HRDQ Insight Newsletter - October 2013

8/13/2019 HRDQ Insight Newsletter - October 2013

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HRDQ Insight Newsletter

In this issue...

Are Time Robbers Stealing Your Productivity?

Building a Trust-Based Culture

Taking Control of Conflict

How the Negotiating Style ProfileHelped More than 600

Managers and Directors to Strengthen Their Negotiating

Skills

Trainer Education Series - Free Webinars

Are Time Robbers Stealing YourProductivity?

Your to-do list is a mile long, everything is labeled high priority, and the

expectations are high. Time robbers. They steal from you each and every

day, leaving you overwhelmed, frustrated, and spinning your wheels. And

guess what? You may be the culprit. Thats right, what derails you most is

oftentimes self-imposed. Take a look at this lineup. How many do you

recognizeand how can you stop the crime against productivity?

Procrastination

Putting things off leads to costly mistakes, poor results, and other issues that require you to spend even more

time on the task at hand. Whether youve developed a bad habit, youre dreading the project or youre afraid of

failing, understanding why you procrastinate is the best way to get a jumpstart.

Multi-tasking

You know youve tried it, and some people believe its what keeps them on track. But research shows doing

more than one thing at a time actually slows you down and reduces the quality of your work. Learn to recognize

when youre trying to tackle more than one thing at a time. Before you know it, youll discover you can

accomplish more by doing less.


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Doing things more than once

How often do you begin a task, put it down, and then pick it up againback at square one? Fits and starts take

a huge toll on productivity. Thats why its important to assess the urgency, schedule the work, and assign a

deadline. Youll be amazed at what prioritizing your to-do list can do for you.

An outdated to-do list

Todays work environment is dynamic. That means your to-do list is ever changing too. So make it a regular

practice to review your to-do list often. Youre likely to find priorities have shifted, tasks need to be added, and

some projects can be eliminated altogether.

Distractions

Instant messaging. Chitchatting. Unsolicited phone calls. Is your productivity interrupted more often than youd

like to admit? Its ok, but take control. Unless you must be immediately available, put down the cell phone, turn

off your IM alerts, and allow calls to go to voicemail. It can wait.

Perfectionism

You rewrite, reorganize, and reformat. And then you do it again. Are you guilty of perfectionism? Stop, put down

the red pen, and think. Does the finished product already achieve expectations? You may just realize that good

enough really is good enough.

Inefficient use of technology

Be honest: How often do you find yourself surfing the Web, posting updates on social media, and responding to

email? Take an IT escape. Schedule time to do these activities when it doesnt impact your productivity. And cut

down the noise by unsubscribing to lists and feeds that no longer interest you.

Meetings, meetings, and more meetings

Are you being held hostage in the conference room? Meetings are essential to collaboration and getting thingsdone. But they can be a huge waste of time too. Before you respond to the next meeting request, ask the

organizer for an agenda. You may find your participation isnt critical. And if youre the one leading the meeting,

be mindful to stay on track and be respectful of others time.

You cant turn a 24-hour day into a 28-hour day. But you can create more time by reducing or eliminating time

robbers, whether the culprit is procrastination, multi-tasking, distraction, or perfection. Maybe youll even find

the free time to try that great new restaurant, pick up a new reador get some sleep.

Source:Balancing Priorities: How to Successfully Manage Tasks, Deadlines, and Expectations
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Building a Trust-Based Culture

Trust. Its the ultimate efficiency and productivity tool. Its also the secret

to gaining a strategic advantage over the competition. But cultivating a

trust-based culture can seem like a daunting taskand some OD

professionals argue it cant be trained. We recently spoke with Laurie

Ribble Libove, organizational development specialist and author ofTrust:

The Ultimate Testabout the benefits of building a trust-based culture and

how organizations can achieveand maintainan optimal level of trust,

especially in todays virtual environment.

Q: What are some of the characteristics of a trust-based culture?

A: Structurally, trust-based cultures tend to have fewer layers and broader spans of control. Actions and

decisions are guided by values and goals. Communication is ample and flows freely up, down, and across the

organization. This atmosphere of openness often extends beyond the organization as well, to channel partners,suppliers, and customers.

Q: What benefits can organizations achieve from a trust-based culture?

