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Project the Emergency Preparedness will be the theme of this new conference. Many important speakers from different industries will take part to share their experiences with attendees.

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]]> http://giancarloduranti.com/news/pmi-rome-italy-chapter-starts-the-2009-events/feed/ http://giancarloduranti.com/news/pmi-published-new-standards/ http://giancarloduranti.com/news/pmi-published-new-standards/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:37:23 +0000 Giancarlo Duranti http://giancarloduranti.com/?p=377 2009 is the standards year.

PMI published the new versions of the main standards

• A Guide to the Project Management of Knowledge PMBOK^® Guide — Fourth Edition.

• The Standard for Program Management —  Second Edition.

• Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3^®)— Second Edition.

• The Standard for Portfolio Management— Second Edition.

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During a certain point in my life, I found myself working 3,500 miles away from home in a completely different business and life-style environment. Since that experience my life has been changed, and since that time I’ve started reflecting upon becoming integrated as a project manager but also as a human being, as much as possible, as well as possible, and as fast as possible with people who look at life in a different way than I do.  Time passed and more international assignments arrived giving me the opportunity to share my beliefs with people from other cultures, who had values deeply different from mine.

In this article I describe some academic definitions about what makes the perception of life styles and values different amongst people, what are the impacts of working together, and what are the theoretical aspects a project manager or a team member should take into consideration before leading, or being a part of a cross-cultural team. In addition, the principles and suggestions I am going to bring to you are practicalities that can be applied, not only in international work environments but also in our domestic professional context, as well as in our day-to-day life.

Background

In 2004 I received an assignment in Havana - Cuba as a program manager. The company I was working for played a role in the local mobile operator and they sent me there to help them to enhance the mobile network and IT systems. I was very happy with that because first of all, you need to know that for Italians Cuba is like heaven. So many Italians go there every year to spend their vacations and to enjoy the beauty of the Isla Maravillosa.

I was very excited because I really liked this assignment, not only for the country and location, but also for the kind of work and the role I was appointed to do. During the weeks before the departure, I prepared myself as best I could. I read some tourist guides, learned a little bit of history, I attended two months of a Spanish crash course, and I got my working visa. I gathered all possible information from colleagues who were there on previous assignments. They told me that in spite of the political situation, the job was interesting and the people were open and friendly, I could improve my technical skills and I would receive so much satisfaction from this experience.  I was very full of hope and very keen to do well.

My boss called me and informed me that I had to leave on Easter day because my client, the IT Manager, needed to meet me on Monday morning. Then he had to leave on a business trip.  I canceled Easter breakfast with my family, which in Italy is a tradition, I jumped on the plane and finally got to Havana on Sunday night. In the morning I dressed for work and got ready, I re-read the Statement of Work from the consultancy contract once more, and feeling very happy to meet my client, I went to his office. We met each other in his office and we started talking about my assignment, about what would be the objectives of my work there, etc. At a certain point, he looked at me and said: “We do not need you here!”

- I asked: “Pardon me?”

- And he re-stated: “We do not need you here!”

I thought, I am a project manager, right?  I should know how to manage these kinds of emergency situations. I took the copy of the contract from my bag and showing it to him I asked: “Are you familiar with this?”

- He answered: “No, I am not!”

- I said: “Ok, this is a copy of the consultancy contract that my boss and your boss signed in order that we work together. I will leave this with you, I will be back after three days, which is when you will be back from your business trip and we will continue this discussion.”.

After three days, I came back to his office and I found a completely different person. He welcomed me cheerfully, offered me a coffee, we chit-chatted a little, and talked about how we could collaborate together on the program. He told me he had set up a brand new office for me…Two buildings away from his office and his team!

I went to my brand new office, which I nicknamed the Guantanamo Bay office, and I remained there alone for six months…

During the first months I was in charge of a bid, and of course I was very busy with some other projects as well, but in the back of my mind, I was always thinking of ways to resolve this situation, which I eventually did. So later, I will tell you the secrets to being successful with people from other cultures.

From Theory to Practice

In the first section of this article I will describe some academic definitions regarding what makes the perception of life styles and values different amongst people, what are the impacts of working together, and what are the theoretical aspects a project manager should take into consideration before leading a cross-cultural team. Then I will reveal the secrets for getting along with people who look at things in a different way than we do.

To understand better the characteristic of Culture, we need to know a little bit about its history.

