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Continuing Education for Technical Professionals |
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THE LEARNING PROFESSIONAL Career Advancement Tips Volume 4, Issue 2 |
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In This Issue: AuxTipsTM Tips from Preston Michie about "Getting too Focused on Your Bottom Line."
The Key to Effective Conflict Resolution Chris Sheesley's advice about focusing on interests rather than positions.
Hope Springs Eternal: Up-and-Coming Techies Look Ahead What some Oregon State University MIS students think about the IT profession.
Anyone need some change? |
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AuxTipsTM Quick tips you can start implementing immediately.
Tip1 A simple view of leadership is to provide good direction and influence—with integrity. Someone who is a strong leader could occasionally get poor results for various reasons. One reason is when the agenda isn't quite right. With good intentions and the team being led whole-heartedly buying into the agenda—that agenda may not be what's best for the company or the customer.
If the input a team is getting from customers isn't crystal clear, the challenge for the team is to make progress and deal with ambiguity while maintaining a positive attitude. The burden of asking a lot of questions falls on the team—especially the team leader since that person is most accountable for the results. Don't blame customers in situations of ambiguity, regardless of how uncooperative they appear to be.
Tip2 Tip 1 says "don't blame customers." That doesn't mean "the customer is always right." Providing good customer service means that those of us providing sales or service must act as responsible experts. Simply asking customers "what do you want?" and providing exactly what they say is not good service if we, as the experts, know there is a better solution.
Example: You need new shoes that will prevent foot pain and head to your favorite shoe store. You enter the store and immediately spot some really cool looking expensive shoes and tell the sales person you'd like to try them on. Would you like the sales person to sell you those shoes or do you want her to take time to understand your foot condition and then sell you less expensive, nice looking shoes that will reduce pain more effectively than the shoes that first grabbed your attention?
Tips from Preston Michie, Principal, Team Soup, LLC Getting Too Focused on Your Bottom Line I always encourage participants in my negotiation seminars to do their homework before negotiations begin to determine their bottom line. Based on their research, I advise them to determine the price at which they will walk from the deal—and then walk out when the price falls below your bottom line, a tactic that often helps close deals at or above their bottom line. In sum, before you engage know your B.A.T.N.A. (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement). After all, if you can get a better price somewhere else, why continue to negotiate? But I’ve noticed over the years that establishing a bottom line sometimes leads people to intentionally design their concession strategy to do little better than their bottom line, thinking they have done well. The problem with this perfectly acceptable strategy is that you may leave money on the table. Your bottom line is the point at which you should walk; it should not limit your upside potential. Further, this strategy assumes that the other side values things the same way you do, which is not always the case. You can sometimes do better simply by opening more optimistically than you normally would and haggling longer to try to get a better price. The strategy calls for (1) opening optimistically, (2) waiting to see how the other side reacts, (3) pushing back on their counter offer by complaining about it, and (4) then conceding slowly. You should expect push-back on extreme offers. If there is no push-back, either: (A) you have insulted the other side with your aggressive offer, and the negotiations have ended; in this case, you are not likely to get a deal unless you change strategy, (B) you are dealing with a rube (not likely), or (C) something else is going on—if you suspect so, you should slow down and ask questions to learn more before proceeding. Push-back, even if delivered in strong language, means engagement—you should interpret push-back to mean the negotiations are on. If the other side rejects your offer, wait for a counter offer before modifying your position. Do not bargain against yourself by modifying your offer in reaction to push-back, even if it’s a flat out no. No matter what, wait for a counter offer before making another concession. And then push-back on the counter offer before conceding to a fallback position. As the negotiations proceed, concede slowly, and make progressively smaller concessions. Make your goal to do significantly better than your bottom line. If your strategy fails, a deal can still be salvaged. You can always fold to your bottom line if you must to get an acceptable deal and avoid having to start over with someone else. But you should not fold to your bottom line until you have determined—by asking for more and testing the response with your own push-back and counters—that you can do no better. Courses that build negotiation skills: Fundamentals of Successful Negotiation Onsite Public Calendar Special Topics in Negotiations
Featured Courses:
Applying Emotional Intelligence to Critical Business Projects 2-Day Workshop Building Influence and Project Leadership Skills 1-Day Workshop 1/2-Day Workshop 2-Day Workshop Leadership Skills for Engineers and Technical Professionals 1-Day Workshop Leading Technical Professionals 1-Day Workshop 1-Day Workshop Peer Mentoring: A Practical Approach to Knowledge Transfer 1-Day Workshop People Management for Project Managers 1-Day Workshop 1-Day Workshop
Most of these seminars are only available privately, at customer facilities.
Call 800-577-3528 for more information.
Events:
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Upcoming Public Seminars:
Business Writing for Technical Professionals Commitment and Enthusiasm: Every Leader's Challenge Fundamentals of Effective Negotiation Leadership Skills for Engineers and Technical Professionals Peer Mentoring: A Practical Approach to Knowledge Transfer People Management for Project Managers Progressive Teambuilding Project Estimating and Planning Stand and Deliver: Effective Technical Presentations
Complete Schedule: March - July 2006
The Key to Effective Conflict Resolution by Chris Sheesley, Principal, In-Accord, Inc.
Effective conflict resolution requires people to focus on their genuine interests, rather than their positions. For example, I may be opposed to my co-worker’s frequent use of e-mail when she communicates with me. My position is not because I don't like e-mail, but rather because I prefer direct and honest communication. I might feel that my colleague is using e-mail in a way that undermines our good working relationship. My real interest is in maintaining a positive, communicative workplace and relationship with this person. Rather than attacking her use of e-mail, a preferred strategy in this situation is to help my co-worker to understand my interest in direct communication.
Equally important, I should strive to understand that her reasons for using e-mail might also be valid (e.g. to be efficient, to be “polite” rather than confrontational, to share information with many people at once, etc.) so we might gain insight into each other’s points of view. Further, I may even change my position and support the use of e-mail in certain situations. If I had simply argued with my co-worker and labeled her use of e-mail “insensitive and lazy,” she may never have understood my legitimate, positive interests. As it was, by focusing on interests, we have a chance to address the real issues and make e-mail useful for both of us.
The deeper magic of exploring interests is that we may discover that we hold several interests in common. For example, we might find that we both want to be polite, respectful and have a common passion for the mission of our organization. Taking positions prematurely prevents open and creative dialogue. It also stands in the way of effective listening. By focusing on interests, people can develop agreements that meet everyone’s needs.
Think of a conflict in which you have been involved. List the positions taken by different sides. Then list what might be some underlying interests that inspired the positions.
Chris Sheesley is a professional mediator, and is author and instructor of the Conflict Resolution Skills for Technical Staff workshop.
Hope Springs Eternal: Up-and-Coming Techies Look Ahead by Susan de la Vergne Read Full Text
At Oregon State University recently, standing in front of a group of mostly seniors in the Management Information Systems program, I found myself saying things that were quite encouraging about the IT profession.
“One of the best things about being an Information Technology professional is that, during your career, you can work in a variety of industries. You’re not locked in to just one type of business. In my 25-year career, I’ve worked in banking, retail, higher education and utilities.”
I was there to offer them career counsel, tips and techniques to find – and land – a job. Click here to read the complete article.
"If you don't like something,
change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't
complain."
"Become a student of change.
It is the only thing that will remain constant."
"Your current safe boundaries were
once unknown frontiers." Contacting Us
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Copyright 2006, Auxilium, Inc.
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