many will outline certain procedures that may include:
directing CCTV for video capture,
detailed incident reports to be made,
Police or external agencies / Supervisors or managers to be called for assistance

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Seeking Assistance

Experienced or senior security staff may be required by procedures to attend the situation
and undertake conflict resolution. In many cases, they will communicate as patiently as they
can to try to achieve a win win resolution whereby both parties appear to have reached an
acceptable outcome to the conflict situation.

Sometimes, you will have to undertake the
conflict resolution. In order to be effective at
conflict resolution, you have to be able to
manage conflict through negotiation; that is
you need to be able to communicate.

Remembering that what you say when
exercising your duties as a security officer
would be considered Level 2 of the Force
Continuum (Verbal, Use of Voice); how you
communicate is important. Your
communication technique needs to be firm
but respectful, assertive not aggressive, your
instructions lawful and with thought to your
duty of care obligations.

These skills take time to develop, hence the reason why many senior or more experienced
security staff may be required to attend incidents requiring conflict resolution and take
charge. Having a thorough knowledge of your employers policies and procedures relating to
conflict situations and what actions or steps are to be taken ensures that you can respond
appropriately should the situation arise.


This could be achieved by you having a detailed understanding of what your
organisational policies and procedures require of you in responding to potential
conflict situations whilst on duty. Further, ensure that you maintain your knowledge of
the legislation under which you are licenced (NSW Security Industry Act) and other
legislation (NSW Crimes Act) which affects you directly when performing your duties.







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Negotiating a Resolution
When you are trying to reach a constructive solution to a conflict it helps to find out what
areas, if any are and what areas are not negotiable. You need a thorough working
knowledge of your organisations policies and procedures and any legal factors. If you are
ignorant of these, your solution may be unworkable or indeed illegal.

Many negotiators automatically assume that to protect their own interests they must act
against the other partys interest. This is not the case. Negotiating to your advantage is not
the same as negotiating to the other partys disadvantage.

You need to strive towards agreements that meet as many of the legitimate objectives of
each party as possible, resolving conflicting objectives in a way that each party regards as
fair. This is known as rational negotiation, where you maximise the advantages and minimise
the disadvantages.

Here are some tips for rational negotiation:

Deal first with emotions. If the other party is emotional let them get it off their chest.
Define needs versus solutions. They are not necessarily the same.
Be soft on the person and hard on the problem. If you are aggressive towards the
other party you will only get aggression in return.
Work on a relationship independent of the problem. Establish rapport and empathy
and a willingness to help the other party. Get them on your side.
Use and not but in your verbalisation. And indicates a neutral response, But
indicates a negative response.
Who or what is behind the scenes? Is there anything or anyone you dont know about
or have not included or considered?
Stress common areas of agreement.
Is it fair? Can you find an objective yardstick or something to compare?
Develop a smorgasbord of options.
Help each other to save face. This may involve changing your position.
Choose solutions that recognise the ongoing relationship. Everyone likes to be
valued.
Make it easy for the other person to say yes.

A skilled negotiator will follow this path to obtain a satisfactory result within the bounds of
their authority and their organisations policy and procedures.


Social, Cultural and Safety Factors

In a conflict situation, the safety and security of people is your first
consideration. Look out for anything that might compromise the safety of
all concerned, whether they are part of the problem or someone simply
offering their two cents worth as they walk past.

For example, you might be dealing with a disturbance between two patrons
of a club who are getting agitated with each other in what may appear to
be a prelude to a physical confrontation. You need to size up the situation
and look for ways to contain the incident as best as possible. You may not
have sufficient resources or staff to assist you when you initially arrive at
the incident so you would try to ensure that other patrons do not get
involved or inflame the situation prior to you getting back-up.
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Rushing into a situation without regard for your safety can also affect the safety of others
around you. People who would not normally get involved in such incidents may react
differently depending on how you respond to the situation at hand as they may perceive that
a social or cultural injustice is being carried out.

In all conflict situations, you should remember the three Cs Contain, Calm and
Communicate.

Contain the situation as best as possible to stop further potential for escalation or
injury
Calm the situation down by splitting persons away from each other, speaking with
respect to all parties concerned
Communicate to both parties what actions will be taken once all relevant information
has been obtained and an outcome determined in line with your legal and
organisational obligations / operating procedures

You need to be aware of your environment at all times and be ready to act if necessary to
any escalation of a conflict situation. Avoid becoming involved emotionally as this may
influence your judgement and may cause issues with those around who perceive your
actions as overly authoritarian.

In some extreme circumstances you may need to have a fall-back plan as you may be
forced to retreat in order to maintain your own safety. Knowing your environment whether it
be a night club, patrol site or static site is one way for you to be able to have options for
retreat if needed. Only by knowing your surrounds can you create Plan B options should the
situation get out of hand or is overtly dangerous or hazardous.

Your position, uniform, security badge and ID imply power that some people find daunting.
Some may show disdain for your authority, just as people do with the police or anyone in a
position of power or authority.

This can make your job of establishing trust, rapport and empathy more difficult. You need to
be non-judgmental and fully aware of social and cultural factors that will affect how others
see you.

Different cultures and social backgrounds can result in different interpretations of
communication, especially when assertive behaviour is used. Your actions may be
misinterpreted as aggressive.

You must therefore be careful to identify and clarify any contradictions, ambiguity,
uncertainty or misunderstandings that may occur.