Culture’s Definition - Evolutionism

We owe the first scientific formulation of the concept of culture to Edward Taylor.

“Culture or civilization, taken in its broad, ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.”

(Primitive Culture, 1871)

Taylor inaugurated a new concept of culture. This concept is influenced by Darwin’s evolution theory and is based on the following points:

• People are basically identical everywhere on the planet since each human is gifted with intelligence.
• Culture represents everything mankind does and thinks.
• All human societies are producers of culture: where there are human beings there is a culture they identify with.
• Cultural development has different results in space and time. This is the reason there are more developed people and less developed people on the planet. However, non-developed people can enhance their cultural development by reaching for the level of a more developed people.

We can summarize all those points in one definition: Every kind of human life, every form of it, is culture.

These kinds of ideas about culture were the cultural heritage of European thoughts of the 19th century and part of the 20th century. During the 20th century a new cultural trend was born: Relativism.

Culture’s Definition - Relativism

This new trend has a completely different vision of culture and of the comparison between different cultures. Briefly, this is what Relativism suggests:

• Cultures are different from each other. There is no one culture better than another. Each of them is different from the other.
• Differences are due to a culture’s own peculiarities, and their choices and orientations to adjust themselves to their environment. All cultures are valid and developed, since every one of them reflects its own choices and its own history.
• No comparison is possible to make, between cultures. According to Relativism principles, to compare cultures would mean to look at things from an external point of view.

But looking at things from an external point of view means to submit cultural peculiarities to the judgment of other cultures.

Culture’s Definition - Today

The contemporary debate concerning cultures and cultural development abandoned the rigidity of the Evolutionism and Relativism trends. Human sciences around the world defined these key concepts about culture:

• Culture is passed onto the next generations and can be learned by living within the society. Culture is a collective process. People acquire elements of culture by listening, by imitating adults, by formal leaning processes, and by assimilation of environment characteristics.
• In spite of differences, cultures do have common elements that are the threads between all human beings. There are no cultures that do not have institutions that do not give a social role to the family. There are no cultures that do not apply death rituals.
• Culture can influence without shaping behaviors. Cultures never meet each other, PEOPLE do! If we think that responses given to us from someone from a different culture are maneuvered by his or her own culture, we will always expect pre-determined responses from that person and from all people coming from that culture. In addition, instead of paying attention to what they say, do and communicate, we would look at their cultures in order to understand them. Even though we recognize the existence of cultural conditioning we cannot make them absolute, otherwise we could misunderstand others, understanding them not for who and what they really are, but for what we think we know about their original culture.

Two contemporary anthropologists define culture in this way

“Culture is central to what we see, how we make sense of what we see, and how we express ourselves”.

(Kevin Avruch, Peter Black - Anthropologists)

Before honing cross-cultural skills, leaders of cross-cultural project teams must recognize when and where cultural differences exist. If you do not have awareness, you cannot change! But changing can be difficult, especially regarding culture. It would be like asking Nemo about water. It would answer: “What water?” Nemo is not able to see the water because it swims in it. And that is what happens to us. We cannot see our culture’s peculiarities because we all are totally immersed in it, we were born in it, we grew-up with it.

Defining Cross Cultural Working Scenarios

When we talk about cross-cultural differences in a work context we need to think about possible issues that may arise among people working together and that have impact on their working style and working relationships because of different belief systems, their everyday behavior and their values. Cross-cultural difficulties can often arise as a result of individuals making assumptions regarding how similar other people are to themselves. One of the common mistakes that people make is that some people, working in the same working environment, discover some commonalities with other members, and then they confuse commonality with having the same beliefs, thinking and acting without considering any possible differences between them. This behavior can lead to serious misunderstandings with the consequential breakdown in communications.

