Communication

February 13th, 2023
Four hands coming together with a fist pump

When you think about negotiations, you may think about a lot of things, but have you thought about racism and what it costs? I am not talking simply about bias. I have blogged on Women and Salary Negotiations, Business Valuers, the IRS, and Conflict Resolution – Part 1 and Part 2, Why Emotions Matter in Negotiations, and Conflict and Dispute Resolution in Cross Cultural Negotiations. These and related posts all tie into the cognitive, conscious, and unconscious bias we all have. Have you ever thought how much racial bias is costing our society? It all has to do with the big lie.

June 13th, 2022
holograms of five different people in various colors

Everyone likes to work for a kind, considerate, caring, professional supervisor and on a team where everyone is valued and aligned towards a common goal. Everyone looks out for one another and the overall goals of the firm. However, when negative employee conflict or disputes arise, and they are not addressed in a timely and in an appropriate manner this can cause a host of problems including lower productivity, lower morale, increased costs, and employee turnover. The question arises with what can you do to reduce and address employee conflict and reduce employee turnover? That is the focus of this article.

January 10th, 2022
A person holding a notebook and clicking with one finger to network with individual photos of others

Did you realize that 75% of employees regard collaboration at work to be important? With more people working remotely, what are you doing to promote collaboration with your team whether remote or on site? Collaboration drives productivity, team building, customer service, and employee satisfaction. This article explores some tools to help you and your team be more collaborative going forward whether you are together on site, working at home or offsite, or some hybrid situation.

December 20th, 2021
Here are ten ideas from positive psychology on how to be happier and more productive

In an article from the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California at Berkley the author, James McConchie, PhD, looks at two of the great minds from the field of positive psychology and shares what he has found from their body of work. The author provides ten lessons learned from these two giants in the field, Ed Diener and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Starting with these ten lessons you are provided with additional commentary that you can use to be happier and more productive

July 24th, 2021
Only seeing the hands and a table with two people across from each other and one pointing a pen down while holding a paper with writing on it in the other hand

A difficult conversation can be something that makes you anxious or gives you stress. Everyone has difficult conversations The question is, what should you not do and what should you do when faced with a tough conversation. This could be personnel matter, a conduct issue, a reprimand, a transfer, a termination, or any of a host of difficult conversations. As an author that specializes in conflict resolution and collaboration, here are some observations to help you.

July 12th, 2021
Person sitting next to a river working on their laptop

Not all conflicts are bad. Having conflicting views can encourage dialogue and discussion allowing for ideas to shared. Taking a look at returning to the office,  How we return and why it matters is important.  It is all about collaboration in the new normal. This can lead to a collaborative positive even better solution. However, when conflicts turn negative this can have very destructive and negatively impact productivity, morale, and customer satisfaction.

May 18th, 2021
A handshake between two hands with various words on the hands and arms like cooperate and connect

The Collaboration Effect is all about finding ways to collaborate with others for better outcomes. A key element for collaboration with others is parties engaging with each other. Leaders know this and foster collaboration. The Collaboration Effect is all about connecting relationships, listening actively, and educating judiciously to build bridges and negotiate closure This article takes a deeper dive into reaching out to others, engaging with others, and finding ways to really connect based on their needs.

April 17th, 2021
four fist bumps over a table with coffee, smart phones and papers. The four fist bumps represent men, women, and people of color

I would like to explain the three elements of The Collaboration Effect to address both conflicts and collaboration. Is conflict blocking your results? Would you like to be more productive, more profitable, and have more pleasure? Then you will want to take advantage of The Collaboration Effect by connecting relationships, listening actively, and educating judiciously to build bridges and negotiate closure. The Collaboration Effect enhances relationships, resources, and results. In other words, by taking advantage of The Collaboration Effect you will be better as a person, your firm will perform better, you will be able to interact better with difficult people, and you will have better results with others with improved collaboration.

February 28th, 2021
lap top computer with a host of international faces coming out of the screen

Collaboration is simply the action of two or more parties working towards a common a goal. However, not everyone is necessarily on the same page and conflicts can arise for a variety of reasons. To minimize conflicts and to improve collaboration here are five actions you can take to improve the process. When you improve the process you enhance relationships, reduce required resources, and improve results.

November 30th, 2020
Doctor sitting with a patient and explaining the situation

The Collaboration Effect ® is all about connecting relationships, listening actively, and educating judiciously in order to build bridges to negotiate closure. Recently having listened to a presentation by a prominent neuroscientist in the field, following up with him, and conducting additional research, I learned something truly exciting related to compassion and empathy that I want to share with you. We need to lead with compassion and listen with empathy.

October 30th, 2020
Red white and blue republican elephant and democratic donkey on stage in front of an American flag with an electric shock between the two

On the day after the election in 2016 I wrote a blog regarding “How to Help Those Feeling Anxiety Today”. Here we are nearly four years later and the situation is similar and possibly worse. That blog still has merit today. However, being four years older and a little wiser (I hope) I want to offer some insights this year just before the election to help you and others over the near future. It is expected that at least about half of the people at work will be unhappy and have anxiety once the election results are known. Going into election day, with all of the hype, over $1 billion spent on TV adds and other media, and the continuous bombardment on the news, we all could use a break.

June 1st, 2020
Here is what you can learn from a COVID-19 doctor applied to BV negotiations with the IRS and other parties

Recently an emergency room doctor, Dr. Lorna M. Breen, working continuous 12 hour shifts in NYC committed suicide. This was very sad and points out the tremendous cost this is having on our medical and first responders. The Greater Good Science Center at the U of California at Berkeley responded with a neuroscience article on How Can Doctors Stop Burnout in a Pandemic? In the commentary that follows I take that article and apply the lessons learned here to communication in a hard negotiation. We can all learn from this tragedy. In the end taking time to build connections, listen actively, and educate judiciously are needed in business valuation too.

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