June 2007 Newsletter

Stuck in a rut? Has the energy and enthusiasm gone? Take a leaf out of Madonna's book, reinvent yourself and re-evaluate your career and your priorities. To help you, this month we’re taking a look at the world through fresh eyes, thinking about new ways of working and how to stay motivated and energised wherever you work. 

 

Oh and another thing we were 5 on the 1st June. A big thank you for all your support over the last 5 years, we wouldn’t be here without you!

 

Here's what we've got for you -

 

  

Negotiation Skills - Here's one we made earlier.

Great negotiation works for the long term by developing solutions that work for all parties.

This month, one of our training experts Jacqui Dove visited LINK to help them learn the skills of great negotiation. This involves the fundamentals of clarifying what you want/need and employing the best tools and approaches available to negotiate a mutually beneficial end result. LINK Interchange Network Ltd is the Company that operates the LINK cash machine (ATM) network, connecting over 59,000 cash machines in the UK.

 

What did we do?

The challenge was to equip the team at LINK with the skills needed to negotiate with confidence and mastery. It’s not just about winning the battle, it’s also about keeping the peace, and relationship building once the deal is struck. Being able to work well together after you have achieved your desired result is extremely important.

 

We tweaked our Negotiation Skills Training programme for Link adding some specific tools and techniques just for them.

 

How did we do it?

 

What’s negotiation all about?

We kick-started the session by inviting participants to think about what negotiations are all about. When does a negotiation start and when does it end? What’s at stake for you, your team and the organisation you work for?

 

Setting personal intention

As with all our workshops, we invited participants to think about their “intention” and what it is they really want to get out of the time. By encouraging personal engagement we could deliver individual benefit with participants taking responsibility for their learning.

 

Great and lousy negotiators

We then thought about both great and lousy negotiators and the skills, qualities and behaviours they show and how they differ. Participants rated their skills as negotiators on a scale of 1 – 10 and highlighted the areas for improvement.  

 

Positive negotiating behaviours

Next we examined MY agenda, YOUR agenda and OUR agenda and the different positive negotiating behaviours that should be in evidence at these 3 stages of the negotiation process. The importance of “time-out” and having a short break from negotiations and/or breaking off from the negotiation until another time was stressed.

 

What should I do when?

Having examined the PUSH and PULL techniques participants wrote down examples of when these behaviours had proved useful and when they had proved to be destructive or ineffective. In addition we thought about “What’s up for grabs?” listing “our” interests and needs as part of the negotiation and “their” interests and needs, looking at areas of common ground and the best outcome for both parties.

 

The negotiators preparation check list

Preparation is key to a successful negotiation. Our positive checklist of options, advantages and disadvantages is designed to keep negotiations on track and to ensure that you are completely prepared when discussions begin.

 

Coinage

Coinage is about finding out what the others party’s needs are and then making concessions and trade off’s that would positively influence the negotiation process. The question to ask is “What can I offer the other party (that they would value) – that would cost me little or nothing at all?”

 

Identifying stakeholders, building rapport and moving from disagreement to agreement.

Highlighting all the stakeholders on both sides is crucial and building rapport with these stakeholders is important to success. We examined how participants can become more proficient at building rapport when it’s not naturally forthcoming.

 

Most people argue about the detail, so we examined ways in which participants can move from disagreement to agreement by establishing common ground and moving on.

 

The negotiation process

Finally we shared our essential negotiation process which covers the beginning, middle and the end of the negotiation, examining first impressions and establishing climate, needs, bidding, bargaining and what needs to happen once the deal is struck.

  

Buddies

With all our workshops we encourage attendees to partner with a “buddy” who they arrange to meet 4 weeks after the workshop. Setting up this simple support structure with a pre arranged meeting time to ask questions and swap experiences promotes action and helps to embed the learning. Check out our typical training programme format.

 

If you would like to talk to us about negotiation skills training for your teams contact john@you-unltd.co.uk or call; him on +44(0) 20 3202 0001.

 

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What am I doing here?

Changing your working habits - Jacqui Dove explains how for the first time in ages Jacqui can do things outside work.

