When Negotiating, It's Important To Deal With Unstated Issues In Order To Be Successful

As the captain of the Titanic, Edward John Smith, did a fairly good job of looking out for the parts of icebergs that were above water. What got him in the end is when the Titanic hit a part of an iceberg that he couldn’t see because it was below water. In negotiating, all too often we can fool ourselves into thinking that we know all of the issues that are being negotiated. How wrong we are…

When we negotiate with the other side of the table, the issues that are really being negotiated are often a lot more subtle than those issues that were listed on the agenda at the start of the negotiations. In fact, the issues that originally appeared to be big issues, more often than not turn out to not be all that big of a deal after all.

The things that we often spend the most time talking about, services, goods being sold, and price are of course important. However, the clever negotiator realizes that these are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

As a negotiator you need to realize that there will be a large collection of issues that need to be addressed but which will never get written into the final contract. What are these issues you ask? Simple – they are personal issues that the other side holds dear. Neither side can make these personal demands out loud during the negotiation; however, if you don’t address and resolve them, then you won’t be reaching an agreement.

If these personal negotiating issues are so important, then what are they so that we can start to look for them? They take many different forms during each negotiation and you are going to have to do some digging to find the ones that relate to your current talks, but here are some examples for you to keep your eyes open for:

• Personal Schedules: “I need to get this negotiation completed by tomorrow because my wife wants to go visit her mother this week.” Both sides of the table have schedules that they need to meet and this can influence the negotiations.
• Internal Organizational Issues: “My boss has been fired and I now work for someone who has a different agenda.” The world is a dynamic place and even as a negotiation goes on, things change. These changes can impact the direction that the negotiation is heading in.
• Physical Health: “I’ve got a pounding headache.” We need to be constantly reminding ourselves that negotiating has a physical side to it. How either side is currently feeling can have a significant impact on how the negotiations progress.
• Social Status: “I need this negotiation to be successful so that I can show my boss that I’m valuable to the company.” A negotiation does not occur in a bubble – it has visibility and has impacts. Both sides of the table want to be seen in a favorable light when the negotiations are over.
• Workload: “I am already swamped and I need to be careful to not take on any more work.” This is the curse of the modern workplace – too much to do and never enough time to do it. You need to watch the other side to determine if they are dragging their feet because they fear an increase in their workload.

These types of personal issues are a critical part of every negotiation. If you can remain sensitive to these types of issues and are prepared to help the other side find a way to deal with them, then you will be that much closer to successfully concluding the negotiation.

Contact Blue Elephant Consulting

Contact Blue Elephant Consulting to find out how your team can be trained to get the best deal out of their next negotiation.

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Dr. Jim Anderson Delivers The Keynote At The 2012 IEEE USA Meeting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WumGjL_xduI

Dr. Jim Anderson delivered a high-energy keynote speech at the 2012 IEEE USA annual conference. In this powerful presentation, Dr. Anderson clearly laid out how the audience could go about changing the world. He identifies 4 actions that they can take right now and shows the results that they can expect to achieve.

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HP's IT Department Made Some BIG Mistakes During Their Transformation

If you made three costly IT mistakes would you admit it? I think that most of us would probably say “no” – we’d run and hide our mistakes under a rock somewhere. However, thankfully over at HP they’ve decided to come clean about a few of the mistakes that they’ve made during their multi-year IT transformation project. We can all learn from their mistakes.

HP’s CIO Randy Mott decided to remake HP’s IT department when he came on board a few years ago. In order to kick the project off, they needed to make some assumptions about how things were operating and move forward.

Chris Murphy over at InformationWeek had a chance to sit down with Randy and ask some questions about where HP’s assumptions were just flat out wrong. What he’s learned holds a lot of information for all of us. Here are the big three:

1. The Secret World Of IT: When HP decided to remake their world of IT, they had to start the process by finding out how big the IT operations were. They grossly undercounted. Going in they thought that HP was using 3,500 applications to run the business. It turns out that they were using more like 6,000. They knew for sure that they had 85 data centers being used by the business. Ultimately, they ended up discovering more than 400 locations where they had massed computing infrastructure.
   Lesson Learned: take the time to do a complete inventory BEFORE you ever start any sort of IT transformation.

