ABSTRACT
Project teams in an engineering firm negotiate for team members and workspace within the office. The selection of people and office location is the outcome of a series of negotiations. Negotiation is the art of applying influence to increase the probability of a particular outcome. There are two basic strategies to negotiation: one treats the other party as an opponent; one regards the other party as a collaborator. Project management is beginning to follow the history of industrial management. Frederick Taylor pioneered the fragmentation of work concept at the turn of the century. Project managers cannot be familiar with all the interactions of a major project. The size and complexity of projects necessitate very specialized roles for most team members. The negotiation provides the project manager with the technical and communication background to pursue future progress evaluations in a nonadversarial atmosphere.