The description of some typical cross-cultural diversity will help us to better understand the environment that a project manager might face while working in a multicultural context:

• Confrontation vs. maintaining harmonious Relationships. For example in the Far East there is a tendency to keep relations harmonious by not talking about problems directly. Confrontations are avoided and human relationships are highly valued. On the contrary, in North America people like going to the point directly and quickly even though such an approach may embarrass someone personally or publicly.
• Social Conscience vs. individualism. Cultures with a high social conscience, as in China, for example, prefer to work in teams and make decisions through group consensus. Other cultures, as those in North America, place a high premium on individualism and individualistic reactions.
• Social Status vs. Competence. Some cultures, such as those in Asia, Northern Europe and South America also emphasize social status, which is reflected, among other things, in seating arrangements and other protocols based on positions. On the other hand, the North American culture tends to place more emphasis on competence.
• Monochronic time Vs. Polychronic. The time elements also hold different connotations in different cultures. A monochronic time perspective refers to the treatment of events in an orderly fashion where things are done separately and time is compartmentalized, organized and controlled. Monochronic cultures are prevalent in North European and North American countries. On the other hand, a polychronic time perspective is endless and represents ample time which has no beginning or end. More importantly, many events can all happen at the same time. This perspective is prevalent in countries in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

Describing Cross Cultural Difficulties

Now let’s go a little deeper and let’s analyze some causes of possible issues at work.

Communication Styles - Verbal

The way people communicate varies widely between, and even within, cultures. One aspect of communication style is language use. People speaking different languages may find themselves exchanging information, with both of them using a non- native language. For example when Italians are working with Chinese people, they speak English. Trying to overcome this difficulty in communication requires more time and patience in understanding the other correctly; checking to be sure to have understood well and formulating the response in order to achieve the effect that is desired.

Across cultures, some words and phrases are used in different ways. For example, even in countries that share the English language, the meaning of “yes” varies from “maybe, I’ll consider it” to “definitely so,” with many shades of gray in between.

When I arrived in Cuba I was in charge of an R.F.P project, and I was able to speak Spanish. My biggest difficulty was to understand them, because they used Spanish words with a different meaning.

Another point of necessary attention is the tone of the voice. For instance, some Caucasian Americans typically consider raised voices to be a sign that a fight has begun, while some black, Jewish and Italian people often feel that an increase in volume is a sign of an exciting conversation amongst friends. Thus, some Caucasian Americans may react with greater alarm to a loud discussion than would members of some American ethnic or non-white racial groups.

Communication Styles - Non-Verbal

Some authors and researchers believe that nonverbal communication contributes 60 percent to 70 percent to the impact of a message. Non-verbal behaviors or ‘body language’ vary considerably from one culture to another.  For example, a high level of eye contact is considered a sign of attentiveness in some cultures and a sign of rudeness in others. These differences in body language can lead to misunderstandings between people of different cultural backgrounds.

Attitude Towards Conflict

Understanding the sense of the conflict: Parties from different cultures may have different understandings of what causes conflicts, and of what responses are appropriate. Since conflicts are a form of human activity, among them communication, it is essential to understand the relevant cultural attitudes in order to grasp the meaning of conflict-type actions.

Different customs in conflict resolutions: Some cultures view conflicts as a positive thing, while others view them as something to be avoided. In the U.S., conflicts are not usually desirable; however, people are often encouraged to deal directly with conflicts that do arise. In fact, face-to-face meetings customarily are recommended as the way to work through whatever problems exist. In contrast, in many Eastern countries, open conflict is experienced as embarrassing; as a rule, differences are best worked out quietly. A written exchange might be the favored means to address the conflict.

Approach to completing tasks - Notion of time

Different notions of time: Cultural approaches to time may play out in painful and dramatic ways if not handled properly while working on a task, causing damage to the level of communication. For example, someone with a monochronic attitude to time may feel that a colleague displaying polychronic behavior seems disorganized and may feel frustrated. In contrast, the person with a polychronic attitude toward time may get frustrated with colleagues displaying monochromic behavior, particularly when they seem reluctant to take time out on an ad hoc basis to discuss pressing issues.

When I was on assignment in Rio de Janeiro, working on a start-up of a telecom mobile operator, I was in charge of a project to set up IT business processes. I remember, every time I called for a meeting so many attendants arrived late, and once in the meeting they discussed other topics and at the same time they answered their cell phones, reviewed documents, etc.

Different methods in relationship building: When people come  together to work on a task, cultures differ also with respect to the importance placed on establishing relationships early on in the collaboration. For example, Asian and Hispanic cultures tend to attach more value to developing relationships at the beginning of a shared project and more emphasis on task completion toward the end. European-Americans, instead, tend to focus immediately on the task at hand, and let relationships develop as they work on the task. This does not mean that people from any one of these cultural backgrounds are more or less committed to accomplishing the task or toward valuing relationships; it means they may pursue them differently based upon their cultural approach to time.

