by Mark Jankowski

by Mark Jankowski

An article by Cynthia Crossen from The Wall Street Journal a few years back reported that, “Most people speak at a rate of 120 to 150 words a minute, but the human brain can easily process more than 500 words a minute, leaving plenty of time for mental fidgeting.” Herein lays one of the great obstacles to effective listening. We have the biological capability to listen to everything, yet we often miss a lot of information because we get bored or disinterested.

by Mark Jankowski

The room is dark and hazy.  The man across the table from you puffs on his cigar.  A cloud of smoke slowly plumes out of his mouth and rises towards the low-hanging overhead light above the table before dissipating into the air.  A small bead of sweat begins to trickle down your forehead.  Without unlocking your eyes from his, you slide a piece of paper across the table with another new proposal.  He grabs the paper and stares back at you.  The small bead of sweat finally slides down your face and drops onto your shirt.

by Mark Jankowski

One of the key philosophies we believe in is that both sides can win in a negotiation.  This does not mean that both sides can get everything they want.  Rather, it means both sides can walk away from a negotiation satisfied.  One side will always “WIN”, but the other side can also “win”.  To be an effective WIN-win negotiator, you have to be able to identify what you really want and what the other side really wants.

by Mark Jankowski

The nature of Project Management is give and take all the time. While “selling” is not typically part of a project manager’s job description, the following principles can also be applied toward negotiating time or resources necessary to complete the project.

By Mark Jankowski

In our seminars, we are often asked how to be more effective while negotiating over the telephone.  Being prepared is a key element in any negotiation.  For instance, if you were heading into a three-hour negotiation session, you would have likely spent the prior day assembling materials and creating an agenda.  At the very least, you would have had an opportunity to gather your thoughts on the way to the meeting.

The problem with telephone negotiations is that sometimes you can be caught off guard.  It is possible that you may be completely involved in another matter when the other side calls to engage you in a negotiation session.  You can assume that they have had the opportunity to prepare and have all the pertinent material in front of them.  Far too often the tendency is to “wing-it” and enter into the telephone negotiation without any preparation.  We strongly suggest that you resist the temptation and try the following:

This month we are taking a little bit of a different approach to negotiations and applying some of those lessons to our home-life and relationships with those we are closest to. While not directly applicable to work, there is no doubt that happiness at home can make our work life even that much better. So, the following are seven secrets that can be applied toward any relationship.