A: Efficiency, responsiveness, and lower operating costs are the hallmarks of trust-based cultures. These

benefits derive from highly engaged and committed employees who can be more productive and focus on value-

added work because they arent bogged down by excessive policy and procedure or waiting for approval from

multiple layers of management. Theyre also willing to go the extra mile because they feel valued, respected,

and trusted to do whats in the best interest of the firms stakeholders.

Q: What does an organization that lacks trust look like?

A: Low-trust organizations tend to have tall organizational structures, with lots of layers and narrow spans of

control. Think in terms of impermeable silos. They are process heavy and require multiple approval levels to take

action or commit resources. Employee activity is heavily monitored. Information is scarce, with access to it based

on ones position or level.

Q: What is the potential fallout for organizations with a low level of trust?

A: Because low-trust organizations closely monitor all activity and engage in detailed data collection, employees

come to understand that information canand willbe used against them. They learn to engage in defensive

routines to protect themselves, including the withholding of negative information or bad news. This has the

effect of allowing relatively minor issues and problems to persist and fester. What could have been easily and

inexpensively addressed in the earliest stages compounds into the kind of crisis or event that makes

stakeholders ask, How could theyhave possibly allowed that to happen?

Q: Is it true too much trust can harm organizational performance?

A: It may sound counterintuitive, but when trust exceeds a certain threshold, performance can suffer or other


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negative outcomes may occur. Remember that with trust comes the risk someone will exploit it for personal gain

or otherwise take advantage. In organizations with a balanced approach to trust, there is sufficient monitoring to

detect slacking or opportunism in its early stages. But in organizations with an extreme level of trust, monitoring

is often negligible and employee empowerment is typically very high. These conditions allow good employees to

flourish, but it also permits bad ones to freeloador worse. And any harmful behavior often goes undetecteduntil real economic harm has been done to the firm and its reputation.

Q: How can teams establish and build trust in todays virtual environment?

A: The single most important factor is the opportunity for face-to-face interaction, especially at the launch of a

new team or project or when there is a change in leadership, resources, or mission. Keep in mind that face-to-

face doesnt necessarily mean in-person (although that is ideal). There are plenty of low-cost options for group-

video conferencing these days. A secondary factor in helping virtual teams to build trust is to provide a way for

team members to learn about one another as people, not just as professionals. The goal is to help team

members discover ways in which they are similar, because the more we have in common with someone, the

more likely we are to trust.

Q: What are the best first steps toward developing a culture of trust?

A: First, confirm that you have the full commitment of the organizations leaders. If not, step back and facilitate

a dialogue at the highest levels about the relative importance of trust in achieving the organizations strategic

goals. Make the business argument for investing in change by educating the senior team about the comparative

costs and benefits of various trust levels. Finally, provide them with an estimate of the organizations trust gap

and map out a multi-year plan to influence the degree of openness, benevolence, risk-taking, and monitoring in

the organization.

If you want to learn more about specific actions to include in your multi-year trust plan, download the free

webinar, Can You Really Train Trust?, presented by Laurie Ribble Libove.

About the Author

Laurie Ribble Liboveis a specialist in strategic human resource management and organizational development.

She earned a M.S. from the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University and a B.S. in

Economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Napa Valley

College in 2009, Laurie was a Visiting Lecturer at the Haas School of Business, University of California - Berkeley

and an Instructor in the MBA program at Dominican University of California. Her publication credits include

training tools on change management, visionary leadership, team trust, and listening.

Source: Trust: THe Ultimate Test>


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Taking Control of Conflict

Workplace productivity, employee engagement, and job satisfaction

probably arent the first things that come to mind when you think about

conflict. Since the days of Plato and Aristotle, conflict has been widely

recognized as the cause of many struggles, from stress and inefficiency to

poor decision making and employee turnover. Just look these eye-opening

statistics:

Almost 85% of employees experience conflict at work.

Managers spend as much as 40% of their time dealing with conflict.

Employees exhaust approximately 3 hours each weekin conflict situations.

Yikes! And to complicate things further, wrap your head around this: For all the damage inflicted by excessive

conflict, the absence of conflict can breed a culture of mistrust and complacency:

According to the management team at Intel, The only thing worse than too much conflict is no conflict at

all.

Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch coined the term superficial congeniality, in which everything was

pleasant on the surface, with distrust and savagery roiling beneath.

