I want to tell you a little about my blog and book. In negotiating there are three things that you need to be successful. Yon need knowledge of the different types of negotiating strategies that you can use and when to use them. You need knowledge of negotiating tactics and how to use them. Last you need knowledge about what you are negotiating and what can impact that negotiation.
There are plenty of books that focus on tactics and strategies, but there were few that focused on the knowledge you need. Over the course of my career, every time a learned something that applied to negotiating contracts, I would write down my thoughts and save it. I would use those materials to help train my staff. It was also a great time saver as rather than have to explain a point, I would forward individual that had a question what I had previously written to explain it. If they still had questions then we could discuss it.
When I decided to write a book on knowledge, the materials I had were so voluminous that I couldn’t fit them into a reasonable sized book. Rather than not share them I decided to write the blog in addition to the book with the intent to have them be complimentary. The blog allows me to share more knowledge than I could do with just the book and it also allows me to include things that I wouldn’t include in the book.The difference between the blog and the book is the book has number of topics that aren’t covered in the blog and may go into more detail in explaining issues.
Since the blog is focused on knowledge there are four blogs in early December 2010 that you should read that describe what you need to be a good contract negotiator for procurement contracts:
1. General Business Knowledge.Jan 1, 2011
2. Procurement knowledge. Jan 3, 2011
3. Contracts knowledge Jan 9, 2011
4. Negotiation knowledge.
Negotiation knowledge Jan 1, 2011
Negotiation strategies Jan 8, 2011
To use the blog the July 18, 2011 blog lists all posts by both alphabetical index based on the subject and the date posted. To find the individual blog simply search for the date listed. Over time I will try to hot-links the posts to in the blog list..
Between the blog and the book I’ve tried to address much of that knowledge that I have/ I will also point you to locations where you can find other information about a topic.I think you will learn from the information I’ve shared and will continue to share. If you find it informative, you will also find that the book “Negotiating Procurement Contracts - The Knowledge to Negotiate” will be a valuable resource.
If there are any topics that are missing that you feel should be added please leave a comment in the blog. I welcome comments and suggestions for other topics..
Jack
John C. “Jack” Tracy
