Archive : Thoughts and Insights by Michael Gregory

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October 8th, 2017

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
October 1st, 2017

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.
September 24th, 2017

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.
September 17th, 2017

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.
September 11th, 2017

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.
September 4th, 2017

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.
August 28th, 2017

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.
August 21st, 2017

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?
August 6th, 2017

Relationship, Trust, IRS and Negotiations

I know as a negotiator one of the most important elements towards reaching an agreement in a negotiation is to build and have trust.  In order to have trust it is important to build a relationship with the other party. This is true in any negotiation, but especially with the IRS.
July 31st, 2017

Being Mortal and Discovering Interests – End of Life Decisions

As a reader of this blog you know I focus on helping clients resolve conflict and negotiate winning solutions. Today I want to focus on the very real issue of being mortal and end of life decisions. I can’t think of a more serious conflict between our medical communities, a dying patient and family members. This article takes several of the insights from Dr. Atul Gawande book, Being Mortal, that address an area often full of potential conflict with family members, the dying patient and the medical community. Dr. Atul Gawande offers great insights related to family conflict and death punctuating key elements with very insightful stories that help bring these issues home.

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