Six Steps for Making Your Threat Credible

1. Increase your costs of not following through on your threat
Imagine that you're thinking about bidding to acquire another company that would be of great value to your firm. Your only reservation is that your bid might invite your biggest competitor to follow suit, instigating a costly bidding war. If you lost the war, your company would almost certainly take a hit in the stock market. Even if you won, the bidding war may have driven the price so high that the deal is no longer worthwhile. To summarize, you would love to bid but only if your competitor stays out of the game.

2. Visibly restrict your options
A public commitment makes it difficult for a negotiator to back down from a threat. Other tactics�such as throwing away the steering wheel in a game of Chicken�make it impossible for you not to follow through. There is no better way to make your threat credible than to ensure that you can't go back on your word.

3. Visibly incur sunk costs
Suppose you are negotiating with a consulting firm to renew its contract to provide information technology (IT) services to your company. In pursuit of a lower price, you threaten to cancel the $700,000 yearly contract and create your own in-house IT department. Unfortunately, both you and the contractor know that it would be much cheaper for you to retain her firm's services than to start up a new department.

4. Delegate authority to someone who will follow through on the threat
The time, energy, and resources that you devote to reaching agreement can suggest that you're desperate for a deal�any deal. The greater your investment in the negotiation, the less credible your threat of walking away becomes.

5. Create and leverage a reputation for making credible threats
Your threats will be more credible if you have a reputation for carrying through on them. If you are known for sometimes being rash or obstinate, even your more extreme threats are likely to be taken seriously. Your threats also may be effective if you have a reputation for staying true to your word or for being willing to sacrifice dollars for principle.

6. Leverage the shadow of the future
Even if you can't leverage your past reputation, you might be able to leverage your future. Imagine that an author is selling the rights to market her book in a particular region. If there is only one potential publisher with significant access in that region, the publisher is likely to make a low offer, knowing the author has no choice but to sign the deal. The author's threat to walk away if the publisher doesn't tender a better offer may not be credible.

complete story ..

Getting Learners Back On Time

Getting Learners Back On Time

David Gibson:

Getting learners back on time after a break when the training room is in the same building as learners normally work can be a bit of a challenge. Below are 8 strategies that will help you with this challenge.

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1. Avoid 'ish' times
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Heard this before "Ok, so it's nearly 11 o'clock, we'll take a break here. Please be ready to continue at quarter past eleven." This is what I call an 'ish' time. Quarter past, half past, quarter-to are all non-specific times and learners feel that they can return somewhere around that time and usually up to 10-minutes after that time.

How about making the return time a non-ish time i.e. "It's now 10:59. Please be ready to continue at 11:14." 11:14 is 11:14 - no leeway. I've been using this technique successfully for many years now and was recently happy to read that there is some scientific research as to why it works. Apparently when we give a specific time it initiates a little anxiety (nothing strong enough to interfere with learning) making learners much more conscious of time. In fact, learners will look at their watches up to 5 times during a break if you specify a specific time (having read this research I have observed learners to see if this is true and I can categorically confirm it is).

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2. Bribe learners back
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This may sound a little strange but works every time. The idea is to offer something your learners really want at the exact time you state the workshop will continue after a break e.g. if I was facilitating a sales workshop, "It's now 10:59; we will break here for 15-minutes and continue at 11:14. You have just uncovered 2 great techniques for selling the new X02. At 11:14 I want to share with you the technique that has generated most sales and commission. The door closes at 11:14 and those people not in the room at that time will not be allowed in until we have uncovered this technique." Where will your salespeople be at 11:14 - in the room - guaranteed!

I often use a magic trick to demonstrate a specific content point and using similar wording to the above offer to give learners the props and share how the trick is done at the said time. This guarantees that every one of my learners is back on time. NB - you must live up to your promise!
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3. Time monitors
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Why not select time monitors immediately prior to a break whose responsibility it is to ensure that all their team members are back on time. (See 'Tip 63 - Fun Ways For Selecting An Activity Leader' for some suggestions on how to randomly select the time monitor.)

Twist:
You can also 'randomly' select the person who has been late themselves to be the time monitor eg if they are the tallest in their team, "The time monitor will be the tallest person in each team".