 

2. Plan For Growth: It sure would be nice if we could freeze time, make changes to our IT departments, and then start things back up again. HP seems to have thought that they could do this because they didn’t remember to plan for acquisitions to occur during the project. Well, you know how this story goes – HP kept buying up other firms and since there was no IT incorporation plan, it caused big headaches for the IT team that was trying to transform IT.
   Lesson Learned: Create a solid process for bringing in new IT departments to any ongoing projects.

 

3. Beware Of Success: Once again, the business keeps moving while IT works on its projects. In this case, HP shot past their growth projections. What this ended up doing was pushing the IT transformation project off of its tracks – data centers that were to be consolidated were suddenly needed because they were supporting unplanned for growth.
   Lesson Learned: Make sure that you have a backup plan that tells you what you are going to do if sales projections change from what has been forecasted.

 

In the end, HP was successful with their IT transformation and they ended up reducing those 6,000 applications down to about 1,500, reducing those 400 data centers down to 6, etc. However, because of the three mistakes that they made, this difficult job was made just that much harder. Now you know – don’t repeat this mistakes!

Contact Blue Elephant Consulting

Contact Blue Elephant Consulting to find out how your team can be trained to be ready for their shot at the top spot. We’ve can lay out the skills that they will need to develop. By working with Blue Elephant, your IT team can be ready for the day that they call their name to become the firm’s next CIO…!

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Dr. Jim Anderson will deliver the keynote address at the 2012 IEEE USA annual meeting

The Institute For Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)’s USA branch will be holding their 2012 annual meeting from May 3-May 6th in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. Jim Anderson has been selected to deliver the keynote address as a part of this convention.

Dr. Anderson has been a member of the IEEE for over 25 years and is currently actively involved in the IEEE at both the Section and Region levels. Dr. Anderson was recently awarded the IEEE Region 3 2012 Outstanding Service Award as well as being selected as the 2012 IEEE Tampa Bay Engineer Of The Year.

Dr. Anderson’s key note address will focus on the challenges of being an engineer in the 21st Century and how engineers can make sure that their career allows them to “change the world”. Should be a great speech…!

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Dr. Jim Anderson takes a look at just exactly who is better at multitasking: men or women IT managers.

Dr. Anderson explains how some long-held beliefs have been found to be flat-out wrong. He also goes on to finally reveal if any of us are really good at multitasking.

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Trophy Kids Require Special Attention From IT Leaders

A lot has been written recently about the next generation of workers that is in the process of entering IT departments right now (I’ve done my part!) However, what’s been missing is a fundamental understanding of what an IT Leader is supposed to do once they are there.

Ron Alsop who writes for the Wall Street Journal has taken some time to study what this arrival means for all of us and he’s written a book with his answers in it called The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation is Shaking Up the Workplace. He’s got some suggestions on just how to go about managing this new type of IT worker.

One of the key differences between the millennials and the current workforce will be seen in company loyalty – it basically won’t exist. The millennials have high expectations about what a company should provide them with (rapid promotions, flexible work schedules, etc.), but firms should expect very little loyalty in return.

The current economic climate not withstanding, millennials will leave an unfufilling job in an instant. Most firms are aware of this and retention is high on their list of issues when it comes to dealing with this generation of workers.

You might be thinking that the trophy kids will stick around for the same reasons that most of today’s workers don’t leave: it’s scary out there without a job. However, you’d be wrong. The millenials have their parents to fall back on. They haven’t burned their bridges behind them and they know that they could always move back home for a bit if things get tight.

The good news here is that the millenials have been raised to work hard. Competition is in their blood. If a job engages them, then they will be willing to work hard at it. Firms have to show these new workers that their job will end up making a difference and that the company values their work.

Contact Blue Elephant Consulting

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Dr. Jim Anderson investigates how a speaker can persuade an audience to take action.

Dr. Anderson reveals the secrets that you can use during your next speech to get your audience to agree that there is a problem that they need to take action to fix.

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When Presenting To Kids, You Need To Do Things Differently

So I’m not so sure that that title is clear, but basically what I’m talking about is delivering presentations to young people. I’m talking about elementary school age folks. Like 5-11 years old. Maybe the toughest crowd that you’ll ever have to face!