Several years ago I consulted for an American company. They were interested in doing business in The Gambia - Africa acquiring a participation in the local mobile operator. They contacted me and asked me to help them with doing due diligence. I went there for a couple of weeks to gather some technical information from IT and Network departments in order to make a decent evaluation.  Dealing with a fixed time frame and polychronic people, I needed to be careful, since otherwise I would not be able to do everything within this time frame. My first approach was establishing relationships with people in order to put them at ease. I needed valid data and opinions, not only printed reports and benchmarks! Instead of being worried and starting to ask technical questions, I shifted the focus to personal relationships, trying to find common ground with them. During the second week I got all that I needed to make my evaluations. But above all I created a kind of relationship that once I was back home, whatever I needed I could ask for and get by email, phone, etc. And we are still in touch, not always talking about work!

Context of Communication

This dimension has to do with the way people communicate with each other. Some cultures value a high context communication style while others value a low context style.

In high context cultures, information is either in the physical context or internalized in the person. Behavioral rules are implicit; in other words, the context is supposed to give you the cues you need to behave appropriately. In these cultures, members tend to use a more indirect style of communication. Examples of societies that value this communication style include Japan, Korea, China, and many of the Latin American countries.

In low context cultures, information is part of and conveyed through the verbal content of the communication. The rules and expectations are explained and discussed; individuals tend to prefer a more direct communication style. Examples of countries that would prefer this communication style include the United States and most European countries. I want to give you an example. You take courses, right? If you had a chance to attend a course in the US - low context culture - and in Latin America or Japan or China - high context culture, you would notice the difference. In the U.S., attendees receive a course syllabus at the beginning of the course. In it, they find detailed information such as the course description and learning objectives. It is not uncommon for the syllabus to also provide the instructor’s policies, behavioral policies, detailed course material item index, and instructions in case of emergency. That is because, in a low context culture such as the U.S., expectations are often communicated directly to the individual. In a high context culture, attendants may not be given all this information directly. As project managers, it is your job to find out and understand what the rules and expectations are.

Decision Making Style

The roles individuals play in decision-making vary widely from culture to culture. For example, some people like to make decisions on their own, while others prefer to involve a range of people and gain a solution that everyone has agreed to.  In the U.S., decisions are frequently delegated, that is, an official assigns responsibility for a particular matter to a subordinate. In many Southern European and Latin American countries, there is a strong value placed on holding decision-making responsibilities on oneself. There is no right approach about the decision-making process. There are just different styles in different situations.  It is important to be able to recognize when others are using a different style to you.

Respecting Our Differences and Working Together

Stereotypes

Categorization is a cognitive process and it works in this way. We observe the world around us and we discern specific objects and phenomenons. To make our lives easier, we are used to gathering into categories stimulus that we get from situations and people around us. We do that based on situations and people’s common traits - those traits that make categories different one to another. In the categorization process we simplify the reality. During the categorization process we tend to lean towards over-evaluating traits that allow elements to be included within that specific category.

At the same time, we tend to under-evaluate those traits that reduce the chances of including them into the category (differences). In addition, we are used to being focused on those traits that maximize the differences between categories.

An example will help you to understand this concept better:

European people: all people belonging to a state included in the European continent.

Over-estimated trait: belonging to the continent of Europe.

Under-estimated trait: religion, culture, nationality, etc.

Categorization is helpful for a cognitive management of the world. It helps us to simplify the reality that in other ways would be quite complex. We are also used to categorizing in social classes, maximizing the common traits and minimizing the differences among people belonging to the same category.

Example

Foreigners: all the people who do not speak Italian.

Over-estimated trait: people do not speak Italian

Under-estimated trait: people speak other languages: English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, etc.

The process of grouping people into categories is not objective or neutral; of course, it is influenced by culture.

Categorizations made by people from one culture could be different from categorizations made by other cultures.

Categorization is, in other words, a cultural choice. Stereotypes come from the exaggeration of some distinctive traits which make the difference amongst categories. The risk of stereotyping is that we have a twisted perception about people who belong to a certain category. The problem arises when we make a judgment about values on people that we have previously categorized. This is called prejudice. If we think that the characteristics of people we have stereotyped are good for us, our prejudice will be positive; otherwise it will be negative. For example, if we take into consideration an ethnic prejudice, we consider indolence a characteristic of people from Latin America. We would treat everyone from there with the immediate assumption they are an indolent person — not because he or she demonstrated to us to be indolent, but because he or she is a member of that community.

