Separate Impact from Intent
You’re in the midst of a negotiation and your counterpart says or does something that really ruffles your feathers. Or, your colleague, significant other, client, friend, or anyone else in your life says or does something that is so irritating that you’re ready to explode. We’ve [...]Read more
Negotiate Process
Negotiate Process All negotiations have two levels of negotiation going on at the same time – one over substance (the dollars, deliverables, scope of work, or whatever else is being discussed) and the other over process. The process refers to “how” we negotiate – the timing, the [...]Read more
Echoing Your Way to a Good Deal
Negotiation Tip: Echoing Your Way to a Good Deal Baseball is a game of inches, or so the saying goes. Whether a pitch is a strike or a ball, whether a hit is fair or foul, whether a runner is safe or out, is determined at the margins…by a matter of inches. In negotiation, the [...]Read more
Dot the “I”s and Cross the “T”s in Your Commitments
Negotiation Tip Commitment Dot the I’s and Cross the T’s in Your Commitments You’ve nearly finished negotiating. You have worked hard, and you are about to sign an agreement that both you and the other side are happy with. You have reached the commitment stage of the [...]Read more
Defuse Emotional Baggage to Improve Negotiated Results
Defuse Emotional Baggage to Improve Negotiated Results Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University recently conducted a two-part study on the effects of emotions (e.g. anger, feelings of mistreatment or unfairness, sadness, and disgust) on negotiation outcomes. The study first [...]Read more
How to Bridge Differences using a “Ladder of Inference”
How to Bridge Differences using a Ladder of Inference Throughout our daily lives – both in professional and personal contexts – we experience differences of opinion with others. Examples include “that movie was bad vs. that movie was good”; “I deserve a raise vs. you don’t [...]Read more
Consensus Launches New Website
Consensus Launches New Website In an effort to better serve our clients and our website visitors, we have relaunched our website. Thus, in addition to sharing the various services we offer through our three service areas, we provide free advice and resources through our blog. Our [...]Read more
Focus on Contribution Instead of Blame
The project came in over budget. A deadline was missed. A critical piece of information was not incorporated into a client presentation. Things go wrong all the time. Naturally it’s important to talk about what went wrong so people can fix the mistake and make sure it’s not [...]Read more
Engaging Training Participants
Engaging Training Participants In Training Magazine’s July/August 2014 issue, Consensus’ Engaging Training Participants article gives tips for engaging learners. Prior to transitioning from working in a business unit to a talent development function, I would enroll in [...]Read more
Stepping Into Their Shoes
In Training Magazine’s January/February 2014 issue, Consensus’ Stepping Into Their Shoes article shares practical advice for resolving conflict. Stepping into their Shoes A lot of our training – from Emotional Intelligence to Consultative Selling – promotes the idea [...]Read more