Clearly, conflict has been given a bum rap. But conflict itself is not the problem. In fact, it can be the secret to a

competitive advantage when its harnessed and well-managed. And that starts with education. Rather than

attempting to eliminate conflict, equip people with awareness, knowledge, and an effective strategy. That

is, awarenessof how individuals typically react in conflict situations, knowledgeof the consequences that result

from those reactions, and finally, the ability to select the most effective strategyfor responding to conflict in aproductive manner.

Model Conflict

Theories of conflict have shifted and evolved since Classical Greece. Today, the grid first introduced by

psychologists Robert Blake and Jane Mouton in 1964 continues to be the predominant conflict model. A matrix

that combines an individuals degree of concern for work output with his or her degree of concern for people

generates five different conflict strategies: Integrating, Compromising, Competing, Smoothing, andAvoiding.

Strategy Characteristics Drawbacks Appropriate UsesAppropriate Uses

Avoiding Leaves issues unresolved

Ignores personal needs

Fears conflict

Complacency

Resentment

Lack of willingness

Trivial Issues

Need to buy time

Reduce tension temporarily


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Smoothing Yields to others

Selfless

Prefers harmony

Portrays the victim

Goals are not met

Pushover

Create goodwill

Keep the peace

Develop rapport

Competing Argues/debates

Wants to be right

Directs the outcome

Undermining

Erodes trust

Avoided by others

Need quick action

Protect core values

Emergency situations

Compromising Negotiates

Finds middle ground

Concedes

Neither needs met

Must revisit issues

Dissatisfaction

When time is an issue

Parties have equal power

Need temporary fix

Integrating Mutually beneficial

Listens activelyProblem solves

Requires time

Can be exhaustingComplex

Important issues

Need mutual agreementLong-term solutions

As you may have guessed, Integratingis the ideal strategy for successfully managing conflict on a consistent

basis. But even though its problem-solving focus yields positive results, there are times when its not possible to

invest the energy and collaboration it requires. Thats why its important to understand the situation, evaluate

the options, and then choosethe best-suited conflict strategy.

You dont have to cringe when youre in the midst of conflict. With some skill and know-how, youand your

organizationcan reap the benefits of conflict done right!

Sources:Taking Control of ConflictandConflict Strategies Inventory

Back to Top ^

Case Study: How the Negotiating StyleProfileHelped More than 600 Managers and

Directors to Strengthen Their NegotiatingSkills

Capitalizing on a Growth Trend after a Bottom-Floor Drop

Like so many industries in America, the hotel industry experienced a

number of volatile years between 2006 and 2012. After a high in 2006, the

occupancy rate (Occ%) and the average dollar rate (ADR) plummeted

dramatically between 2006 and 2009 before it began to rebound as the
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economy recovered. (See Figure 1 below.) The average daily rate

represents the average income per paid occupied room during a given time

frame. This combined with the occupancy rate is the foundation for

measuring a hotels financial performance.

Gary Turner, an expert in negotiating styles and leadership training, was contacted by his client, the Vice President of

Sales for a nationally-recognized upscale hotel chain. Although the organizations 2012 average daily rate was better

than the national average, my clients 2013 strategic goal is to achieve an even higher ratewithout damaging the

occupancy rate, said Gary. The Vice President of Sales was responsible for ensuring the General Managers and

Directors of Sales were equipped to achieve this goal.

Does Negotiating Style Help or Hinder Results?

Each of the clients hotels is managed by a General Manager and a Director of Sales who are responsible for

managing costs and maximizing sales. While both roles are required to negotiate as part of their everyday

responsibilities, their objectives are different. The General Managers negotiations are centered on securing operationservices and supplies such as repairmen, paper products, and more through a network of vendors. The Director of

Sales, on the other hand, is focused on selling accommodations to the hotels client base, including extended-stay

reservations and la carte services.

Garys client raised questions about negotiating style and how it impacts the objectives of each managers role:


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Do General Managers have the urge to drive a tougher bargain because of the underlying pressure to maximize

revenue? Are they more demanding when making purchases?

Are Directors of Sales more accommodating now because times are good and being nice might help them to

establish beneficial long-term relationships with clients?

Are Directors of Sales hesitant to charge the higher rates that would increase the average daily rate but damage

the occupancy rate?

An Assessment of Negotiating Style

Garys recommended starting point was a self-assessment of personal negotiating styles. Based on Ury and Fishers

collaborative win-win model, and heavily influenced by the highly-respected Thomas-Kilmann conflict resolution

model, the Negotiating Style Profileoffers a simple framework for determining ones negotiating style and interprets

how that behavior is likely to affect relationships and results.

