Negotiate - What you do every day

 "Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties" (Wikipedia)

Just as all of us who work are part of a sales organization, ALL of us who interact with others are involved in negotiation. However, negotiation has gotten a bad reputation, based upon the 'win at all costs' that exist in today's hype-competitive business environment. There seems to be a notion that negotiation is about getting the other side to surrender, as expressed in this quote:

"Negotiation means getting the best of your opponent" - Marvin Gaye

I believe something different. I have some experience in negotiating - with a weak position, with a strong position, out of necessity, as the 'hired gun', and even when I desperately wanted to be anywhere else but at the negotiation table.

Those who manage people in a business environment, negotiate with their team members all the time. Team members negotiate with their team leads also. It is a two way street.

Here are some things I have learned - maybe these observations will help you in your next negotiation.

• If the other side cannot give you what you desire (such as ordering a BigMac at a Starbucks), all the negotiating skills, yelling, and desk pounding will not get a resolution. Look at your expectations (http://connectingthedata.blogspot.com/2013/08/are-you-asking-right-questions-service.html). "You cannot negotiate with people who say what's mine is mine and what's yours is negotiable" - John F Kennedy. 
• Facts sometimes get in the way of emotions. This is often my fatal flaw - I think facts should always rule, and in some negotiations, facts just get in the way. Let the other side get their emotions 'expressed'. "The most difficult thing in any negotiation, almost, is making sure that you strip it out of emotion and deal with the facts" - Howard Baker.
• Some say that being dispassionate is the key. I have been in too many negotiations, where one side did not care - I promise you, there never was a resolution until each side cared about the outcome. Each side may have different reasons for a resolution, but they wanted a resolution.
• Try to understand the other person's position. Not just the technical aspects, but the social, economic, and cultural side of why/how you are negotiating. 
• Leverage is the key and the danger. If I leverage you, by withholding money, to complete a task well, what are the chances that you will be 'all in' (http://connectingthedata.blogspot.com/2013/10/are-you-all-in-or-just-surviving.html). In my mind, leverage is the gentle balance between forcing and coaxing. It is crucial that the harder the leverage point, the clearer the path to the other side getting what they desire.

So, where can we get some guidance?  I personally like the "GROW" process (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GROW_model):

• Goal - where do we both want to be at the end point. If your goal is to 'kill' your opponent, you can quickly see why these negotiations never work. 
• Reality - this is usually where facts can get in the way. Maybe the 'reality' is not only about the facts, but how people feel about those facts.
• Obstacles/Options - Overcoming obstacles is the key to a good negotiator. What is the 'roadblock' that is stopping a solution. In lean thinking, it is almost always systematic roadblocks that cause problems (waste or error). I have seen the an obstacle to be as simply as "I want to get paid 10% down to buy materials", and I have seen negotiators say "no", because they had leverage.
• Way Forward - Actions steps moving forward.

The GROW process also works for conflict resolution and mentoring. If you are not familiar with the process - check it out. (http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_89.htm).

"The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people half way" - Henry Boyle

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David Haynes, NCARB, PMP, LEED AP
Ideate Director of Consulting

David is a Registered Architect, Project Management Certified Professional, who previously had his own architectural practice and was President of a commercial design-build construction company for 15 years. A graduate of University of Arizona, he has worked as an Architect, contractor, developer and as a national construction manager for a national retailer. David currently provides business process analysis, virtualization and change management solutions for AEC clients across the United States involved in the design and building industry. Follow David on Twitter: @dhaynestech 

Get it. Know it. Use it.

This post was originally published on David’s blog Connecting the [Data]… 

eLearning – Upcoming Classes

Join the Ideate Tech Experts for eLearning – live online classes that provide your entire organization with easy access to premium education. 

12.16.13::Civil 3D 101:
Civil 3D for Beginners

12.18.13::Revit 201:
Getting Started with Presentations

Each class is designed to give you specific, improved results in a particular topic. You can interact with the instructor right from your own office, while eliminating travel time. Because the class schedule rotates, you can easily select your topics of interest and choose the day which best meets your schedule.

Click here for class descriptions, times and registration link. Questions? Contact education@ideateinc.com

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Classroom Training – Open Revit Classes

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12.3-5::Sacramento
Revit Architecture Fundamentals

12.3-5::San Jose
Civil 3D Fundamentals

12.9-11::Portland
Revit Architecture Fundamentals

12.17-19::Seattle
Civil 3D Fundamentals

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The Benefit of Failure

One fails toward success - Charles F Kettering

Whenever you say the world 'failure', people hold their breath. Who wants to admit failure?  

