Thoughts and Insights by Michael Gregory

When You Foster Creativity You Can Produce Fantastic Results

Fostering creativity at work can produce some pretty fantastic results. This article focuses on creativity and offers some creative ways to promote this process at work. Last month I had the opportunity to attend a presentation by Araela Kumaraea, an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota at the annual Conflict Resolution Minnesota Conference in St. Paul for mediators. She shared some ideas that we practiced in class. Upon reflection and a little research, I wanted to offer you some ideas too.

What questions should you ask about dispute resolution?

Dispute resolution may begin with a negotiation, move into mediation and could eventually require arbitration or litigation. Generally, most negotiations move smoothly and do not need to escalate to the other levels. In other situations, the parties may move to one of the other levels immediately. The less expensive and the least time-consuming approach is the negotiation without having to escalate to one of the other levels.

Awesome Advice for a Wonderful Negotiation with the IRS

Working with clients with issues at the IRS there are five steps to consider along the way. These are preparation, discussion, clarifying interests, negotiation, documentation of the agreement.  These five elements are addressed in terms of an IRS negotiation.  It is not always possible to have a wonderful negotiation, but these five steps can certainly increase the probability of success.

This is How Collaboration Can Help Grow Your Business

Over the last four weeks I have focused on why collaboration is important in the workplace, why collaboration is hard, why collaboration doesn’t always work, why collaboration is better than competition, and now I am tying things together with how collaboration can help grow your business.

There is danger in promoting collaboration – this is why it does not work.

It has been demonstrated that collaboration is important in the work place and it works. It has also been shared why collaboration is so hard. Today’s focus is on why collaboration does not work.

Why Is Collaboration So Hard?

From the time we started school we were taught to work hard, study hard, do our best and we will get ahead. Then when the best technician becomes a manager all of that has to be turned on its head. Why?