my articles | learn more about DirectoryM articles | contact us | advertise with us   
 
SEARCH:
Quick Search Results

Searching...

ABOUT US | VIEW ALL FEATURED ARTICLES | VIEW ALL TOPICS | VIEW ALL REGIONS | DM MOBILE | DM BLOG

Art of Compromise Minnesota

The secret to business success.

Local Companies

Voyager Consulting Services, Inc.
(651) 264-3080
7616 Currell Boulevard
Woodbury, MN
Midwave
952-279-5600
1460 Lake Drive West
Chanhassen, MN
You Have The Power
(651) 330-7300
1360 University Ave. W
St. Paul, MN
YMR Management Solutions
952-401-8870
450 Lakeview Ave.
Tonka Bay, MN
Shared Financial Resources Group
651-486-9835
855 Village Center Dr., STE 317
St. Paul, MN
Zastrow Coaching and Consulting
651-439-8605
2302 Eagle Ridge Trail
Stillwater, MN
Organization Effectiveness Research Group
507-389-5829
Department of Psychology
Mankato, MN
netWALKING
651-325-8355
1012 Grotto St. N
St. Paul, MN
Communications Consulting & Coordination
888-770-2230
5701 Kentucky Av N
Minneapolis, MN
Atkinson & Frazier Consulting, LLC
651-994-9147
2349 Apache Street
Mendota Heights, MN


Art of Compromise

News coming from Washington these days reflects the discord of politicians arguing over issues from judicial nominations to Social Security. Civility and collaboration among political adversaries greased the wheels of the American political process for much of the 20th century. No longer! Given the polarity of the American electorate, compromise has come to be equated with selling out. Comity between adversaries has gone by the wayside.

By contrast, business demonstrates in many ways how to prosper through compromise. In a free market society, conceiving, developing and delivering a product or service is filled with hundreds of compromises that balance the needs of the consumer to obtain value with the needs of the producer to make a profit.

Creating Unity
Compromise is not a betrayal of values. It is an agreement over a position where both sides come away with something to their liking. Not every compromise is a good one. General Motors' compromise with its unions over health and pensions in the late 1990s has resulted in legacy costs today approaching $2,500 per vehicle, which the company can ill afford to absorb. On the other hand, compromise between oil producers and the environmentalists has resulted in the implementation of drilling methods that are more ecologically compatible, in addition to the creation and preservation of natural habitats.
Compromise ensures the common interest, and so is a valuable practice for managers to learn and implement. Why? Because compromise is a means by which the talent and skills of a diverse team can be harnessed for the completion of a project. Compromise ensures that people participate and their collaboration overcomes not only inertia but also resistance. Here are some ways to encourage compromise.

  • Insist on collaboration. Reflect for a moment on your most positive team experience. It may be something that occurred in high school athletics or you may be experiencing it right now in your workplace. If you consider why the team succeeded, it is due not simply to the individual proficiencies of teammates, but it was everyone’s ability to meld together, not always as friends, but as collaborators who respect one another’s talents and abilities. That’s teamwork. In a larger picture, it is the collaboration of individuals for the greater good, e.g., producing intended results in the form of winning games or winning in the marketplace. How can managers insist on collaboration? The first way is through example. Make it known that you are willing to share the hardships, be it longer hours or more difficult assignments. A second way is through open and honest communications. Set clear expectations and be available to listen and learn from others on the team.


  • Leverage dissent. The job of employees is not to agree with the boss 100 percent of the time. Employees should feel free to offer alternate points of view about how the work is done, or about the intended results. At the same time, the managers have a right to expect that the work will be done on time and on budget. Managers may also insist on adherence to standards of quality and practice and exact discipline when those metrics are not met. But within that framework there is room for dissent. Creative tension over ideas provokes good thinking and rigorous analysis. The development of marketing campaigns resembles a laboratory for collaborative thinking. Product offering and research are combined with lots of clever minds to develop strategies and creative that make the offering desirable, accessible and available to the consumer, be it a company or an individual. Managers can encourage dissent through the process of appreciative inquiry – that is, the asking of questions designed to elicit different ideas as well as affirm rights of people who want to ask questions.

  • Seek comity. One of the reasons people shy away from compromise is that they feel it is not worth jeopardizing team harmony. True to a degree, perhaps, but team unity is threatened more seriously by failure to compromise. When individuals on a team are competing among themselves to deliver on a project, it is psychologically wearing. As mentioned above, creative tension can be a positive, but emotional tension erodes comity and provokes disagreements and disputes that are directed at personalities rather than projects. It therefore falls to the manager to assuage egos and soothe over hard feelings. Compromises where parties share in the process as well as share in the rewards will make the workplace more harmonious. Sometimes gratification will be deferred. Surrender on one point may not deliver a personal gain, but it will demonstrate that the individual has the strength of character to be a good team player. Such recognition may be the most valuable outcome of compromise.