I come up against this tough customer at least once a year when the schools in my area have a “career day” where parents are invited to come and talk to the kids about their careers. The goal is to provide the kids with motivation to study hard and stay in school. I love the IT field; however, it’s a hard sell to kids who have just been dazzled by the policeman / fireman / soldier who all have cool uniforms and neat utility belts. On top of this career appeal challenge, there’s that issue with trying to find the right way to talk to these kids – you know, they really are not young adults just yet…

When I need help in trying to figure out how best to deal with a tough crowd like this, I know that it’s best to go talk with an expert. In this case the expert is Caren Neile who is the director of Florida Atlantic University’s Storytelling Project. Here are 10 tips for how you can not only survive a presentation to the very young, but also do a good job of it:

• Watch Your Height: Kids are very sensitive to having to look up at a speaker. You need to do everything that you can to “be on their level”. One way to do this is to sit on the floor. Another is to sit on a chair – pretty much the opposite of what we tell you to do when speaking to adults!

• Don’t Start Your Presentation Cold: One of the key things that you want to happen when you talk with kids is to have them behave and pay attention. This can be hard to do if they don’t know you. By spending some time with them before you start your presentation you can knock down some of the walls that exit between you and them. By doing this, you can come across as a person that they know and they’ll do a better job of paying attention to what you have to say.

• Be Real Man: Kids hate vague “management speak”. Remember that their world is pretty much what they see on a daily basis and only the things that they can touch are real. If you speak in big broad terms (“the whole world”, “boosting productivity”, “over $1B dollars”, etc.) they simply won’t be able to grasp what you are talking about. Instead, use concrete expressions that they can easily understand (“lots of people”, “able to make even more widgets”, “enough money to fill this room from floor to ceiling”, etc.)

• See What I’m Saying: Props are your friend when you are talking to a young audience. We’ve raised them to be multi-tasking demons and they’ll show you just how good they are at this by tuning you out and working on other tasks while you are talking unless you find a way to keep grabbing their attention. Props are one of the best ways to do this.

• Take A Time Out: How long can you sit and effectively listen to someone? Kids can’t pay attention for even that long! Given ‘em a break before, during, and after your presentation. They will be forever grateful.

• Have Everyone Play A Role: Much more than adults, kids love to participate in a presentation. They will be itching to do this even if you don’t want them to do so. Caren suggests that you work specific places in your presentation for them to help you out. This will help to keep their interest and will make your presentation even more memorable.

• Get Up And Move!: Once again, we generally like it when adults sit through our presentations. With kids, things are different. If you can find a way to get them to get up and move around as part of your presentation, then they will connect with you and your message better.

• Chill Out Man: With adults, we would often like it if they stood up and started shouting during our presentation – it would show that they were really engaged. With kids, they might just stand up and start shouting because they like to shout. Make sure that you don’t get them too riled up during your presentation or things could get out of hand.

• Allow Learning To Happen: We all learn in our own way and kids are no exception to this rule. Some kids will appear to tune you out, may be drawing while you speak, may even get up and walk around. Don’t be offended and don’t worry about it. This may be how they learn best and you should just let it happen.

Contact Blue Elephant Consulting

If you are interested in finding out more about how you and your team can improve how you give presentations using the Clear Blue Presentation System(tm), get in contact with Blue Elephant Consulting in order to find out how a customized presentation, consulting or training program could be created to meet your unique needs.

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Dr. Jim Anderson looks into the power of subliminal advertising. What he wants to know is can this powerful technique be used when selling products to businesses…

Dr. Anderson reveals the 4 keys to how product managers can go about incorporating subliminal advertising messages into their next ad, brochure, or PowerPoint presentation…

To get more great product management tips and techniques, sign up for the free The Accidental Product Manager newsletter at: http://goo.gl/3b8vR

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On Thursday, March 15th Dr. Jim Anderson will be presenting at the 29th Annual ISM-New York Conference. Back by popular demand, Dr. Andersen returns to present on the topic which has made him most famous, negotiations.  Hear first hand from one of the most accomplished supply chain negotiators on what every supply chain manager needs to have in their arsenal to be the best negotiator possible.

To register for this event, click here.

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