What I hear about failure most often is....

• Failure is why people get fired - right? 
• Competency by definition does not allow for failure?
• If I admit failure, people will think I am stupid?

Why do a blog about failure. Here are some of my thoughts that I have tried to express when I am mentoring team members.

1. If you are trying, you will sooner or later fail. It is only those who don't try that may avoid failure, but then again, they don't experience success either. 
2. We learn FAR more from failure than we ever learn from success. Success breeds compliancy.
3. Failure is a positive experience when a good post-mortem is done. Post Mortem Blog

It then comes down to attitude. We all fail, we all should improve. Some examples:

• You have lost your job - what could I have done to be more "all in". All in Blog 
• The project wasn't done on time - what could I have done to remove workflow pinch points.
• Sales goals are not being met - am I touching my customers like I should, or am I hoping the sales come to me.  "My phone didn't ring today".

Continuous improvement is the name of game, and you only improve when you feel the need.

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David Haynes, NCARB, PMP, LEED AP
Ideate Director of Consulting

David is a Registered Architect, Project Management Certified Professional, who previously had his own architectural practice and was President of a commercial design-build construction company for 15 years. A graduate of University of Arizona, he has worked as an Architect, contractor, developer and as a national construction manager for a national retailer. David currently provides business process analysis, virtualization and change management solutions for AEC clients across the United States involved in the design and building industry. Follow David on Twitter: @dhaynestech 

Get it. Know it. Use it.

This post was originally published on David’s blog Connecting the [Data]… 

Ideate, Inc. Features Lionakis in Its First Ideate Explorer for Revit Study in Success

SAN FRANCISCO, California – 11/19/2013 - Ideate, Inc., a leading Autodesk Authorized Developer and Autodesk solutions provider offering quality software, training, support and custom consulting services to the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry with a special focus on Building Information Modeling (BIM), today announced the publication of its first Ideate Explorer for Revit-focused Study in Success, “One Secret Ingredient in Lionakis’ Quality Control—Ideate Explorer for Revit.”

California-based Lionakis has played a significant role in shaping the built environment throughout the State of California for more than a century. The multi-disciplined privately held firm specializes in architecture, engineering, interiors, planning, sustainability and graphics, and ranks in the top 25 of California’s leading architectural firms.

The firm’s Quality Control (QC) process provides a system for verifying and maintaining a desired level of quality in its BIM files by planning, continued inspection, and corrective action as required. Lionakis’ approach to its BIM projects includes firm-wide standards and a Revit-strong design staff. It also includes an in-house Design Technology (DT) team of Revit experts who create and maintain the Lionakis Revit master template and help the entire staff keep their Revit projects standardized and clean.

In the same way that the DT team peers deeply into Lionakis’ Revit files, the Study in Success peers deeply into Lionakis’ QC processes, with special attention to the ways Lionakis ensures confidence and trust in ever more complex and potentially error-prone BIM models. AEC firms of all sizes and members of related industries will have special interest in the Study in Success.

Kirk Cox, Design Technology Application Manager, Design Technology Studio, Lionakis, explains the vital nature of QC by saying, “It is always best to get the project back on the right path so the team can be as productive as possible. Having an effective QA/QC process translates to dollars and cents at the end of the day.”

Bob Palioca, President, Ideate Inc., says, “While we have published many articles about Ideate BIMLink, this is our first Ideate Explorer for Revit-focused Study in Success. We are gratified that our solution is helping to ensure project accuracy, reduce errors and save time, and we are pleased that Ideate Explorer for Revit has become indispensable for Lionakis’ staff training. We are overwhelmingly delighted with our customer’s success, and we are honored to share Lionakis’ valuable QC insights with the AEC community.”

Ideate has published “One Secret Ingredient in Lionakis’ Quality Control—Ideate Explorer for Revit” online. Download the Study in Success at http://www.ideateinc.com/ideas/case.html.

Ideate Software will be at Autodesk University, December 3-5, 2013, Booth 1913, The Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada.  

About Ideate, Inc.
Ideate, Inc. is a leading Autodesk Authorized Developer with 25+ years’ experience in software development and specific focus on Building Information Modeling (BIM) and is an Autodesk solutions provider offering quality software, training, support and custom consulting services to the AEC industry since 1992. Headquartered in San Francisco, California and operating five Autodesk Authorized Training Centers (ATCs) in the northwestern U.S., Ideate is recognized as an Autodesk Gold Partner for Architecture, Engineering and Construction, one of Autodesk’s highest levels of authorization.

