Thoughts and Insights by Michael Gregory

This is how to address conflict at work

We all have conflict every day at work, at home and in life.  Did you ever stop to think that conflict stems from one of the three broad areas relating to task, relationship and values?  This article takes a look at all three and offers you some ideas to help.  There are other ways that can be used to classify conflict, but for the purposes of this article these three headings offer one way to explore the topic.

Understand how body language impacts a negotiation

The key elements of words, tone and body language (including facial expressions) have been commented in previous blogs on communication. Keep in mind no one is perfect on interpreting facial or body language, but there are steps you can take to address your own. There are also steps you can take to improve your interpretation and understanding of others. In the commentary that follows insights on body language and facial expressions in negotiations are explored. These can be critical in a negotiation.

This is how to deal with difficult people and negotiations at work

There are times at work when you have to deal with difficult people and negotiations at the same time. Sometimes you have to deal with difficult situations and negotiations at the same time too. This commentary explores sources to provide you with tools you can use to prepare for and address these types of conflicts.

What about texts in negotiations? What do you think?

You may think texts are for the young and new entries into the work force. You may think texts don’t belong in a work environment. On the other hand, you may think texting is perfectly normal. It is a way of life. It is a way to get to the point with another person quickly.

What does trust have to do with The Collaboration Effect ®?

There is a lot written about

What questions should you ask when preparing for a valuation discussion with the IRS?

This article addresses how to prepare and what questions to ask when involved in a facilitation, negotiation or mediation with another party. The focus here is on a business valuation issue with the IRS.  Preparation is key. Conducting a mock interaction ahead of time can be extremely valuable. 

Here are practical ideas on leading your team through change

Here are some best practices that I wanted to share with you. These are provided so that you can use them to help manage change where you work. This is an overview. You have to realize that you have to address emotions. That is yours and your team’s.

Tailor made negotiations with employees

Every workplace has its own culture. Some involve greater or lessor degrees of negotiation between employer and employees. Employees tend to want to negotiate personal solutions. Examples are adjustments to schedule, travel, training, developmental assignments, and other similar areas.  These are individually or group based. In all instances these are issues important from the employee’s perspective.   How should these be handled?

This is how to develop trust in a negotiation

How much should you trust the other party in a negotiation. If you trust to much chances are you may be burned. If you don’t trust enough chances are you may lose out on a great opportunity. The old adage trust, but verify makes sense. It is necessary to verify how much trust may be appropriate.

This is how to apply ethics in negotiations

Two sources with five and seven ethical principles for negotiations in business were explored to give you three simple ethics principles for negotiations. This article introduces information on each of the articles and provides you with a link to each for further analysis for the interested reader. Taking a lesson from neuroscience that we tend to remember up to three things well these principles are shortened to three for business ethics in negotiations.