Chapter 5
Negotiating: Getting What You Want without Damaging the Relationship
Not a day goes by that IT leaders and staff members don't negotiate with someone. My definition for negotiations is that it is what happens when someone wants something from someone else, whether that person is a team member or a business client. Typically, each party states its case, and in one way or another, they come to an agreement, whether they're skilled or unskilled, and whether the process is emotional or not.
Think of a day in the life of the IT organization, in which IT professionals at all levels of the organization face many types of negotiation situations every day, all day long. Before launching a new application, they need to work with the business client to have them allocate some of their staff to test the application. Then they need to work with the IT server team to get the go-ahead to get some space on a server for testing. From there, they need to secure a slot on the applications staff's calendar to make sure the test system is loaded in time for the business group they just talked into doing the testing. Their success at securing these needed resources hinges on their ability to negotiate with clients and other IT staff.
Think about the help desk and various technical support staff, who need negotiation skills to ensure that clients with critical needs don't get stuck in a queue waiting for IT support. And hardware techs often need to negotiate with software techs when coordinating ...
