Quantum² Highlights
A newsletter of the Dialog leadership development program for information professionals

Dear Quantum² Member...
As you gear up for the fall activities of budgeting and just how to ask for those necessary resources, why not take some time to hone your negotiation skills by making use of the styles we describe in our topic of the month?

Spotlight on Quantum² InfoStar
Tom Froehlich

In preparing the next generation of information professionals for the challenges of tomorrow, Dr. Thomas J. Froehlich has distinguished himself as a visionary in the field of information science, which has earned him the title of Quantum² InfoStar.

Tom is the chief architect and director of the interdisciplinary master’s program in Information Architecture and Knowledge Management (http://iakm.kent.edu), which opened at Kent State University in 2001 (Kent, Ohio).

To read more about Tom, visit the Quantum² Web site.

Special Interest Corner

From time to time, we encounter sessions we think might be of interest to specific segments of our market. Coming up on October 19 is a session on competitive intelligence and data mining sponsor by SLA ClickU. Visit here for more information and to register.

Quantum² Topic of the Month
Negotiation Styles

With budget preparation in full swing, the subject of negotiation seems to be a topic of current interest. Consequently, we are offering a second set of tips for developing your negotiation skills—that of negotiation styles.

Negotiation styles can be generally characterized into “soft” and “hard”. Soft techniques involve collegiality, teamwork and a mutual commitment to solve a problem. Hard styles focus more on being tough and sometimes coercive or manipulative to get a result. Here are five classic negotiation styles with descriptions and suggested appropriate use.

• Compromising — Concedes minor objectives to achieve more important ones; divides needs to satisfy both parties; appropriate when complete agreement is unreachable because of mutually exclusive objectives.
  
  
• Accommodating — Passive; effective when certain objectives are more important to one party; do not use if other party is untruthful, manipulative or unethical.
  
  
• Collaborating — Most time-consuming but encourages creative thinking and problem solving and builds trust; only use if willing to work together for mutual benefit as likely to brainstorm ideas together, agree on solution, then commit to execution; do not use if only a minor objective or immediate decision is necessary.
  
  
• Avoiding (withdrawing) — Can create feelings of frustration and aggravation; restricts development of relationships; use only if objective is minor and withdrawing will save time and resources.
  
  
• Competing — Use of threats, ultimatums causes hostility and resentment; prevents long-term relationships; use only when there is an imbalance of power, information or qualifications on one side; inappropriate when involves several complex objectives or when objectives are more important to one party; avoid if both have equal power.

The session surrounding these negotiation styles is being offered via the Web on November 16, 2006. Register now to attend this WebEx session.

As always, your suggestions for workshop topics are welcomed. Also, if you know a friend or colleague who would benefit from Quantum², please encourage them to sign up today.

Regards,
Betty Jo Hibberd
Senior Manager
North America
IPMD, Dialog