Ideate BIMLink lets users pull data from an Autodesk Revit file into user-friendly Microsoft Excel and push Excel data into Revit with equal ease. www.ideatebimlink.com. Ideate Explorer for Revit is a simple, powerful Autodesk Revit add-on to explore, quantify and manage the 100,000+ building elements in a Revit model. www.ideateexplorer.com

Autodesk, ATC, and Revit are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. Microsoft Excel is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

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What's in a Multi-Category Schedule?

Ever wondered what’s in a Autodesk Revit Multi-Category schedule? Here’s the skinny…while a regular Revit Schedule reports on a single category of data such as Doors, Plumbing Fixtures, or Structural Foundations, a Multi-category schedule can report on many of the Revit model categories at once, which can be useful for quantity takeoffs. Sounds straightforward, but the catch is that some of the model categories are being excluded. What’s missing are the system families such as Walls, Floors, etc.

The good news is that Ideate BIMLink not only includes all the model category data that you need to do a comprehensive takeoff, but it also lets you select, on a per category basis, which elements you want to include. Furthermore, you can include not just the Length and the Volume, but also the Area, which is slightly important.

Here are the steps required to use Ideate BIMLink to quickly extract your quantity data from a Revit Building Information Model:

1.    Within Ideate BIMLink create a New Link that is based on <Multi-Category> 

2.    On the Multi-Category tab review the items to decide which you need for your takeoff. 

3.    Export to Excel. 

4.    Ideate BIMLink will create a row of data for each instance within your Revit project. If you want a summary, to include counts and totals, you can use Excel’s Pivot table – see video

That’s it. You now have a comprehensive list of the model elements and proceed with your estimating with confidence.

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Glynnis Patterson is a registered architect and the Director of Software Development at Ideate, Inc.

Commitment to Change

We all believe that we are good at 'change'. We are 'champions of change'. But is that really true?

• Why are people, in general, so resistant to change?
• What does it take to implement change (personally or professionally)
• What is the one key attribute?

RESISTANCE TO CHANGE
There are multiple phases people go through during change:

These phases are inevitable, it is only our external response we have control over.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO IMPLEMENT CHANGE
In every successful change implementation it takes three key elements, without these keys, the change is doomed at least to a bumpy road, and probably to either under-achievement or failure.

• Upper management buy-in. This cannot be under estimated. Without executive buy-in, the change is destined for stalling. Mid-level management will test the business resolve of upper management and can smell weakness in a heartbeat. Momentum is lost, and delay is what happens. 
• Have a plan. Seems obvious, but much of change happens without a fully resolved and documented plan. Firms implementing change often say 'we are really smart and we will figure it out'. This is misguided and often leads to delay of change. Hire a qualified consultant, with resources to bring to the table, and give implementation consultant the input needed for a plan that is both reasoned and documented.
• What problem are we trying to solve?
• What are we willing to do to assist?
• What is our corporate culture and what works best for our type of company (not based upon budget, but upon other successful change).

• Define Conditions of Success.  See my blog -  http://connectingthedata.blogspot.com/2013/11/when-am-i-done-why-is-customer-unhappy.html Success requires a goal line. A mutually agreed goal line. Then the change needs to be constantly measured against the goal line. This is different than metrics. Here is an example:   

A project requires a new software to be implemented. The existing software opens in 1 second. The new software opens in 2 seconds. The metric says 100% decrease in performance (2 seconds vs. 1 second). The Condition of Success is the user should not notice the change from using existing software to new software.  

The problem is that metrics (numbers) can be manipulated to either forecast failure or promote success.  Metrics are not the only predictors of change success.  A defined and agreed upon Condition of Success will be a better indicator of a successful implementation than metrics.

ONE KEY ATTRIBUTE
What is the one crucial part?. Commitment. Commitment by all the parties involved, the customer and the consultant. Commitment is more than "I will pay you if you provide this for me". Commitment is the dedication of management buy-in, consultant time and effort, customer involvement and response, and dedication to conditions of success.

Unless Greek mythology Sisyphus is your hero (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sisyphus), look at your next change implementation from a different perspective.

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David Haynes, NCARB, PMP, LEED AP
Ideate Director of Consulting

David is a Registered Architect, Project Management Certified Professional, who previously had his own architectural practice and was President of a commercial design-build construction company for 15 years. A graduate of University of Arizona, he has worked as an Architect, contractor, developer and as a national construction manager for a national retailer. David currently provides business process analysis, virtualization and change management solutions for AEC clients across the United States involved in the design and building industry. Follow David on Twitter: @dhaynestech 

Get it. Know it. Use it.