Keeping your supervisor or appropriate person informed and up-to-date with the situation is
critical.


This could be achieved by you being fully aware of social, cultural or safety factors
that are relevant to the duties you are performing when faced with a conflict situation.
Observe senior staff when they deal with conflict situations and try to model your
future responses on those senior staff that are most effective at negotiating during
conflict situations.
Know the area / environment within which you are working. It may save your life.
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Evaluate Response

Evaluation is the process of questioning every aspect of your response to find out if by using
different techniques, actions, tactics, ideas and questions you may have reached a better
resolution.

This gives you confidence in your ability to handle and negotiate conflict situations as they
arise in the future. The following questions could be used as an evaluation checklist to
assess your response to a conflict incident:

How did I feel in my role?
How adequately prepared was I?
How flexible was I in my approach?
Did I achieve my required objectives lawfully and within the organisational
guidelines?
How did my intended response compare with what actually happened?
Was there anything that I wish I had or had not said? Why?
What aspects do I need to improve on?

The evaluation should include all incident reports or other documentation relating to the
incident ensuring that all observations are recorded accurately and constructively. As with all
security related documentation, ensure all reports are secured in accordance with
organisational and legislative requirements.
An example of your obligations; any interaction with the public where you are using force is
required to be documented in accordance with legislative obligations placed upon the
Employer AND Employee of a security company. The date, time, names of persons involved
(person have force used against and the person using the force), the reason for the use of
force and the outcome of the use of force are required to be kept in a register at the
premises (such as licensed premises, pubs, clubs etc.) This would then be expanded by the
security licence holder involved later on to be included in an incident report detailing fully all
of the facts relating to the incident.
These registers and subsequently any security related documentation can be inspected or
requested for inspection by any authorised person or Police officer at any time. Failure for
these documents to be completed could see you facing a breach of the Security Legislation
and Regulations in your state and face fines as an individual. You may also run the risk of
having no evidence to defend claims of wrongful assault by individuals with whom you have
had dealings requiring legitimate use of force.
There are various sayings in the Security Industry; but the most important sayings that you
should remember are these:
Paperwork pads thy arse
o Simply put, your attention to detail and your paperwork can be the difference
between you meeting your obligations and facing the consequences of not
meeting your obligations
The more you fight, the more you write
o Simply put, continually using force as the first option instead of containing,
calming and communicating will have you filling out twice as many reports and
raise questions over your abilities as a professional security licence holder
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Improvement through Feedback
Getting constructive feedback through the evaluation process is the key to increasing your
knowledge and thereby making you more effective in your job role.

We can see in the diagram that feedback can be used to improve conscious knowledge,
make corrections to undesired results and it is an ongoing continuous cycle. Conducting
evaluations of responses to situations is a prime source of good quality learning and can
further ensure that you are consistently improving yourself professionally.
Stress
Another purpose of evaluating your response to a conflict situation is to identify any effects
of stress or other issues related to your well-being. We all respond differently to stress and
the first rule of stress management is to identify and be aware of your own responses to
stress.
If you find yourself becoming stressed you need to take action to reduce the stressor and its
effects. If you fail to do this, your work performance will suffer and your general behaviour
may become affected.

To release or reduce stresses consider the following:

Training

Training helps us be prepared to handle aspects of our job. This boosts our self-
confidence and faith in our ability.

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Combat or tactical breathing

Tactical breathing is a technique used to decrease the heart rate during a stressful
situation. Simply breathe in for a count of two, hold your breath for a count of two and
breathe out for a count of two.

Continue until your heart rate is reduced to a level where you can perform at your
optimum. This technique immediately reduces the heart beat by up to 30%.

Time management

Learn and practice the principles of time management. Time management applies to
balancing both work and social commitments.

A healthy diet and exercise routine

You handle stress better if you are physically fit and healthy.

Avoid substance and alcohol abuse

Whilst alcohol and other substances may provide a temporary short term release,
their long term effects will only serve to increase your levels of stress and diminish
work performance.

Hobbies and interests outside of work

These can provide relaxation and help to release built up stress.

Support groups

Family, friends, work mates and work groups are all there for help and support.
Another person may have been through similar experiences. Their observations can
give you a different perspective and lessen the stress factor.

Counselling

In some situations expert assistance in coping with stress may be necessary. This
may be related to personal loss or perhaps violent incidents. Do not underestimate
the value of counselling if the need arises.

Laugh and enjoy life

No wonder they say that laughter is the best medicine. It certainly works with stress.
If you have had a tough day, watching a comedy or funny movie that makes you
laugh does wonders in releasing pent-up stress and frustration.

Keep life in perspective. It may sound corny but many of the worlds business leaders
swear by this motto. It is the same with stress. If you perceive threat in a situation, it
is stressful. If you perceive no threat then there is no stress.

It is what we perceive that makes the difference with stress.


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This could be achieved by you ensuring that you actively participate in evaluation
sessions designed to help you improve in dealing with conflict situations.
Ensure that you provide all appropriate documentation as required relating to any
conflict situation and that appropriate measures are taken to protect and secure such
documentation.
Be aware of your stress indicators and ensure that you take action to reduce stress
through an appropriate release.






















Version 1.2 Draft JPR CPPSEC3002A Manage Conflict Through Negotiation Nov 2011