collaboration

Collaboration is working with each other to do a task.

The following items are tagged collaboration.

The Perils of Powerful Speech

Posted by & filed under Business Negotiations.

Death to modifiers! All hail the active verb. Be succinct. These are some of Strunk and White’s commandments for simple and direct writing from The Elements of Style. They may also be effective guidelines for establishing verbal power in negotiation – though not always, it turns out.

Fake It Until You Make It: Power Posing and Perceptions of Power

Posted by & filed under Business Negotiations.

The team began by examining testosterone and cortisol levels in participants prior to beginning the experiment. Testosterone is a hormone signaling dominance while cortisol is an indicator of stress. The experiment hoped to find fluctuations in the levels of these hormones after performing certain posing exercises intended to either increase or decrease one’s perception of power.

One group engaged in what were called high-powered poses, while the other performed what were deemed low-power poses. Cuddy and Carney’s findings show that there was a fluctuation in hormone levels indicating dominance when participants were asked to pose in a high-powered fashion. Cuddy and Carney are not interested so much in making power-posers even more powerful but rather the team wants to know if engaging in these exercises can help those people who have perceptions of lower-power or status to participate, whether it be in class, group meetings, or job interviews. Power-posing to improve performance in these various venues may give participants lacking in power or status the ability to function beyond their actual position and would hopefully lead to improved job interview performance, class participation, and overall success in matters requiring authority and confidence.

To Avoid Destructive Competition, Take the Pledge

Posted by & filed under Conflict Resolution.

It was shaping up to be one of the most expensive Senate races in U.S. history. By this January, Republican Scott Brown and Democrat Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts each had raised millions in their contest for Brown’s U.S. Senate seat, and third-party groups were spending even more on negative ads.

Both candidates had publicly tried to distance themselves from the so-called super PACs and other big spenders. On January 23, Brown and Warren put their money where their mouths were: they signed a “People’s Pledge” designed to end the influence of outside spending in the campaign.

To Improve Your Negotiation Skills, Choose the Right Partner

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

Tensions between the Humane Society of the United States and United Egg Producers have existed for more than a decade. When the two sides are asked why they don’t come together to negotiate their differences, each answers that the other is someone with whom negotiation is difficult if not impossible. Often it is those parties with whom we dread having a negotiation to reconcile differences are the ones we need to focus on the most in order to achieve our goals. How do you negotiate with someone whose interests seem so contrary to your own? Sometimes, even in the most difficult negotiations, a win-win outcome is possible. How can forming a novel alliance help your organization in its next negotiation with an intolerable counterpart?

Fight or Flight

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

Many things factor into whether you choose “fight or flight” when faced with a difficult situation in life. Whether it is a disagreeable coworker or a border struggle between nations, the decisions made at the onset of conflict often determine the tenor of the entire proceeding.

Along with information and a good-faith desire for collaboration, knowing