Jacqui is one of our expert trainers and NLP coaches. Up until 2001 she worked for one of the largest accountancy firms - Deloitte & Touche. In 2001 Jacqui made a life changing decision to leave in order to take her passion for training and coaching to new heights. And, to date, it has been an incredibly exciting and successful journey.

 

Her particular expertise is in delivering workshops, and coaching individuals, on personal and management effectiveness and communication skills. She promotes a real interest in exploring the different strategies that people use to operate successfully. Her training and coaching style encourages people to challenge their current thinking, explore different options and make practical choices about what will work best for them.

 

Jacqui on flexilbe working.

What does flexible working mean to you?
It means that I can schedule my life to fit in what’s important to me. To me, it’s a different way of working and not necessarily a way of working less, I simply work different patterns rather than reduced hours.

When did you start working flexibly?
Six years ago. I went freelance in order to be able to do what I really wanted to do and become a trainer and coach. I was ambitious and wanted to move up the career ladder. Flexible working was a benefit of my change in career direction rather than the reason for the career change itself.

Can you tell us about your working pattern now and how it compares to how you were working before?
To be honest, I probably work harder than I did before but it suits me. Previously I worked a set office week, now I can pick and choose the days that I work - the danger is that I end up working most days anyway!

What’s so great about the way you work now, how has life changed / improved?
The key benefit is that flexible working offers me choice. I can choose which days I work, so if I want to work every day I can. However, I need to be disciplined as it’s not great for anyone to work every day!

Do you feel less stressed than you did before?
No! Like most people I am my own biggest stressor. I like to do my best, am conscientious and I like to cram lots in. Importantly I still want to learn as well as do, so there are still lots of things to juggle but I can fit more in now that I am not so rigidly employed.

What are the challenges you face when working flexibly?
Deciding on when I want to work and sticking to it. I need to keep in mind the “aim” of being flexible, if I don’t book holiday I probably won’t take it. I may have the flexibility but I still need to be really organised.

Do you think that perhaps employers think flexible workers are not hard workers?
No, not at all. I think that more and more employers are becoming open to considering flexible working arrangements. The conventional 9 – 5 still exists but there are many patterns in between. I know very few people who work a “normal” working day. Juggling work life balance can be a challenge these days and flexible working arrangements can have huge benefits to both employer and employee.

What would be your advice to someone who wants to reduce their hours and/or work flexibly?
Decide what your reasons are for wanting to work flexibly, weigh them up and then decide if it’s right for you.

Think about whose voice you hear, yours or someone else’s. Consider what flexible working will really give to you. For example, perhaps you think it would be nice to work a 3 day week – think about what working a 3 day week would give you and then decide if you can still achieve that continuing to work as you are.

As our resident guru on Negotiation Skills Training can you please give us your top 5 tips on how to approach your boss and negotiate flexible working? 
1. Be clear about what you want. 
2. Think about how this new way of working will benefit the company you work for.
3. Speak the same language as the person you are making the request to. Less use of “I’ll”. You may even need to do a cost benefit analysis to really illustrate your case.
4. Anticipate any concerns they may have in advance so you can counter them. Think fully around them and have solutions to these concerns prepared.
5. Know you boundaries. What will you be willing to consider and what will you do if your boss says no? Be careful of ultimatums, if you must use an ultimatum you’ll need to stick to it, for example if you say you’ll leave if you don’t get flexible working you’ll have to.

 Finally, remember this is a negotiation, you can’t make demands.

For more help in negotiating flexible working visit our top tips below. 

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Our plan for building motivation.

How to stay energised in the office and when working from home.

Flexible working is challenging for both employee and manager. It requires good time management, self discipline and excellent communication skills. Face to face contact is essential to success and employees need regular feedback and support.

The trickiest aspect of this relationship is being able to maintain team spirit when your team is based in different locations. It’s so easy to loose motivation and becoming de-motivated can lead to boredom and boredom can lead to mischief!

