Thoughts and Insights by Michael Gregory

What Do You Do When Family Business Negotiations Go Bad?

Working as a mediator and negotiator I specialize in resolving conflicts with the IRS, business to business and within businesses. This article focuses on preventing conflicts within businesses and what to do when negotiations go bad with family members.

Do Personalities Matter in Negotiations?

Personalities do matter in negotiations.  In this blog I look at work completed by Myers and Briggs to help you and to help you with others, and then I offer you three ideas to improve your negotiation skills.  Not everyone can be a great negotiator, but everyone has the potential to improve their negotiation skills

The Power of Thank You in a Negotiation with the IRS

I want to tell you a story about the power of “Thank you” from a recent negotiation I was involved with the IRS and offer this to you relative to your negotiations with the IRS or others. This also ties into what I have learned from neuroscientist about how our brains work and that we are more receptive to other’s ideas when approached positively, warmly and openly.

You Can Effectively Use Framing in a Negotiation

Often in negotiations I find a party (either on my side or the other side) may presents information that is longer in duration, and possibly reflects negatively on an element in the negotiation. Depending on the situation, sometimes I see part of my role to summarize what I have heard and present the commentary in a more succinct and neutral or if possible a positive light. By having alternatives and framing alternatives properly, a negotiation is more likely to come to a more positive negotiation conclusion. It is important to offer manageable offers and to take into account contrasting offers when multiple issues are involved.

Five Dispute Resolution Skills to Help You

It was my pleasure to mediate in a dispute last week. Reflecting on what worked and did not work, I wanted to share five ideas that I think you may find particularly useful.

Have a Conflict? Here Are Three Negotiation Strategies for Business Valuers and the IRS

When things go wrong in a negotiation often there is a quick escalation, conflict increases and the two stinky twins of BO (blaming others) and BS (blaming self) become pronounced. What is the result? Escalation, litigation and entrenchment. I want to suggest three ideas for a better way.

Negotiations, Neuroscience and the IRS

In an experiment by neuroscientists participants were given $10 dollars and were told they needed to share the amount with another party. If the other party accepted the offer they could keep the difference. This resulted in some interesting findings that were found to tie directly into negotiations. The commentary that follows could be used in any negotiation including those with the IRS and in other venues where one party seems to have an upper hand.

The Importance of Relationship to a Negotiation or a Mediation

This past week I was involved in a mediation related to succession planning in a very successful family owned business. I had been recommended for the mediation as a former IRS employee, business valuer with an understanding of business acumen and the ability to carry out the task with complete confidentiality. I sometimes say that I am like a priest. That is an advantage to mediation in that I can complete the mediation with complete confidentiality unless I am aware of any form of sexual, child or elderly abuse. This allows the parties to share things regarding their businesses and personal relationships within the business that have a bearing on addressing their concerns.

What You Tell Yourself Matters with Difficult People and Situations

I have blogged on How to get along with difficult people, dealing with difficult people, and managing difficult conversations. However, have you thought about your own thoughts before you begin a difficult conversation?

Shift How You Think About Confrontations to Impact the Outcome

The following is a guest blog post by Erika Garms, PhD, a friend and a truly insightful neuroscientist that has some very good ideas for you. I’m sorry to say that I’ve worked for plenty of dysfunctional and inefficient organizations. Perhaps many of you could say the same. As a result, I developed a burning desire to build healthier, and higher-performing workplaces for the sake of organizational results but also for the individuals who spend a third of their days within them. Five years ago, I founded consulting firm WorkingSmarts, Inc. to build healthy and high-performing workplaces.  More specifically, I help organizations to become brain-friendly by applying simple truths about how the brain works, to management and organizational dynamics.