Simple tools at-hand

Many of these suggestions are common sense. As you can see, the solutions to effective international team working are not difficult; the challenge is remembering to always apply them, even when under pressure. Here are a few suggestions to help make this job easier and most workable:

Avoid making assumptions. Don’t assume things about an individual or a group,  take time to get to know people and find out the correct information. We all hold preconceptions and we all hold stereotypes; the important thing is to not allow them to influence our behavior.

Avoid making instant judgments. We tend to make immediate evaluations based on our own culture, rather than trying to comprehend thoughts and feelings from the other person’s point of view; we assume our own culture or way of life is the most natural.

If you are unsure, check it out. If you are not sure of a particular custom within a country, how to pronounce someone’s name, or whether the written document you have put together is going to be understood, then ask someone for help. Asking questions early on can save awkwardness later.

Do not worry it you make a mistake. It’s impossible to remember all of the differences in customs and cultures; the important point is that you make the effort to build better relationships. If you make a mistake, apologize and learn from it, but don’t let it stop you from gaining international experience or working with people from different backgrounds.

Learn about people’s culture and share information. Building relationships is a two-way process. If you are working with colleagues from different cultural backgrounds, then try to be open about sharing information about your own culture so that they can get a better understanding of your background. For example, let people know if there are certain customs that should be obeyed within your culture and inform people of important holidays or religious days. Try to be open to questions people may ask of you.

Working in Cross-cultural Projects

Develop a detailed understanding of the environment

Spend time to make a 360° assessment. Try to look at things from outside, do not rush a judgment. Just spend time to gather inputs from what you see in the real life scenario.

Acknowledge historical events that have taken place. Read tourist guides, books, and articles. Watch documentary films in order to gather inputs about their history

Be open to learning about people. Read the local newspaper and magazines to understand their day-to-day life.

Develop a general understanding of others’ points of view. Try to talk with locals: at restaurants, at the country club, in the shops, on the bus, stop people in the street. Every chance is good to learn a little trait of a different culture. Get an honest acknowledgement of any mistreatment and oppression that may have taken place in that environment.

Gather historical information: what happened to people in the past is reflected in people today.

Do not Stereotype

Learn from generalizations about other cultures, but don’t use those generalizations to stereotype. While stereotypes might give the idea about some characteristics of people from a specific culture, it can easily become the sole model of how other people function, oversimplifying the complexities of human behavior and leading to poor judgment. Relying too heavily on stereotypes may cause someone to misread people who are the exception of the stereotypes. We are most likely to hold stereotypes about groups of people who we do not perceive to be like us and of whom we have limited experience. It is easy to see that referring to stereotypes or letting them influence our behavior can significantly impact upon our relationships with others, usually in a negative way.

Develop your cultural sensitivity

Approaching people, who think and react in a different way than you, requires a good amount of sensitivity. The main purpose of developing a cultural sensitivity is mostly to gain an understanding of how cross-cultural differences impact on the work environment and how these can be managed so that the benefits of those differences can be maximized both for the individual and the group. Planning and working to improve your approach towards “learning” about someone is the right way to improve upon the level of understanding it takes, which is the foundation to getting along with the others more quickly and more successfully. Leveraging cultural diversity and the ability to embrace differences, while learning from each other, is paramount to success.

Be Genuinely interested in cultural differences

Be genuinely interested in cultural differences. Ask people about the cultural differences that shape their lives. For instance, I saw so many teenagers in Cuba dressed like brides. After a while I stopped one of them in the street and I asked and they explained to me their tradition. It was a kind of rite of passage they celebrate when a girl turns 15.  We do not have that in Italy. Back at the office I started talking about it, asking for more details. At the same time I shared some traditions from my own country.

Talk about the peculiarities of your culture. Involve people in discussions looking for common ground. Show curiosity and genuine interest in their way of understanding life. Let them know your way of understanding life. Do that prudently, using cultural sensitivity in order not to hurt the other’s feelings. Pay attention to some topics, especially at the beginning. In Cuba, for example, it was highly forbidden to discuss Fidel Castro in public. You cannot even hint at him. People got nervous because they risk getting in trouble.

Be genuine, open and honest towards people. Human beings appreciate these three characteristics. Face any situation with elegance, showing respect for everyone, no matter their role or their assignments.