Presented with 30 different statements, individuals were asked to choose one of seven possible responses, ranging

from Completely Characteristicto Completely Uncharacteristic. Scores revealed a preference for one of fivenegotiating styles: Defeating,Accommodating, Collaborating, Withdrawing, or Compromising.

More than 600 General Managers and Directors of Sales were surveyed using the Negotiating Style Profileonline self-

assessment. The assessment results were grouped by title and then compared to the national norm:

Summary of Negotiating Style ProfileResults:

The distribution of styles between the General Managers and Directors of Sales is relatively parallel across the five

negotiating styles.

The Defeating,Accommodating, and Compromisingstyles are consistent with the national average.

The General Managers and the Directors of Sales both possess a higher rateof the Collaboratingstyle than the

national average.

The General Managers and the Directors of Sales possess the Withdrawingstyle less than the national average.

Combined, the Negotiating Style Profilescores indicate that both the General Managers and Directors of Sales

practice problem solving and patience more than most negotiators and they do not have the tendency to withdraw

from the negotiating process. (See Figure 2 above.)

Variations of each of the five negotiating styles may be appropriate in certain scenarios, and sometimes negotiators

may want to use a specific style for a particular type of negotiation. For example, if the other party exerts superior


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power over the subject of the negotiation, a Withdrawingstance might be the most appropriate course of action in

order to achieve an agreement.

However, the style that produces the best results most consistently is the Collaboratingstyle. When satisfying mutual

needs is a paramount concern, both parties can harness problem-solving strategies that benefit both the outcome ofthe negotiation as well as the relationship of the parties. (See Figure 3 below.)

Negotiating Success Is a Matter of Style

Using the Negotiating Style Profileas the basis for insight and knowledge, Garys next step was to focus on the

importance of raising the organizations average daily rate by employing collaborative skills such asactive listening

and questioning. While this may be considered a basic skill, evidence shows that even the best collaborators lack the

ability to hear what is being said and ask questions that elicit important and valuable information. He utilized role-

play simulations as skill practice, with the General Managers acting as the client (a.k.a. the purchaser of


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accommodations).

In one situation, a Director of Sales negotiated with a potential client who wanted to reserve 30 suites for an

organization that was in town during the summer months to centralize its IT function. The potential client received a

bid from a competing hotel for a nightly rate of $80. But what the Director of Sales did not know was three pieces ofimportant information about the potential client:

. There were several complaints about the competing hotel and it was not the first choice of accommodations for

the organizations employees and their families.

. The potential clients organization was building a new corporate office directly across the street from the Director

of Sales hotel location.

. Part of the centralization project required employees to get up during the middle of the night for system test

crashes.

During the simulation, the potential client was instructed to withhold these valuable tidbits unless the Director ofSales specifically asked for the information. The client was also told to pay extra to stay at the Director of Sales hotel

if it became necessary to complete the negotiation. The role play took approximately 10 minutes, at which time

the participants were told to come to an agreement in increments of $5. Figure 4 below illustrates that not everyone

got the same dealsome negotiated a better deal and some were not as successful.

Following the role-play simulation, Gary surveyed the Directors of Sales to see how many thought to ask the potential


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client:

. Have you received any complaints about the accommodations at the competing hotel?

. Where is the location of the organizations new IT function?

. How oftenand whenwere the employees expected to be on site at the new office?

Approximately one-thirdof the negotiators thought to ask at least one of these probing questions. The negotiator

who achieved the $105 rate did obtain this information and used it to drive the higher suite rate. (See Figure 4

above.)

Conclusion

As the Negotiating Style Profilerevealed, Collaboratingis the dominant style of both the General Managers and the

Directors of Sales. While this style will help them to reach successful negotiating outcomes, Gary supplemented the

training with skill practice to further develop their skills.

The role-play simulations helped the Directors of Sales to apply the insights gained through the self-assessment.

Specifically, they learned the importance of asking probing questions to uncover important information relevant tothe negotiation. Coupled with action planning, the Vice President of Sales is confident the hotel chain will experience

an average daily rate increase to achieve its 2013 goal.

Click here for more information about the Negotiating Style Profile.

Gary Turneris an award-winning consultant and speaker with more than 30 years of experience in training and

development. He has worked with many prominent organizations, including M&M/Mars, Con-way Freight, Warner

Brothers, and Owens & Minor.

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HRDQ Insight Newsletter - October 2013