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4. Benefit focused
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Keep the content totally learner centered, relevant and benefit based. Let learners know what the next content piece will be and how it will help them in their everyday work, ie set up positive expectations and build a need to be back on time based upon what will be of benefit to them, eg during our workshop 'Making Meetings Work' we say, "I know you diaries must be full with meetings. After the break I'm going to suggest an idea that I'm certain will allow you to go through your diary and remove at least half of the current meetings freeing up all that valuable time for you to work on your other priorities and not having to stay late on an evening to do these because you've been in meetings all day."

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5. Start on time
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Always, always, always start at the specified time - even if all learners have not returned. This stops you setting the precedence 'it's OK to be late because I'll wait'. It also stops you punishing those learners that were back on time by keeping them waiting - after all, if you'll wait for them, then they may as well be a little late next time because you'll wait for them too! (Personally I continue and do not back-track for anyone coming in late.)

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6. Shorter more frequent breaks
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Rather than one 15-minute break in the morning and afternoon, why not have a 5-minute break every hour. This gives enough time for a top-up of water, coffee etc and a visit to the bathroom but not enough time to go to their desk and check eMail etc. It also helps break-up longer pieces of content and time for the brain to process previous content.

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7. Puzzle time
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You might find this a useful strategy when you are continuing after lunch. Start with a content related (and fun) puzzle projected via the OHP. Ask teams to work together to try and solve it. This should only last 3-5 minutes. What it does is allow for any latecomers to re-join the workshop without anyone noticing, helps bring learners mentally as well as physically back into the workshop and re-connects them to content.

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8. Last resort
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Have a quiet word if someone is a constant offender - aside and away from other learners. I would say something like, "John, I notice you seem to be a few minutes late getting back after each break. Is there a specific reason for this?" There may well be a valid reason and if so, you can work around this. By asking if there is a valid reason means you are not jumping in and accusing - just asking and avoiding any conflict. If not, you can simply say that it is causing a little distraction for other learners and would it be possible to be back on time.

Call to Action:
Don't just accept that some of your learners will be late back. Use some of these positive techniques to ensure your learners are back on time and rearing to continue.

Good Training Practice:

Good Training Practice:
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http://www.agron.iastate.edu/nciss/kingsat2.html

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Principle 1: Encourages Participant - Trainer Contact
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Frequent trainer-participant contact in and out of sessions is the most important factor in participant motivation and involvement. Trainers concern helps participants get through rough times and keep on working. Knowing the trainer well enhances participant's intellectual commitment and encourages them to think about their own values and future plans.

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Principle 2: Encourages Cooperation Among Participants
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Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a solo race. Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated. Working with others often increases involvement in learning. Sharing one's own ideas and responding to others' reactions improves thinking and deepens understanding.

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Principle 3: Encourages Active Learning
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Learning is not a spectator sport. Participants do not learn much just sitting in sessions listening to trainers, memorizing pre-packaged activities, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences, and apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves.

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Principle 4: Gives Prompt Feedback
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Knowing what you know and don't know focuses learning. Participants need appropriate feedback on performance to benefit from courses. In getting started, participants need help in assessing existing knowledge and competence. In sessions, participants need frequent opportunities to perform and receive suggestions for improvement. At various points during training, and at the end, participants need chances to reflect on what they have learned, what they still need to know, and how to assess themselves.

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Principle 5: Emphasizes Time on Task
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Time plus energy equals learning. Efficient time-management skills are critical for prtticipants and professionals alike. Allocating realistic amounts of time means effective learning for participants and effective training for trainers. How an institution defines time expectations for participants, trainers, consultants, and other HR professional staff can establish the basis for high performance for all.

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Principle 6: Communicates High Expectations
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Expect more and you will get it. High expectations are important for everyone, for the poorly prepared, for those unwilling to exert themselves, and for the bright and motivated. Expecting participants to perform well becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when trainers and institutions hold high expectations of themselves and make extra efforts.

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Principle 7: Respects Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning
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There are many roads to learning. People bring different talents and styles of learning to the training room. Brilliant participants in the seminar room may be all thumbs in the activities. Participants rich in hands-on experience may not do so well with theory. Students need the opportunity to show their talents and learn in ways that work for them. Then they can be pushed to learning in ways that do not come so easily.

HR as a Coach and Mentor

HR as a Coach and Mentor

Introduction

These days in corporate sector, everybody is talking about the role of HR professional as a coach and mentor. People are exited as well as confused. Exited, because it is new and it is challenging. Confused, because many are not aware of the difference between mentoring and coaching.

