Newsletter 2 - 22nd June 2003

This is the newsletter for www.mindtools.com. You have received this because you have subscribed to our opt-in newsletter. Mind Tools is published by James Manktelow of the Mind Tools Corporation. To contact us, please email quality@mindtools.com.

1. Welcome To The Mind Tools Newsletter

This newsletter keeps you updated on what’s new at Mind Tools and gives exclusive previews of new developments.

Firstly, we are pleased to let you be the first to know about the forthcoming launch of our stress management course “Managing Stress for Career Success”. The course explains the essential skills that are needed to survive and thrive in a high-pressure, high-stress career. We will let you know more about this in our next issue!

In our last newsletter we introduced you to Stakeholder Analysis, an important new tool that helps you to identify the people who have power over the work and an interest in its success or failure. This is the first step in managing your relationships with powerful people so that you can win their support rather than suffer their opposition.

In this issue we complete part two of this tool, Stakeholder Planning. Stakeholder Analysis and Stakeholder Planning are some of the most important skills that you can have – these skills are often fundamental to succeeding in what you do, particularly at a senior level where the work you do can impact so many different people and organizations. More on this exciting new tool later!

We also introduce you to a new tool on Mind Tools, Win-Win Negotiation.

Most people see negotiation as something of a “black art” - in fact, it is a simple and important technique for resolving differences between people. The Win-Win negotiation tool introduces the skills needed to craft a compromise with someone you have to deal with on an ongoing basis – this helps to overcome differences while still preserving useful working relationships.

As a final point, we have recently partnered with Assessment.com to bring a free career assessment to Mind Tools. You can take this at
http://www.assessment.com/MAPPMembers/Welcome.asp?accnum=06-5401-000.00. The free test gives important insights into your career preferences, while other assessment.com services gives rich information on the specific careers that are ideal for you.

Here at Mind Tools we are always looking to improve the service that we offer to you. Part of this is being constantly on the lookout for useful new tools that we have not provided you with so far. If you are aware of any that you think we should cover or have any general feedback on these newsletters, please let me know at James_Manktelow@hotmail.com.

In the meantime, enjoy using www.mindtools.com!

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2. New on Mind Tools:

Stakeholder Management part two – Winning support for your projects

As you become more successful in your career, the actions you take and the projects you run affect more and more people. Some of these people have influence and power over your projects and even your career. How you manage your relationships with them can often determine whether they become advocates and supporters of your projects, or whether they become critics who may seek to undermine or frustrate your efforts.

Stakeholder Management is the whole process of understanding who your key stakeholders are, learning what factors motivate them, and communicating with them to win their support. It is a vital discipline that you can use to ensure that your projects succeed where others fail.

In our last newsletter we introduced you to the first step of stakeholder management, Stakeholder Analysis – a practical tool for identifying, prioritising and understanding those people who may influence your Projects (see http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_07.htm for this article).

Stakeholder Planning is the second step in stakeholder management.

It is a practical and essential tool, which helps you plan how to win your stakeholders around. It helps you work out what you need from each of your stakeholders. Based on this, you can work out how to communicate effectively with them to win their support.

We have uploaded the new Stakeholder Planning article to http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_08.htm - this will be exclusively available to newsletter readers for the next two weeks, after which we will make it available through the main Mind Tools site.

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3. New on Mind Tools:

Win-Win negotiation - Finding an acceptable compromise

Negotiation skills help you to resolve situations where what you want conflicts with someone else’s interests. The aim of negotiation is to explore the situation to find a solution that is acceptable to both parties.

There are different styles of negotiation, depending on circumstances.

Where you do not expect to deal with people ever again and you do not need their goodwill, then you may choose to ‘play hardball’, seeking to win more from the negotiation than the other person. Similarly, where there is a great deal at stake in a negotiation (for example, in large sales negotiations), then it may be appropriate to try to gain advantage.

These approaches are dangerous where you need to maintain a good relationship with the person you are negotiating with. If the other person thinks you have won a negotiation at their expense, they will remember this and may do all they can to win their next negotiation with you. If the other person thinks you have used gamesmanship in a negotiation, then this undermines trust and damages the relationship between you.

Win-Win Negotiation is the best approach to use where you want to reach a fair compromise with the other person, while maintaining a good working relationship.

We have uploaded the new Mind Tools article on Win-Win Negotiation to http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCOM_01.htm. Again, this will be exclusively available to newsletter readers for the next two weeks, after which we will make it available through the main Mind Tools site.

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4. The Best of Mind Tools

This section of the newsletter is here to refresh your memory of some of our favorite techniques featured on the Mind Tools web site.

In this issue, we look take another look at Goal Setting. This is a formal process for personal planning. By setting goals on a routine basis you decide what you want to achieve, and then step-by-step move towards the achievement of these goals. The process of setting goals and targets allows you to choose where you want to go in life. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know what you have to concentrate on. You also know what is merely a distraction.

Goal setting is a standard technique used by high-level athletes, top business people and achievers in all fields. It gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. It focuses your acquisition of knowledge and helps you to organize your resources.

To find out how to use this important technique, visit our goal setting page at http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_06.htm.

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Mind Tools sponsor:

MyGoals.com guides you through the process of setting personal goals with an easy online wizard that also helps you monitor the achievement of these goals. As well as this, it provides a wide range of useful pre- written templates that help you identify the small steps that you need to take to reach the goals you have set.

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I hope you have enjoyed this newsletter – my thanks to Sarah Besley for her help in preparing it.

Best wishes!

James

James Manktelow

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