    Comprise as a Sign of Strength
    As valued as compromise may be to organizational health, there are two instances, at least, where compromise can be damaging. The first instance is ethics. When you compromise over hiring someone with a questionable background, or look the other way over a suspect invoice or inflated expense report, you eat away at the integrity of the organization. Just as one bad apple will spoil the barrel, one bad actor can damage the reputation of an organization and do it irreparable harm. A second instance is values, which are defined as the truths and beliefs that bind people to an organization. When athletes dope themselves to enhance performance, values are thrown by the wayside because dopers violate the spirit of their sport as well as the sanctity of competition. They un level the playing field to the detriment of fellow athletes, spectators and themselves. Everyone loses.

    Compromise is considered an art because it does not result from a process diagram or an employee handbook. Genuine compromise emerges from looking to the hearts and minds of your people to find best possible solutions. Ideally, compromise creates win win situations, but not always. Very often the one who compromises the most is the one who has the most to lose. For example, a project manager who is willing step back from the team and allow others to add their ideas, as well as their labor, to make the project come along may sacrifice her own pet ideas for the good of the whole. That is compromise of the highest order. And it is also known by another name – leadership.

    John Baldoni is a leadership communications consultant who works with Fortune 500 companies as well as non-profits including the University of Michigan. He is a frequent keynote and workshop speaker as well as the author of six books on leadership; the latest is How Great Leaders Get Great Results (McGraw-Hill). Readers are welcome to visit his leadership resource website at www.johnbaldoni.com.

    • Featured Local Company

    J.T. Funding

    651-291-2982
    Sibley st.
    st,paul, MN
    don't have

    Read more about Art of Compromise

    Regional Articles
    - Art of Compromise Albert Lea MN
    - Art of Compromise Alexandria MN
    - Art of Compromise Andover MN
    - Art of Compromise Anoka MN
    - Art of Compromise Austin MN
    - Art of Compromise Bemidji MN
    - Art of Compromise Big Lake MN
    - Art of Compromise Brainerd MN
    - Art of Compromise Buffalo MN
    - Art of Compromise Burnsville MN
    - Art of Compromise Cambridge MN
    - Art of Compromise Champlin MN
    - Art of Compromise Chanhassen MN
    - Art of Compromise Chaska MN
    - Art of Compromise Circle Pines MN
    - Art of Compromise Cloquet MN
    - Art of Compromise Cottage Grove MN
    - Art of Compromise Detroit Lakes MN
    - Art of Compromise Duluth MN
    - Art of Compromise Eden Prairie MN
    - Art of Compromise Elk River MN
    - Art of Compromise Excelsior MN
    - Art of Compromise Fairmont MN
    - Art of Compromise Faribault MN
    - Art of Compromise Farmington MN
    - Art of Compromise Fergus Falls MN
    - Art of Compromise Forest Lake MN
    - Art of Compromise Grand Rapids MN
    - Art of Compromise Hastings MN
    - Art of Compromise Hibbing MN
    - Art of Compromise Hopkins MN
    - Art of Compromise Hugo MN
    - Art of Compromise Hutchinson MN
    - Art of Compromise International Falls MN
    - Art of Compromise Inver Grove Heights MN
    - Art of Compromise Lakeville MN
    - Art of Compromise Little Falls MN
    - Art of Compromise Mankato MN
    - Art of Compromise Marshall MN
    - Art of Compromise Minneapolis MN
    - Art of Compromise Minnetonka MN
    - Art of Compromise Monticello MN
    - Art of Compromise Moorhead MN
    - Art of Compromise Mound MN
    - Art of Compromise New Ulm MN
    - Art of Compromise North Branch MN
    - Art of Compromise Northfield MN
    - Art of Compromise Osseo MN
    - Art of Compromise Owatonna MN
    - Art of Compromise Princeton MN
    - Art of Compromise Prior Lake MN
    - Art of Compromise Red Wing MN
    - Art of Compromise Rochester MN
    - Art of Compromise Rosemount MN
    - Art of Compromise Saint Cloud MN
    - Art of Compromise Saint Joseph MN
    - Art of Compromise Saint Paul MN
    - Art of Compromise Saint Peter MN
    - Art of Compromise Sartell MN
    - Art of Compromise Sauk Rapids MN
    - Art of Compromise Savage MN
    - Art of Compromise Shakopee MN
    - Art of Compromise South Saint Paul MN
    - Art of Compromise Stillwater MN
    - Art of Compromise Thief River Falls MN
    - Art of Compromise Virginia MN
    - Art of Compromise Waseca MN
    - Art of Compromise Wayzata MN
    - Art of Compromise Willmar MN
    - Art of Compromise Winona MN
    - Art of Compromise Worthington MN
    - Art of Compromise Zimmerman MN
    Rate Article
         
    Articles Insider
    Rss   Delicious   Digg   Add To My Yahoo   Add To My Google   Bookmark   Search Plugin
    Topics:
    Advertising Educational Content Home Appliances Real Estate Resources
    Business Services Entertainment Home Electronics Software
    Career Family Home Services Technology
    Cars Fashion Internet Telecommunications
    Chamber of Commerce Financial Services Legal Trade Shows
    Computer Hardware Franchise Miscellaneous Travel
    Construction Health Nightlife Weddings
    Education Holidays Online Database World History
    Articles.DirectoryM.com | Search | About Us | Contact Us | Mobile | Blog | En Español
    Copyright © Interaction Media Group. All rights reserved.