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Thanks for Coming But…

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Joanne Greene-Blose

We’re glad you’re here but everyone’s packed up and left town. Please visit us at our new location at

http://www.projectsolversofamerica.com/blog .

Filed under: Al's Angle, AM on PM Summaries, Communications Management, Cost Management, Earned Value, Events, General Information, Human Resource Management, Integration Management, Online Training, Podcast of the month, Procurement Management, Project Management, PSA News and Updates, Quality Management, Risk Management, Scope Management, Time Management | Comments Off

August’s Forum Summary on Negotiating

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Joanne Greene-Blose

We had a really great event today with a wonderful speaker and over two dozen people in attendance! I walked away with a number of tips that I can use in the future for better negotiations. Michael Shacket, President of Corner Office Consulting provided us with Eight Tips for Successful Negotiations and he did so in an entertaining and enlightening way.

Tip #1: Decide what you REALLY want. Mike advised that sometimes it’s easy to get off in the weeds and forget why you’re negotiating in the first place. Never lose sight of your goal.

Tip #2: It’s nothing personal, it’s business (a quote from the Godfather). Therefore don’t let emotions interfere with your negotiations. The more emotional you are, the more power you lose.

Tip #3: If it ain’t in writing, it ain’t. Meaning all the verbal promises in the world are meaningless. Mike gave the example that there may have been a lot of verbal promises and handshakes between the city of Rochester and Paetec, but when it came down to it, the key aspects of the deal weren’t in writing (such as what happens to us if you pull out?).

Tip #4: There are NO rules: their internal “rules” are not your concern.

Tip #5: Never say No. There are three answers to a question in negotiations, Yes, I’ll look into it, and “I understand” (and you can even combine 2 and 3). Saying no outright may actually hurt the negotiation and relationship process.

Tip #6: KISS – keep it short and simple. Usually the less you say, the better.

Tip #7: Never expect rationality (from the other party). It may seem perfectly rational from their point of view even if it’s not from yours.

Tip #8: Negotiate Progress Payments. Mike likes to get a certain amount upfront (e.g. 20% down) and higher if the second check is going 60+ days out.

Excellent talk overall and I’ll be posting an audio snippet of it, as well as some pix and Mike’s powerpoint.

See you on September 9th!

Click here to see pictures of the event.

-Joanne

Filed under: AM on PM Summaries, Procurement Management | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

Ten Tips That Could Save Washington (or your project!)

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Joanne Greene-Blose

This August will prove to be one of the most trying times for the economy of the U.S. and its citizens.  We have a government that finds itself unable to negotiate within itself and to reach compromise. After all legislation is nothing more than a negotiation and a contract. Since this month is all about contracts and negotiating, I wanted to give our legislators (and yourself) some tools in recognizing the mistakes made in negotiating.

  1. Find creative and original alternative and ideas that can benefit both parties. Remember both parties need to win. There cannot be just a winner and a loser in a good negotiation and contract. Here is one for the legislators– don’t propose ridiculous or insulting alternatives– it just makes you look silly and your integrity can be compromised.
  2. Know who you are negotiating with. Check that person or person on the internet and social media sites. Remember it not all about you it’s about the both of you. Be aware of the vendor market area, what is their competition, who are their customers.
  3. Don’t be too aggressive. Always being on the attack (sound familiar) will only succeed in a lot of defensive mechanisms.
  4. It’s not all about price; remember there is more on the table than just money. Extended warranties, more service, etc.
  5. Don’t jump at the first offer—“you may be leaving money on the table”
  6. Leave the table with the vendor feeling good, no high “5s” until after a contract has been signed.
  7. Have a dictionary in the contract for terms that are not easily understood by all you read the contract.
  8. Have a third party review the contact , a lawyer may not be necessary, but if you need one use one
  9. Plan ahead don’t wait until the last minute to start negotiating. Be specific and direct in your contract and negotiation. Know what you are talking about and have notes when you negotiate, speak when you have something to say.
  10.  Avoid redundancies in your contract and when an area is agreed upon go on to the next.

You can pass this on to your legislator. Maybe we can get this government back on track and your project.

-Al

Reply here with your comments or send them to agubiotti@projectsolversofamerica.com

 

Filed under: Al's Angle, Procurement Management | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

August Podcast of the Month: Successful Negotiation Skills

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Joanne Greene-Blose

Our podcast this month is from Ron Holohan’s PM411.org podcast series and features Joe Friedman, CFO of the consulting group Zehren-Friedman Associates. Joe talks about how to get agreement between two or more parties and of equal importance, how to build a relationship in the process. Joe talks about a four-step process in negotiating:

  1. Planning: most people either do not plan at all or plan insufficiently going into a negotiation
  2. Opening Ceremony: how do you approach a negotiation
  3. Discovery: understand what their priorities are as well as your own
  4. Agreement: come to terms not only for the immediate negotiation but keep in mind post-agreement scenarios as well

Here’s a link to the podcast.

Filed under: Podcast of the month, Procurement Management | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

July Summary: Purchasing & Contracts

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Joanne Greene-Blose

Al Gubiotti, our VP at The Project Solver’s, has a long and varied history (over 30 years) of employment with companies ranging from automotive to insurance to computer and IT, including 13 years as a business owner – all before joining us at PSA. Along the way he’s had to deal with a contract or two. So it was quite interesting to hear his perspective on the purchasing and contracting process and the gotchas we should be thinking about on projects.

Al is also in the process of building a four-hour seminar on this topic and the overview of this is what he provided for us today. He touched on the following points in today’s presentation:

  • The purchasing and procurement lifecycle: there are six basic steps
  • How a contract relates to the purchasing function
  • What are the consequences of not following the correct management processes
  • The basics of an RFP and RFQ
  • The creation of a favorable binding contract
  • How to monitor and enforce rights and warranties
  • How to effectively closeout a contract

This was a whole lot to cover but as an overview it was great and we heard some very salient points. For example, beware of contracts with the same party within the company that conflict with each other. A PM down the hall could have one set of arrangements with Vendor ABC and you have a different one and that could create trouble.

There was also quite a bit of debate on whether a PM should have signature authority on the contract. Some felt yes, others no (of course many of you realize that PMI says no – but this can also create a situation where we are “cut off at the knees” so to speak).

Another interesting discussion was whether you as a PM should ever act on a verbal PO #? Al provided an explanation as to why this is really not a good idea. Always have something in hand before beginning the procurement process.

A couple within today’s group also brought out the importance of having the PM’s role and authority level explicitly defined in the charter document; definitely a good idea!

We’ll reprise this topic in August (where we hope to hear from an attorney from their perspective – stay tuned!). In the meantime here is a link with a few pictures of the event as well as a 5 minute audio snippet of the discussion:

Click to hear a snippet from today’s Forum.

Click here to see more pictures.

See you soon!
Joanne

Filed under: Procurement Management, AM on PM Summaries | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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