How do I spell relief? C-L-A-R-I-T-Y
To recap, “Don” came in to talk to me about his project. But he walked in angry, saying he’s thinking of quitting, and I was caught off guard. I was dazed, but within a few minutes I regained my composure and was ready for the next stage of stepping into emotional pressure.
In any relationship there is a connection, which brings about interdependence and the need to negotiate. It is well known that the best thing one do to move a negotiation forward is to be very (more…)
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paulandrew at 31 Oct 2007 under Leadership, Team-building, Conflict & issue management
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Emotional pressure often comes right out of the blue. And when it does, it can be very hard to deal with.
Some time ago I was managing a team at a small company, when I faced a challenge with a talented employee. “Don” had just been assigned to my team, and we were meeting to discuss next steps for his initial project. I wasn’t prepared for what came next.
Does your team seem to be allergic to process? Have you been trying to implement project management best practices and meeting resistance? 
At an entrepreneurs’ forum I recently attended, I was heartened to hear that even startups recommended checkpoint reviews. 
Quick – what’s the biggest challenge in cross-functional collaboration? Bing! Yes, “building trusting, open relationships” is correct! Does that sound too Oprah-esque? Let’s think about it for a minute. How do you build trusting, open relationships in your cross-functional team, and why does it matter?
So you need to put together a schedule, but are having trouble getting estimates from your team? Believe it or not, that’s good news!