There are some approaches to put in place in order to succeed in creating strong relationships with people. You may need to acquire and develop some skills for that, but in any case, it is essential that you show yourself to be: considerate, helpful, authentic, respectful, genuine, generous, humble, trustworthy, and mostly, what really makes the difference in my opinion: be spontaneous. If you behave spontaneously you can make a mistake and people will understand you, and will let you know that by showing their affection. But if you show them arrogance or a snobbish attitude, people won’t give you any chance to succeed.

Do not assume there is one way (yours!) to communicate

FIRST OF ALL: The receiver, not the sender, defines communication. For that reason, keep questioning your assumptions about the right way to communicate:

• Who is the message for?
• What media should I use?
• What is the objective of the communication?
• What is the desired response?

Remember that humor and ways of giving feedback differ hugely between cultures.

Be sure you are clearly understood. When communicating verbally the best way to make sure your message has been understood in the way you intended is to ask the person you are talking to, to summarize what you have said to them. It is not sufficient simply to ask if a person understands you - they may think they have, but may actually taken away a different message than the one you intended. Avoid using colloquialisms and words/phrases that are frequently misunderstood.

Many issues that happen during a face-to-face communication also happen in a written communication. Think very carefully about how you use e-mails.  It is not a medium to use if you have to communicate a difficult or sensitive message.  For example, if you have to give someone bad news or talk to them about sensitive topics, you should talk with them face-to-face beforehand, and then, if appropriate, follow up by e-mail or letter to confirm what you have discussed.

During a debate

During an argument or debate, be sure to have understood the variables well. To prevent problems associated with miscommunication, check with each other for clarity either through paraphrasing or by asking questions. Paraphrasing basically involves restating a point and then asking: “Is that what you meant?” Think and weigh the response style using your cultural sensitivity.

Listen actively and empathetically

Listen actively and empathetically. Try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Respect others’ choices about whether to engage in communication with you. Honor their opinions about what is going on. Suspend any judgment you might have and try to view the situation with some distance and perspective, as you are only a part of the whole.

Conclusions

The simple steps I mentioned above were very helpful to me to get integrated with people who look at things in a different way than I do. After a real painful year in Cuba applying these simple principles, which at the end of this article sound so natural, I asked and obtained to move out from my “marvelous” office and sit with them in the open space. I stayed in Havana another two years and I had the pleasure to share with them one of the most important time frames of my professional and personal life. I coached them in Project Management and related methodologies; I challenged them with very difficult projects. At the end of my assignments I decided to move forward with other experiences and thus I left Cuba. Today, after two years we are still in touch almost every day,  not talking about work.

Working with people from different backgrounds exposes you to a wider variety of experiences and knowledge than you may have the opportunity to access in your home environment.  Being part of an international team can greatly enhance your interpersonal skills and give you a broader perspective and the right approaches to get integrated into other cultures better and faster. The simple steps I mentioned are helpful toward minimizing challenges and maximizing the benefits of international and non-international teamwork. However, the key to understanding many of the points raised above is taking the necessary time to review, reflect and put them into practice not only when working abroad, but also when you can apply them in your home environment.

According to Wikipedia, negotiation is a dialogue intended to resolve disputes, to produce an agreement upon courses of action, to bargain for individual or collective advantage, or to craft outcomes to satisfy various interests. It is the primary method of alternative dispute resolution.

Practically speaking, negotiation can be defined as the process between two or more parts that look to one another for the same path of reaching an agreement and satisfying their objectives, as much as possible. Keeping this concept in mind, it is simple to understand how communication plays a central role in negotiation. A successful project manager should first and foremost, be a good communicator!

For a project manager negotiation is a fact of life. The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – 4th Edition describes different project environments where, according to their organizational structure (functional, matrix, projectized) responsibilities and different authority levels are shared. It is easy to comprehend how project managers must negotiate everyday with clients, vendors, technical specialists, contractors, functional managers and project team members about scope, budget, schedule, priorities, constraints, resources, responsibilities and performance requirements.

Negotiation is a kind of persuasive process and is one of the most important skills needed by project managers in order to manage projects successfully.

Negotiators are people first

Besides the importance of communication, one of the key principles in negotiation is that all stakeholders involved in projects and therefore negotiators, as in life, are part of the human race. As part of it, every one of us has emotions and consequently different emotional behaviors according to the situation he or she lives at the moment that could be reflected in the project; No matter at which level or how deep he or she is involved.