I got the inspiration to write this write-up from one such confused e-mail from one of my professional friend. I was describing my job profile to this friend of mine, wherein I mentioned that one of my role in present job is “Employee Coaching” to which he replied that what is coaching in layman’s language is “Mentoring” in corporate sector. It was a shock for me. In this article, I will be covering:

Differences and similarities in mentoring and coaching:

1. Role of HR as a Mentor and Coach

2. What they should do as a mentor and as a Coach

3. How to be an effective mentor and coach.

4. Basic definition of mentoring and Coaching

What Is Coaching?

To begin, coaching is a form of consulting, and is a new and rapidly growing profession, particularly, the area of personal development coaches. Coaches will identify strengths, weaknesses, goals, and needs, typically through a series of prearranged sessions over a month. In the words of Bentley, the four core elements of the coaching process are support, modeling, step-by-step development, and encouragement.

What is Mentoring?

The key to mentoring is to closely link it to the mission, goals, and priority strategies of the organisation. Only an integrated, facilitated process, which is linked, to current and future mission or business imperatives can be expected to stand the buffeting of the winds of change. Of course, mentoring must be monitored and tracked to measure its impact (Murray 1995).

You can read the complete article at:
http://ezinearticles.com/?id=64752

Conclusion

Coaching and Mentoring are not the same thing. Our results and experience support the conclusion that mentoring is a power free, two-way mutually beneficial learning situation where the mentor provides advice, shares knowledge and experiences, and teaches using a low pressure, self-discovery approach. Teaching using an adult learning versus teacher to student model and, being willing to not just question for self discovery but also freely sharing their own experiences and skills with the protégé. The mentor is both a source of information/knowledge and a Socratic questioner. If I am your coach you probably work for my concern and me is your performance, ability to adapt to change, and enrolling you support in the vision/direction for our work unit.

The ONE Thing That Keeps Us Sleeping Longer

By Kacper Postawski, Sleep Science Researcher

Probably one of the biggest challenges people have is getting themselves out of the bed! This really has little to do with understanding sleep science or any of the information I teach, It has to do with your will power, and a little bit of strategy.

You've probably had many times in your life where you just couldn't get yourself out of bed. The biggest reason why we tend to stay in bed is because we "rationalize." For instance...

"I'll just sleep for 10 more minutes..." or "It's okay,... The alarm is early by 2.5 minutes anyway..." or "I'll get up when the room warms up a bit..."

Well, whatever you've rationalized not getting out of bed with, I'm sure it was very creative too, because as human beings we're really great at coming up with reasons for not doing things! The reason why rationalizing makes us stay in bed, or prevents us from achieving many other goals in our lives is because it creates negative momentum.

The law of momentum states: Once something gets into motion, it tends to stay in motion. The opposite, is also true: Once something stops, it tends to stay there!

Once you make a decision to remain in bed for "a few more minutes..." It tends to stay there, and it usually stays there for a lot longer than just a few minutes! That's why I teach people to create a momentum strategy to get out of bed as quickly as possible, and start moving - start moving around the house, go for a run, make breakfast with your partner, whatever it is you need to do to start moving and stop sleeping.

When you create positive momentum it will be too late to rationalize about sleep because you'll already be out of your bed! So here are just a couple of strategies you can use to get out of bed quickly and get more out of your day:

1) The "Distant Alarm" Method
Most people place their alarms right next to their bed within reach. This is a BIG no-no if you want to avoid staying in your bed. Why? Because most of the time you don’t even have to roll over to press the alarm. That doesn't create a lot of movement and definitely doesn't stop you from sleeping your life away.

Instead of placing your alarm clock by your bed, place it far away, like at the end of your bedroom by the corner of the wall! By doing this you'll be forced to get up out of your bed to turn it off! By the time you're out of bed it will be too late to rationalize staying longer in bed, you'll be out already.
I even once duck-taped my alarm clock to the ceiling, so every morning I had to get up and get a chair right underneath it to turn it off. Where there's a will, there's a way.

2) Rehearsing
The reason why we "rationalize" morning after morning is because we've done it so long that we do it without even thinking about it. Rationalizing becomes a learned and rehearsed behavior.

