Rss Description Here https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/ Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Jacob Hall Pushing a price rise is not just an administrative exercise. It is a negotiation. And like all negotiations, it is shaped as much by perception, timing, and the execution as it is by cost... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2026/pushing-a-price-rise-is-harder-than-it-looks/ Tue, 28 Apr 2026 04:21:21 GMT 8507 Mark Rizkalla When a supplier sends through a price rise, most buyers instinctively ask: “Is this justified?”. Fair question. But it is usually the wrong one to start with... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2026/should-you-accept-a-price-rise/ Mon, 20 Apr 2026 06:31:37 GMT 8505 Simon Kelland The world economy is again at a crisis point with geopolitical uncertainty, rapidly changing organisational risk exposures, economic volatility, inflation and critical supply chains again under threat. What's the right response when it comes to negotiation?... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2026/negotiation-strategy-for-a-world-at-crisis-point/ Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:11:30 GMT 8503 Ben Byth Is time working for you or against you? Learn why understanding time as a strategic variable - not just a deadline  is the key to avoiding unnecessary concessions and achieving better commercial outcomes in your negotiation... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2026/why-time-is-the-most-misunderstood-strategic-lever-in-negotiation/ Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:56:06 GMT 8501 Keith Stacey Should have accepted the compensation offer… We’ve all seen similar pictures of a tiny house dwarfed by skyscrapers on either side or stranded in the middle of a supermarket car park; they all represent failed negotiations. We can gain a number of insights from these failures to make sure we don’t repeat them! https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2025/the-unmoveable-house-4-negotiation-mistakes-to-avoid/ Thu, 03 Jul 2025 09:05:00 GMT 8404 Keith Stacey You’d be hard pressed to find a single consumer who hasn’t had an experience with a product, service or brand that didn’t live up to expectations. In fact, this has become so commonplace, there’s a new term that has been created to describe it... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2025/enshittification-negotiating-brand-repair/ Tue, 25 Mar 2025 05:44:06 GMT 8386 Keith Stacey As a professional negotiator, I am often asked, ‘How honest should I be in a negotiation?’. Before I provide a response, consider the following statement in The Australian by a hedge fund boss... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2025/how-much-honesty-is-enough/ Wed, 12 Mar 2025 22:43:47 GMT 8378 Keith Stacey A recent article by Amanda Chicago Lewis in the 1843 magazine of The Economist outlines the work of a Ransomware negotiator, providing a number of lessons for all negotiators... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2024/negotiating-cyber-attacks/ Tue, 17 Sep 2024 04:08:45 GMT 8335 Keith Stacey Do trade studies at TAFE include behavioural economics, sink cost theory and the application of the framing principle? Successful tradies are masters in applying these theories in their daily negotiations... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2024/it-s-a-tradie-s-world/ Tue, 10 Sep 2024 01:50:04 GMT 8333 Keith Stacey This famous slogan from World War 2, was originally designed to alert the general population that spies may overhear their conversations and lives could be lost as a result. But for negotiators, the lesson here is that we communicate with counterparties through conversations... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2024/loose-lips-sink-ships/ Wed, 28 Aug 2024 02:32:16 GMT 8326 Keith Stacey Monopoly was developed by Lizzie Magie in 1903 and was originally called The Landlord’s Game. It was designed as an educational tool to illustrate the evils of monopolising landholdings. Whilst it can be a lot of fun for families and friends, for negotiators the game provides many valuable lessons... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2024/monopoly-a-microcosm-of-real-world-negotiations/ Wed, 21 Aug 2024 05:45:45 GMT 8318 Keith Stacey Knowing when to walk away is an essential negotiating self-discipline. However, our ability to make such a decision can be compromised by confirmation bias... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2024/knowing-when-to-walk-away/ Wed, 24 Jul 2024 02:04:59 GMT 8315 Keith Stacey There are a number of skills required to play Wordle successfully and surprisingly negotiators and wordlers have lots in common... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2024/a-wordler-s-guide-to-negotiating/ Wed, 17 Jul 2024 03:43:35 GMT 8311 John Hopkins While negotiation might seem like a complex dance with lawyers, probity, subject matter experts and even external negotiation training and support specialists, it often boils down to a clear understanding of your goal. This is where differentiating between your negotiation objective and negotiation strategy becomes crucial... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2024/be-clear-on-your-objective-before-creating-your-negotiation-strategy/ Tue, 04 Jun 2024 02:40:24 GMT 8305 Keith Stacey Confidence, when coupled with confirmation bias and a capacity for self-deception, is something to watch out for.... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2024/avoiding-over-confidence-in-negotiation/ Tue, 07 May 2024 04:27:58 GMT 8303 Keith Stacey An important precondition for success as a negotiator is belief in your own ability to achieve positive outcomes. And don’t we love confident people. Taylor Swift. Ariarne Titmus. Scott Pape (The Barefoot Investor). They’re all people who inspire us... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2024/negotiating-confidence-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving/ Tue, 07 May 2024 04:29:40 GMT 8301 Keith Stacey Curiosity: is the learning spark for small children as they try to understand our bewildering and confusing world. Unfortunately for many, we lose our sense of curiosity and replace it with routine process and certainty... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2024/curiosity-a-negotiator-s-superpower/ Wed, 24 Apr 2024 01:01:52 GMT 8299 Keith Stacey As we celebrated Easter recently, I was reminded of the different strategies each of my daughters demonstrated when it came to their Easter egg stash. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2024/negotiators-understand-difference/ Thu, 04 Apr 2024 02:49:45 GMT 8297 Jared Bamford Welcome to the Negotiation Olympics, where the negotiating skill of elite athletes meets the optimism of a 1960s study! Strap on your negotiation shoes and get ready for a journey through the parallels between negotiating and elite sportsmanship... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2024/the-negotiation-olympics/ Thu, 21 Mar 2024 02:40:45 GMT 8295 Keith Stacey Anders Ericson, an authority in the field of mastery of skills, estimates that across many fields from music to chess, it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery. The good news is that everyday living provides heaps of opportunities to practice negotiating skills... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2024/achieving-negotiating-mastery-and-keeping-it-fun/ Wed, 06 Mar 2024 23:30:41 GMT 8293 Mark Rizkalla We've all been there. You present a proposal, brimming with potential, only to be met with a resounding "No!". But instead of diving into the "why", some clients fall into a peculiar trap... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2024/repackaging-the-smarter-way-to-handle-client-rejection/ Tue, 27 Feb 2024 02:48:03 GMT 8291 Jared Bamford Negotiation can be a challenging journey where both parties aim to secure the best possible outcome. One crucial aspect of this journey is handling the word that often strikes fear and frustration into the hearts of negotiators: "No."... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2024/how-to-effectively-handle-no-in-negotiation/ Tue, 20 Feb 2024 05:02:39 GMT 8289 Mark Rizkalla Ever heard the saying "Ignorance is bliss"? Don't tell that to a seasoned negotiator! In the bustling marketplace of deals and agreements, ignorance isn't bliss – it's a one-way ticket to getting swindled... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2024/why-curiosity-is-your-secret-negotiating-weapon/ Wed, 14 Feb 2024 00:30:18 GMT 8287 Jared Bamford Negotiation, in all its forms, is often compared to a strategic game of chess. Each move should be calculated, deliberate, and most importantly, credible. One common tactic employed in negotiations is the use of sanctions – threats or promises to enforce certain actions or consequences... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2024/why-empty-sanctions-shouldn-t-be-your-go-to-negotiation-tactic/ Mon, 05 Feb 2024 23:05:28 GMT 8285 Keith Stacey There’s a famous quote from Carol Frohlinger that I was exposed to early in my career and which all negotiators should take stock of... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2024/don-t-make-this-mistake-before-you-begin-your-negotiation/ Tue, 16 Jan 2024 04:48:50 GMT 8276 Ben Byth When something that was previously agreed is no longer agreeable it can put you in a very difficult position, especially if one of the parties makes a large demand after everything has been agreed and there is time pressure... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/why-that-one-concession-probably-won-t-be-the-end/ Tue, 12 Dec 2023 03:35:45 GMT 8246 Ben Byth After recently giving myself a seemingly minor laceration I was subjected to some really impressive negotiating behaviour from our health professionals! Health professionals are amazing for all sorts of reasons, but as a negotiator I was particularly impressed with the way they handled differing of opinions in their own team and pushback from the patient... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/turns-out-surgeons-are-fabulous-negotiators/ Mon, 04 Dec 2023 05:02:32 GMT 8244 Ben Byth A lot of scrutiny falls onto leaders about how they communicate and the actions they take when things go wrong. Even though in reality serious grievances are relatively rare, what we must learn is that how we handle them is important - because the people involved are very unlikely to forget how they felt anytime soon... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/what-negotiators-can-learn-about-grievance-handling-from-the-optus-blackout/ Mon, 27 Nov 2023 02:36:57 GMT 8233 Ben Byth Having learnt how to negotiate, managing the negotiation now feels easy because it is just simple structure and process that can be managed with a simple decision tree. But the bit that I still find the hardest is working out my intend-to-achieve positions... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/learning-how-to-set-negotiation-intend-positions-is-the-hardest-thing/ Mon, 20 Nov 2023 04:59:11 GMT 8231 Keith Stacey When asked about their most difficult negotiation, our course participants often don’t mention difficult customers, aggressive suppliers, tough business negotiations; rather, they find their negotiation skills are put to the ultimate test at home... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/negotiating-a-return-to-the-nest/ Tue, 14 Nov 2023 01:53:37 GMT 8227 Ben Byth Sometimes going into a negotiation, we may feel like we don’t have enough negotiating power. This is a scenario we deal with daily as professional negotiating consultants at Scotwork - very rarely do people who ask for our help feel they have a lot of power! However, after a guided exploration of the power balance and strategies for leveraging it, it almost always turns out people have more power than they realise. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/i-have-no-negotiating-power/ Tue, 07 Nov 2023 01:29:09 GMT 8221 Keith Stacey In planning for any merger or takeover, much financial analysis is undertaken to support the deal. Savings are explored through shared resources and synergies in markets are considered. What is often given little attention is whether or not the cultures of the two organisations about to merge are compatible... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/when-cultures-collide-a-cautionary-tale-for-negotiators/ Tue, 31 Oct 2023 01:16:16 GMT 8219 Keith Stacey The Dunning Kruger effect is the reverse of imposter syndrome and is possibly more dangerous in organisations. The danger at work is that someone will volunteer to manage a complex task without having the necessary skills to complete the requirements.... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/dunning-kruger-effect-and-its-impact-on-negotiation-skills/ Wed, 18 Oct 2023 02:44:08 GMT 8210 Keith Stacey In the recent documentary ‘100ft Wave’ we follow Garret McNamara in a decade long search for a giant wave. The story has many lessons for negotiators around the importance of putting in place an effective negotiation process... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/lessons-on-effective-negotiation-from-the-quest-for-a-giant-wave/ Tue, 03 Oct 2023 01:08:29 GMT 8204 Keith Stacey Negotiators often rate their own ability as below average, and this lack of confidence, when combined with self-defeating behaviours, becomes a crippling disadvantage... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/imposter-syndrome-and-its-impact-on-negotiation-skills-a-guide-for-negotiators/ Tue, 12 Sep 2023 05:46:36 GMT 8195 Mark Rizkalla Both titles for this blog reflect the traditional view that if we become emotional during a negotiation, we literally “lose the plot” and that it won’t end well. Wanting to cry illustrates the truth that as humans we are emotional; that’s inescapable, so skilled negotiators understand emotions and use them to achieve lasting agreements... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/weapons-of-self-destruction-or-can-i-cry-now/ Tue, 22 Aug 2023 01:34:22 GMT 8187 Ben Byth Wondering just how good AI has become, I asked OpenAI’s ChatGPT to write a negotiating strategy for securing cost reductions from existing clients. What it provided was a little scary, because it was both very good in some areas and horribly wrong in others at the same time... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/artificial-intelligence-wrote-my-negotiating-strategy/ Tue, 15 Aug 2023 03:18:52 GMT 8183 Keith Stacey As we all know, inflation has re-emerged in our lives and families are continuing to face real pressure on their household budget with mortgage, power and food prices all increasing faster than incomes... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/the-negotiating-advice-guide-to-surviving-cost-of-living-pressures/ Tue, 08 Aug 2023 05:32:12 GMT 8180 Keith Stacey I’ve been reading ‘Order Out of Chaos: A kidnap Negotiator’s Guide to Influence and Persuasion’ by Scott Walker and it reminded me; we need to constantly make the time to check in - on ourselves. We need to ask ourselves, are we embracing the mistakes we make as negotiators? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/negotiating-with-your-self-lessons-from-a-hostage-negotiator/ Tue, 01 Aug 2023 07:09:41 GMT 8178 Elizabeth Lewis I was recently fascinated to learn of the experience and subsequent observations of American environmentalist Dr John Francis who chose to give up speaking for an unbelievable 17 years.... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/why-silence-can-be-golden-for-negotiators/ Tue, 25 Jul 2023 07:00:57 GMT 8171 Ben Byth If you're looking to negotiate your salary there's two big mistakes you need to avoid... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/why-your-salary-negotiations-are-too-late-and-not-creative-enough/ Tue, 11 Jul 2023 21:57:58 GMT 8163 Ben Byth Increased complexity, escalating disruption and uncertainty, and more scrutiny than ever in the business environment has resulted in an expansion of the C-suite. The CEO and CFO have been joined by Information, Technical, Risk, Sustainability, Customer, People, Operations, and more. As such - is there a case for a Chief Negotiation Officer?... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/is-there-a-case-for-a-chief-negotiation-officer/ Fri, 30 Jun 2023 03:43:12 GMT 8161 Keith Stacey Prices are front and centre in consumers’ minds these days. After a decade of price stability, inflation is on the rise, with the latest rate at 7.0 per cent. Where non-discretionary goods are concerned, the rate is over 7.2 per cent... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/a-negotiators-guide-to-setting-prices/ Tue, 27 Jun 2023 07:13:33 GMT 8156 Phil Tammen When preparing for and conducting negotiations, we are usually confronted by a large number of questions with unknown answers... What do our counterparts really want? What are the limits of their willingness to negotiate with us and how are they going to behave? This is a common problem when dealing with many types of challenging scenarios where the other parties either struggle to communicate effectively or choose not to share... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/the-importance-of-intelligence-in-negotiations/ Tue, 20 Jun 2023 06:46:48 GMT 8147 Ben Byth It is no secret that confident negotiators get better outcomes. They are more likely to advocate for their own positions and less likely to succumb to threats or demands. The impact of confidence was never more apparent to me than watching a team of buyers negotiate price reductions with their suppliers... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/why-confidence-is-key-for-negotiators/ Tue, 13 Jun 2023 01:20:22 GMT 8140 Keith Stacey Nothing removes the pain of a remembered hurt and similarly nothing removes the embarrassment of a past mistake or transgression. However, our recall of these past events serves to remind us not to repeat the same error. In this fashion, I share my story of personal embarrassment, in the hopes that it will provide advice to negotiators on the importance of understanding and creating value in negotiation... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/advice-for-negotiators-on-understanding-and-creating-value/ Mon, 29 May 2023 23:54:57 GMT 8122 Keith Stacey In a case which will redefine reasonable hours, MP Dr. Monique Ryan and her former chief of staff, Sally Rugg are in dispute. While the case is complex, the central issue is that Rugg thought 70 hours per week was unreasonable on a salary of $166,000... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/what-s-a-fair-day-s-work-a-negotiator-s-dilemma/ Tue, 23 May 2023 00:43:38 GMT 8104 Tyler Hall For negotiators, an old childhood tale involving a lion and a mouse delivers a wise lesson around power in negotiation...  https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/a-lesson-on-negotiating-power-from-the-lion-and-the-mouse/ Tue, 16 May 2023 02:26:03 GMT 8096 Keith Stacey The lyrics of the Neil Sedaka ‘hit’ capture an essential truth. Breaking up any relationship: business or personal, puts even the most skilled negotiators to the test. The reasons are a complex, however Scotwork has advice for negotiators seeking to end a relationship with a counterpart... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/breaking-up-is-hard-to-do-even-for-master-negotiators/ Tue, 09 May 2023 01:10:27 GMT 8088 Keith Stacey Many books have been written about the pitfalls when varying nationalities are negotiating. However, I am unaware of any guides to understanding the differences between age groups. For those learning to negotiate, there are key lessons that can be gleaned from this... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/what-negotiators-can-learn-from-generational-differences/ Tue, 02 May 2023 05:12:03 GMT 8081 Keith Stacey One of the key insights skilled negotiators have is that they are not always skilled. They make mistakes, leave money on the table, become emotional over something trivial and forget to document the deal. We all need to acknowledge that we are not always at our best. The important thing is that we learn from our mistakes and do not repeat them. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/skilled-negotiators-understand-execution-part-2/ Mon, 24 Apr 2023 06:03:06 GMT 8077 Keith Stacey A man calls in to the radio to say that his Labrador refuses to come to him when called. No matter how hard he tries, the number of calls, the cajoling, the threats, the dog continues to ignore his instruction and carries on doing whatever it wants. The dog expert says “From what you have told me, you’re training your dog to disobey you.” In one sentence she had described a common problem that occurs post deal - in the implementation stage of the agreed deal... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/skilled-negotiators-understand-execution-part-1/ Thu, 20 Apr 2023 02:58:58 GMT 8075 Keith Stacey Familiar scenes are being played out in Paris as the French government pushes through changes to the pension age from 62 years to 64. Given that the pension age in Australia is now 67 and that the French are considered a healthy nation, the proposal seems reasonable. However, that is not how the protesters see it... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/a-negotiation-strategy-for-change/ Tue, 11 Apr 2023 06:37:53 GMT 8071 Keith Stacey Unfortunately, even highly skilled negotiators are guilty of attempts to obscure and confuse, when they should instead be communicating with clarity and precision. Our advice for negotiators is that they should remember that more words do not create meaning - they often hide it. As such, here is a selection of phrases that should be avoided at the negotiation table... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/advice-for-negotiators-words-and-phrases-you-should-never-use/ Wed, 05 Apr 2023 02:34:12 GMT 8068 Simon Kelland In Part 1 the opportunities provided by virtual technologies were explored - conducting complex negotiations with participants spread around the world in many time zones, has become the new norm. Significant savings in travel time and expenses and minimum disruption to participants’ normal work and private life are worth celebrating. Benefits can be realised if we understand the limitations of virtual negotiating, and plan accordingly. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/virtual-negotiating-part-2/ Wed, 29 Mar 2023 23:56:02 GMT 8051 Simon Kelland The move to online communication and negotiation contains both opportunities for innovation and improvement, but also significant downside risks if the challenges in harnessing the new technologies are not understood. Scotwork Partner Simon Kelland discusses some of the key considerations negotiators must be aware of when negotiating online in our latest blog... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/virtual-negotiating-part-1/ Tue, 21 Mar 2023 22:46:25 GMT 8045 Keith Stacey The Australian language is littered with references to fairness: fair go, fair dinkum, fair share and even Fair Work. However, as we get older, the notion of fairness tends to fade into insignificance, as we learnt the world is often far from fair. Fairness is also an important issue for all negotiators in terms of whether a deal is 'fair'. But is fair even important? Scotwork Principal Consultant Keith Stacey explores this in our latest blog article... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/does-fair-still-matter-in-negotiations/ Tue, 14 Mar 2023 23:49:48 GMT 8031 Keith Stacey “How can I negotiate successfully with teenagers?” is a common question asked on negotiation training courses! There is generally laughter following the question, but the frequency of this request underlines the importance of this key formative relationship. Before we offer any advice, let us ponder the following... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/improving-negotiating-skills/ Tue, 07 Mar 2023 22:38:30 GMT 8013 Keith Stacey Sometimes things just fall into place; we negotiate a great deal without really understanding the skills that we used or why they worked. If asked, we would say it was “just good luck” or “my personal brilliance”. The problem with these reasons is that the deals cannot be regularly repeated. We are not always going to be lucky and sometimes our personal brilliance fails us. There are however, some key skills to utilise that can give us a good chance of repeating our success. Scotwork Principal Consultant Keith Stacey takes us through the anatomy of a good deal in our latest blog... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/the-anatomy-of-a-great-deal/ Tue, 28 Feb 2023 23:40:52 GMT 8004 Simon Kelland For negotiators, there is a special challenge in negotiations that relate to mergers and acquisitions because although they are a one-off transaction with the other party, they can, and often do establish the necessary conditions for a new relationship with the acquired business. Failure to recognise that mutual gain negotiating is necessary for success can start the process of value destruction from the start. For some key tips on how to boost value in your future M&A negotiations, check out our latest blog... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/negotiating-when-the-stakes-are-high/ Tue, 14 Feb 2023 22:50:27 GMT 7978 Keith Stacey In Part 1, you read about how good negotiators avoid traps and pitfalls in negotiations. One of the reasons they can, is that they follow a robust process - they understand the underlying structure of negotiations and plan accordingly. Master negotiators always maintain personal and process discipline. They do not fall victim to the following...  https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/good-negotiators-don-t-do-stupid-part-2/ Tue, 07 Feb 2023 22:52:58 GMT 7960 Keith Stacey Management literature is littered with books extolling exceptional performance. ‘In Search of Excellence’, ‘Good to Great’, ‘The Exceptional Leader’, to name just a few. It can be dispiriting to compare yourself with the corporate giants populating these pages. So we suggest, rather than striving to do good stuff, the secret is to 'stop doing stupid stuff'. Check out our latest blog with tips on how to avoid falling victim to 'stupid'... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/good-negotiators-don-t-do-stupid-part-1/ Tue, 31 Jan 2023 22:34:41 GMT 7937 Keith Stacey In today’s business world, there seems to be little time to build relationships, yet people prefer to deal with those they know and trust. The days of the long lunch, the weekends on the golf course and the after-work drinks are long gone making contemporary negotiators face a dilemma. How do I build a trusting relationship quickly? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2023/master-negotiators-build-relationships/ Tue, 31 Jan 2023 11:56:26 GMT 7774 Ben Byth It is virtually a given that if you work in corporate land you will have had to achieve/defend a position that you did not believe in. Maybe it was an ambit position or maybe it was unfair, either way, if you've tried to defend it it most likely elicited unproductive behaviour in response. So what's the best approach when faced with the indefensible? Check out our latest blog to find out... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/don-t-defend-the-indefensible/ Tue, 13 Dec 2022 22:51:34 GMT 7716 Keith Stacey As a negotiator, how is your judgement? Some years ago, an oil company did a review of a central team negotiating the same subject matter at different locations. Management thought the different teams would negotiate similar if not identical deals. To their surprise, the deals negotiated demonstrated significant variations. The reason for the variations were the different skill sets of the local negotiating teams. Some were highly skilled negotiators and others less so. The deals reflected the skill levels of local participants and their ability to make judgements... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/negotiation-skills-focus-making-judgements/ Tue, 06 Dec 2022 23:43:19 GMT 7714 Jared Bamford Scotwork Partner Jared Bamford recently explored the current issue of ‘Quiet Qutting’, a phenomenon that is likely to, if not already, become a key contributor to internal negotiations in the workplace. This week, we are delving into this topic a little further by looking at how managers can be best prepared to tackle this issue when it comes to workplace negotiations...  https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/negotiating-employee-engagement/ Tue, 29 Nov 2022 23:39:18 GMT 7707 Keith Stacey Reciprocity is a lovely word to say; it sort of slides off the tongue and leaves a sweet aftertaste. While not often used in everyday conversations, it is hard-wired into our DNA and is a guiding principle for daily interactions. The simplest definition of reciprocity is that it’s a mutual exchange of privileges. In daily life it’s the return of favours. In negotiations, we can use reciprocity to ensure that a mutual gain negotiation is the objective of both parties... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/reciprocity-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving/ Tue, 15 Nov 2022 23:49:08 GMT 7685 Simon Kelland The smoke-filled room pulses with tension and a small globe throws thin rays of light onto the card table below. An old gramophone scratches out a tune from somewhere in the corner. The players’ gimlet eyes betray nothing as they hold their cards close. The Mississippi-river boat gamblers are in session. This scene from our collective Hollywood imagination is replicated in many current day negotiations. The boardroom may not be smoke-filled, but the gimlet eyes and information asymmetry are the same.  https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/why-negotiators-should-show-their-hand/ Tue, 01 Nov 2022 22:32:23 GMT 7681 Keith Stacey Do this or else! People often give ultimatums. It could be about project timelines, allocation of risk or of course pricing. The problem with demands and ultimatums like this is - we need to figure out if it is credible and we need to move, or if it just a feeble attempt at a ‘fishing expedition’ to get us to move! Are they bluffing? How can you tell? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/an-ultimatum-how-to-respond-by-using-negotiating-skills/ Wed, 26 Oct 2022 23:34:01 GMT 7676 Jared Bamford A seventeen second post on TikTok, around 'Quiet Quitting', has created a wide-ranging debate about the value of work and the aspirations of employees. This phenomenon has created new challenges for workplace negotiations... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/quiet-quitting/ Tue, 18 Oct 2022 23:19:34 GMT 7674 Mark Rizkalla As humans, our perception is unique and varied, particularly when it comes to perception of value. Skilled negotiators recognise this and use this to improve deals... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/framing-your-negotiations/ Wed, 12 Oct 2022 01:18:02 GMT 7664 Scotwork Australia We received this account from a participant on a recent course who was initially reluctant about attending but gained significant new insights and confidence in her ability to negotiate. We think it’s worth sharing…  https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/from-a-novice-negotiator/ Mon, 10 Oct 2022 05:05:21 GMT 7659 Keith Stacey A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... George Lucas made the 'deal of the century', netting himself $5 billion dollars in the process. How did he do it? By leveraging one of the key aspects of negotiation - understanding that differential values create trading opportunities. Scotwork Principal Consultant Keith Stacey gives us the low down on this 'epic' deal in our latest blog... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/the-deal-of-the-century-blow-you-away-negotiating/ Wed, 28 Sep 2022 00:30:17 GMT 7655 Phil Tammen Recently I met up with an old colleague who was enjoying a retirement filled with golf, and he lamented that he just didn’t seem to get any better at it no matter how much he practised. With apologies to golfer’s everywhere, I of course thought about how the game of golf might serve as a metaphor for negotiations... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/procurement-negotiation-and-golf/ Wed, 21 Sep 2022 02:54:17 GMT 7649 Phil Tammen Organisations often have clear but unwritten conventions about how they do business, which are often well understood by their staff and by frequent business partners. Sometimes when we start a relationship with a new business partner, we find that we just click, and everything is simple. Perhaps our habits and expectations are aligned because we work in the same industry and business culture, or we just got lucky? In other cases, things might be rough, but we just can’t put our finger on why seemingly aligned organisations with clear mutual benefits available from a deal just can’t make progress? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/the-importance-of-understanding-negotiation-habits-and-conventions/ Wed, 14 Sep 2022 00:19:23 GMT 7645 Keith Stacey “What price is a loaf of bread?” And what does it have to do with negotiation? We have seen journalists perfect this “gotcha” question to embarrass politicians and demonstrate they are out of touch with the everyday concerns of voters. Whilst the price of bread ranges between $2.00 and $10.00, it's price does not necessarily represent its value... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/what-price-is-a-loaf-of-bread/ Tue, 06 Sep 2022 23:15:18 GMT 7643 Jared Bamford Inexperienced negotiators fear rejection. They see 'no' as the end of the negotiation and immediately start working on an improved proposal. A skilled negotiator welcomes rejection and sees it as an opportunity to gain a better deal, rather than seeing it as a roadblock to success. Let’s try to understand what lies behind these different approaches... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/k-nowing-better-in-negotiation/ Wed, 31 Aug 2022 00:28:16 GMT 7641 Keith Stacey We have speed dating, fast food and even fast failure in startups and there is often an impatience to get on with the deal in negotiations - to cut to the chase. In a world that seems to have become simply more transactional with social distancing, work from home and Zoom meetings, it’s becoming increasingly more challenging to build authentic relationships... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/conversations-that-count/ Tue, 23 Aug 2022 04:45:30 GMT 7635 Jane Leggate A key part of negotiating is the making of proposals. Proposals are an attempt to resolve the conflict at hand - they are possible solutions. Given a world which appears to be over-supplied with conflicts, who wouldn’t like a solution? Of course, your proposal is your solution to the conflict, but it’s hardly likely to gain traction if it doesn’t solve the other party’s problem as well... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/if-the-rabbit-suit-fits/ Wed, 17 Aug 2022 01:05:59 GMT 7632 Ben Byth Negotiation lessons are there to be gleaned in our day-to-day life, even when and where we least expect it. A recent family holiday offered me a moment to pause and reflect on the importance of observing the behaviour of your counterpart...but more importantly adapting your own behaviour, tactics and strategy in response. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/kids-eat-free/ Tue, 09 Aug 2022 06:26:53 GMT 7628 Keith Stacey As a lifetime student of negotiating, I’m going to share a secret with you: all you need to know is contained in the famous country and western anthem, The Gambler written by Don Schlitz and made famous by Kenny Rogers... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/the-gambler-a-master-class-in-negotiation/ Wed, 03 Aug 2022 02:17:11 GMT 7622 Keith Stacey In 'The Bad Apple : Part 1' we examined workplace behaviours which create conflict and proposed a way to resolve them. These group tensions have another dimension which impact on workplace effectiveness, as revealed in recent research published by Atlassian. Part 2 discusses the the impact these behaviours have on workplace effectiveness and what this means for negotiators. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/the-bad-apple-part-2/ Tue, 26 Jul 2022 23:58:56 GMT 7609 Keith Stacey Managers have a difficult job: they have to deal with people. Have you ever been in a position of having to deal with a bad apple in you team? A recent Royal Commission in Tasmania has uncovered a toxic culture within which bad behaviour flourished. Whistle-blowers were ignored and intimidated. These dysfunctional workplaces did not occur overnight, but gradually over time. People avoided conflict and did not address emerging bad behaviour when it first occurred. Tolerance can be perceived as permission and eventually endorsement. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/the-bad-apple-part-1/ Wed, 20 Jul 2022 03:04:33 GMT 7599 Hunter Shannonhouse I’m an old softy, so Scotwork’s advocacy for being a collaborative negotiator sits comfortably with me. But I’m also a pragmatist so I think it can be a grave, strategic error to ignore, or hope against the facts of human nature and behaviour as you will find in books such as Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power.You may believe strongly that you should behave with integrity. I’m with you on that. However, you should not expect that everyone else will work from that same foundation...  https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/the-swordman-s-stance/ Wed, 13 Jul 2022 02:13:58 GMT 7595 Ben Byth One of the advantages of learning the art of negotiation, is that a whole range of unexpected negotiating opportunities materialise. ‘Have you got five minutes?’ is a request heard daily in most offices. Someone standing in front of you wants some of your time to discuss an idea they have, to get your advice, to raise an issue of concern; the list of possible concerns is endless. The point is, that what they want is the one thing you don’t have enough of - time.   https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/the-secret-power-of-mini-negotiations/ Tue, 05 Jul 2022 23:58:56 GMT 7581 Jane Leggate As negotiators we often focus on our issues, to the exclusion of trying to understand the other party’s objectives. This oversight is a major source of failure in negotiations. Unless both parties achieve their objectives, there cannot be a lasting agreement.  https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/walk-a-mile-in-their-shoes/ Wed, 06 Jul 2022 03:56:54 GMT 7556 Ben Byth The other day I was setting up a room, ready to lead a negotiating course in Brisbane and a smartly dressed young woman walked into the room, coffee in hand - at least thirty minutes early. I must have looked surprised, because she shrugged lightly and said, ‘Punctuality is my superpower.’ We both shared a laugh and moved on to other topics.  https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/punctuality-a-superpower/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 05:00:49 GMT 7551 Tyler Hall A colleague and I were walking through the streets of Adelaide on a cold night when we stumbled upon a warm and inviting restaurant that we had hoped to call home for the evening. Of course, we hadn’t made a booking, but assumed that as it was a Monday night, finding a table wouldn’t be a problem. In fact, it was. “Sorry, we’re full,” came the response from the sympathetic host. This however, did not conclude my colleagues attempts at getting a table to which he responded, “Are there any circumstances under which you could find us a table?” What would have for most people ended with them returning to the night to search for an alternative, ended in a positive experience for us through the power of not taking 'no' for an answer... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/no-room-at-the-inn/ Tue, 14 Jun 2022 06:28:19 GMT 7542 Keith Stacey Our personal credibility is on display in every negotiation and there are numerous ways to describe it; personal brand or reputation. If you combine these elements, it is the halo effect. The ‘halo effect’ is a powerful mechanism to enhance your reputation. Of course, it means a favourable impression about one aspect of a person, product or company is transferred to other aspects. A common example is if someone is good-looking, then we assume other desirable characteristics also exist such as intelligence and being trustworthy. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/has-your-halo-slipped/ Thu, 09 Jun 2022 01:28:17 GMT 7536 Keith Stacey People have long memories; particularly of slights, unfair treatment or complaints that haven’t been resolved. I was reminded of this recently when a friend had organised a dinner ‘get together’. Time and venue had been agreed, but a dissenting voice was raised stating ‘If we’re going there, I won’t attend.’ After a bad experience at the restaurant, the friend had exercised their veto power. As a result, the venue was changed for twelve people! So the loss of one customer turned into the loss of many. When it comes to negotiations, one small disagreement, can be detrimental to a business... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/beware-the-long-memory/ Tue, 31 May 2022 06:21:15 GMT 7527 Keith Stacey ‘The joke’ was heading towards life-support even before the Oscar meltdown. Now, we have revelations about how a joke about ripped jeans prematurely ended a fabulous AFL career and fractured relationships with team-mates, the club and the player’s management team. The catalyst for this was comment from club president, Jeff Kennett, about the torn designer jeans of Cyril Rioli’s partner. However, joking is a uniquely human activity and can be used to fast-track relationships and reduce tension in conflict situations. It can therefore be a valuable tool to be used by the negotiator. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/the-death-of-the-joke/ Tue, 17 May 2022 07:35:26 GMT 7520 Keith Stacey Professional fishers use braided line. It is both thinner and heavier, easier to cast and faster to sink to where the fish are. It is also stronger. You pay a premium for these advantages. In negotiation, linking theory with practice provides the same benefits that braided line does for fishers. Some providers give tactics and tips without a coherent underlying theory. Much of this advice is situation specific without the advantage of general application across a broader range of conflicts. While theory alone may be useful to predict future behaviours, it is not until it survives the practical test that it proves its utility. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/braided-is-better/ Thu, 12 May 2022 04:18:09 GMT 7519 Phil Tammen A while ago I was engaged in a favourite hobby, back-country hiking with a group of friends, when a scenario emerged which made me pause and think about how hard it is sometimes to shift goals and achieve less than you planned. On reflection, in the comfort of my office, I could see parallels in the world of negotiations that had very similar dynamics. Here are some tips on how to adjust when our conception of the expected outcome doesn't go to plan... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/the-art-of-de-escalation-when-should-we-back-down/ Tue, 03 May 2022 06:29:31 GMT 7514 Keith Stacey When it comes to those packets of mixed sandwiches - you know, the sort they give you in hospital recovery rooms, there is always a tuna sandwich, which must be everybody's’ least favourite. The tuna sandwich is a metaphor for a dilemma faced by many negotiators when they receive a proposal. So, what do you do with that tuna sandwich? Well... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/what-to-do-with-a-tuna-sandwich/ Thu, 28 Apr 2022 02:06:40 GMT 7506 Phil Tammen Negotiation is the preferred approach to resolving a wide range of complex problems, and our expectation is usually that it will bridge gulfs between parties and yield ‘win-win’ outcomes. In practice, for all the fact it is often still the best course of action in difficult circumstances, negotiation is sometimes incredibly challenging and it doesn’t always result in success. Where expectations aren’t being met, anger is the most common and instinctive human response. So how to avoid damaging relationships with counterparts... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/anger-in-negotiations-the-unwelcome-ingredient/ Tue, 19 Apr 2022 04:48:54 GMT 7502 Phil Tammen There are many circumstances in business where two seemingly independent entities are in practice mutually inter-dependant. While it is tempting to say “so what?” or ignore this dimension of the relationship, in practice there are often operational implications and negotiations between the parties which may also be affected, especially if there are asymmetric views on the degree of inter-dependence...  https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/perils-of-complacency-in-long-term-negotiating-relationships/ Wed, 13 Apr 2022 02:47:41 GMT 7480 Tyler Hall Having worked on thousands of deals, I’ve often seen that the most difficult issues are left till last, and it’s normally pricing. This is not great for either party. And here's why... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/don-t-leave-price-till-last/ Thu, 07 Apr 2022 00:07:19 GMT 7478 Ben Byth People can be amazingly generous with their effort. I ran into a client boarding a short flight from Brisbane to Sydney last week and the interesting thing about this was that they had chosen quite a peculiar flight path. Instead of flying on the 11:00AM flight direct to Perth, they chose to depart six hours earlier on a 5:00AM Monday morning flight connecting through Sydney. Why? So that they could spend an extra two hours in the office working in Perth. Employee of the month right there! https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/the-importance-of-relationship/ Tue, 29 Mar 2022 02:45:36 GMT 7475 Keith Stacey Such a ridiculous question and yet, research undertaken by Microsoft indicates that the attention span of a goldfish - nine seconds, is longer by one second than human beings (8 seconds). So why does this even matter? Well... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/would-you-get-a-goldfish-to-design-a-submarine/ Tue, 15 Mar 2022 06:15:41 GMT 7466 Keith Stacey In the construction industry, developers typically follow a very traditional business model. It is a model which has really been put to the test during the course of the pandemic. As negotiators there are some key learnings from this business model... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/a-busted-business-model/ Tue, 08 Mar 2022 06:13:23 GMT 7464 Keith Stacey Incumbency is a clumsy word, and it is not often used in general conversation, but if your business has a customer or client, then you are the incumbent. You have a number of key advantages that you need to be aware of, and you can use them when appropriate. They are... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/use-it-or-lose-it-the-value-of-incumbency/ Tue, 01 Mar 2022 23:59:28 GMT 7437 Keith Stacey We are surrounded by competing signage on billboards, buildings and particularly on all types of vehicles from buses to mopeds. The name of any business is a chance to build a unique and recognisable brand - to stand out from the crowd. Whilst on the Gold Coast recently, two examples caught my eye... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/what-s-in-a-name/ Thu, 24 Feb 2022 02:39:36 GMT 7425 Jared Bamford At Scotwork, we champion the importance of understanding and knowing your objectives ahead of any negotiation. Your objectives then drive the main issues to be addressed with the other party when you sit down at the table. Sounds simple right? Well simple on paper maybe, but not always as simple in real life... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/what-is-the-objective/ Tue, 08 Feb 2022 04:34:59 GMT 7417 Jane Leggate 2022 is the year of the Tiger! It is said that the Tiger represents bravery, courage, and strength. This got me thinking - as a negotiator, how can we exhibit these big-cat like qualities in our negotiations? How might we be brave, courageous and strong in order to master deals with highly desirable business outcomes? Well, there is no magic bullet (unfortunately!), but one simple thing we can do which has an enormous impact on our ability to head into a negotiation feeling confident, composed and in control is making sure we are well prepared. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/using-time-as-a-negotiation-variable/ Thu, 03 Feb 2022 06:56:46 GMT 7406 Keith Stacey Part 1 of this series outlined the increasing importance of ESG issues for all enterprises. However, the buck does stop here, because “two out of three ain’t bad” is not good enough. Organisations need to demonstrate commitment to ESG goals in everything they do. ESG is no longer a box ticking exercise or a few paragraphs in the annual report, rather it is central to not only what organisations do, but how they do it. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/environmental-social-and-governance-esg-part-2/ Tue, 25 Jan 2022 06:14:19 GMT 7348 Ben Byth With increasingly small candidate markets and the growing resignation movement coming from the United States, negotiation strategies need to evolve on both sides. However, most importantly - all parties must recognise that employment and human-capital shouldn’t be considered transactional, as the decisions we make now are likely to ripple across the rest of our careers and balance-sheets. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2022/the-tables-are-turning-in-employment/ Tue, 18 Jan 2022 05:38:26 GMT 7336 Ben Byth Negotiators often spend shockingly little time reflecting on and refining their own strategies and even less time thinking about that of their counterparts. We often almost become one-trick-ponies where we follow a pattern of behaviour, often easily identified and predicted, and very rarely evolve with the circumstances. In this week's blog, Scotwork Managing Partner Ben Byth provides some insight into how we could be approaching negotiation strategy better - from both our side and theirs - in order to achieve better outcomes. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/why-would-you-forget-and-move-on-so-quickly/ Tue, 14 Dec 2021 02:44:00 GMT 7320 Jane Leggate As 2021 draws to a close, businesses will be starting to close off activities in preparation for the Christmas/New Year closedown. This raises the question of 'How do we deal with negotiations that are still in progress?'. If you are needing to adjourn over the holidays, here are 3 tips that will ensure you effectively pick up and progress your deal forward when you return in 2022! https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/end-of-year-adjournments/ Tue, 07 Dec 2021 04:08:16 GMT 7312 Hunter Shannonhouse Ever experienced anxiety during negotiation or feared that if you don't play it right, the deal may fall through? You're not alone. Whilst fear is said to be sparked by a present, 'known' danger and can be useful at helping us avoid genuine threats; anxiety is triggered by the anticipation of some possible future negative experience. As useful as fear can be in certain situations, it's not helpful at the negotiation table and can negatively affect your rational and creative thinking processes. So, what can we do to try and prevent this? Read our blog below for some helpful tips on keeping your fear and anxiety in check when negotiating. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/what-are-you-afraid-of/ Tue, 30 Nov 2021 04:26:18 GMT 7305 Scotwork Australia What information should I share with my negotiation counterparts? When should I share it? How do I get internal alignment before sharing? These are some of the common dilemmas negotiators face when navigating the information disclosure stage of a negotiation. While information disclosure can look and feel tricky, it's not magic! In our latest blog, we've got 3 simple tips to help you feel more confident going into your next deal! https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/3-tips-for-navigating-information-disclosure/ Mon, 22 Nov 2021 23:54:44 GMT 7302 Hunter Shannonhouse Heads up football means playing with your head up, observing what is in front of you, adapting to present circumstances, and deciding in a flash what to do next. In negotiation, we know with certainty there are practices that lead to greater efficiency and better outcomes. But are there times when you may be better off reading the 'play' rather than the 'rules'? Scotwork Principal Consultant Hunter Shannonhouse shares his thoughts on this in our most recent blog! https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/heads-up-negotiation/ Mon, 15 Nov 2021 22:27:33 GMT 7294 Keith Stacey As we move from lockdowns and open to begin to live with the Covid 19 endemic in our communities, many adjustments will be necessary. With shortages in materials, resources, and skilled and unskilled labour, these macro-economic issues play out in the everyday lives of consumers and employers as levels of competence previously expected decline. Scotwork Principal Consultant Keith Stacey suggests there is a simple solution to achieve better outcomes in these challenging times. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/forget-nimble-and-agile-try-competent-in-our-post-covid-era/ Mon, 29 Nov 2021 23:10:53 GMT 7287 Scotwork Australia Quite often, the default strategy in negotiation is to push for a price reduction - especially if it has worked previously. As the adage goes 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. Of course, this is of no comfort to the party facing that push. What it all boils down to is a distribution of value rather than the creation of value. But how do you motivate your counterpart to look beyond price? Here are 3 tips to try next time you feel a bit stuck ... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/looking-beyond-price-in-negotiation/ Mon, 08 Nov 2021 03:46:01 GMT 7273 Jared Bamford The Request for Proposal (RFP) is a popular model employed by buyers as it is usually viewed as a way to offer a level playing field whilst at the same time incentivizing competitive pricing. However, for the seller, this process is often a time-consuming exercise with little foreseeable return on investment. Scotwork Partner Jared Bamford shares with us his insights around the issues associated with the RFP model from the seller's perspective, along with suggestions on how you may be able to avoid this process altogether. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/the-issue-with-rfp-from-a-seller-s-perspective/ Wed, 03 Nov 2021 23:13:31 GMT 7275 Phil Tammen We may sometimes find ourselves in an unexpected negotiation, with little time for preparation. And while a lack of preparation may be overcome by experience and talent, didn't somebody say hope is not a strategy? Your organisation can’t afford to have key suppliers and customers think that haste and hope are your default approach to such critical and complex relationships! https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/negotiation-strategies-and-plans/ Tue, 26 Oct 2021 02:31:04 GMT 7263 Keith Stacey With the financialization and increased globalisation of the world economy that has accelerated from the 1970's to the present time, elements such as environmental, social and governance (ESG) have been on the rise and are gaining much more focus and attention in recent years... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/environmental-social-and-governance-esg-more-negotiating-issues/ Wed, 20 Oct 2021 00:59:30 GMT 7261 Tyler Hall Have you ever been in a situation where a current agreement in place needs to be fixed? It could be due to a low margin deal, over or under servicing or even an internal issue such as how the team operates… Quite often when attempting to introduce the fix you’ll be met with “That’s the way we’ve always done it.” https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/fixing-legacy-and-precedent-issues/ Tue, 12 Oct 2021 01:17:26 GMT 7257 Phil Tammen We are all increasingly aware of the importance of addressing bias in critical decisions like recruiting, promotion and remuneration. But what about in negotiation? Is the possibility of bias in negotiation real and if so, what types of bias might be at work and how might we mitigate against them? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/combatting-bias-in-negotiations/ Tue, 05 Oct 2021 05:29:37 GMT 7253 Jared Bamford Are your deals suffering because of your ego? It’s a common misconception that you need to approach the negotiation in an adversarial way to achieve the best outcome. Sure, if you have all the power and you don’t care about a future relationship then you can make a demand and not back down. That involves little or no skill. But what if you don’t hold the balance of power? Or... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/the-fallacy-of-being-adversarial-to-get-the-best-deal/ Wed, 29 Sep 2021 01:14:06 GMT 7250 Phil Tammen There may be a temptation for some leaders, given the improving performance of telecommunication tools, to use them to be involved in negotiations, even when they are conducted in a remote location. Everyone is more comfortable using these tools given the COVID experience, so what busy executive wouldn’t want to cut their time spent on travel, reduce costs and still be close to the action? On the downside... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/executive-involvement-in-negotiations/ Tue, 21 Sep 2021 22:42:26 GMT 7242 Ben Byth It is surprising that I am still amazed when a client's problem almost precisely matches one of our cases... The last surprise was our own! We were booked into a hotel in Perth for 2 consecutive weeks... when unexpectedly we get an email from the venue just weeks before the program was due to commence, announcing that they will no longer hold our booking. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/getting-on-the-front-foot-with-grievances/ Tue, 14 Sep 2021 23:32:47 GMT 7223 Keith Stacey The purpose of this blog is to ask some of the questions that will require answering as we emerge from lockdowns. The questions are posed, simply to promote a dialogue around the possibilities created. The impact on work, relationships, organizational culture, negotiating and innovation and creativity are some of the areas to be discussed. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/coronavirus-questions-into-the-future/ Tue, 21 Sep 2021 04:07:01 GMT 7191 Ben Byth Every now and then someone will make a demand of you that you can't help but feel is unreasonable. Your first reaction will often be one of shock, and you may even ask if they are joking?! However, annoyance then usually sets in once you realise they felt it was okay to make such an outrageous request. When emotions begin to boil in these situations it is often best to step away, cool down and think about your response!... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/the-negotiator-s-response-to-unreasonable-demands/ Mon, 26 Jul 2021 05:40:22 GMT 7174 Ben Byth I was dreading a call to my home and contents insurer to obtain a certificate of currency, but to my surprise, it didn’t go poorly at all. In fact - they ended up reimbursing me $150, despite the fact that I did not even so much as hint that the fee was of interest!... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/offering-a-fee-reduction-without-being-asked/ Thu, 01 Jul 2021 00:09:13 GMT 7109 Keith Stacey Asking questions is the key to achieving mutual understanding. Of course, the question may be the key but listening to the responses is entering the door of ‘knowing’. Negotiators do not have a perfect understanding of the other party’s issues, priorities, concerns and inhibitions when they prepare for a negotiation. This forces them to make assumptions about these important matters. When they meet with their counterparty, questions are necessary to validate their assumptions... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/words-the-currency-of-negotiation-part-2/ Thu, 01 Jul 2021 00:09:02 GMT 7107 Keith Stacey Negotiation is a specialised form of communication to resolve a conflict. The means is talking to each other through using words. Like all currencies, the more words in circulation, the less valuable they are. A highly skilled negotiator avoids jargon and overly complex language in order to achieve clarity of meaning... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/words-the-currency-of-negotiation/ Thu, 01 Jul 2021 00:08:35 GMT 7105 Ben Byth In commercial and personal negotiations, it doesn’t take long before an unreasonable request or demand is asked of us. A mate of mine was selling his surf ski and listed it on Facebook for a quick and easy sale at the bottom end of what he could expect to achieve. Unfortunately for Matthew, some people just feel the need to push on price regardless of how good the deal already is... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/should-i-cut-the-bow-or-the-stern-off/ Mon, 10 May 2021 04:44:16 GMT 6993 Keith Stacey The word ‘creative’ is seldom used to describe a negotiator, yet it is creativity that generates value in negotiating. If there is to be mutual gain in a negotiation, it follows logically that value must be created... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/creating-value-in-negotiations/ Mon, 26 Apr 2021 05:49:37 GMT 6909 Ben Byth Negotiating is easy when you have a lot of power - you can simply demand you get your way! On the other hand, it is much harder when the power is more evenly balanced, but worse still when the power is not in your favour at all... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/turning-the-tables-3-tips-for-when-the-negotiation-power-isn-t-in-your-favour/ Mon, 26 Apr 2021 05:45:33 GMT 6905 Ben Byth It is surprising how many deals do actually get put together, given how fragile deals can be, how many things need to go right, and how easily people can put themselves in the way of good business. Here are my tips for internalising the challenges we face when dealing with difficult people... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/why-do-we-let-people-we-don-t-like-scuttle-our-deals/ Mon, 26 Apr 2021 05:40:05 GMT 6900 Keith Stacey Our experiences of the pandemic may well bring a greater emphasis on fairness in negotiation. My thoughts on ‘fairness’ grew after I read a newspaper article about a $300,000 McLaren 570GT parked across two disability parking places in the Como Centre, Chapel Street. This action had apparently provoked much outrage and reporting to the Australian Disability Parking Hall of Shame Facebook group – now I know the group exists! Of course, the reporting had assumed that the driver was not, in fact, disabled... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/fairness-in-negotiation-an-expensive-lesson/ Mon, 26 Apr 2021 05:35:37 GMT 6897 Ben Byth Is it any surprise that when we look around, so many captains of Australian industry have done a Scotwork program during their careers? You could argue that simply by the sheer quantum of people who have done a Scotwork program (>20,000 Australians) that it was bound to happen… but I suspect there is more to it... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/great-negotiators-make-great-leaders/ Mon, 26 Apr 2021 05:31:38 GMT 6894 Keith Stacey The ABC news reported that hotel guests under Covid quarantine were being charged $1400 for access to fresh air during their compulsory 14 day stay. Many of you would be aware that this was in addition to paying for their accommodation organised by the state government. The balconies in question were certainly not spacious; they had barely enough room for two people to stand. On this basis they represent some of the most expensive real estate ever given the daily charge of $100... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/how-to-sell-fresh-air/ Mon, 26 Apr 2021 05:24:24 GMT 6892 Ben Byth If you ask me what the number 1 mistake is when it comes to negotiation - I would tell you that it is not squeaking loud enough or often enough! Let me tell you why… https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/the-number-one-mistake/ Mon, 26 Apr 2021 05:19:18 GMT 6889 Natasha Barton I’ve found recently that many of my informal discussions with clients, colleagues, family and friends have had a common theme to them – cultural differences. It got me thinking about why this may be. If you’re negotiating with people from different cultures, being aware of the nuances associated with each can help you to achieve better outcomes with your negotiations. But how do we do this? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/negotiating-within-a-cultural-context/ Mon, 26 Apr 2021 05:09:05 GMT 6887 Ben Byth One of the biggest deal- killing manoeuvres we see in any commercial or internal transaction is where one party feeds their desire to win. They go out of their way to make sure that there is nothing left on the table for the other party and unsurprisingly the other party pushes back... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/it-s-okay-to-leave-some-value-on-the-table/ Mon, 26 Apr 2021 04:58:25 GMT 6884 Keith Stacey Professor John Kay an economist, has written a fascinating book on the subject of obliquity (taking the indirect route). As negotiators, we often see solutions in only one focus - ours. As a result, we do not engage the counterparty’s creative skills to develop innovative solutions which benefit both. An example is a supplier part way through a contract who finds that because of an increase in non-planned maintenance, that they are not going to gain any profit from a contract... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2021/obliquity-an-indirect-route-to-success/ Mon, 26 Apr 2021 04:44:34 GMT 6881 Ben Byth Regardless of our positions or industry, we all will deal with difficult people at some point or another. For some, this could even be on a daily basis! They may be suppliers or colleagues; however their common thread is that they are people making demands and how we deal with them will have a material effect on both the relationship and our own sanity. In my experience there are often three common negotiating stereotypes you are likely to encounter and I have some tips for the best way deal with each!... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/dealing-with-negotiation-nightmares/ Thu, 01 Jul 2021 00:10:25 GMT 7101 Ben Byth It’s something most of us hear on a day to day basis (and if you’re a parent you probably hear it more frequently still!). Whether it be customers, suppliers or even your boss…. Hearing someone say NO to our proposal is a fairly generic problem and one which often results in our discussion entering ‘Deadlock’. What’s to be done in this situation? Is our negotiation dead in the water? Or is there a way to resurrect it?... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/moving-from-no-to-yes-in-negotiation/ Thu, 01 Jul 2021 00:10:36 GMT 7099 Ben Byth Every now and then you will find yourself sitting across the negotiation table in a position which is very difficult to defend. Unfortunately, the legal stance is to argue your best case, however this will likely lead to damage to your credibility and social licence, and even worse… it can encourage your counterpart to be defensive and competitive. So what's the better alternative?... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/defending-difficult-decisions-in-negotiation/ Mon, 26 Apr 2021 04:41:54 GMT 3503 Natasha Barton In 2016, the World Economic Forum predicted that the Fourth Industrial Revolution would transform the way that we live and the way that we work. Robotics, AI, machine learning, biotechnology and genomics would move us forward. It would result in some jobs disappearing, some jobs staying and others that weren’t in existence, being created. Fast forward to 2020, and our lives have been transformed. And yes, some of it has to do with the advances in technology. But most of it has been due to a global health crisis that has impacted us in ways that no-one could have predicted... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/the-future-of-work-what-skills-do-you-need-for-2020-and-beyond/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:18 GMT 3501 Ben Byth I was honoured to have recently been invited to judge Queensland University of Technology’s Business School Negotiation Competition. After watching the participants negotiate their way through 4 rounds, there were a few themes which I observed across the group... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/observations-of-a-negotiation-judge/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:17 GMT 3499 Ben Byth Have you ever been in a position where you have taken a deal from heaven only to get back to the office and have your boss point out something you missed? Suddenly the deal from heaven has turned into the deal from hell! https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/whoops-recovering-from-mistakes-in-negotiation/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:17 GMT 3497 Natasha Barton You’re a skilled negotiator. It’s what you do, and you love it. You’ve lost count of how many negotiations you’ve been involved in, whether it be internal or external. And the majority have been successful. But has there ever been one (or more than one), that has gotten away from you? You replayed the negotiation in your head, and upon reflection, it appears that you’ve done everything right. Your preparation was on point, you asked killer questions, you had all the right information, you traded, and there was value on the table for both parties. But for some reason it didn’t work, and you just couldn’t figure out why. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/the-psychology-of-failed-negotiations/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:16 GMT 3495 Tyler Hall You are out for a drink and the bartender asks you – “What would you like?” to which you reply “Guess!”. “Alright then” he says, “How about a red wine?”. You shake your head to this and say “No, that’s not what I want. Guess again.” After much back and forth, the bartender is justifiably irritated and through gritted teeth he tells you “I have other customers I need to serve, you look like someone who would enjoy a refreshing Sauvignon Blanc so I’ll pour you one of those. Enjoy your night.” This is a silly analogy to what I observe every week in most negotiations. Often there is a lack of specific disclosure as to what it is that the party wants or they take a long time to bring this information forward... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/be-specific-with-what-you-want/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:15 GMT 3492 Jacob Hall Negotiating a great outcome can be challenging… even on the best of days. However, negotiating a mutually beneficial outcome is usually more successful when there is a clear line of communication between the involved parties. So, what is the impact when communication is not clear, and our messages and intent become “Lost in translation?” https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/lost-in-translation/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:13 GMT 3490 Ben Byth While almost everyone would be able to relate to feeling a little ripped off in a negotiation sometimes, a select few of us have also been accused of being the one to rip someone else off. Some may relish in the fact that they have ‘gotten the better’ of the other party, but most of us mere humans will feel a little shame and possibly even fear of reprisals should the tables turn when power ebbs and flows... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/are-you-a-negotiation-ripper/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:12 GMT 3487 Ben Byth Every now and then, almost as soon as the ink is dry on the contract regret begins to bubble up inside us and we find ourselves thinking ‘what have I done’! Typically, this feeling of remorse or regret starts to manifest as we realise that the deal we just signed came rather easily and the other party has ‘snapped our hand off’. Our thought process goes along the lines of ‘because they didn’t push back very hard… maybe we could have asked for more!’... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/removing-remorse-from-the-negotiating-table/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:11 GMT 3485 Elizabeth Lewis These past few months of pandemic life have certainly been interesting. With many of our social and recreational outlets taken away or heavily restricted, new norms and ways of entertaining ourselves have been required. One popular pastime during lockdown has been binge watching Netflix, Stan and Disney+. One of my favourite modern series is Stranger Things and I was blown away recently by a scene where 10 year old Erica schools us all on how to negotiate... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/the-stranger-things-guide-to-negotiation/ Mon, 28 Jun 2021 03:13:36 GMT 3483 Elizabeth Lewis Negotiating over a webcam is not the same as face to face. Our overall advice is to slow the pace down, be deliberate with the words and information you provide and be concise. The main game here is to convey the relevant information to get the point across. If the software you’re using has screen sharing capabilities, take advantage of this and use this to demonstrate the relevant information! https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/tips-and-considerations-for-negotiating-virtually-part-two/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:10 GMT 3481 Elizabeth Lewis I asked a friend recently how he was coping with social isolation. “I have never been more efficient,” he proclaimed enthusiastically. “All those meetings I used to attend are now on Zoom: no commuting, no looking for parking, so much more efficient. I’m getting twice as much done.” Commentators are seeing work from home (WFH) as becoming a permanent feature of the economy when all restrictions are lifted. Currently 15% of the workforce is able to work from home and this is predicted to rise to 30% post pandemic. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/tips-and-considerations-for-negotiating-virtually-part-one/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:08 GMT 3479 Elizabeth Lewis “No issue can be negotiated unless you first have the clout to compel negotiation.” Saul Alinsky One recent Saturday morning, I was lamenting on the state of my house. The first load of laundry was already on and I was halfway through stacking the dishwasher. But Mt Washmore loomed in the background and the various abandoned toys throughout the living area, dining and lounge room were reminiscent of a ninja warrior course – requiring one to step around, weave through and jump over when traversing through the rooms. My children were oblivious to the chaos of course – relaxing blissfully under a blanket on the lounge watching TV. Not a care in the world as I grumbled through my cleaning routine... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/bringing-the-other-party-to-the-negotiation-table/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:06 GMT 3477 Jared Bamford ‘The Prisoners’ Dilemma’ is a popular game theory example involving a two-person game of strategic interaction. One version is as follows. Two prisoners are accused of a crime. If one confesses and the other does not, the one who confesses will be released immediately and the other will spend 20 years in prison. If neither confesses, each will be held for only a few months. If both confess, they each spend 15 years in prison. This creates a paradox in decision analysis in which two individuals acting in their own self-interest do not produce the optimal outcome... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/the-ultimate-game-theory-strategy/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:05 GMT 3475 Keith Stacey ‘Running’s Not cunning, If That’s All You Can Do.’ This inspired line from Wayne Smith, chief rugby writer for the Australian newspaper, captures the fate of the Wallabies in the 2019 World Cup. I’m not an expert in the game, but I have followed the commentary and controversy swirling around this recent campaign and Rugby Australia generally over the last year. There are many lessons for negotiators in this saga. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/negotiation-lessons-from-the-2019-rugby-world-cup/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:04 GMT 3473 Ben Byth My wife had to make a call to organise flowers for a client and being in the car on speaker I was lucky enough to hear the whole call. Sonja quickly established enough to ‘qualify in’ the florist and the florist also did a great job in establishing some key information about the order. But what happens next blows my mind... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/don-t-miss-the-signal/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:04 GMT 3471 Tyler Hall There are more negotiations happening right now than ever before. Variations of terms, deferring of payments, discounting pressure, ripping up of contracts and relationships being put at risk. The next 3 to 12 months is a frightening tight rope for negotiators to maintain their own business continuity whilst preserving relationships with customers or suppliers or between business owners and their staff... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/business-is-not-as-usual-negotiating-through-a-crisis/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:03 GMT 3469 Ben Byth So often we work ourselves up into a sweat over how somebody might react to our proposal, sometimes our fear is founded, but often it isn’t and our fear only gets in the way of making good decisions. A friend recently shared with me that his company had undercharged a customer by $4,000 and, once the error was discovered, there was a discussion around how the client may react if his company tried to charge them the balance now... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/sometimes-you-just-need-to-ask/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:03 GMT 3467 Keith Stacey A fable for all negotiators... A wealthy businessman owned a large estate on a headland overlooking a harbour. The headland divided two popular beaches. The boundary of the headland was an unfenced twenty metre cliff face. A narrow pathway around the cliff edge connected the two beaches... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/what-does-the-other-party-want/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:02 GMT 3465 Keith Stacey Many of life’s important lessons are counter-intuitive. Our natural reactions are the opposite of what is the right thing to do. Some examples: If your car begins to slide the instinctive is to correct the slide by steering in the other direction. This further imbalances the car and makes the slide worse. A skilled driver steers into the slide and gains control of the car before steering where it should be going. Watch any rally driver on a dirt road steer round a sharp corner and you will see the skill in practice... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/the-power-of-yes-in-negotiation/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:01 GMT 3463 Keith Stacey For high stakes negotiations, deciding on the number of people at the table is an important part of planning. The answer lies somewhere in between the old adages, ‘two heads are better than one’ and ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/the-ideal-size-for-a-negotiating-team/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:01 GMT 3461 Keith Stacey The word ‘trivia’ derives from the Latin tri, meaning three, and via, road. The literal translation is - where the three roads meet. In ancient times this intersection became a meeting place for travellers from distant lands. On meeting fellow travellers, information was exchanged about far away places, opportunities, friends and dangers. In short – gossip, or as we call it trivia... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/the-big-impact-of-small-things/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:00 GMT 3459 Ben Byth There is a reason so many athletes make it in the commercial world after they retire. The concepts and discipline they learn are simple and universal… so why do we struggle to understand and implement them as mere corporate citizens? A good friend is a Performance Coach for Australian Sailing and described to me the effort they go to learn from their mistakes. The race isn’t over at the finish line. The feedback loop is just kicking into gear... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/the-race-isn-t-over-at-the-finish-line/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:59 GMT 3457 Keith Stacey We have all heard these comforting words from a medical practitioner. Of course it ends up hurting like hell. You understand that what they should have said is, “This is not going to hurt me.” The words intended to comfort, structure expectations in the wrong direction and a special trust has been breached. The issue of pain is not often mentioned in negotiations, but is often felt. Each time we make a concession, fail to achieve an objective or an agreement the pain becomes evident... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/this-is-not-going-to-hurt/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:59 GMT 3455 Tyler Hall So often we are asked – what is the difference between persuasion and negotiation? We observe negotiations, discussions, and arguments with two types of dialogue - persuasive dialogue and negotiating dialogue. Persuasive dialogue is telling, selling, influencing and arguing to win. Negotiating dialogue is trying to discover the positions, constraints and priorities of the other party and also disclosing your own. We are trying to gain understanding in order to then trade on issues. So should I persuade or negotiate?... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/to-persuade-or-negotiate-that-is-the-question/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:58 GMT 3453 Ben Byth In a world where we have never been more connected, somehow it feels less personal. We are overloaded with new information and messages, a bit over the phone… but mostly via emails or private messages. While this has greatly increased the average salesperson’s reach, it has come at the cost of the personal touch and ability to hear the voice of the customer... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/negotiation-is-a-two-way-street/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:57 GMT 3451 Keith Stacey In the last year, two companies have announced the loss of a major customer. First it was Sigma Pharmaceuticals announcing the loss of Chemist Wharehouse and then it was Wagners announcing the loss of Boral as a customer. The loss of revenue and profit for both firms were significant. While I lack the specific details to comment on each of these cases, I’d like to explore with you, the general circumstances where such a loss occurs... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/reflections-on-losing-an-important-customer/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:56 GMT 3449 Tyler Hall At Scotwork we talk a great deal about picking up on ‘signals’ during negotiation. These signals are glimpses into the other parties areas of flexibility which usually come in the form of qualifying words, body language and questions. The ability to discover areas of flexibility is always of great benefit when you are in a negotiation... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/reading-signals-in-negotiation/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:56 GMT 3447 Ben Byth What a strange sight as we were driving along - there were flames licking out the door of a parked BMW and the driver was beginning to hobble out. We turn around immediately and call emergency services. Thankfully the driver gets clear of the vehicle and there appear to be no other passengers... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2020/motivators-to-negotiate/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:55 GMT 3445 Keith Stacey When asked about the secret of success, Woody Allen offered ‘turning up’. Anyone who has preferred the comfort of warm bed to the rigours of a boot-camp knows the truth in this simple statement. In a similar vein, Jerry Seinfeld said that ‘paying attention’ was a key element; so simple and yet easily overlooked in our 24/7 networked world. The constant connectivity and the blurring of the distinctions between work and play place new demands on our time and attention. And now a new threat has emerged to our ability to turn up and pay attention... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/turning-up-and-tuning-in/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:22 GMT 3443 Tyler Hall If you are working as a team on a negotiation, it’s important to allocate team tasks to ensure your team is aligned at the table. One of the key tasks is the lead negotiator. So how do you decide who is best placed to lead?... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/who-should-lead-your-negotiations/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:21 GMT 3441 Ben Byth There are many reasons why proposals get rejected, and it is our job as negotiators to surface and remove the roadblocks. However, sadly many people subconsciously scuttle and roadblock their own proposals before they are even made. Some key tips to increase the likelihood of success... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/stop-scuttling-your-own-proposals/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:20 GMT 3439 Keith Stacey Many believe that it was a once in a hundred-year hurricane, Katrina that inundated New Orleans in 1996. The hurricane almost missed the city, but when combined with twenty-five centimeters of rainfall, it overwhelmed the levees that protected the city from flooding. The potential threat to the city had long been recognized. In early 2001, The Federal Emergency Management Agency identified the three most serious threats to the USA as: 1) a hurricane strike on New Orleans; 2) a terrorist attack on New York; and, 3) an earthquake in San Francisco... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/build-it-before-you-need-it/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:20 GMT 3437 Tyler Hall There is a misconception that when you are negotiating with someone who is not very skilled at the art of negotiation, you will get a better deal. In fact, it’s actually more difficult. Why? When you’re engaged with a counterparty who has poor negotiating skills you’re likely to encounter the following scenarios... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/dealing-with-unskilled-negotiators/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:19 GMT 3435 Ben Byth A friend was working in a sales role and was pretty comfortable with his lot in life. He was hitting targets, had a nice house with a manageable mortgage and his kids were going to a good school. Most importantly he had plenty of flexibility with his time so that he could be present at home for his kids. Interestingly though, while none of this changed… the fairy tale slowly eroded around him. His goals shifted, not because of anything inherent to his own intrinsic motivations, but rather because all his boss spoke of was money... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/don-t-assume-it-s-all-about-the-money-when-negotiating/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:19 GMT 3433 Keith Stacey How many times have you gone to the supermarket to buy a short list of items? A list that you can remember everything from. You arrive home with three extra items bought on impulse and of course the essential item required for tonight’s recipe, the nutmeg, has been forgotten. Of course, if you’d gone to Aldi you may have arrived home with a litre of milk and a 3D printer, but still no nutmeg. The limits of short term memory is seven items. This limitation may be inconvenient at home, but can have far more serious consequences on a bigger stage... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/the-limits-to-memory/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:18 GMT 3431 Tyler Hall The real estate agent contacted me to let me know that my lease was up for renewal in a month’s time and subsequently offered me the same terms for another year at $700 a week. I was excited that we were entering into a negotiation that would give me an opportunity to get a better deal!... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/a-rental-negotiation/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:17 GMT 3429 Ben Byth I’m not sure if he had ever had a tour of the factory before, but one of the sales guys decided to tag along with us as his colleague (my client) showed me around the factory. The production manager was clearly passionate and really went into a fair bit of detail beyond what the different machines were… he began to explain how the production line operates and whilst doing so, flagged some of the key impediments to being productive… such as needing to change colours between runs. To my absolute delight, the sales guy became incredibly curious... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/silos-stifle-negotiations/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:17 GMT 3427 Keith Stacey Stage one was now complete with cleaning up under the house – over half of the clutter had been carted off in the back of my ute to the tip; along with two perfectly good life jackets (sigh), which somehow got missed in the urgency to clean up. Having reduced my stuff considerably, I was still faced with yet another disorganised pile of stuff I did not need immediately, but would use in a year’s time (assuming my plan for a new shack eventuated). Fortunately in a corner of the cellar there was a floor made from used pallets. My initial thought was to clear the area, level the floor and cover the repositioned pallets with flooring. I started to take measurements to begin the tedious work on this excellent solution when I realised this was perhaps ‘overkill’ in terms of what was required... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/excellent-is-the-enemy-of-good/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:16 GMT 3425 Ben Byth While there are some of us out there who enjoy arguing, most of us mere mortals would much rather do away with the theatre and get down to business. However, sometimes it is really difficult to get the other person out of the argument – perhaps they are winning, maybe they just think they are winning, or possibly they hope that they will wear you down over time so that you give up... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/a-proposal-beats-an-argument/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:16 GMT 3423 Keith Stacey Recently I ran out of storage space for all the stuff I’d accumulated. After years of procrastination, I knew I had to throw things out. Various charities were the beneficiaries of standard lamps, heaters, old books and other dross that I had stored away thinking it ‘may be useful one day’. As I went through the process of offloading, I felt a strange mixture of liberation and humiliation... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/beginning-with-the-end-in-mind-negotiations/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:15 GMT 3421 Tyler Hall You probably have numerous regular negotiations throughout the year - with both internal and strategic external parties. However, there’s someone you negotiate with more frequently - yourself! I believe there are two critical moments where we become our own worst enemy in a negotiation... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/negotiating-with-your-nemesis-yourself/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:14 GMT 3419 Keith Stacey Been watching the dog-father lately? Well it’s a ‘must watch’ show for all successful negotiators. In a recent episode there’s this woman you see, and she holds this dog tight on his lead. She’s anxious that he’ll lunge at passers by - because, yes, he has before. And each time she walks her dog, she gets even more stressed out, particularly on paths where others are coming towards her and she drags in the lead ‘til she’s leaning over, just about holding his collar. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/loosening-the-lead-in-negotiations/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:14 GMT 3417 Tyler Hall A recent study by McKinsey published on the Harvard Business Review website has found that the average full time worker spends around 28% of their work week reviewing and responding to emails. That’s roughly 2 and a half hours of your work day spent communicating electronically with colleagues, clients and other parties you are negotiating with. However, according to a survey commissioned by Adobe which featured on Huff Post, some professionals may actually be spending up to 6.3 hours per day on email! With that in mind what are the do’s and don’ts when it comes to negotiating over email? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/the-do-s-and-don-ts-of-negotiating-over-email/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:13 GMT 3415 Ben Byth You don’t have to spend long walking around the office or talking with customers/suppliers before someone makes a crazy demand of you. And why wouldn’t people make crazy demands of you… incredibly though, people typically respond by giving them some of what they have asked for (reinforcing the bad behavior). https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/dealing-with-unreasonable-demands/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:13 GMT 3413 Ben Byth Your heart starts to race, palms begin to sweat and your mind suddenly goes blank... The stakes are high and the presence of your boss or a more senior counterpart sitting across the table shoots anxiety through your body like an electric shock. Of course, this has an incredibly detrimental effect on your negotiating ability, which is why we typically do the worst deals when we are negotiating for ourselves… such as negotiating our own salary. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/negotiating-with-your-boss-or-someone-senior-to-you/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:12 GMT 3411 Tyler Hall It’s much easier to get good agreements when you have the power balance in your favour. However, at some stage you will find yourself in a weak negotiating position. You can see just how skilled a person is as a negotiator if they are able to close a good deal from a weak position. Here are a few negotiation tips for if you find yourself in this situation... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/3-tips-for-negotiating-from-a-weak-position/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:11 GMT 3409 Tyler Hall Long ago, the Wind and the Sun quarrelled over who was stronger. Upon seeing a traveller coming down the road, the Sun said: “Now we can end our dispute. Whomever of us can make that traveller take off his cloak shall be regarded as the victor. You begin.” The Sun retired behind a cloud while the Wind blew, blustered, and raged upon the travelling man. But the harsher he blew, the tighter the man wrapped his coat. At last, exhausted, the Wind gave up in despair. The Sun came out and shone in all her glory upon the traveller. Soon the man tipped his face up to the warmth. He removed his coat and basked in the Sun’s rays... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/what-the-wind-and-the-sun-can-teach-us-about-negotiation/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:11 GMT 3407 Ben Byth Interestingly, nearly every time I speak with someone who is reluctant to make a proposal, their fear stems from not knowing how much to ask for. They hope they can put a Goldilocks position on the table - not too hot and not too cold - however they know that the likelihood of guessing what will be ‘just right’ is virtually zero. They worry that their proposal will be rejected almost as much as they worry their proposal will be accepted... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/what-if-they-accept-my-proposal/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:10 GMT 3405 Elizabeth Lewis We love to hear back from attendees of our training programs about how they have put their new skills into play and the impact that this has both personally and professionally. We are thrilled to share with you a guest blog from one of our clients who shares with us his observations of applying the skills to a real world negotiation and the impact of doing so... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/are-you-a-deal-pilot/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:09 GMT 3403 Tyler Hall I can speak 3 languages. English, French and negotiation. English is my native tongue, but I had to learn and practice for many years to speak a decent level of French. At some point invariably, I stopped practicing and speaking it and I am now rusty to say the least. I am however fluent in the language of negotiation as for the last 10 years I’ve studied, practiced, executed and taught it daily. We are all capable of speaking this language. The question is how well? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/how-well-do-you-speak-the-language-of-negotiation/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:08 GMT 3399 Elizabeth Lewis I am fortunate enough to work with some really fantastic people who I not only like on a personal level, but whom I have a great deal of admiration for in terms of their knowledge and skill around negotiation and business in general. Recently I got to thinking though, these colleagues who I admire – who do they admire themselves when it comes to negotiation and why? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/the-greatest-negotiators-part-one/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:09 GMT 3401 Ben Byth Often, I’d prefer not to negotiate... this may seem a strange choice for a blog title written by a negotiation consultant who works for a negotiation training and advisory company. So why then would I suggest that negotiation isn’t always the answer? Not everything is a negotiation! As a professional negotiator, I do of course practice what we preach at Scotwork – good negotiation preparation, asking questions, listening to the other party and understanding what is of value to them, looking for areas of flexibility, etc... All very important skills. However another important skill for any negotiator is the ability to recognise when to negotiate and when there may be a more suitable alternative to conflict. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/often-i-d-prefer-not-to-negotiate/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:06 GMT 3395 Tyler Hall According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, bilateral goods and services trade between Australia and Indonesia was worth a cool $16.8 billion dollars in the 2017-2018 financial year. The recent signing of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) in March is set to provide even more economic opportunity between the two nations going forward. With this in mind, we felt it would be remiss of us not to include our Indo-pacific neighbors in our ‘Negotiating in a Culturally Diverse World’ blog series. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/deal-making-in-a-culturally-diverse-world-negotiating-in-the-indonesian-market/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:07 GMT 3397 Ben Byth So often we find people telling us they want to sweat every penny out of their opposition and get the deal done right on the other party’s limit position. Sometimes they themselves want to gain their place in the company’s hall of fame, typically they have been delegated the impossible task. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/why-i-prefer-good-deals-over-perfect-ones/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:06 GMT 3393 Ben Byth Anyone can negotiate effectively when they have a lot of power. Our mettle is truly tested when we have a difficult position to get over the line, such as needing an unreasonable discount when we don’t have the luxury of being able to simply throw our weight around. Maybe we don’t have a lot of power, or perhaps we do but we value the ongoing relationship more highly than the transaction. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/coaching-your-negotiation-opponents/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:05 GMT 3391 Tyler Hall When negotiating, your emotions can be your worst enemy Believe it or not, I used to be a very quick wing on the football (soccer) field. One warm Saturday afternoon, I was matched up against an opponent over whom I was gaining the advantage to the point where I was threatening to score. In his desperate effort to slow me down he reached for and pulled out my eye brow ring – BTW, eyebrow rings were ‘cool’ then. His tactic worked very well... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/emotion-is-your-enemy/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:05 GMT 3387 Elizabeth Lewis As humans we love a whinge don’t we. And truth be told – we're pretty good at it. It’s a fact of life that things will not always go our way or that at some point we will feel aggrieved. And when this happens, many of us will feel the need to vent our frustration to whoever we feel wronged us. Let’s be honest – we'll probably also whinge about it to anyone within earshot... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/less-whinging-more-proposing/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:05 GMT 3389 Elizabeth Lewis How do you define negotiation? Or rather – how do you define what successful negotiation looks like? I recall a somewhat humorous interaction I had with a former colleague awhile back. At the time, we were having a small in-office celebration... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/the-winner-takes-it-all-don-t-they/ Mon, 28 Jun 2021 03:29:08 GMT 3385 Ben Byth An interesting discussion with my Uber driver led me to reflect on some of my more testing relationships. He said that both he and his wife had met with their daughter’s teacher. One felt the teacher was very difficult to deal with, the other said that the teacher was very cooperative... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2019/maybe-i-m-the-problem/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:58:03 GMT 3383 Hunter Shannonhouse “You’re fine the way you are!” If I’ve taught you, you may have heard me say that. What I mean when I say this is that you don’t need to change your personality to be a good negotiator. You don’t need to be more aggressive, nor do you need to be more charismatic. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/influence-persuasion-and-negotiation/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:35 GMT 3381 Ben Byth More often than not, it is clear if a negotiation will be successful or not by the quality of questions being asked. Good negotiating questions will surface lots of new information about your counterparty’s worlds, their flexibilities and other interests. In contrast, poor questions will typically make it harder. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/good-questions/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:34 GMT 3379 Ben Byth It doesn’t matter whether we are talking with buyers or sellers, managers or staff, nearly everyone we talk to has something to say about how important relationship is to them. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/relationships-in-negotiating/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:33 GMT 3375 Tyler Hall Walking past our marketing colleague’s desk, I noticed she was working on a blog with the title “The A-Z of Negotiation” and it caught my eye. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s coming. I thought it was a great topic and I offered to help knock it in to shape with her, to which she snapped my hand off and accepted. We finished the piece off and five minutes later I received an email from her that asked if I could write another blog. It was in that moment I realised I gave something of value out of goodwill. I gave a little and marketing wanted more. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/goodwill-is-a-bottomless-pit/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:34 GMT 3377 Elizabeth Lewis Sometimes we find brilliant examples of good negotiation behaviour in the most unexpected places. A recent article in an online magazine aimed at airline enthusiasts caught my attention as it detailed some wonderfully creative negotiation behaviour. The story revolved around the ill-fated United Airlines 811 flight which blew a cargo door at 22,000 feet on its way from Honolulu to Auckland in February 1989... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/do-you-know-what-s-important-to-the-other-party/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:33 GMT 3373 Ben Byth Who likes to be told what to do? As anyone with children will tell you, sometimes even the smallest non-contentious (or so you thought) requests can blowout into what feels like negotiating a peace treaty between nations at war. Our 3 year old daughter Annika is no different to any other children in this regard. She knows what she wants, she is prepared to demand it, and she isn’t afraid to go to war for it if we deny her. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/no-one-likes-being-told-what-to-do/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:33 GMT 3371 Ben Byth Be wary of what is lost or gained in the dying throws of a negotiation. We might be fatigued, deal focussed, or even under pressure to reach budget. Without a disciplined approach, it is quite likely mistakes will be made. If you think about it, when would you prefer to buy your next vehicle? In the middle of that salesperson’s budget cycle or at the end, when they may be under pressure? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/closing-concessions/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:32 GMT 3369 Ben Byth We are always thrilled to hear when clients tell us about how they have used specific things they learned from us. One of my clients called last week to say she was getting some success around raising prices. One of the big challenges with raising pricing is that nobody involved likes it. The customer resists, the salesperson is reluctant, and, possibly, everyone resents it. So, after explaining why a price rise was necessary given her marketplace, she gave the client a choice – an ‘Either / Or proposal’... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/either-or-proposals-to-increase-pricing/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:32 GMT 3367 Tyler Hall Most of us likely won’t have an opportunity to negotiate with Donald Trump, but what an experience that would be! Some of us do negotiate with organisations that are Trump-like, though. Trump has a lot of power as leader of the USA and we have industries that have a lot of power through monopoly or oligopoly. If you are involved in these types of negotiations you could apply similar principles as those one might use negotiating with Trump. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/4-tips-for-negotiating-with-donald-trump/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:31 GMT 3365 Ben Byth The Australian Banking Royal Commission has been quite embarrassing with cover-ups, poor conduct and unethical treatment of customers. But it does bring to light key lessons for negotiators. These lessons are particularly true for those who are perceived to hold the balance of power. In other words, if you are negotiating with someone who is seen to have very little power - there is a high chance your actions will come under public scrutiny at some point. It is highly unlikely the banking industry will be the only one to come under scrutiny. All you need to do to come to this conclusion is read the paper to see similar accusations in industries like retail/grocery buying, leasing, franchising, etc. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/negotiating-lessons-from-the-banking-royal-commission/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:30 GMT 3363 Elizabeth Lewis Earlier this year I took up orienteering in the pursuit of increasing my fitness whilst getting out and about in the fresh air. For those of you unfamiliar with the sport, it is basically an extension of trail running whereby participants navigate to a set of controls with the aid of a map and compass. Competing against other runners, and with the goal of getting to the finish line in the quickest time, runners must contend with various challenges including time pressure, interpreting the map, strategising the best route between controls and navigating obstacles which include rocks, thick vegetation and steep contours. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/is-your-negotiation-strategy-stopping-you-from-achieving-your-objective/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:29 GMT 3361 Ben Byth It is not often that people recognise that questions such as ‘how much will this cost me’ are in fact an opportunity to negotiate. To my delight however, a client called me yesterday to tell me they did just that. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/how-much-will-this-cost-me/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:29 GMT 3359 Marc Mcallister A client recently decided to engage a digital marketing firm to conduct online marketing for their small restaurant. Business had steadily grown, and they had expanded from what was originally just one small food truck to that and an additional two brick and mortar stores. As such, they felt it was time to develop a focused marketing strategy utilising social media campaigns - typically a successful approach to brand development in the current fast food market. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/a-valuable-lesson-on-summarising-during-negotiation/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:28 GMT 3357 Tyler Hall With a population of more than 127 million people, Japan is currently ranked as the third largest global economy and according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, was "Australia's second-largest trading partner, second-largest export market, and second-largest source of foreign direct investment" in 2016-2017. Given these figures, there is no doubt, that Australian businesses are exposed to many negotiation opportunities with their Japanese counterparts. It is therefore prudent to understand and take into consideration the cultural nuances which may influence the cross-cultural negotiation process. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/deal-making-in-a-culturally-diverse-world-negotiating-in-the-japanese-market/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:28 GMT 3355 Tyler Hall As I am greatly anticipating the next season of Suits, which is commencing shortly, I recently enjoyed putting together some of Harvey Specter's memorable quotes, along with some thoughts as to how they may or may not be helpful for our own negotiations in the real world. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/6-negotiation-lessons-from-harvey-spectre-of-suits/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:28 GMT 3353 Ben Byth We were fortunate enough to see this done exceptionally well the other day: A buyer introduced to the negotiation a demand that they had no genuine expectation of securing. The demand was something unachievable and a little ridiculous. However, the sales person was like a deer caught in the headlights, desperate not to disappoint the cunning buyer... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/beware-the-irritant/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:27 GMT 3351 Ben Byth I couldn’t believe it! Not again! Yet another rescheduled flight! More sales meetings cancelled! My frustration with the airline went up another notch- they had cancelled and rescheduled over half of the Sydney- Brisbane sectors I flew last quarter! In my opinion, it was really easy to be upset with the airline because they were faceless. There was no communication or information disclosure about the reasons or circumstances surrounding the cancellation. Nobody had been brave enough to be vulnerable and own the problem. There was no readily available opportunity to talk to anyone if the airline’s proposed changes didn’t work for me. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/faceless-companies/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:27 GMT 3349 Marc McAllister Most of us are aware of the recent news about KFC, UK, where they had to temporarily close down two thirds of their stores due to what they deemed to be “teething issues with a new delivery partner”. KFC were quick to brush it off as insignificant as they went into damage control over the negative publicity, but in a time where heavy weights in the FMCG space have exercised their power balance over suppliers in order to achieve rock bottom prices, we are starting to see suppliers to these mega brands fight back to end the power shift. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/don-t-lose-a-good-deal-in-pursuit-of-a-great-deal/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:27 GMT 3347 Tyler Hall "As the world is getting smaller, it becomes more and more important that we learn each other's dance moves, that we meet each other, we get to know each other, we are able to figure out a way to cross borders, to understand each other...". This is a rather poetic and possibly idealistic quote from documentary maker and TED prize winner Jehane Noujaim. And yet there is power and truth to it. Our world is getting smaller, and certainly the business world has shrunk in the last couple of decades as barriers are removed and advances in technology make doing business with those across the globe far more accessible. Subsequently, we may be interacting and seeking to strike deals far more frequently with those who identify with a culture that differs from our own. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/deal-making-in-a-culturally-diverse-world-negotiating-in-the-chinese-market/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:26 GMT 3344 John Hopkins One of the biggest frustrations we can face is that of being misunderstood. Or thinking that we have understood the other person only to discover that we had it all wrong-or did we? Maybe they just moved the goal posts! In negotiating, it’s crucial to ascertain that what you have ‘heard’ from the other party is what they have communicated, and at Scotwork we teach that there are some key ways of doing so... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/preventing-misunderstandings-in-negotiation/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:25 GMT 3342 Marc Mcallister While browsing the news recently, an article about a disgruntled airline passenger caught my attention-mainly for its quirky headline. But I kept reading as I noticed that some aspects in the process of dealing with the upset customer could have been avoided, instead of leading to worldwide headlines of, “Woman says she flushed an ‘emotional support hamster’ down the toilet on advice from Spirit Airlines”. The airline denied this advice was ever given. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/dealing-with-a-complaint/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:25 GMT 3340 Elizabeth Lewis What do you think defines a good negotiator? I will hazard a guess and say that there will be multiple, varied responses to this question. Perceptions will differ as to what the characteristics of a great negotiator are, what constitutes good negotiating behaviour and, even, what a successful negotiation outcome looks like. Also, your thoughts around each of these concepts may differ depending on what stage you are at in your negotiation journey, whether you currently find the process of negotiation intimidating or are a seasoned negotiator with some form of negotiation training under your belt. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/the-top-7-characteristics-of-good-negotiators/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:25 GMT 3337 John Hopkins I appreciate that in an increasingly globalized world, the opportunity to be in the same room as the party with whom you are negotiating, or simply the commercial pressure to do so, is becoming increasingly rare. Sure, video conferencing has come a long way, but in my opinion there is no substitute for negotiating with a party in real time and in person. As this question keeps coming up, I have started to reflect more, both on my behaviour on the phone, and the importance of being ready to negotiate on the phone when the opportunity arises. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/essential-tips-for-negotiating-on-the-phone/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:24 GMT 3335 Elizabeth Lewis When your emotions have free reign, you lose focus. You lose perspective of what it is you set out to achieve. Your “argue step” goes out the window – how can you ask effective questions and actively listen to the other party when you’re yelling, screaming or-God forbid – throwing cake on the floor? And in amongst all the noise and the chaos you’re much more likely to miss important signals and make mistakes. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/when-emotion-obstructs-negotiation/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:23 GMT 3332 Ben Byth I was once again reminded that we sometimes work ourselves up into thinking conversations will ‘go worse’ or ‘be harder’ than they will. We spend hours thinking about what we might say in these difficult conversations and weeks postponing them. However, in my experience at least, they are typically not nearly as difficult as anticipated…in fact, they may turn out to be a complete non-event. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/give-it-a-bash/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:23 GMT 3329 Ben Byth Too often we fall into the trap of continuing to ‘argue to win’ when it clearly isn’t working. Don’t get me wrong, I like to win an argument, but continuously fighting a losing battle doesn’t serve any good purpose. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2018/don-t-argue-to-win/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:57:22 GMT 3327 Ben Byth Typically, end of year for companies is marked with people scrambling to reach targets. Sales people get desperate to cut deals and, in many industries, it is accepted that deals will become progressively better for buyers as the year end approaches. Indeed, often what a sales person might not have had authority to concede last month… becomes fair game after he, his boss or his boss’ boss decides that revenue is necessary. However, there are some risks for sales people who go down this path: https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/cutting-end-of-year-deals/ Thu, 24 Nov 2022 03:26:16 GMT 3325 Jared Bamford Some people will advise you never to negotiate with your family, but we believe there is a time and place for it, given the collaborative approach that Scotwork teaches. It is true, though, that in any loving relationship, there will be an abundance of “unconditional concessions” flowing in both directions... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/your-most-important-negotiations-or-not/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:46 GMT 3323 Ben Byth As a negotiation specialist, I’m often asked what the best course of action is when the other party has all of the power. Maybe you are dealing with an incumbent or selling to a duopoly… so it may even feel like it is true that they have ‘all of the power’. While we could talk about what you do when it is true, my experience is that people typically have a lot more power than they might realise. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/you-often-have-more-power-than-you-think/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:46 GMT 3321 Jared Bamford With the exponential growth in technology and the implications of that for the media industry, significant changes to the media landscape shaped by the duopoly of Google and Facebook are presenting media buying agencies with new challenges. Traditional advertising, along with traditional set commissions are being replaced by an increasing move towards digital advertising and incentives in the form of rebates-a highly debated and contentious current topic in the media world. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/building-trust-through-transparency/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:46 GMT 3319 Ben Byth I quite enjoyed a recent article by Grace Collier in “The Australian” describing the pay dispute at the Streets Sydney factory. In particular, I was quite amused by the analogy that having a relationship with the Australian Manufacturers Workers Union (or any other) was akin to having a bear in your living room – ‘When a bear is in the lounge room, it is not the bear’s fault for behaving like a bear, or for being there, because someone let it in.’ https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/streets-pay-dispute-and-the-1989-pilot-s-dispute/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:45 GMT 3317 Tyler Hall The flipside of developing an effective wish list –and just as important-is coming prepared to any negotiation with a well-considered concession list. It’s not that different in principle: it just means adjusting your perspective to that of the party with whom you are going to be negotiating. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/5-tips-for-creating-a-solid-negotiation-concession-list/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:45 GMT 3315 Ben Byth I’ve been struggling with a “new face” on one of my clients who has recently been displaying some very challenging passive-aggressive behaviour. While it was evident that this person wasn’t happy with me and/or my organisation, the reasons for their ‘acting out’ were completely undiscernible. This posed a significant obstacle: how could I address concerns which they were unwilling to identify? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/when-rewarding-bad-behaviour-is-the-best-course-of-action/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:44 GMT 3313 Ben Byth I was recently in a negotiation where the issues were quite controversial and the conversation quickly became emotionally charged. Of course, it didn’t take long at this point for the various stakeholders to dig-in and vigorously defend their positions… needless to say that this wasn’t very conducive to negotiating an outcome. However, it was amazing how quickly the tension lessened once the focus was shifted from me to them... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/it-can-t-be-all-about-me/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:43 GMT 3311 Ben Byth Saying ‘NO’ to people’s requests is likely to have a longer term detrimental impact on relationship. Do you really want your employees, customers or colleagues to harbour resentment towards you and your company? So how can you say ‘YES’ to requests without eroding value? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/how-to-say-yes-without-eroding-value/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:43 GMT 3309 Jared Bamford Russell Crowe isn’t in the Scotwork database as an alumnus but he would have to be awarded honorary alumnus status from what he learnt and portrayed by playing the role of the genius, John Nash in the movie, “A Beautiful Mind”. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/negotiating-lessons-from-a-beautiful-mind/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:42 GMT 3307 Keith Stacey Are you using a wish list during your negotiations? Perhaps you're aware of their use but not convinced of their merit during the negotiation process. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/7-tips-for-creating-the-ultimate-negotiation-wish-list/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:42 GMT 3305 Tyler Hall Have you ever been in a discussion where the other part has an opinion with which you do not agree or just doubt its accuracy? Consider trading their opinion rather than arguing your opinion against theirs. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/don-t-argue-just-trade-their-opinion/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:42 GMT 3303 Keith Stacey After 10 months of negotiation, Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricket Association (ACA) have finally reached a compromise with both parties claiming their aims have been met. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/the-cricket-dispute/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:41 GMT 3299 Ben Byth Are you blinded to good news by focusing on the bad? Sometimes it is harder to spot the good news amongst the bad… and I was reminded of this when my manager pulled me aside recently to talk to me about my fancy corner desk which has a view of the outside world. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/are-you-blinded-to-good-news-by-focusing-on-the-bad/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:42 GMT 3301 Keith Stacey Desperation is a good look on the football field if you want to impress the coach. However, in negotiating there will be a high price to pay if the counter party knows you are under pressure to get the deal done. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/how-desperate-are-you/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:41 GMT 3295 Ben Byth Late last week, while busily preparing our response for an RFQ, I was met with a series of interruptions from my colleague - Michael. Amid growing frustrations that I would be staying later and later into the night to finish, I thought to myself… I’ve been on a negotiation course and know exactly what to do…I’ll put a price on Michael’s demands! https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/greedy-deal/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:41 GMT 3297 Keith Stacey Politician-“bashing” has become all too common. I do not want to add to the volume of criticism, but provide an objective look at some of the processes we have seen adopted by the government to advance their mandate. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/omnibus-or-blunderbuss/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:40 GMT 3292 Keith Stacey This is a valuable technique when faced with demands from the other party. It combines structuring their expectations with a change in your positioning from adversary to ally. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/welcome-to-my-world/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:40 GMT 3293 Keith Stacey There are a number of dilemmas we face as negotiators. In part 1, we firstly look at whether we should actually negotiate or not? Secondly, how do we negotiate in regards to the value of the relationship? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/dilemmas-of-a-negotiator-part-1/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:39 GMT 3290 Keith Stacey The dilemmas continue in Part 2: Do we make the first proposal or respond? Do we bluff or not? And how do we define a good deal? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/dilemmas-of-a-negotiator-part-2/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:39 GMT 3291 Tyler Hall I was recently running a number of breakfast masterclasses around Australia called “The Negotiating Games”. At the Adelaide session, as I was greeting arriving guests, I noticed coming up the hall a woman with a guide dog. Immediately my mind started racing. I was thinking; “how are we going to effectively communicate this session to someone who may be blind or visually impaired?”. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/testing-assumptions/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:39 GMT 3288 Tyler Hall The goal of the FBI hostage negotiator is to, “work with the person in crisis towards a peaceful solution that previously seemed impossible.” The FBI developed a 5 step model called the “Behavioural Change Stairway”. It is the basis applied to heavily armed hostage and high stake negotiation situations, but can also be applied to any conflict faced. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2017/fbi-negotiation-techniques-part-2-empathy/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:39 GMT 3289 Alan Smith Dylan’s mother was a big influence on his life, as all mothers are. When she was alive and with her son at a dinner thrown after one of his shows, she told him off for mumbling, and not thanking the host for the lovely dinner. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/like-no-one-is-watching/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:15 GMT 3286 Alan Smith When negotiating, do you want the other side to act reasonably? And, Is it a good strategy to be reasonable when negotiating? Most people will say yes to the first question. It would be crazy not to. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/what-s-fair/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:16 GMT 3287 Robin Copland Complicated negotiations often involve different meetings, different personnel, different issues and, in the case of the upcoming Brexit negotiations, different countries! The key word in this kind of negotiation is alignment and that involves a number of different factors and considerations. We can learn from the insect world; think bees! https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/busy-as-brexiteer-bees/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:15 GMT 3283 Jill Campen Coaching is all about helping people get what they want. Guiding them to answer the questions: What do I want? What will it take to get there? And then supporting them through the process of doing those steps until they reach their goal. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/being-an-effective-coach/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:15 GMT 3285 Tyler Hall The art of negotiation has not changed dramatically over time; it has been refined and improved through research into negotiating style, psychology, philosophy and training techniques, and by the impact of technology on negotiation. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/a-3-000-year-old-negotiating-technique-that-will-never-die/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:15 GMT 3282 Yannis Dimarakis The negotiating behaviour of leaders is illustrative of the way they perceive the world and exerts a great impact on the conduct of the nation they lead. In this context, Trump’s negotiating style is dramatically different to that of Obama's. It is,therefore, worthwhile to take a closer look, as, in the case that he wins the election, the USA is bound to engage in conduct that the world is not used to. As explained below, the ramifications of this conduct could be anything between the notable and the dramatic for the world as a whole, and Europe in particular. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/donald-trump-s-negotiating-profile-and-it-s-consequences-for-us-international-relationships/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:14 GMT 3280 Alan Smith How many of us can claim the same level of certainty about the skill level of either ourselves or our counterpart when we enter the negotiation room to conduct a business discussion around a commercially sensitive contract, complaint or conflict? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/just-like-any-art-skillful-negotiating-requires-practice/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:14 GMT 3281 Tyler Hall FBI Hostage Negotiation Techniques You Can Use to Achieve Better Outcomes. The goal of the FBI hostage negotiator is to, “work with the person in crisis towards a peaceful solution that previously seemed impossible.” https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/fbi-negotiation-techniques-part-1-active-listening/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:14 GMT 3278 Alan Smith "No" has emerged as an early contender for the least popular word in the English language, as Oxford Dictionaries ran a global search to find the least favourite English word. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/no-no-no/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:14 GMT 3279 Yannis Dimarakis The Hellenic government has been struggling over the last 6 months to finalize an austerity package demanded by its 3 creditors (i.e. the IMF, the ECB and the European Commission – know as the “troika”). The package’s aim is to ensure that the deficit will be checked and that public spending will be reduced to sustainable levels. These measures are never popular as they usually entail steep salary and pension cuts, reductions in social benefits, decrease in the quality of health and education etc. None the less, this package, worth 11.5 bn € (a very heavy figure given the scale of the Hellenic economy), was a sine qua non for the release by the creditors of the next installment of funds to the government in Athens. So the pressure was on to wrap this up as soon as possible... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/trading-opinions-vs-arguing/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:14 GMT 3276 Tyler Hall I used to get frustrated or angry when something or someone would unintentionally disrupt my life: things like poor customer service, engaging with a company which does not deliver as it promises, or even a friend who lets me down. Now, I see all of these disruptions as an opportunity to negotiate... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/grievance-handling/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:14 GMT 3277 Alan Smith Team GB flew in to Heathrow on Tuesday morning this week, clanking with their scores of medals, on flight number BA2016, a British Airways 747 repainted with a golden nose and renamed “victoRIOus”. The best Olympic results for these Glorious Isles in over a century. To come second in the medals table is brilliant, but to be honest should not come as such a big surprise as it clearly has. I wonder if that gob-smacking surprise is just a function of typical British pessimism; we love an underdog, or understatement and one of the worst insults you can make in the UK is to tell someone they think a lot of themselves. Jason Kenny is such a dude precisely because he seems not to want to be one... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/success-as-a-priority/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:13 GMT 3274 Sam Macbeth A recent article in The Wall Street Journal headlines “Apple’s Hard-Charging Tactics Hurt TV Expansion - In search of its new big thing, possibly TV, Apple has alienated cable providers and networks with an assertive negotiating style; ‘time is on my side’" they are saying Apparently, they’ve been in discussions with various potential media partners since 2009, with no end in sight. During this period, Apple’s demands have included things such as long term frozen monthly rate per viewer, access to selected premium channels, full ‘on demand’ seasons of hit shows, rights to a vast cloud based digital video recorder, and set top box Apple ID sign in. They haven’t quite asked for the kitchen sink yet. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/grapple-for-apple/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:13 GMT 3275 Alan Smith My wife is a very reasonable woman. Or so she tells me. No, she actually is. We have been married for over 30 years and she has put up with me for a start. To be honest its not just me she is reasonable with. The kids always go to her for emotional support, (me if it’s cash or a lift), I rarely, if ever, see her anything other than calm and she runs a classroom as a primary school teacher with 18 excitable 7 year olds. You have to be big on inner calm. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/incompatible/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:13 GMT 3272 Keith Stacey The election has come and gone leaving the nation in a state of exhaustion and confusion. It is rare when the person who lost the election then proceeds to do a victory lap. The winner has been described as “the dog that has finally caught the car after many years of pursuit and is not quite sure what to do with it”. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/negotiating-the-australian-senate/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:13 GMT 3273 Richard Savage Sushi Mania – Give Them What They Want, But On Your Terms https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/sushi-mania-give-them-what-they-want-but-on-your-terms/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:13 GMT 3271 Ben Byth Given that we are all aware of the strong links between employee engagement and productivity, it should be no surprise that, at this time of year, we are often asked, “How do I achieve better outcomes from employee salary reviews and EBA negotiations for my organisation?”. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/performance-and-salary-review-from-the-employer-s-side/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:12 GMT 3268 Ben Byth Around this time of year, one of the most common question I get asked as a negotiation specialist is ‘how do I negotiate my next performance and salary review?’ https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/performance-and-salary-review-from-the-employee-s-side/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:12 GMT 3269 Stephen White ‘So what are you doing about Brexit’ demanded my 90-year-old Mum. ‘Why should I be doing anything about it?’ I asked. ‘Because every other sentence on the news channels since Friday morning has contained the word Negotiation’ she said. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/as-smart-as-mr-bean/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:12 GMT 3266 David Bannister I am writing this blog a mere two days after the UK was shocked at the news that a young female member of Parliament was murdered in a street in her constituency where she was born and brought up. Jo Cox was, everyone agrees, a principled and much loved and respected MP who represented a culturally diverse constituency where people of all religions and none are united in the grief and respect they have shown for her. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/disagreeing-with-grace/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:12 GMT 3267 Ben Byth Silence. Now, I’m not saying that this will solve all your problems… but recognise when you need to shut up and listen. Good things may come. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/the-power-of-silence/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:12 GMT 3263 Sebastian Bacewicz If you're rude to somebody, they're more than likely going to be rude right back to you, and certainly less likely to give you what you want. A resulting vicious circle of rudeness ensues, and a bad deal - or no deal at all – achieved in the end. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/rudeness-is-like-a-virus/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:12 GMT 3265 Robin Copeland I do not suppose that there is a perfect way of sacking someone. It is never nice and never easy – either for the manager doing the deed or indeed the victim. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/you-re-fired/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:11 GMT 3261 Tyler Hall Probably my most difficult negotiations are with my toddler, let’s call her Miss C. Like most kids she knows what she wants, and is specific about what she wants, and won’t relent until she gets it. These attributes alone make her a formidable negotiating opponent. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/hard-negotiation-lessons-learnt-from-dealing-with-my-toddler/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:11 GMT 3262 Ben Byth I fear my dog Charlie has taken advantage of the situation at home: he has started slinking into the bedroom late at night once we are too tired to care and can’t be bothered to kick him out. ‘Just this time’ we say because neither of us has the energy to enforce the boundary. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/dangerous-words-just-this-time/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:11 GMT 3259 Stephen White Predictions are opinions, a view about what will happen in the future. Even when they are based on lots of research and historical evidence they are still only opinions. They often fail to come true. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/predictions/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:11 GMT 3258 Tyler Hall Whether you are familiar with the character Frank Underwood who is the US President in the hit TV show, "House of Cards", or not, here are some great negotiation tips based on some of Frank’s best quotes. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/six-negotiation-tips-from-frank-underwood-of-house-of-cards/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:10 GMT 3257 Stephen White Confidence is one of the important attributes of a good negotiator. Many HR recruiters believe that this is an attribute they need to look for in those who will be conducting negotiations for the organisation (sales, marketing, procurement, Board level), so that testing for confidence as a personality trait is therefore very important. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/tell-me-a-story/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:10 GMT 3254 Frances Pirera The customer is always right, right? The overwhelming temptation to appease your customer is something we can easily find ourselves unwittingly falling into. But we need to ask ourselves, what the cost is; firstly to our personal brand, and secondly, the commercial cost to our business. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/finding-the-sweet-spot/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:10 GMT 3256 Robin Copland Perhaps the most difficult negotiations you will ever get involved in (apart from your personal terms and conditions at your workplace, or perhaps negotiating where you agree with the other side – and disagree with your own side’s position!) are the ones where you are negotiating with people “of faith”. And I don’t just mean religion here, though they are the most obvious example. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/negotiating-differences-part-2/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:10 GMT 3253 Stephen White Why did President Putin suddenly and unexpectedly announce last week that Russia was pulling its armed forces out of Syria? It was an announcement that took every political commentator by surprise, and subsequently there were as many theories to explain the situation as there were commentators. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/the-strategy-of-crazy/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:09 GMT 3251 Robin Copland The great thing about negotiating is that it enables people – often from diverse backgrounds and polarised positions – to come together and strike deals to the long-term benefit of both parties. You do not have to agree to do business or sign treaties. The whole process of trading enables participants to park their differences for the greater good. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/negotiating-differences/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:10 GMT 3252 Ben Byth While I’m no Dr. Chris Brown, my dog is usually well behaved; that is until we are at home. While we are out he ‘comes’ and ‘sits’ on command and thankfully does everything required to give the illusion that I’m in total control. It is at home that that he makes me look bad... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/throw-a-dog-a-bone/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:09 GMT 3250 Alan Smith Negotiation involves cold logic, cutting through all the verbiage, careful and clear analysis of the volatile and unpredictable environment before coolly selecting the correct option. When strong emotions are involved, we often don't get the chance to negotiate well. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/no-hard-feelings/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:09 GMT 3248 Stephen White Residents on the Scottish Island of Lewis share a familial heritage with Donald Trump. When asked about the front runner for the Republican presidential nomination they were less than enthusiastic about his bragging and his style. It is the kind of behaviour that we regularly see at the negotiating table... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/bragging/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:09 GMT 3247 Scotwork Australia When are you at your most creative? It is a question I often ask in the classroom when I am running negotiation skills development classes. Two retorts I often hear are: “Why?” (people are reluctant to answer unless they know why I want to know, cynical bunch) or “When I am under extreme pressure.” Let’s look at these one by one... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/the-creative-negotiator-a-scotwork-perspective/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:40 GMT 3246 Stephen White Last weekend David Cameron brought back a deal from his summit with the leaders of the 27 other EU members, on the basis of which he felt he could recommend to voters that Britain should stay in the EU. As predicted a number of his cabinet colleagues, and many others, came out publicly with the opposite recommendation. The electorate will vote In or Out in a referendum on June 23rd, and until then both sides will batter us with facts and figures about the dangers of taking the opposite position to their own. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/my-mother-and-the-eu/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:09 GMT 3245 David Bannister A few years ago I read an interesting article based on the work of a renowned US business school which gave the results of studies into acquisitions and mergers in international business over a period of years. The conclusion, briefly summarised, was that what these deals produced in practice was a long way short of what had been predicted for them at the outset – fewer than a third of deals met the expectations which had been heralded for them when they were being contemplated and shareholders were being convinced to endorse them. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/get-your-kicks-from-future-proofed-deals-it-s-all-a-matter-of-goals/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:08 GMT 3243 Stephen White I had a haircut today, and learnt something simple but useful. Chatting to the barber I asked if he had ever been to a particular local restaurant. Yes, he said, but it was about 5 years ago and it wasn’t very good. He had found a small piece of plastic in his mouth whilst eating his meal, and he was unimpressed with the response from the waiter. He explained. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/haircut-101/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:08 GMT 3242 Tyler Hall Most people negotiate based on instinct and experience, not taking the time to consider their negotiating behaviour. Here are 10 negotiating mistakes which you may not even know you’re making. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/10-negotiating-mistakes-you-don-t-know-you-re-making/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:08 GMT 3244 Jared Bamford Our Scotwork office is located in central Sydney. We see many homeless and less fortunate people, and frequently I am stopped and asked for “spare change?”. Today, as I ambled back to the office following my lunch break I spotted a homeless man perched in front of our office building. He had a sign which read “I’m trying 2 get $26 to get a bed 4 tonight, thank you”. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/negotiation-tips-from-a-beggar/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:08 GMT 3241 Jared Bamford I went recently went back home to New Zealand to spend time with my family. As usual there were plenty of opportunities for in-depth conversations over numerous cups of coffee and home cooked meals. On one such occasion my father told me a story about his first job as a Postie, when he was in his mid-teens. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/the-postie-run/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:07 GMT 3238 Keith Stacey The state premiers are clamouring for an increase in GST to 15% or for a removal of the current raft of exemptions. Premier Baird is the latest to join the chorus. The purpose of course is to meet the increasing demands of education and health on state budgets. However while the states will be the beneficiaries it is the Commonwealth that will bear electorate’s wrath for proposing the increase. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/the-case-for-a-gst-increase/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:08 GMT 3240 Alan Smith My daughter is a fairly recent and slightly nervous driver. I was surprised to note that my little girl was reluctant to use her full beam when driving, preferring to keep to dipped headlights even in the pitch of night. When I asked her why, she said she preferred to focus on what was directly in front of her and did not want to be distracted by the distance, and what did I know about driving anyway... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/driving-with-dipped-headlights/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:08 GMT 3239 Stephen Walken It occurred to me, that the most prominent current industrial dispute in England, between the Government and the Junior Doctors, might be an excellent vehicle to analyse how Millennials (defined typically as born after 1983) negotiate, and whether Millennial traits have impacted on the negotiations. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/negotiating-with-millennials/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:07 GMT 3236 Stephen White One of the defining qualities of a good negotiator is the ability to manufacture unusual tradeable variables apparently out of thin air. An example of this is how time is used as a variable. Most people would agree that a day comprises 24 hours. But management consultants know that a day in terms of charging fees is more likely to be 7 hours, so clients who need more than 7 hours find themselves paying for more than a day... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/cinq-a-sept/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:07 GMT 3237 Simon Letchford As you recover from the holiday season, you'll probably decide to make a few New Year's resolutions, in your personal life and for your business. We thought you might like to consider one of these five as an option for your new year's resolutions for 2016, just in case you partied a little too hard and are having trouble making good decisions... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2016/five-resolutions-worth-keeping-in-2016/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:55:07 GMT 3234 Keith Stacey Don’t check the spelling above. It is a hybrid of negotiation and auction. The author, who holds dual Professorships at Harvard in Law and Economics deliberately chooses the unwieldy term because his aim is to combine the existing theory and practice across these two area which are often treated in silos or and either or choice. The two fields are about the transfer of assets but have developed separately. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/book-review-negotiauctions-by-guhan-subramanian/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:15 GMT 3232 Simon Letchford here are so many reasons to enjoy this terrific movie, from the wonderful acting (Brad Pitt, with Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his final performances), a lightning fast script by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, A Few Good Men) and for negotiators, some of the best trading scenes ever - in this case, baseball team managers trading, um, people. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/movie-review-moneyball-2011/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:15 GMT 3233 Simon Kelland Most "negotiations" with retailers are simple haggles; you don't need to deal with them and they don't need to sell to you so it's simply a case of trying to get the maximum discount in a one off sale. Not a lot of skill needed to do haggle other than doing a bit of homework on the market so you know what a good price looks like, having the courage to propose the price you're prepared to pay and the fortitude to walk away if you can't get a deal (assuming you have the time and energy to go down the street to another retailer to do it all over again).. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/negotiating-with-retailers/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:14 GMT 3231 Alan Smith The daughter of a friend of mine decided to buy a new fridge. One of those big American style fridges with ice dispenser, flashing lights, and a disco ball. I exaggerate a little (not that much to be honest), but you get the point. Her issue was what to do with the old one... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/just-because-you-don-t-want-it/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:14 GMT 3229 Robin Copland, Stephen White George Santanaya’s maxim that ‘those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors are destined to repeat them’ has a corollary. We should use the successes of the past and repeat our behaviour with the problems of today. In particular, can we replicate the negotiating behaviour which brought about the Irish peace agreement to effect a negotiated settlement in the Middle East, and stop the carnage of Paris on 13/11, perpetrated by ISIS? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/no-discussion-just-death/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:14 GMT 3228 David Bannister I wrote in this blog about three weeks ago about the commitment given by the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, to write to the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, setting out the demands which the UK would make in its negotiations with the EU prior to a referendum of the British people some time before the end of 2017 which will decide if the UK remains a member of the EU... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/a-signal-day-for-europe/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:14 GMT 3226 Robin Copland Negotiation is a trading process. Look out for the opportunity to close the deal and it could make a significant difference to any concessions you make. It is as if it was yesterday and I can see their faces yet - stern, unbending, implacable. The setting was innocuous enough - a small meeting room in the hotel for which I was Sales Director. On one side of the table, I sat with the General Manager and on the other were two senior managers of a large computer company whose main European plant was situated twenty miles down the road... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/close-the-deal/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:14 GMT 3225 Alan Smith Am I reading this right? We're all getting fat because we eat too much and don't exercise enough. Right? Well, not if you look at the debate about fat versus sugar now playing out. For years it was thought fat was bad for you: it made you get fat, so low-fat food was good. But the 'fat is bad' dogma is being widely challenged. Carbohydrates, including sugar, are increasingly viewed as the evil, fattening, toxic ingredient... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/what-now/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:13 GMT 3224 Stephen White It is fashionable for radicals to kick against the political establishment... Similarly it is fashionable for journalists to kick big business. Starbucks for avoiding tax, VW for tucking-up consumers, Tesco for manipulating their suppliers into unfavourable trade terms, and FIFA (yes, FIFA is first and foremost a business) for corrupt practices. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/kicking-big-business/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:13 GMT 3223 Alan Smith There is no doubt that much of what we learn is from experience. In fact the university of life, with all of its hard knocks, creates valuable lessons. The key is do we adjust our behaviour on the back of what is thrown at us. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/battle-scars-and-the-negotiator/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:13 GMT 3222 David Bannister Daniel Hannan is a British Member of the European Parliament (MEP), an institution for which he seems to have little warmth (as do quite a number of other British MEPs). The UK has announced its intention to renegotiate the terms of its membership of the European Union (EU) and to put the issue to a referendum in the next couple of years. The tactics of all of this are of more than passing interest to a negotiator... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/what-to-do-when-you-know-it-s-important/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:13 GMT 3221 Hunter Shannonhouse The Trans-Pacific Partnership has been agreed upon after eight years of negotiations. Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb and his people must have been on their game. Their preparation must have been clear, at least on some of the variables, to bring about such a favourable outcome for Australia and in particular the pharmaceutical industry... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/deal-breakers-and-the-tpp/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:13 GMT 3220 Scotwork Australia UK FMCG giant Tesco’s travails over the last few months have been many and varied. Recently they topped a grocers code adjudicator list for supplier complaints an in a recent survey only Iceland received a lower score from its suppliers, it must be cold there. For those that operate in this environment I imagine that this comes as no surprise and to be honest in my experience Tesco are not markedly worse than any of the Big 4. They all appear to operate on the basis that they have all the power and they can break and fix supplier relationships at will but is the worm turning? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/it-s-about-time/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:54:08 GMT 3218 Alan Smith Saturday night was a very dark time for me and many of my English friends and colleagues. Whilst no one actually died, it feels like many of our dreams and hopes did. If you enjoy sport and even if you don’t you will be able to imagine just how devastating it is for an Englishman that the National rugby team was knocked out of its home World Cup tournament, by their old nemesis Australia. The only host nation ever to have been knocked out of their own tournament at such an early stage, the loss came fast on the heels of the defeat by Wales the previous week, a game that frankly England really should have won... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/a-black-day-to-be-english/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:12 GMT 3217 Tyler Hall A friend who is the CFO at a major healthcare provider told me an interesting story. He received some advisory services from a well-known financial services company. The work was completed and the invoice came to his desk with an amount of $75k to be paid. He thought the sum was outrageous for the work done and decided he would not pay it and wait for them to call him to discuss it. 2 years later there was still no phone call so the $75k was accrued... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/unpaid-invoice/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:12 GMT 3216 Jared Bamford We have all witnessed professional sports people choke under pressure, however it doesn’t always happen on the world stage or in the sporting arena. It happens anywhere the stakes are high and we don’t want to fail… this includes during negotiations. A recent study looked at what our brains do when we choke. The study involved 26 adults playing a video game while lying in a MRI scanner. They were told that they could win or lose money on each game. To up the ante, were told that they could win or lose it all on one random game. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/choking-under-pressure/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:11 GMT 3211 Romana Henry I go running regularly with a good friend and neighbour who happens to be a criminal defence lawyer. She is married to another lawyer who works in property and estate settlement etc. On our runs, we exchange tips and advice. She tells me how expensive it would be to divorce my husband, why I shouldn’t run a red light, and why helping my 17 year old daughter to obtain fake I.D. to get into pubs really isn’t a good idea. Why I really must make a will soon, when to put my house on the market, and what home improvements not to bother with. In exchange I tell her how to get a better deal in her various negotiations... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/give-to-get-when-persuasion-doesn-t-work/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:12 GMT 3215 Simon Letchford In 1978, US President Jimmy Carter brokered the first peace agreement between Egypt and a free Jewish nation in over 2,000 years. If email had been widely available, do you think he could have used it to save everyone 13 days at Camp David? Many clients ask me whether they should negotiate by email, expecting me to say no. My answer is always the same – “Absolutely. Sometimes.” Here are some trade-offs to consider before you press SEND. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/to-type-or-not-to-type-the-pitfalls-of-negotiating-by-email/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:11 GMT 3212 Keith Stacey Lightning has struck twice, another Prime Minister has been overthrown after less than two years in office. How can all that power of the highest office in the land disappear so quickly? In analysing the defeat of Tony Abbott a good place to start of the trust equation developed by David Maister... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/lighting-struck-twice/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:12 GMT 3214 Lloyd Ruz This just in: Malcolm Turnbull has resigned cabinet and is set to challenge the leadership of the Liberal Party. It’s anyone’s guess how this will play out, but here are some insights from a negotiator’s perspective. Malcolm Turnbull has suggested that the Liberal party has better prospects for both the upcoming Canning by-election and the next federal election if he is leader. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/this-just-in/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:12 GMT 3213 Lloyd Ruz There is a timeless anecdote about a young lumberjack eager to prove his mettle. He arrives on the first day and puts in a solid day’s work, full of energy and gusto. At the end of the day he has cut down less trees than the more experienced lumberjacks working with him. Not one to be discouraged, he determines to arrive a half hour earlier than the others the next day... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/remember-to-sharpen-your-axe/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:11 GMT 3208 Alan Smith Habits are one of the most useful things we can slip into. If we didn’t habitually do much of our daily lives we would simply be unable to deal with the sensory overload that modern life has become. Just imagine what a drag it would be if we had to consciously think about breathing, blinking, walking, how to make a cup of tea? Nothing would get done. So patterns of thinking are naturally ingrained in our psyche. There are however dangerous limitations to the benefits that repetitive thinking and behaviour clearly has... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/you-may-think-that/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:11 GMT 3209 Stephen White, Alan Smith Ever run out of petrol? Well it seems that more and more of us have. Last year over 800,000 motorists reportedly ran dry. Research shows the number running out of petrol or diesel has risen every year since 2011, when the figure was a third lower. Men made up most of the 827,000 who ignored or chanced their arm when the fuel warning light came on. Are we becoming more risk friendly, foolish or price sensitive? Short answer - all 3. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/is-risk-the-best-policy/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:11 GMT 3206 Tyler Hall US Senator and well-known astronaut John Glenn was the first man to orbit the Earth in 1962 in a one-manned spacecraft on the Friendship 7 mission. During the mission John thought to himself, “As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind - every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder”... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/supplied-by-the-lowest-bidder/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:10 GMT 3204 Robin Copland I was interested by a report I read on the NHS website on 21 August in which Public Health England published an “evidence review” about e-cigarettes, stating that they were 95% safer than cigarettes and that, further, they were an effective quitting aid for smokers. As a result of the review, e-cigarettes are to be licensed and regulated as an aid to quit smoking from 2016... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/lesser-of-two-evils/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:10 GMT 3203 Alan Smith A few years ago I was talking to a guy at a dinner party and he, in the effort to engage in small talk, asked me what I did for a living. When I told him that I trained and consulted in the area of negotiation skills he was intrigued but also fairly dismissive. His view was that he never negotiated. He always got his own way by simply making an ultimatum. His view was that agreeing to negotiate was a sign of weakness and that when dealing with his suppliers he simply told them what they had to do and they did it, or he went elsewhere. I asked how that worked out for him.... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/green-lights/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:10 GMT 3202 Stephen White Last Wednesday evening was a bad time for two different groups of Londoners. At five o’clock the doors of several walk-in centres run by a high profile children’s charity called Kid’s Company closed for the last time, and thousands of children who depended on the charity for both physical and educational support were stranded. There had been suspicions about the financial affairs of this charity for some time – allegations that it was not well managed and that it was not in control of its finances. Central government was a major contributor and when the media picked up stories of financial irregularities they and other generous donors began to think twice about their funding... because the charity had virtually no reserves it had to close. It is unlikely to re-open, at least in its present form. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/mind-the-strategy-gap/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:10 GMT 3201 Mike Freedman I was recently invited to teach at a company that purchases the debts of financial institutions and then pursues the people that owe the money. This company buys the debts through a tender process and they then present the debtors with the facts about the law and the unpleasant consequences of non-payment. They called Scotwork because they wanted to improve their negotiations with debtors. They said that they were talking to a number of companies who had issued quotations to them for negotiation training. I told them as politely as possible that they were wasting their money... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/don-t-confuse-negotiating-with-persuasion/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:09 GMT 3199 Tyler Hall If you’ve ever had the chance to visit Mount Rushmore it is an amazing sight – four American presidents carved into a solid granite cliff face. It was sculpted using explosives, sledgehammers, and chisels. The explosives were used to clear mass amounts of granite to form the heads. The sledgehammers then defined the main features of the faces and finally the chisels were used to refine the sculpture we see today. The construction of the sculpture led me to think that as negotiators we should be using a similar approach in constructing elements of our negotiation dialogue. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/negotiating-mount-rushmore/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:10 GMT 3200 Sam Macbeth Although news of a pay differential between men and women doing the same or similar jobs is nothing new,recent studies suggest that even when women are on the employer’s side of a negotiation, men can feel more threatened by a female boss, and tend to negotiate using more extreme positions... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/engendering-negotiations/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:09 GMT 3197 David Bannister I was reading my newspaper recently and came across an article written by a journalist who was celebrating the demise of the, as she called it, ‘shiny suited car salesman’ whose sexist attitudes have apparently in the past been responsible for women being urged to do things like ‘discuss their purchases with the man of the house’ before making a decision. This article set out some, to me, quite eye-opening statistics for the UK market in new and ‘pre-owned’ (it’s what they call second hand here) cars. The internet has liberated people to change their purchasing habits when they buy a car. In the days before the internet dominated our buying approach, the average Briton buying a car made five visits to a dealership before making a purchase. Now, most of us do our research on line... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/internet-shopping-are-you-getting-the-best-deal/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:09 GMT 3198 Stephen White Two negotiated deals of historic significance. One between Greece and the EU/Eurozone, the other between Iran and the P5+1. Both are hailed as a victory for diplomacy. Both are rubbish. Both are being derided and disowned in all quarters. Both are disintegrating as the ink dries. What do we learn? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/rubbish-diplomacy/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:09 GMT 3196 Robin Copland A mate of mine recently visited New York on business and found himself with a spare half day or so, needing to be filled. It being February, the joys of Central Park were lost on him so, after a moment’s thought, he took himself off to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, there to see their collection of JMW Turner’s paintings in gallery 808. It’s on the second floor; a bit of a hike from the front door if we are going to be honest, but there we are. He’d seen the film (Mr Turner; worth a look if you haven’t seen it) and he was determined to see three of the great man’s paintings that hitherto had escaped his first-hand study... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/let-me-paint-you-a-picture/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:09 GMT 3195 Alan Smith It used to be that people had so much time on their hands that they were forever looking for things to do to fill it. When I talk about wrestling with an octopus I am talking literally, not making an oblique negotiating reference about dealing with slippery salesmen or procurement slight of (many) hands... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/wrestling-with-an-octopus/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:09 GMT 3194 Stephen White How many deadlines have been and gone in the continuing saga of the economic chaos in Greece? I would suggest there have been so many that we no longer believe that any of them really mattered – or ever will matter in the future.The crescendo of press speculation in recent days indicates yet again that the media believes we might be getting close to a crisis point... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/it-s-always-my-fault/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:08 GMT 3193 Stephen White A woman tries to board an overcrowded bus at the bus depot. The passengers bar her way. She protests. ‘I must be allowed to get on this bus’ she says. ‘Why’, the other passengers reply. ‘What makes you so important that you should take priority over others who are already on the bus?’ ‘Because I’m the driver’ she says. Two weeks ago we saw Sepp Blatter exercising his rights as the ‘driver’ to stay on the bus, even though more and more of his fellow passengers were uncomfortable with his insistence to do so. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/why-sepp-blatter-has-my-sympathy/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:08 GMT 3192 Keith Stacey The most dangerous part of flying is take-off when a plane loses power. If this happens the instinctive reaction of the pilot will be to lift the nose of the plane and try to gain altitude. This response will lead to a stall and an out of control crash to the earth. A trained pilot however, will overcome instinct and drop the nose of the plane by pushing forward on the joystick. This will result in an increase in speed and the ability to control the aircraft... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/you-can-t-always-trust-your-gut/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:08 GMT 3191 Keith Stacey Recent developments in Victoria demonstrate two important elements of negotiation. The first is the value of incumbency or the benefits of an existing relationship and how it can be leveraged. The second is that an existing contract can be an essential variable in a current negotiation... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/the-road-to-success/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:08 GMT 3190 Stephen White A recent article in the New York Times has some food for thought for wise negotiators. The authors pose this question – How do you motivate people to do the right thing when the ‘market’ doesn’t work? Their context is the chronic shortage of water in California. This has now become so bad that new mandatory water-reduction regulations came into effect on April 1st. Most of these appear to concern communal water usage such as sprinklers on golf courses and cemeteries, and the replacement of community lawns with grasses which are more resistant to drought conditions. Private citizens are encouraged to improve water retention methods through a rebate scheme on new garden watering equipment, and new homes are subject to stricter regulations... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/looking-good/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:08 GMT 3189 Stephen White The recent Argentinian film ‘Wild Tales’ is a compilation of six unrelated fictions about people in desperate situations. I would recommend it to anyone who likes entertaining storytelling, but one of the segments has particular interest for negotiators... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/the-power-of-no/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:07 GMT 3188 Alan Smith There appears to be a new technique being banded about by politicians in the UK, no doubt encouraged by their spin doctors in the long run up to this May’s General election. This technique or tactic is called throwing a dead cat on the table. Now no need to get squeamish, the cat is not literally dead, nor has it really been thrown anywhere least especially on the table. The technique refers to a metaphorical cat not a real one... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/the-politician-and-the-dead-cat/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:07 GMT 3187 Alan Smith Questions, questions everywhere, and not an answer in sight. Asking good questions is productive, positive, creative, and can help get us what we want. Most people believe this to be true and yet often people do not ask enough questions. Perhaps one of the reasons for this is that effective questioning requires to be combined with effective listening... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/questions/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:07 GMT 3186 Alan Smith A few weeks ago we asked readers to submit words (made up ones) and their definitions as part of a tongue in cheek exploration of a new vocabulary for the seasoned negotiator to describe behaviours, activities, tricks and techniques they have encountered whilst participating in the noble art of negotiation... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/the-meaning-of-liff-part-2/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:07 GMT 3184 Stephen White Somewhat quietly last Thursday, several days after the expiry of an arbitrary deadline which had been set for the finalisation of a agreement on the future of Iran’s nuclear capability, a deal was announced. There was rejoicing on the streets of Teheran, ominous rumblings of discontent in Jerusalem and Riyadh, a touch of triumphalism in Washington, and near silence in London, Paris and Berlin... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/the-deal-that-is-no-deal/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:07 GMT 3185 Alan Smith This morning (Tuesday 24th March) the news is awash with the revelation that the British Prime Minister says that he will not serve a third term as the leader of the Conservative party, and therefore leader of the country, should they be re-elected, again and again. Now bearing in mind he has not won the next election it seems remarkably confident, or arrogant to think he could possibly win the one after... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/honesty-the-best-policy/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:07 GMT 3183 Alan Smith What price is cost control? There is a natural tendency for us all to be looking to drive down the cost of what we buy. We all do it. Even those of us who sell stuff, services or products for a living will need to buy, and the same is true for those who buy; they often have to sell, even if it just themselves to the man. But the problem of focusing exclusively on cost as an issue was brought home to me again when I glanced at the ingredients on my recently consumed, Bakewell Tart... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/do-you-like-radish/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:06 GMT 3182 Alan Smith It has been said that Inuit have more than 17 different words for snow. Why should this be? Anthropologists hold the view that the language we speak both affects and reflects our view of the world... Using this thinking language is thought to impose a particular view of the world — not just for Inuit languages, but for all groups... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/the-meaning-of-liff/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:06 GMT 3181 Keith Stacey I was planning a visit to my daughter overseas in two months. With half a million frequent flyer points earned over the years I decided to use them to pay for the air travel. I thought this would be a relatively simple process as I was travelling in non-peak season and have flexibility on dates and stopovers. Silly me... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/off-to-a-flying-start/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:06 GMT 3180 Yannis Dimarakis Depending on his or her political persuasion, an observer may feel in a number of ways regarding the outcome of the negotiations between the recently elected Greek government and its European partners. So was the agreement a huge success, or was it a full capitulation of the Greek government? I believe that most of us would agree that it was neither... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/it-s-all-about-packaging/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:06 GMT 3179 Yannis Dimarakis As these lines are written, the negotiations between the Greek government and its Eurogroup partners are still under way. As the end result is not yet known (and probably will not be for some days) some mistakes of the Greek handling of the situation are already discernible. Here are three obvious mistakes I have selected to discuss in this article... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/key-errors-in-the-greek-negotiating-strategy/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:06 GMT 3178 Stephen White A recent TV documentary (The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds) gave a fascinating insight into the way grown-ups work. The film makers fitted out a kindergarten classroom with hidden cameras, and then put a group of 4 year olds into the classroom to interact with each other, under the supervision of two expert teachers, and secretly watched by a group of child psychologists. Having identified some of the personality traits of the children, they were split into two groups and invited to build a pretend house out of cardboard boxes and then decorate it. The groups were pre-selected; one had the more dominant children in it, and one had the less dominant. They were told that the team which built the better house would be declared winners.. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/learning-from-4-year-olds/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:06 GMT 3177 Alan Smith Get mad back? Not so sure. Couple of things have passed my desk this week that have prompted this blog. The first is something that happened to me on one of our Advancing Negotiation Skills courses. One of the participants was asking about how to deal with difficult people. I suspect we have all come across them in our lives be it work or personal. As usual to give myself time to ponder and consider a response, a kind of adjournment, I asked the rest of the group if they had any ideas... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/get-mad-back/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:05 GMT 3176 Keith Stacey The most powerful word in the English language is ‘free’. People love a bargain and if it’s free - then bargain it must be. ‘Free’ triggers a range of emotional responses that seduce us into suspending our critical judgments...Over the years many of us have experienced the truism that “there is no such thing as a free lunch”. We are hard-wired to practice reciprocal altruism and accepting a “free lunch” can place us in a vulnerable position when we are later asked for something in return. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/the-hidden-cost-of-free/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:05 GMT 3175 Robin Copland Jim Murphy, the new leader of the Labour party in Scotland, was interviewed on the radio recently and the issue of unilateral nuclear disarmament was raised... He was asked if the Labour party would unilaterally disarm and his answer was, “no”. The interviewer pressed him on his answer. Murphy responded rather as a negotiator might respond... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/unilateral-disarmament/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:05 GMT 3174 Alan Smith There is one group for whom cheaper oil is bad news — oil producers, who've been having an amazing run between a combination of higher prices and surging production. For the rest of us it may be pretty good news. For the negotiator there is certainly the potential of a discussion dependent on the relationship between the price of oil and that of your end products, and how you approach it will depend on which side of the fence you sit. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/pour-oil-on-it/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:05 GMT 3173 keith stacey It may sound slightly unhygienic but it is far better than putting your foot in it! You may also find that you become a better negotiator as a result. Our ability to communicate defines us as a highly evolved species. This ability has been fundamental to our evolution from nomadic hunter gatherers to knowledge workers in cyberspace. In fact, when you think of it the degree of planning, coordination and execution necessary to successfully hunt a woolly mammoth while avoiding being eaten by a sabre-toothed tiger is not that much of an evolutionary gap. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/don-t-put-your-foot-in-it-put-their-words-in-your-mouth/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:05 GMT 3172 Alan Smith I love Christmas, but I hate paying for it. Sadly as a father of 5, Christmas, whilst being a wonderful time is also a very expensive one. I am sure like everyone else I also get excited in the run up to the event and am seduced by those people in marketing (God bless them) to spend more than I want to on things no-one needs, to impress them and convince them that under this crusty exterior I am a nice bloke after all... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/fancy-a-cheque-for-a-billion-dollars/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:53:04 GMT 3170 Scotwork Australia Negotiating in business is a lot like marriage: if you want a long lasting relationship and to live “happily ever after,” then you’ll need to make sacrifices, build trust into the relationship, and periodically show your appreciation. Because, remember: at the end of the day, a business relationship is still a relationship, and it needs to be nurtured so that it lasts and satisfies both parties. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2015/why-does-a-long-term-relationship-matter-in-negotiations/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:54:33 GMT 3169 Scotwork Australia A great negotiator is one who asks the right questions, and if you want to walk away from the negotiating table with a deal that’s beneficial to all involved, knowing just which questions to ask is so very important. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/what-questions-can-we-ask-in-negotiations/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:31:09 GMT 2775 Scotwork Australia If you weren’t blessed with the superstar negotiator gene right from day one, blame your parents. Or better yet, start changing the way you negotiate today and start leading your negotiations all the way to the bank. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/how-to-lead-negotiations/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:31:40 GMT 2774 Alan Smith Who does the housework in your house? Seems this is a much bigger issue than you might think. Or maybe it is already a huge issue for you. I suspect it depends on who does it and whether you care. It certainly seems to cause significant conflict if the radio is to be believed. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/chore-wars/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:31 GMT 2776 Scotwork Australia Spider-Man’s other superpower must have been negotiation, because nine times out of ten he got what he wanted. Often he chose to simply suggest that he would take his business elsewhere and walk away, leaving Jonah Jameson floundering before running after him with a big cheque. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/super-negotiations/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:52:08 GMT 2773 Scotwork Australia There are over 7 billion people on the planet, each with his or her own opinion, set of values and principles. Now that’s a lot of differences to accommodate! Although it may seem difficult at times to come up with a resolution that makes all parties happy, it certainly isn’t impossible. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/be-firm-but-fair-in-conflict-resolution/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:51:52 GMT 2772 Alan Smith It is a very simple equation to look at how margin is impacted by the price a company charges for its products. Take a very easy example of a company whose P&L sheet looks like this; Sales - 100 Materials - 60 Labour - 20 Other - 10 Profit - 10 If this company has to respond to market forces and drop its sales prices by 5% and other costs remain the same the impact on profit is a dramatic 50%.... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/the-sin-of-greed/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:30 GMT 2771 Stephen White At first glance there may not seem much in common between Formula One racing and chartered accountancy. So the news today that KPMG have teamed up with a division of the McLaren racing team is both unexpected and exciting. McLaren will give KPMG access to the methodology they use to process the amounts of ‘big-data’ such as the information they collect as the racing car speeds round the track so that it can be used to help them make predicative decisions such as when to bring a car in for a pit stop. KPMG intend to use this information in a number of ways, most commonly to help them identify (predict) future problems and issues when they are doing audit work, rather than allowing the audit simply to be a backward looking view of a corporate body. Part of the deal is that KPMG will become one of the sponsors of the McLaren team – it is good to see that both parties used their negotiating skills to make a good trade. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/accountants-are-all-torque/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:30 GMT 2770 Scotwork Australia Often people resort to the use of persuasion to sway the other party to their position. Persuasion is great if it works as it doesn’t cost you anything but often it does not work so you may need to move towards negotiating. So what is the difference between persuasion and negotiation. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/what-is-the-difference-between-negotiation-and-persuasion/ Fri, 01 Oct 2021 05:41:17 GMT 2769 Robin Copland There has been much weeping and gnashing of teeth lately amongst the chattering classes and politicians in the UK and, perhaps predictably as we move ever closer to what promises to be the strangest election in recent history, it concerns money and the European Union... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/a-winning-package/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:29 GMT 2767 Tyler Hall Many people have tried to define negotiation, and many of them haven’t gone further than the dictionary definition. There's nothing wrong with dictionary definitions, after all, we learn so much about the meaning of the word through its usage in a sentence, but that's not what this article is about. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/what-is-negotiation/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:30 GMT 2768 Scotwork New Zealand David and Goliath has always been the traditional underdog story. The little shepherd boy slays the mighty warrior. The story has inspired many negotiators throughout the years to "have a go" but could there be another explanation as to how David won? Should we really be feeling sorry for Goliath? What are the real lessons for negotiators here? Watch Malcolm Gladwell's TED talk and take note of the lessons below. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/david-and-goliath-the-original-underdog-story/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:29 GMT 2764 Mike Freedman Frequently people want to talk about their negotiating strategy. My immediate (if private) reaction to this is “oh dear!!” Negotiation is a means of dealing with conflict; it can be stressful. So, in preparation we tend to surround ourselves with all sorts of tools and defences that will make us feel more powerful or at least more comfortable. For example people like to play out their negotiation strategy before it happens. Their strategy involves a long storyboard, a sequence of exactly what they and the other side will say and do. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/yes-but-i-have-a-strategy/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:29 GMT 2766 Keith Stacey This charming anecdote provided to remind us that trading opportunities abound and it is only our failure recognize them that limits our potential. In her wonderful book “Notebooks” Betty Churcher, ex-Director of the National Gallery, recounts a visit to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/betty-churcher-gets-her-surrealism-exhibition/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:29 GMT 2765 Stephen White There is a sweet story about a car mechanic who is fixing the engine of the car belonging to an eminent heart surgeon. The surgeon arrives in the repair shop whilst the job is still not quite completed. The mechanic calls the doctor over to have a look under the bonnet. “You and I do the same job, Doc. I opened the engine’s heart, took the valves out, I am repairing and replacing anything damaged and then I will put everything back together and when it is finished, it will work like new. Just like you do. So how come I earn £40,000 a year and you earn £400,000 a year?”... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/infallibility/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:29 GMT 2762 Alan Smith There are three things that stick out for me from the new series of The Apprentice...But the biggest thing that sticks out, and maybe is a recurring theme, is what a nasty bunch of back stabbing, aggressive self aggrandizing bunch they all are. The implication being that to be good at business you also have to be an arse. Being nasty and overly selfish is not a good long term strategy in any business relationship. It might work once and you might get away with it, but rarely will it work consistently... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/business-survival-of-the-nastiest/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:28 GMT 2761 Keith Stacey Many Scotwork participants who sell confront the dilemma of meeting the market when a rival offers cheaper prices for apparently equivalent products. Holding the line on margins is a discipline that few sales teams possess. The line, “Cheap, good and fast-choose one,” is particularly relevant... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/price-vs-value-the-constant-debate/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:28 GMT 2760 Gaëtan Pellerin We’ve all been trained to hide our emotions in a business environment—especially during negotiation. Keep your emotions out of negotiations or the other side may crush you, right? Not exactly, because you can’t negotiate effectively as a detached robot. So how do you find the happy medium?... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/get-real-about-emotions/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:28 GMT 2758 Stephen White This week the 2014 Nobel Prize for Economics was awarded to Professor Jean Tirole for his writings on the regulation of large corporations. Professor Tirole made his reputation largely on his work about Game Theory... There is an irony in Professor Tirole’s selection as the Nobel Prize winner, because it comes at the time when one very large corporation, UK-based supermarket group Tesco, finds itself in hot water with its investors and the market regulators because of the discovery that it may have overstated current year profits by up to a quarter of a billion sterling. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/complicated-games/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:28 GMT 2759 Simon Letchford Telling lies in a commercial negotiation is not only dangerous, it’s simply not necessary. But you don’t need me to tell you that – if you’ve ever discovered a lie from the other side, you’ll know how it tends to undermine your faith in everything else they have ever have told you. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/do-i-tell-the-whole-truth/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:28 GMT 2757 Stephen White Publishing this on the day the Scottish population votes on Independence, we are no different from any of the other pundits - unable to forecast the result. But we can forecast that whatever the result the Scottish people will lose their ability to function truly as a democracy. This is because whichever side has the majority the result will be extremely close – 51/49, or 52/48 or something similar. In practical terms therefore about half of the population will getting exactly what they don’t want... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/why-i-like-negotiating/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:28 GMT 2756 Alan Smith On 18 September voters in Scotland will be asked the Yes/No question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" The final push for votes comes as a YouGov poll run by the Sunday Times suggested that, of those who have made up their mind, 51% planned to back independence, while 49% intended to vote no. Looks like the vote is going to go to the wire... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/time-is-running-out/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:28 GMT 2755 Alan Smith I am a big fan of the Kindle. It is convenient, easy to read at night, can carry lots of product, etc., etc. But whilst I still also love books, the Kindle’s massive advantage is the price you pay and the ease by which you can get hold of pretty much any book in print at any time, provided you have internet access. Brilliant... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/how-do-you-read-it/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:27 GMT 2754 Stephen White Just as they say that everyone remembers what they were doing when they heard that JFK had been assassinated, the same applies to 9/11. In my case I was in a Dixons electrical shop; I watched the second plane fly into the building on a wall of about 50 TVs which were on display for sale, all showing the identical picture. I commented on the devastating nature of the spectacle to the sales assistant who was completing my purchase. ‘It’s just TV’ he said, not recognising that the event was real... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/where-were-you/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:27 GMT 2753 Tom Feinson As ever it feels like little or no time has elapsed between the end of one season and the beginning of another. The World Cup serves to heighten those feelings, but here we are on the eve of new season, that blissful period where our hopes, dreams and aspirations are as yet undashed. The glorious “Transfer Window” enables teams to offload a dodgy left back or temperamental winger (should that be whinger) and land a top quality striker ‘Who is going to give us 30 goals a season’... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/show-me-the-money/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:27 GMT 2752 John McMillan On September 18th, Scotland, part of the United Kingdom for 300 years, is holding a referendum on whether to split away from the rest of the UK and become an independent country. Assuming that there is a ‘Yes’ vote, the Scottish Government has a massive negotiating challenge ahead if it is to meet its self-imposed deadline of 24th March 2016; barely 18 months after the votes will be counted... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/countdown-conundrum/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:27 GMT 2750 Simon Letchford Win-win doesn’t always apply. In an extreme example, a hostage negotiator will not be overly concerned that the hostage-taker leaves the negotiation happy; in fact it may be quite important to ensure the opposite, to minimize repeat or copycat behavior in future... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/always-negotiate-for-win-win/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:27 GMT 2749 Mark Simpson The media has discovered that Council-controlled Auckland Transport is using special shuttles to move staff around Auckland; apparently because it’s faster than the public transport they provide for the rest of us. When challenged, Auckland Transport shot themselves in the foot and provided us with a beautiful example of argument dilution... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/argument-dilution-auckland-transport-way/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:26 GMT 2748 Keith Stacey There are undoubtedly cultural differences when it comes to conducting business, and this is perhaps most true in negotiation. Let’s take a look at quintessentially “Aussie” qualities and how these impact on the way we negotiate... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/negotiating-down-under/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:26 GMT 2747 Alan Smith Size matters. But so do lots of other things. It’s all in the detail, and we all know that. So, why are so many problems only discovered after the ink has long dried? The temptation as we approach the end game of a long and difficult negotiation is to heave a great sigh of relief and run to the pub to celebrate a job well done over a glass of our favourite tipple... The problem is that without the detail what exactly have we agreed to? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/size-matters/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:26 GMT 2746 Robin Copland I honestly do not know how many cities have trams. I know that in the UK, there are a fair few and some of the networks are extensive. Manchester and Sheffield, to name but two, have lines going all over the place and I am aware that Sheffield’s network is so well-used that a major upgrade programme has just been announced. Edinburgh now proudly joins these and, of course, many other European cities in having its very own tram – I was going to use the word “network” there again, but that’s not strictly true; “line” might be a better word. I can tell you without a moment of research and with no possibility of disagreement from anyone, anywhere that Edinburgh’s tram line excels in one area above all others – and that is its cost per kilometre... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/going-off-the-rails/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:26 GMT 2745 Robin Copland When companies get good at providing a service, it becomes convenient to put more and more business their way. They provide an efficient route to market; they give suppliers the chance to make one big delivery instead of four or five smaller ones; their marketing campaigns are slick and entice more customers through their – sometimes electronic – doors... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/whose-fault-is-it-anyway/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:26 GMT 2744 Stephen White Last week it looked like politics was overwhelming the FIFA World Cup. Accusations of financial scandal involving the selection of Qatar as the venue for the 2022 competition, and adverse comment about the potential re-election of 78 year-old Sepp Blatter as President of FIFA dwarfed the press content about the actual football. Until, that is, the football actually started, after which all the dissent and scandal seemed to fade away... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/sideshow/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:26 GMT 2743 Alan Smith Researchers into fatalities caused by storms have made an interesting and rather odd finding... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/it-s-all-in-the-name/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:25 GMT 2742 Keith Stacey In an increasingly volatile economy with the prospect of extended working lives many of us will find ourselves negotiating our way to new employment opportunities. The Scotwork preparation agenda is a good place to start... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/negotiating-your-way-to-a-new-job/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:25 GMT 2741 Stephen White Until yesterday I thought that the bid by US pharma giant Pfizer for UK based pharma giant AstraZeneca was a flash-in-the-pan piece of opportunism. We first heard of the plan at the beginning of May, when an offer of £50 per share was tabled. The merger would create the largest pharmaceutical company in the world. It was based on two premises, firstly that AstraZeneca were weak because their product portfolio contained a number of high-profit drugs which were coming to the end of their patent protection, and with nothing much in the R&D cupboard to replace them, and secondly because it gave Pfizer an advantage by enabling them to move their head office to the UK and save loads of tax in an avoidance wheeze... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/the-best-laid-plans/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:25 GMT 2740 Alan Smith Politicians who promise that the streets will be paved with gold and deliver nothing but cobbled cul-de-sacs, managers who claim that the future will be filled with bonuses and jam while delivering dry crust and the negotiator who offers a future filled with high volume orders and pulls them whilst pocketing the promotional bonus. Nothing offends the sensibility quite so much as the empty promise delivered with mind-boggling confidence. Not necessarily... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/talent-is-overrated/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:25 GMT 2739 Stephen White On Wednesday Roger Boyes, the Diplomatic Editor of the London Times, wrote an op-ed piece critical of the West’s approach to the Iranian nuclear situation. In summary his view is that during the current negotiations Iranian President Rouhani may be making all the right noises about the lack of intent to build a nuclear bomb, but because he is a transient figure on the Iranian political scene, Boyes suggests that unless there is an agreement to international monitoring of the Revolutionary Guard, which is the stronger and more permanent force in Iranian politics and which controls the Iranian nuclear programme, then promises made so far will be worthless. As a result Iran will achieve a nuclear bomb and the world will be powerless to do anything about it in retrospect... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/promises-promises/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:25 GMT 2738 Tyler Hall If you’ve ever tried to negotiate something – a corporate merger, a commercial conflict, a new salary or even a family dispute – you’ll know there’s an art to resolution and an art to influencing an outcome that satisfies both sides. The truth is, no one’s born a brilliant negotiator. Right? We all learn to negotiate as we grow and we all engage in negotiation training and education to try and make ourselves better mediators and better “solution influencers.” In one of our recent training sessions, one of the participants asked a great question –Who are the best negotiators in the business? Who should we listen to and learn from? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/the-5-best-negotiators-in-the-business/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:24 GMT 2737 Alan Smith In spite of its largely unknown cast, a promiscuous leading female character, a tragic death and a miniscule budget, Four Weddings and a Funeral is still one of the most successful British films ever made. It is now 20 years since it opened in Britain - making household names of its stars, and taking an estimated $250 million worldwide. Not bad for a budget of less than £3 million... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/it-s-your-funeral/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:24 GMT 2735 Stephen White During the Pistorius trial I happened to spend some time with a friend who is a judge. I asked him if over his 30 years of experience he had developed a sense of who was telling the truth, particularly important when the outcome of a court case between a plaintiff and a defendant at war depended on which version of events the judge believed because there were no witnesses. Yes, he said, you do get a feel for it; it’s not infallible but you usually know who is telling the truth... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/i-believed-every-word/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:24 GMT 2734 Alan Smith I want you to imagine that you have been preparing for a negotiation and you have got to the point where you have to declare your financial proposal to paper. The bit that is going to be critical, maybe even the most important (maybe), is the price. We could drift tangentially off point here and talk about things that may be much more important than price, like availability, quality, terms, etc., etc., we won’t. But you should... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/precisely/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:24 GMT 2733 Alan Smith Sun Tzu, the legendary Chinese Military tactician said “To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy.” I was reminded of this famous quote when I read a review of Robert Lindsay’s new play, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, in which Lindsay talked about his political past... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/know-your-enemy/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:24 GMT 2732 Romana Henry As a French speaker, I was recently dispatched to the French island of La Reunion, located in the middle of the Indian Ocean close to Mauritius and Madagascar to run a course. What a place! A tropical paradise with wonderful people, beaches, sea, food, scenery, the list goes on and on. My colleague Julien, originally from Paris but living there for the last 10 years, told me a lovely story... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/a-lovely-bunch-of-coconuts/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:24 GMT 2731 Stephen White News pictures of distraught relatives of the passengers on flight MH370, missing now for more than 2 weeks, bring home an uncomfortable truth. Even in the light of technological detective work which broke new ground and determined beyond reasonable doubt that the plane had ditched in a remote part of the South Indian Ocean, many of the bereaved are unconvinced, and say they will remain sceptical until physical evidence of the plane in the sea is produced... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/scepticism/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:23 GMT 2729 Alan Smith Alice Walker, author of “The Color Purple" and civil rights activist said “The most common way that people give up their power, is by thinking they don’t have any”. The reality of the power of what we think was driven home to me recently by the TED talk given by Psychologist Kelly McGonigal, who presented a kind of positive case for stress... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/thought-so/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:23 GMT 2728 David Bannister This holiday, one of the books I read was ‘A Street Cat named Bob’. It’s an uplifting and sometimes challenging book about a recovering drug addict – James Bowen, the author, and his cat, Bob whom he finds in the lobby of his building and whom he helps to recover from neglect and befriends. Having Bob gives James a reason for overcoming his heroin habit and he manages to get a job selling the ‘Big Issue’ in London... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/lessons-in-negotiating-or-putting-a-price-on-your-cat/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:23 GMT 2727 Stephen White As the current situation in Ukraine is changing so swiftly that no one has any serious ability to predict the outcome, conflict-resolution pundits should be reading the unfolding events in negotiating terms in order to make sense of what is going on, for themselves and for those who follow them... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/ukrainian-tractors/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:23 GMT 2726 Stephen White Just how good are we at persuasion? How gullible are you as a negotiator? Not very, you will probably tell me. You do your prep, you check the facts, you are streetwise, and you can normally see a scam or a piece of B/S coming and react accordingly. Our propensity to believe the unbelievable is enhanced by a world which is increasingly intrinsically unbelievable... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/duck-quacks-don-t-echo/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:22 GMT 2725 Alan Smith Valentine’s Day gone. Red Roses wilting depressingly in the vase perched on the window sill. Champagne cork stuck behind the book on the top shelf where it landed and will remain, probably till we move house. Promises made in the heat of the night, vaguely remembered... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/i-would-do-anything-for-love/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:22 GMT 2724 Alan Smith Switzerland's economy is booming at the moment, and unemployment is low, but many Swiss worry about what they see as a looming problem, namely, immigration. Last year 80,000 new immigrants arrived in Switzerland with a relatively small overall population of around 5 million, and foreigners now make up 23% of the inhabitants. It is the continent's second highest foreign population after Luxembourg, for whom 42% are immigrants... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/cuckoo-is-the-clock-running-out-on-switzerland/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:22 GMT 2723 Stephen White The Winter Olympic Games open in Sochi this Friday, but any expectation that there would by now be a rising tide of enthusiasm for the splendour of the opening ceremony or the thrill of the sports on show has been dashed. Instead we only read about the likelihood of a Chechen terrorist attack, the possible effect on athletes and spectators of recently enacted anti-gay Russian legislation and the appalling prospect that some Western journalists might find their hotel bedrooms are unfinished. Of these, the terrorist threat occupies most press attention... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/freezing-the-terrorists-out/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:22 GMT 2722 Robin Copland For a man who trained as a physician at the university of Damascus and who spent two years in post graduate training in ophthalmology at the Western Eye Hospital, part of the St Mary’s group of teaching hospitals in London; a man, furthermore, who had few, if any, political aspirations until his brother’s death in 1994, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria is taking a pretty myopic view of retaining political power! For the past two years he and the Syrian political establishment have been engaged in a ruthless battle for power with the loosely-defined but western-supported opposition rebel forces. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/that-s-one-way-of-looking-at-it/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:21 GMT 2721 Alan Smith Many times in the classroom I have been asked a seemingly simple question. Is everything negotiable? For an answer, take a look at the current stand-off between the UK Liberal Democrat party and Lord Rennard. What a mess! https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/i-don-t-give-a/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:21 GMT 2719 Stephen White There are interminable lists of top negotiating dos and don’ts available on the internet, in books, and on training courses. They mainly contain pieces of sensible, if obvious advice about how negotiators should conduct themselves. You may have read some of these lists, and you may even have been moved to try some of the tips. You certainly don’t need to see another one... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/hollywood-has-a-real-grasp-of-reality/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:21 GMT 2720 Alan Smith New Year’s resolutions. We all do them. Although I have to say come March time they tend to have disappeared unlike the food belly that sadly gets a little bit bigger and more stubborn with each passing decade. So what’s the point?... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2014/new-year-s-evolution/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:10:21 GMT 2718 Alan Smith Today’s friend is tomorrow’s foe in this dynamic and complex world. Barely a day goes by without mergers, acquisitions, take-overs (hostile or not) or promotions, that take the guy you were managing and makes him your boss. How do we best manage our relationships to get the most out of them in this constant flux? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/whose-side-are-you-on/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:45 GMT 2717 David Bannister “Please take your seats promptly after the coffee break” said the organiser at KPMG’s International Partners’ Conference in Cape Town in 1999. “We have a special guest”. Twenty minutes later the 150 or so of us at the conference watched Nelson Mandela, then approaching his eightieth birthday, walk slowly down the catwalk past us all and to the lectern in the centre. He carefully and deliberately read a prepared speech telling us how important it was for the city to be able to welcome such a distinguished group of international business leaders. It was a predictable address and I felt a little disappointed. “And finally…” he said as he folded up the paper from which he had been reading for ten minutes... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/only-free-men-can-negotiate/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:45 GMT 2716 Alan Smith The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has promised to compensate those left "out of pocket" after customers were unable to pay for purchases. RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank customers making online and card payments were affected between 18:30 and 21:30 GMT this Monday. Bearing in mind that Monday was supposed to be the biggest on-line shopping day of the year (credit cards screaming with pre-Christmas purchases), this was indeed a big stuff up... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/sorry-seems-to-be-the-easiest-word/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:45 GMT 2715 Alan Smith Deciding to slow down a project or negotiation may be very much in your interest. Particularly if the outcome may be uncertain or if a little longer in deliberation may improve your decision-making ability or give you more power to do a better deal... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/don-t-just-do-something/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:44 GMT 2714 Robin Copland Scotland’s first minister, Alex Salmond has announced 24 March 2016 as the date for the country’s exit from the United Kingdom, should the Scottish people (or rather, those people resident in Scotland at 18 September 2014) vote for independence. It is a date redolent with historical significance for the historically-minded, for on that date in 1603, the union of the Scottish and English crowns took place and later, in 1707 on the same date, the Acts of Union were signed creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/is-time-on-your-side/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:44 GMT 2713 Stephen White Activism is a form of persuasion. Using diverse methods such as civil disobedience, resistance, demonstrations, and publicity seeking events activists seek to promote change in the political, social, economic or environmental status quo. Examples such as the French Revolution, the Suffragette movement and the American Civil Rights campaign testify to the power and antiquity of activism. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/activism-and-negotiation/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:44 GMT 2712 Stephen White After the failure, albeit perhaps temporarily, of the negotiations in Geneva last weekend between the Iranian Foreign Minister and representatives of the superpowers over the future of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, US Secretary of State John Kerry gave an interview to the BBC. The transcript can be found here . My interest was drawn to this extract... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/bracketed-language/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:44 GMT 2711 Alan Smith Remember, remember… In many aspects of life one of the most important aspects is, wait for it, timing. A good gag, the perfect time to hit a volley, the lightest of soufflés, all require a mixture of patience, confidence and skill to get the best reaction from your audience, competitor or diners... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/remember/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:44 GMT 2710 Mike Freedman Like most sales people I talk about value first and price last. This week was no exception. My prospective client was considering courses for the company’s purchasing managers. The meeting was going very well, and when the quotation was requested I announced the total price for our three-day negotiating skills course upon which my much-interested prospective client asked…"is that the cost per day?" As you can imagine several thoughts went through my head all at once but I couldn't resist the role of the trainer... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/be-careful-how-you-ask/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:43 GMT 2709 Stephen White The Oxford English Dictionary defines charm as ‘the power or quality of delighting, attracting, or fascinating others’. It is a word which has been much used recently about the newly elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in particular in connection with the speech he made to the United Nations General Assembly on September 24th. It is difficult to know how much the world’s perception of his charm is actually a reflection on the lack of this same quality in his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/charm-offensive/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:43 GMT 2708 Mike Freedman Before working with a powerful FMCG company in Europe I asked of the thousands of points of sale they have how many client relationships they lose every year to competing companies. The company proudly announced that last year they lost less than 1% annually to competition. I dared to suggest that 1% is probably not enough and that they need to lose more business. This did not deter them from working with us and here’s why... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/are-you-losing-enough-business/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:43 GMT 2707 Simon Letchford This week’s government shutdown makes both sides of politics look dreadful. A poll this week had Congress less popular than head lice and root-canal surgery. But, channeling Rahm Emmanuel, (“never let a serious crisis go to waste”), here are a few negotiating lessons to take from Washington’s latest home-cooked fiasco... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/dumb-and-dumber/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:43 GMT 2706 Alan Smith Being nasty has no place in my view in life or business, not only because it is wrong, it also makes bad sense. Treading gently does not mean being soft, but it does mean having integrity. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/tread-softly/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:43 GMT 2705 Keith Stacey Sportsmen and women choke but apparently poker players "tilt". I came across this term in Nate Silver's excellent book the Signal and the Noise. Tilting is defined as over aggressive play brought on by a lack of perspective, or playing without discipline. A number of tilts are listed and could just as easily apply to negotiating. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/do-negotiators-tilt/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:43 GMT 2704 Simon Letchford I’ve always found it fascinating how many people who attend our negotiating skills training talk about how the techniques that work in the workplace have worked at home as well. There are, however, a few pitfalls for those who want to hone their negotiating skills in the kitchen, so I thought that I’d share a few domestic do's and don'ts, mostly learned the hard way... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/negotiating-bedtime-and-taking-out-the-trash/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:42 GMT 2702 Mike Freedman When we ask people to define negotiation on the Scotwork pre-course paperwork, purchasing people very often refer to “finding a middle road” or “common ground”. They deal every day with variables about which they and the people across the table feel differently and what they really mean is “let’s split the difference”. Sales people however refer to “persuasion” often as their all encompassing definition of negotiation. This persuasion they see as a unilateral process of changing the view of the other party in order to have them accept their offer or opinion. Salespeople often consider this to be an essential fundamental skill of their trade. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/if-you-feel-the-need-to-say-you-are-you-are-not/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:42 GMT 2700 John McMillan It is said that the two happiest times in a sailor's life are the day they buy a boat and the day they sell their boat. I have a third occasion which beats even these... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/all-at-sea/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:42 GMT 2698 Alan Smith I want you to try a little experiment. Think of a simple tune, something like Happy Birthday. Now find a colleague, friend or partner and tap out the song for them without telling them the name of the song. Chances are they will have not got a clue... You have just witnessed for yourself the concept of the curse of knowledge. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/the-curse-of-knowledge/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:42 GMT 2696 Robin Copland Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport has, for the past month, played host to a pawn in the international diplomacy game, one Edward Snowden. Mr Snowden is a "whistle-blower" who, depending on your point of view, has courageously defended the rights of downtrodden untermensch the world over, or on the other hand has committed a treasonous offence so heinous as to be punishable by a lengthy spell behind bars - a spell so long that all kinds of keys may just as well be thrown down various drains. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/whistle-for-it/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:41 GMT 2695 Stephen White Do the Middle East negotiators have the skills to succeed? As talks begin in Washington between Israeli and Palestinian representatives - talks which both sides have described as negotiations - it is worthwhile considering their chances of success over the next nine months which is the time-frame they have given themselves. Past experience gives us little hope. The Oslo Accords and the Camp David Summit were both trumpeted as great opportunities, and both ultimately failed. There has been little talk between the parties since, at least in public. Is this because the Middle East problem is inherently insoluble, or because the capabilities of the parties are inadequate? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/tragedy/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:41 GMT 2694 David Bannister I am wondering if there is a particular personality type who might make a more natural negotiator than other types do. I have to tell you that if you are compelled to read further, please do, but I am not going to give the answer to the question, because I don't know it. I intend to try to find out, though. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/do-negotiators-have-a-personality/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:41 GMT 2693 Alan Smith Earlier this month a Chinese sky lantern lit up the Jayplus recycling unit in Smethwick, near burning Birmingham. The resulting inferno was visible from 80 miles away and damages were reported to cost £6 million. As well as this, there was a significant risk shouldered by the heroic fire service managing the disaster. While it is true that we may not always be able to anticipate the end results of our actions, this does not mean that we should not even try. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/careless-talk-costs-margins/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:41 GMT 2692 Alan Smith George North is a big man. Currently on tour in Australia with the British and Irish Lions, North stands at 6 feet 4 inches and weighs in at 240 lbs. That is over 17 stones in old money, as my mother would say... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/north-goes-east-then-quickly-west/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:41 GMT 2691 Robin Copland Britvic Plc is a large company. It is a leading branded soft drinks business in the UK, sold 1.9bn litres of soft drink in the last year, and employs around 3500 people. Its brands include J20, Tango, Robinsons, as well as a collection of eponymous mixer drinks. Britvic Plc has a rival in A G Barr Plc, makers of Irn Bru, an iconic Scottish soft drink. Other rivals include Tizer and other well-known brands. A G Barr, with a turnover of £237m last year, is a major player in the soft drinks market... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/britvic-barr-destined-to-go-flat/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:41 GMT 2690 Yannis Dimarakis After being the centre of attention for several months late last year, Greece has been mostly out of the international news. Indeed, some commentators have suggested that the economy might be showing signs of turning the corner; not exactly light at the end of the tunnel, but at least the tunnel has now come into view... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/golden-nightmare/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:40 GMT 2689 Alan Smith I have been struck last week by the resolute nature by which an elderly lady in Wales has stood firm in the face of massive pressure from some of the UK's largest companies, and just how difficult it is to engage when the other side are simply not interested... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/no-means-no/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:40 GMT 2687 Alan Smith There is no doubt that people are strange. You and especially me! Sometimes, it seems we act contrary to our best interests in order to be consistent to others or ourselves. Knowing this maybe will help us put distance between what we have done in the past and how it influences our activity in the future. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/why-we-can-be-persuaded-to-do-stupid-things/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:40 GMT 2686 Alan Smith Asking good questions that are tough, direct and specific is one of the key things we can do to improve the quality of our negotiation behaviour and resulting outcomes... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/there-is-such-a-thing-as-a-stupid-question/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:40 GMT 2685 Alan Smith The UK Government announced last week, a string of reforms designed to change the way that prisons operate. One of the key areas is the way that prisoners earn privileges... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/concessions-must-be-earned/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:40 GMT 2684 Stephen White As the death toll from the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment manufacturing building in Dhaka, Bangladesh approaches 400, the attention of the world’s press is focussing on the Western companies who buy merchandise from the manufacturers located in this and other similar buildings. Reports over many years have highlighted issues of sweated labour, pitiful wages, and the employment of young children. These are disgraceful abuses of human rights which buyers claim they were unaware of at the time, and appropriate noises about improving conditions for workers are made, only for the same allegations to crop up again a few months later... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/collapsing-worlds/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:39 GMT 2683 Robin Copland BMW used to do it. So did Mercedes. Porsche and Ferrari still do as far as I am aware, though it’s been a while since I checked. Then along came the so-called “budget” airlines and the tactic is back in vogue with a vengeance. It starts with a loud - gaudy even – welcome page on which there is loudly displayed a low figure. At the time of writing, the figure is £10. The word “cheap” appears and you are tempted along to the “flights” window. “£10” and “flights” together; it’s a heady mix that conjures up the golden age of travel together with cheap air fares, so you delve deeper. Mind you – the words “golden age of travel” and “Ryanair” are not comfortable bedfellows, but never mind; I live in Edinburgh – where could I go? What could go wrong?... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/add-on/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:39 GMT 2682 Claudio Cubito When the painter James McNeill Whistler was a cadet at West Point, he was assigned to draw a bridge in an engineering class. Whistler drew a spectacular bridge and included two boys fishing from it. His deliberate inclusion displeased the instructor, who ordered him to draw it again without the young fishermen on the bridge. Whistler did as he was instructed, but unwilling to completely stifle his vision; he drew the bridge again with the boys fishing from the riverbank. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/creativity-should-be-embraced-not-quashed/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:39 GMT 2681 Stephen White A recent article in the New York Times draws a comparison between the physiological aspects of hearing and listening. In brief the author, neuroscientist Professor Seth Horowitz, says that the process of hearing works from our ears to an area in the brain which is automatically able to register and then tune out background noise. Listening, he says, is different; when our attention is grabbed the electrical impulses from our ears take a pathway to a different area of the brain, associated with computation. At a basic level this allows our defence mechanisms to fire up. We describe this as being startled – and this overrides the background noise and allows us to focus on what we are hearing and process it accordingly. That’s listening!... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/listen-up/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:39 GMT 2679 Mark Simpson Nervous negotiators may often be tempted to partake in a drop of “Dutch Courage” before entering what they anticipate will be difficult negotiations. Our advice is DON’T and it seems the United Nations now agree with us... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/dutch-courage-at-the-un/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:38 GMT 2676 John Leehman I recently stayed at a national hotel chain that I use regularly. On the third night of my stay, I requested a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call from the front desk to allow time for a morning workout before checking out and teaching my final negotiating skills course. Unfortunately, the front desk never called the next morning and I awoke at 7:10 am. In the next 20 minutes, I showered, packed, checked out and rushed to my 7:30 meeting. Obviously, I was poorly prepared and not pleased! https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/if-you-have-a-complaint-don-t-wait/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:39 GMT 2678 Stephen White Shortly after taking office for his second term, President Obama announced that he would visit the Middle East to kick-start a peace process. That visit is scheduled for later this month, but there was speculation last week that it might be cancelled if the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also recently re-elected, has not been able to form a coalition government before the Obama visit... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/the-critical-mass/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:38 GMT 2674 Alan Smith The British Prime Minister David Cameron said that the talks with John Kerry, the new US Secretary of State, would be so far reaching that it would be difficult to know where to start. I am sure he was joking. At least I hope he was... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/we-don-t-know-where-to-start/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:38 GMT 2673 Alan Smith Imagine you are very late home. And I mean late. You creep up the stairs at 3 am, placing your feet carefully at the extreme edge of each step missing that third creaky step. You push the bedroom door open and pad gently across the floor. Forget brushing your teeth, way too noisy. You can flush in the morning. As you remove your trousers too late you remember the coins in the back pocket. As they crash to the wooden floor your other half springs into action... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/i-m-not-telling/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:38 GMT 2672 Alan Smith Perhaps a better question might be, where's the beef? The continuing furore about what actually is in our food took another turn when Findus had to withdraw all of their Frozen Beef Lasagne after it was discovered that the beef was actually horse. Neigh I hear you cry... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/what-s-the-beef/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:38 GMT 2671 Gaëtan Pellerin Each of us has encountered this type of negotiator: A customer who threatens to give your business to a competitor if you don’t give in to what he or she wants. A family member or close friend who behaves as a victim, playing the guilt card. Or an angry boss when the outcome is not what he or she expected... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/negotiating-with-bullies/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:37 GMT 2670 Alan Smith Following the Christmas break, you could be forgiven for thinking this stands for Fat, Flatulent and Fund-less. It is however the classic human response to stress, flight, fight or freeze as described by Dr Steve Peters in his excellent book, The Chimp Paradox... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/triple-f/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:37 GMT 2668 Alan Smith Practice pays off. Rory McIlroy's ride to immortality publicly entered a new phase this week with the official announcement of his sponsorship deal with Nike, reportedly worth over £20 million, whose equipment and apparel he will exhibit beside Tiger Woods, Nike's first golfing icon. To get as good as he clearly is McIlroy's commitment to the game began as a toddler... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/practice-makes-almost-perfect/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:37 GMT 2667 Stephen White The most frequent request asked of Scotwork consultants is ‘Teach me how to know I have paid the right price’. It comes from a lifetime of self-doubt; that although the negotiated deal looks like a good one, satisfies the need, resolves the conflict, addresses the issues and falls within the levels of affordability, there is a demon nagging at the back of the brain. ‘Sucker!’ says the demon, ‘you could have done much better than that’... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/the-right-price/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:37 GMT 2666 Alan Smith When I was younger, so much younger than today - I would occasionally find myself in situations which I really struggled to handle. Let me give you an example. There was this particular chap, whom we will call Ian Sharples for the purpose of the story; he was 2 years older than me, considerably bigger, and to be honest, a bit rough-looking. Even his mother struggled to love him. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2013/i-ll-tell-my-brother/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:09:37 GMT 2665 Stephen White Insensitive people have the reputation for being confrontational, in their negotiations as with everything else. They don't come more insensitive than New York City taxi drivers. In a seasonal spirit of collaboration and goodwill, we offer this blog, which has been doing the rounds for some time now.. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2012/a-guide-for-the-new-year/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:08:40 GMT 2663 Robin Copland When is a negotiation not a negotiation? When both parties involved admit that on the one substantive issue involved, there is no movement. Here's the story. In March this year, a ticket inspector working for ScotRail, the main provider of train services in Scotland (I suppose you might argue that the clue is in the name!) reduced a passenger to tears. This was a first on Britain's railways; normally it is late-running trains and cancellations that reduce passengers to tears, but on this occasion, sadly for Scott Lewis, the ticket inspector involved, he had got the whole thing completely wrong... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2012/rmt-scotrail-talks-derailed/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:08:40 GMT 2664 Robin Copland There is more and more emphasis on the bottom line. Negotiators are getting ever more ruthless in their search for a “better deal” and sometimes the old “win-win” mantra is lost in the stampede. One of the tactics we see most often used by – and sometimes against – clients is the late introduction of a procurement specialist to a negotiation. In many cases, this person is introduced rather shamefacedly by the regular negotiator; the excuse is given that they are just there to cast a paternal eye over proceedings and check that the deal is watertight.... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2012/double-up-sir/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:08:39 GMT 2662 Stephen White Within the last few days the Obama administration have made it clear that they consider the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian Assad regime on their own civilians to be a red line. What they mean is that if the Syrian government uses chemical weapons, they will have crossed the red line, diplomacy will have come to an end, and military action will follow. Similarly, in neighbouring Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has chided the US administration for not setting a red line on the subject of the Iranian development of nuclear weapons.... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2012/red-lines/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:08:39 GMT 2658 David Bannister "Put yourself in my shoes!" said trade union official who was role-playing to help some course participants practise their skills. I was reminded of this when, recently on holiday, I was reading a very enjoyable book called "The Bank of Dave". The book tells the story of a Lancastrian entrepreneur and millionaire called David Fishwick who decided that banks had all got rather too big for their boots and so he chose to open a bank of his own to service deposits and loans in his home town of Burnley (if you haven’t read it, it’s really good!)... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2012/in-my-shoes/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:08:39 GMT 2659 Alan Smith What colour is the sky in your World? It was expected that NASA, and by extension the U.S., would be the envy of the world after they successfully landed the Curiosity Mars Rover on the red planet this month. That envy could arguably be driven by the recognition that only a country of the size and wealth of the US could even contemplate the massive investment required to conduct such an effort... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2012/out-of-this-world/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:08:39 GMT 2660 Alan Smith Virgin Trains aimed to shake up the railway business when it took over the West Coast mainline. Now, having lost the franchise to FirstGroup, are they tasting sour grapes or being genuine in their belief that FirstGroup are unable to deliver on their pitch? https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2012/how-much/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:08:39 GMT 2657 Alan Smith When my kids were much younger we had a standard gag. I would ask them what time is it when an elephant sits on your fence? The answer was clearly time to get a new fence. Timing is indeed everything. A similar question could be asked right now with the World’s biggest sporting event still receiving plaudits from around the Globe (except of course the French), as perhaps the best ever Olympic games... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2012/what-time-is-it/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:08:38 GMT 2656 Alan Smith Over the last couple of months I have watched probably more sport than at any other occasion in my life. Much of it to be honest was sport I would not normally watch. Not necessarily because I don’t enjoy it, but because it does not get the coverage that makes it accessible. (Note to self, find out more about how to access women’s beach volleyball). https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2012/going-for-gold/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:08:38 GMT 2655 David Bannister Some years ago, I was teaching a management course in the Far East. My words were to be consecutively interpreted to the class so I had to send all my material for translation in advance. One of the exercises I used was a version of the ‘Prisoner’s Dilemma’, a game where the participants’ integrity is challenged and where they can be tempted to try to gain advantage over other participants by saying one thing and then doing something else to ‘win’ the game... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2012/trust-me-i-am-a-negotiator/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:08:38 GMT 2654 Sam Macbeth I’ve enjoyed watching the Olympics this week. I have also found the debate that has raged about the number of empty seats to be interesting as well. Disgruntled members of the public had tried and failed on several occasions to buy tickets – only to see that there have been numerous empty seats in the stadia during the first week of the Games. Several commentators have complained that LOCOG (the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games) have had “seven years to avoid this situation”. https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2012/threatening-behaviour/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:08:38 GMT 2652 Alan Smith There is no doubt that much of what we learn is from experience. In fact the university of life, with all of its hard knocks, creates valuable lessons. The key is do we adjust our behaviour on the back of what is thrown at us. This week I have been running a couple of training courses in Bangkok. My first trip to the area, and I heartily recommend it. Great food, wonderful weather (at least the rain here is warm) and the people are friendly and generous hosts. For the westerner in this part of the world another attraction is the markets... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2012/battle-scars-and-the-negotiator/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:08:37 GMT 2646 Stephen White There is a sweet story about an elderly man who is woken at 3.00am by his wife, who can hear strange noises outside the house. He opens the bedroom curtains and sees robbers stealing some of his stuff from the shed at the bottom of the garden. He calls the emergency line, explains what he can see, and asks for police assistance immediately. ‘Are they actually in your house?’ asks the operator. ‘No’, he says, ‘I’ve told you. They are in the shed at the bottom of the garden’. ‘We don’t have anyone available at the moment,’ says the operator ‘but we will send someone along within 2 hours’. The man puts the phone down, waits thirty seconds, and calls back to the police.... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2012/don-t-mess-with-old-men/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:08:37 GMT 2648 Alan Smith A mother passing by her son's bedroom was astonished to see the bed was ?nicely made, and the room clean and tidy. Looking more closely she saw an envelope ?propped up on the pillow.??It was addressed, 'Mum'. With trepidation, she opened the envelope and read the enclosed note with trembling hands. Dear Mum,? It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing to you. I have had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a row with you and Dad.?? I am crazy in love with Stacy, and she is so nice, but I knew ?you would not approve of her, because of all her piercings, tattoos, her tight Motorcycle clothes and because she is so much older than I am.... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2012/lesser-of-2-evils/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:08:37 GMT 2649 Alan Smith I know I am getting on but it used to be that along with the doctor and the local bobby, the bank manager was one of the few people in whom you could put your faith that he would do the right thing. He would sign your passport photos, offer sage words of solid advice about the mortgage and generally be seen to be one of the go-to guys when you really needed it. Not any more... https://www.scotwork.com.au/insights/2012/trust-me-i-m-a-banker/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:08:37 GMT 2650