Roger Fisher, William Ury and Bruce Patton in their book Getting to Yes (second edition – Penguin Books, 1991) explain how crucial is to be able to separate people from the problem.

Every one of us has emotions, values, beliefs, opinions and different backgrounds: social, cultural, educational. Disrespecting one of these elements can make people angry and can be disastrous in the process of reaching a positive outcome or a successful negotiation.

Cultural differences play an important role in negotiations. When we act in a cross-cultural business context we need to think about possible issues that may arise among them working together because of different belief systems, their everyday behaviors and their values that may have impact on the outcome of the negotiation. One of the common mistakes, for example, is that some people during the pre-negotiation phase discover some commonalities with the counterpart, and then they confuse commonality with having the same beliefs, thinking and acting without considering possible differences between them. This behavior can lead to serious misunderstandings with the consequential jeopardy for the outcome of the negotiation and for the health of the communications.

Source of power in Negotiation

The power in negotiation lies in the ability to favorably influence someone else’s decision. The ability to exert influence depends upon the combined total of a variety of factors. First, having a good alternative to negotiation contributes substantially to a negotiator’s power. A negotiator with very strong alternatives does not need the negotiation in order to achieve at least a satisfactory outcome. Roger Fisher and William Ury called this negotiating power BATNA - Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. When opponents have a broad set of options they have more chance to reach an agreement and, consequently, other than negotiation, they have more leverage in making demands. Therefore, parties should develop a strong understanding of their alternatives before participating in negotiations. Making one’s BATNA as strong as possible and then making that BATNA known to one’s opponent can strengthen one’s negotiating position.

A skilled project manager in negotiation knows about the people and interests involved, as well as the relevant facts, therefore he will be better able to influence the decisions of others. The abilities to listen, to empathize, and to communicate clearly and effectively are crucial in negotiating effective agreements.

While facts and ideas are important in changing another person’s opinions and perceptions, the effectiveness of persuasion depends on how these facts and ideas are selected and presented. In addition, since negotiations are totally based on communications, be careful to keep in mind that the receiver, not the sender, defines communication. For that reason, keep questioning your assumptions about the right way to communicate:

• Who is the message for?
• What media should I use?
• What is the objective of the communication?
• What is the desired response?

Be sure you are clearly understood. When communicating verbally the best way to make sure your message has been understood in the way you intended is to ask people you are talking to, to summarize what you have said to them. It is not sufficient simply to ask if a person understands you – they may think they have, but may actually taken away a different message than the one you intended. Avoid using colloquialisms and words/phrases that are frequently misunderstood.

Many issues that happen during a face-to-face communication also happen in a written communication. Think very carefully about how you use e-mails. It is not a medium to use if you have to communicate a difficult or sensitive message. For example, if you have talk to them about sensitive topics, you should talk with them face-to-face beforehand, and then, if appropriate, follow up by e-mail or letter to confirm what you have discussed.

During an argument or debate, be sure to have understood the variables well. To prevent problems associated with miscommunication, check with each other for clarity either through paraphrasing or by asking questions. Paraphrasing basically involves restating a point and then asking: “Is that what you meant?” Think and weigh the response style using your cultural sensitivity.

Listen actively and empathetically. Try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Respect others’ choices about whether to engage in communication with you. Honor their opinions about what is going on. Suspend any judgment you might have and try to view the situation with some distance and perspective, as you are only a part of the whole.

A good working relationship also increases a negotiator’s level of power. Such relationships are characterized by trust and the ability to communicate effectively and easily.

To be persuasive, we must be believable; to be believable, we must be credible; to be credible, we must be truthful.

– Edward R. Murrow.

If a project manager establishes a reputation for candor and honesty, his or her capacity to exert influence is enhanced. A project manager who understands the point of view from which the other party is operating is more likely to communicate persuasively, with minimal misunderstanding.

Conclusion

In order to obtain successful negotiations project managers must be strongly committed on enhancing communications, looking for alternatives that allow to obtain a mutual gain, do not bargain over positions, be able to separate people from the problem overcoming differences and emotions, be careful in multi-cultural business contexts, looking for a wise agreement which reconciles interests from both parties. But most of all, as in a day to day life, a project manager needs to create an environment of trust. Golden Rule - Treating others the way you would want to be treated.