This post was originally published on David’s blog Connecting the [Data]… 

Workset Reporting with Ideate Explorer for Revit

A few weeks ago we gave a gentle nudge to BIM Managers to take the courageous step of actually executing on their workset plans. That post generated a lot of positive feedback and discussion. Including this follow-up question.

Q:  Can I use Ideate Explorer for Revit to generate a list of elements per Category or by Workset for offline review? 

A:  Yes, any elements selected within Ideate Explorer can be exported to Excel from the Detail View. After Exporting to Excel the information can be easily transformed to include element counts by using a Pivot table. Here's how:  http://www.screencast.com/t/eyB3nisThiuN

Try the Ideate Explorer for Revit Free Trial today.

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Glynnis Patterson is a registered architect and the Director of Software Development at Ideate, Inc.

Classroom Training – Open Revit Classes

Know It. Ideate Training.

Position yourself to land dream projects. Tap the full potential of your software solutions. Increase your facility, fluidity and capability to maximize the value of your precision software tools.

11.12-13::San Francisco
Revit Architecture Beyond the Basics

11.12-13::San Francisco
Navisworks Fundamentals

11.14-15::Portland
Revit Architecture Beyond the Basics

11.18-20::San Francisco
Revit MEP: Electrical Fundamentals

12.17-20::San Francisco
Revit Architecture Fundamentals

12.17-20::Seattle
Civil 3D Fundamentals

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eLearning – Upcoming Classes

Join the Ideate Tech Experts for eLearning – live online classes that provide your entire organization with easy access to premium education. 

11.21.13::Civil 3D 201:
Using the Intersection Design Tool

Each class is designed to give you specific, improved results in a particular topic. You can interact with the instructor right from your own office, while eliminating travel time. Because the class schedule rotates, you can easily select your topics of interest and choose the day which best meets your schedule.

Click here for class descriptions, times and registration link. Questions? Contact education@ideateinc.com

Get It. Know It. Use It.

When am I done? Why is the customer unhappy?

Within all agreements there is the expectation that the customer will be satisfied. This basic tenet of contract law is assumed, but rarely documented well in the contract or agreement. How will we know if the customer is satisfied? When things go bad in a project, more times than not, the problem starts out with the client feeling that their needs are not being met - in other words unsatisfied.

Lean thinking has a concept called Conditions of Satisfaction (COS). This concept applies to any endeavor/project, whether it is a construction project, IT project, or any other customer-based service.  Conditions of Satisfaction is defined as:

Criteria by which the outcome of a contract, program, or project may be measured.

What does a Condition of Satisfaction include:

1. What are the expectations of the customer?  How often do we assume that or project/service meets those expectations. 
2. Have the Conditions of Satisfaction been documented/validated/verified and confirmed by the customer? 
3. Are the Conditions of Satisfaction(s) defined in a actionable way?

These actionable items require two key elements:

1. Actionable items solve project requirements. The requirements that the project must solve needs to be written in a clear and defined way.  Each requirement shall be stated in a precise manner, and solve only one issue at a time.  There may be multiple requirements in a project. 
2. The requirements also need to describe what the customer is to do.  Some call this NIC (not in contract), but I believe that Conditions of Satisfaction needs to include what the customer is providing.  I have found the best projects are one where the customer is fully engaged in the process, including providing elements of the completed project.  This dual, written commitment makes for a better partnership between the customer and the provider.

During the project, these COS requirements are reviewed at every meeting, and special attention is paid to them prior to the completion of the work.  A project cannot be complete without agreement on completing the Conditions of Satisfaction requirements.

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David Haynes, NCARB, PMP, LEED AP
Ideate Director of Consulting

David is a Registered Architect, Project Management Certified Professional, who previously had his own architectural practice and was President of a commercial design-build construction company for 15 years. A graduate of University of Arizona, he has worked as an Architect, contractor, developer and as a national construction manager for a national retailer. David currently provides business process analysis, virtualization and change management solutions for AEC clients across the United States involved in the design and building industry. Follow David on Twitter: @dhaynestech 

Get it. Know it. Use it.

This post was originally published on David’s blog Connecting the [Data]… 

Classroom Training – Open Revit Classes

Know It. Ideate Training.

Position yourself to land dream projects. Tap the full potential of your software solutions. Increase your facility, fluidity and capability to maximize the value of your precision software tools.