Archie Mundegar you:unlimited’s MD says:

"Over the course of the last 5 years we have seen a marked difference in the number of individuals on our courses who work from home, on their own or remotely. And whilst these new flexible working arrangements are a great way to reduce work place stress and promote company loyalty they do present their own challenges, not least in that managers need to become better at communicating and staff need to learn to effective time management at home. Working alone can be de-motivating but there are things that you can do to stay energised and motivated when working alone."

We canvassed our friends and asked them for their top tips for staying energised in the office and when working from home. Below we’ve summarised our ten favourites for you. 

1. Take regular exercise - a visit to the gym or even a walk around the block can leave you feeling refreshed and energised.
2. Take regular breaks and get away from it all when you can. That break from what you are focusing on can make you all the sharper when you return.
3. Eat a healthy lunch - your nutritional status determines your ability to adapt and remain alert. Keep balanced by eating regular meals throughout the day - try not to skip any!
4. Get enough sleep - you know how much sleep you need to feel refreshed in the morning. Give yourself a chance at playing at your best by getting enough in the tank for the day ahead.
5. Avoid caffeine where possible (found in tea, coffee, colas, 'energy' drinks). Stimulants such as caffeine will stimulate the release of adrenalin and other hormones that initiate the fight or flight response, preparing the body for action by releasing sugar stores and raising blood sugar.
6. Drink lots of water - 1.5 to 2.0 litres of water every day. Try mineral or filtered water if you can. Keeping a small bottle with you through the day and regularly sipping is one good way to do this.
7. Work in bursts - work in short sharp 30 minute bursts then step away from the task and return to it later, this will help keep energy high throughout the day.
8. Make a psychical separation - "Decontaminate" your work area at home by keeping it cordoned off from the rest of the house, the TV, the kids. Make sure you don’t mix the two, work is for your office space only.
9. Set targets & meet them - get someone else to hold you accountable. Buddy-up with another colleague who also works regularly from home, swap "to do" lists and help keep each other on track.
10. Do something silly! - taking your mind off the big important things for 10 mins can recharge you and give you the energy you need to concentrate on that big project.

For more information on time management training or nutrition training contact john@you-unltd.co.uk or call him on +44(0)20 3202 0001.

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And finally, some useful stuff...

Our top ten really useful tips to help you you build the confidence you need to negotiate a more flexible working arrangement.

Here we regularly reveal some of our top tips for better performance at work.

 

This month we’ve shared our 10 really useful tips to help you to negotiate a more flexible working arrangement.

 

1. Plan it – think about the reasons behind your request, why is this important to you? How will it work? Think about who you need to approach with your request? Who are the key decision makers? What is their authority?
2. Research it – is there anyone else who currently works flexibly in the business in your own division or another? Can you draw on their experience? Speak to HR, perhaps there is a formal procedure for requesting flexible working?
3. Summarise it - send a short synopsis of what you want to discuss with your boss prior to the meeting so they know what to expect. Prepare a single sheet of bullet points to guide you in your meeting so you make sure you cover all the points you want to make.
4. Be confident – you work hard and make a contribution to the business you have a right to request what you want. Remember you make your boss’s job easy she / he is not going to want to loose you.
5. Step away – your place or theirs? Meeting on neutral ground outside your boss’s office and away from your co-workers might make you feel more relaxed.
6. Aim high – those who ask generally get more. If you need to make concessions put a high value on them and say when you are not prepared to make any more.
7. Highlight the benefits - of this new way of working to you, the benefits to your team, the benefits to your boss and the benefits to the organisation. Be honest about any potential downsides and be ready with a solution, your boss is going to want to feel confident if they are to agree a new way of working with you.
8. Agree it - summarise verbally what has been agreed, firm up action points and dates of next meeting.
9. Put it in writing – as soon as possible after the meeting write up what has been agreed and make sure all parties have a dated copy.
10. Review it – suggest you’ll review the new working arrangement in 2 - 3 months time, if it’s not working for you or your team you can suggest improvements and try another way.  

Good Luck!

You:unlimited

For more information on negotiation skills training contact john@you-unltd.co.uk or call him on +44(0)20 3202 0001.

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