A good way to stop rationalize is to rehearse jumping out of your bed in advance. When you're ready to go to bed, simply try this exercise: lie down in your bed as if you were sleeping, close your eyes... Then pretend you've just woken up in the morning, and JUMP RIGHT OUT OF BED saying "YEAAAA!!!"

Repeat this exercise at least 5-10 times, or as much as feels good! I know it sounds stupid but it works! Your mind does what you tell it to do in a given situation. Doing this exercise will teach your mind a new behavior. In order to stop "rationalizing" you must replace the old behavior with a new behavior.

When you think about it, we're taught how to brush our teeth, we're taught how to take proper care of our bodies, and some of us are even taught proper nutrition skills, but no one is hardly ever taught how to take proper care of their inner sleep system, which is responsible for your energy and your health more than you know!

Whatever rationalizations you've come up with, allow me to suggest that you forget them and take some positive momentum in your life RIGHT NOW.

Kacper Postawski is an innovative sleep science researcher and the creator of the “Powerful Sleep - Secrets of the Inner Sleep Clock” system

Building Expert Power - Lead From the Front!

There are many types of power that leaders can use.

These include problematic ones such as the power of position, the power to give rewards, the power to punish and the power to control information. While these types of power do have some strength, they put the person being lead in an unhealthy position of weakness, and can leave leaders using these power bases looking autocratic and out of touch.

More than this, society has changed hugely over the last 50 years. Citizens are individually more powerful, and employees are more able to shift jobs. Few of us enjoy having power exerted over us, and some will do what they can to undermine people who use these sorts of power.

However there are three types of positive power that truly effective leaders use: Charismatic power, expert power and referent power.

This article teaches the technique of building expert power.

Using the Tool:

Expert power is essential because as a leader, your team looks to you for direction and guidance. Team members need to believe in your ability to set a worthwhile direction, give sound guidance and co-ordinate a good result.

If your team perceives you as a true expert, they will be much more receptive when you try to exercise influence tactics such as rational persuasion and inspirational appeal.

And if your team sees you as an expert you will find it much easier to guide them in such a way as to create high motivation:

* If your team members respect your expertise, they'll know that you can show them how to work effectively;
* If your team members trust your judgment, they'll trust you to guide their good efforts and hard work in such a way that you'll make the most of their hard work; and
* If they can see your expertise, team members are more likely to believe that you have the wisdom to direct their efforts towards a goal that is genuinely worthwhile.

Taken together, if your team sees you as an expert, you will find it much easier to motivate team members to perform at their best.

So how do you build expert power?

* Gain expertise: The first step is fairly obvious (if time consuming) – gain expertise. And, if you are already using tools like the information gathering tools in "How to Lead", the chances are that you have already progressed well ahead in this direction.

But just being an expert isn’t enough, it is also necessary for your team members to recognize your expertise and see you to be a credible source of information and advice. Gary A. Yukl, in his book “Leadership in Organizations,” details some steps to build expert power. A summary of these steps follows:

* Promote an image of expertise: Since perceived expertise in many occupations is associated with a person’s education and experience, a leader should (subtly) make sure that subordinates, peers, and superiors are aware of his or her formal education, relevant work experience, and significant accomplishments.

One common tactic to make this information known is to display diplomas, licenses, awards, and other evidence of expertise in a prominent location in one’s office – after all, if you’ve worked hard to gain knowledge, it’s fair that you get credit for it. Another tactic is to make subtle references to prior education or experience (e.g., “When I was chief engineer at GE, we had a problem similar to this one”). Beware, however, this tactic can easily be overdone.

* Maintain credibility: Once established, one’s image of expertise should be carefully protected. The leader should avoid making careless comments about subjects on which he or she is poorly informed, and should avoid being associated with projects with a low likelihood of success.

* Act confidently and decisively in a crisis: In a crisis or emergency, subordinates prefer a “take charge” leader who appears to know how to direct the group in coping with the problem. In this kind of situation, subordinates tend to associate confident, firm leadership with expert knowledge. Even if the leader is not sure of the best way to deal with a crisis, to express doubts or appear confused risks the loss of influence over subordinates.

* Keep informed: Expert power is exercised through rational persuasion and demonstration of expertise. Rational persuasion depends on a firm grasp of up-to-date facts. It is therefore essential for a leader to keep well-informed of developments within the team, within the organization, and in the outside world.