11.12-13::San Francisco
Revit Architecture Beyond the Basics

11.12-13::San Francisco
Navisworks Fundamentals

11.14-15::Portland
Revit Architecture Beyond the Basics

11.18-20::San Francisco
Revit MEP: Electrical Fundamentals

11.19-21::Seattle
Revit Architecture Fundamentals

12.11-13::Sacramento
Revit MEP: Electrical Fundamentals

 Know your software. Sign up now!

Ideate Presents: Autodesk Digital Entertainment SF User Group - Nov 21st

Please join Ideate and Autodesk for a Digital Entertainment User Group meeting at the Autodesk Gallery; featuring updates across Autodesk’s Media & Entertainment product line.

• Thursday, November 21st  
• 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm
• Register Here

Autodesk will be detailing a slew of product updates, including extension releases, new products, and a glimpse into future tech. Product specialists Marcel de Jong and Mark Schoennagel will be on hand to answer all your questions and show you all about the latest developments in Maya, Maya LT, 3ds Max, SoftImage, MotionBuilder, Mudbox, Reality Capture, Xgen and more.

About the Presenters

Marcel de Jong is currently a senior technical specialist at Autodesk. Previously he worked as a designer and digital FX consultant for clients such as DreamQuest Images, Digital Domain, Pixar and Sony ImageWorks. He has a range of production experience on film projects and his design work has been published in magazines such CGW, ID magazine, and Popular Mechanics. He is also a co-founder of Gnomon, School of Visual Effects and won an IDEA award.

Gary M. Davis has been involved in providing CG for television, film, games and architectural visualization for over twenty years. He has authored several books and has lectured at numerous industry conferences. At Siggraph 2007, Davis was named an Autodesk 3ds Max Master and shortly thereafter, joined the Autodesk as a technical specialist for the Media and Entertainment division.

Mark Schoennagel is the long-time Softimage product evangelist for Autodesk, currently focusing on Softimage ICE for creating visual effects. During the infancy of the 3D industry, Mark worked for several advertising agencies and animation studios in Florida. Inspired by the growing 3D industry he relocated to Los Angeles in 1998 and has been working with large film and game studios ever since. Still focusing primarily on Softimage, Mark has also taken a keen interest in the 3D printing technologies using tools like Autodesk Mudbox and Inventor to create 3D prints.

eLearning – Upcoming Classes

Join the Ideate Tech Experts for eLearning – live online classes that provide your entire organization with easy access to premium education. 

11.39.13::Revit 201:
Stairs and Railings in Revit

11.21.13::Civil 3D 201:
Using the Intersection Design Tool

Each class is designed to give you specific, improved results in a particular topic. You can interact with the instructor right from your own office, while eliminating travel time. Because the class schedule rotates, you can easily select your topics of interest and choose the day which best meets your schedule.

Click here for class descriptions, times and registration link. Questions? Contact education@ideateinc.com

Get It. Know It. Use It.

Big Red Button vs. Elephant Eating

When a consultant is asked how to solve a business problem, the customer/client is often interested in an over-arching, one big button solution.

This approach has two problems:

• Trying to solve problems with the 'big answer' denies an improvement  loop, both by the consultant and by the process itself. 
• It is very hard to solve any problem with just one answer.

There is an old saying "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time". It is really true. So what are the key elements:

•  Start with baby steps. This is the one bite at a time to eat an elephant.  One of the advantages most overlooked is that this method (a stepped approach) reduces anxiety those affected by the change will feel. 
•  Adjustments can be made.  If everything is defined, and set in stone, the implementation team (consultant and customer) will be reluctant to modify the process.
• But the key issue is:

                      CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Continuous improvement is one of the main tenets of lean thinking, lean services, etc. W. Edward Deming, pioneer in the field of Lean, proposed that feedback from a process and customers must be evaluated against goals. This feed-back loop allows for course adjustment, realignment, and even discovery of a different problem statement. With feedback, a better process is possible.

Eat the elephant one bite at a time and provide feedback of each bite.

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David Haynes, NCARB, PMP, LEED AP
Ideate Director of Consulting

David is a Registered Architect, Project Management Certified Professional, who previously had his own architectural practice and was President of a commercial design-build construction company for 15 years. A graduate of University of Arizona, he has worked as an Architect, contractor, developer and as a national construction manager for a national retailer. David currently provides business process analysis, virtualization and change management solutions for AEC clients across the United States involved in the design and building industry. Follow David on Twitter: @dhaynestech 

Get it. Know it. Use it.

This post was originally published on David’s blog Connecting the [Data]…