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Negotiation and Influencing
Effective problem solving requires negotiation and influencing skills. We all utilize negotiation skills in one form or another every day.
Negotiation on projects is necessary in almost every area of the project, from scope definition to budgets, contracts, resource assignments, and more. This may involve one-on-one negotiation or it might involve teams of people, and it can occur many times throughout the project.
Influencing is convincing the other party that second is a better choice than first, even if first is what they want. It's also the ability to get things done. Influencing requires an understanding of the formal and informal structure of all the organizations involved in the project. Power and politics are techniques used to influence people to perform. Power is the ability to get people to do things they wouldn't do otherwise It's also the ability to change minds and the course of events and to influence outcomes.
Politics involve getting groups of people with different interests to cooperate creatively even in the midst of conflict and disorder. These skills will be utilized in all areas of project management. |