* Recognize subordinate concerns: Use of rational persuasion should not be seen as a form of one-way communication from the leader to subordinates. Effective leaders listen carefully to the concerns and uncertainties of their team members, and make sure that they address these in making a persuasive appeal.

* Avoid threatening the self-esteem of subordinates: Expert power is based on a knowledge differential between leader and team members. Unfortunately, the very existence of such a differential can cause problems if the leader is not careful about the way he exercises expert power.

Team members can dislike unfavorable status comparisons where the gap is very large and obvious. They are likely to be upset by a leader who acts in a superior way, and arrogantly flaunts his greater expertise.

In the process of presenting rational arguments, some leaders lecture their team members in a condescending manner and convey the impression that the other team members are “ignorant.” Guard against this.

This is one of the articles in “How to Lead: Discover the Leader Within You”. Not only does the course explain how to use the other "good" power bases, it teaches you how to use a range of honest influence tactics and powerful motivational techniques.

MAKING SMARTER PURCHASES: HOW-TO-BUY

Making the right purchase for your learning program is often a roll of the dice. Any major purchase will have some risk associated with it, but research and diligence can go a long way to making a better purchase.

Saul Carliner (saul.carliner@sympatico.ca ), helped answer some questions on how to be a better learning buyer.

OLNR: How do you begin to find reputable vendors or products or services you might need?

SC: Unfortunately, there's no secret formula to becoming a knowledgeable consumer. To find a reputable vendor, you need to do good, old-fashioned information gathering by following these six steps:

(1) First and foremost, learn about the product or service that you want to purchase. Get a basic background and read the trade press to find out what's going on in the field.

(2) Get support from inside your organization. For instance, if you're purchasing information technology, work with your I/T group. They know the technology and can provide you with some private tutoring. They can also tell you what will and won't work with your organization's networks.

(3) Stay connected to the professional community because one of the best ways to whittle down the endless list of vendors is to get the inside scoop from people whom you know and trust. On a local level, go to meetings of local chapters of groups like ASTD and ISPI. To build up your network of contacts, volunteer for committees.
Leverage this network when you need a vendor. Find out who used a vendor for a similar purpose and see what their experience was. People are usually guarded with people whom they do not know, but are often more candid with their impressions with trusted friends.

(4) On a broader level, go to industry conferences and events. Don't just attend technical sessions -- participate in the social events and build your network. Keep up the contact after the event.

(5) After you find a vendor, ask them to provide references. In addition, use your network to find other people who worked with the vendor and ask their impression, too.

Conducting a reference check often ferrets out problems, but the overwhelming majority of organizations fail to do a reference check (only about 10 percent of organizations do so).

(6) Last, if you think you're over your head, don't be afraid to hire a consultant to act as a "tutor" and help you make a purchase. The consultant should be one who does not sell the types of services or products that you're purchasing or, at the least, should be prevented from bidding on this contract, to ensure that they remain
impartial with you.

ONLR: Are there major differences in making a purchase for services (design, delivery etc.) vs. a major product or system purchase?

SC: Definitely. Purchasing technology is like purchasing an appliance for your home -- ultimately, you can see and touch the possible choices to determine which one is best suited for you.

Purchasing services is like choosing an interior designer or therapist -- you cannot really touch or feel the service, so you have to determine which vendor is most likely to provide you with trustworthy advice and with training and design services that best reflect your needs and approaches.

OLNR: How do you make the business case for a major purchase? What are the key factors to consider?

SC: For starters, don't just assume that executives (a) see the needs you have identified and (b) agree with them.

So formally prepare a business case. In it, describe the problem that is driving the need for the purchase. Provide several options, including one that involves doing nothing. For each option, provide a brief description of what it is and its pros and cons. Provide a list of criteria for choosing a solution and consider the risks of
each option. Based on this, determine which option most closely meets the needs without providing undue risks.

Even if you're a small company, develop a business case and provide several options. In this way, when the company invests in the service, they know what they're investing in, how it benefits the organization, and the commitment that the executives are expected to provide to make this investment a success. This may seem like overkill in small organizations where people usually conduct business on a handshake. But in many of these organizations, training is also seen as a support service whose budget can be slashed when funding is tight. By going through the exercise of a business case, you not only increase the likelihood that funding
remains intact if economic problems arise, but subtly build the impression that the training group is indeed a professional one, and one that has strong business practices.