Getting to Yes: Negotiating an Agreement Without Giving In

BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Negotiating is a way of life for the majority of us. Whether we’re at work, at home or simply going out, we want to participate in the decisions that affect us. Nowadays, hardly anyone gets through the day without a single negotiation, yet few of us are armed with the effective powerful negotiating skills that prevent stubborn haggling and ensure mutual problem-solving.

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Unfortunately all too often learning such skills is an ad hoc, piecemeal and subjective process where lessons are only learned upon reflection and usually after the horse has already bolted. We can continue to struggle between knowing how hard to push and when to yield, feeling torn between insisting on what we know we deserve and not wanting to rock the boat too much or come across as selfish or high maintenance. Read more

Round up the kids and ‘Go Country’ for Rotary Clubs

Love escaping the city? Love everything to do with the great outdoors? Then you’ll love Go Country! One of Australia’s most unique outdoor and farming expos, Go Country! will take place at Pakenham Racecourse (a 45 minute drive from the centre of Melbourne) on Saturday October 25 and Sunday October 26, 2008.

Visitors can look forward to shearing and dog trials, there’s a chance to get up close to the animals in the animal nursery and the rare breeds’ area and for the very brave ‘Snake Busters’ will be on hand to let you handle live snakes! Read more

Community calls for action on pay equity

The majority of Australians believe that the gender pay gap needs to be addressed, according to a new survey released on Friday.

The Auspoll survey of more than 3,000 people targeted business professionals, including human resource practitioners from many of Australia’s biggest companies, in addition to 1,200 ordinary Australians.

Conducted on behalf of The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency and Diversity Council Australia the poll showed: Read more

Australian Food Media Awards

The Australian Food Media Awards 2008, were held last night in the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre’s elegant Parkside Ballroom. The event rewarded the country’s leading communicators of cuisine, wine and produce across 23 important categories in print, radio, television, cable, the internet, advertising and photography.

“The food media industry is growing rapidly in response to a newly voracious public appetite for decisive, knowledgeable, entertaining food and wine information,” said Stewart White, President of the Food Media Club Australia (FMCA), which presents the Awards.

“The continuing high standard of Australia’s food communicators is obvious when looking at the calibre of the 2008 winners.” Read more

Women need to talk it up in the workplace says behavioural expert

According to leading U.S Behavioral Scientist Shannon L. Goodson (pictured) employees must learn to “toot their own horn” if they want a promotion or pay rise. Goodson, who spoke to Australian Women Online during a visit to Australia to promote her latest book The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance, says women in particular, are allowing the fear of self promotion to hold them back in the workplace.

Shannon L. Goodson has specialized in the influence of fear on the business-building activities of sales and non-sales professionals since 1978. She is considered one of the world’s leading authorities on sales call reluctance. She is also the author of the Job Seeking Index, a psychological test assessing attitudes towards networking for people searching for new positions. Read more

Small company named ‘Recommended Employer’ by the Australian Business Awards

Wavelength International, an Australian medical recruitment and migration company with just 40 employees, has been named as a ‘Recommended Employer’ by the prestigious Australian Business Awards – proving that size doesn’t matter when it comes to looking after the needs of company employees.

When asked to comment on the award, Director of Wavelength, Claire Ponsford (pictured) said, “Being named a Recommended Employer from the Australian Business Awards reinforces the professional and comfortable environment we have worked hard to achieve. Where appropriate, we approach our employees’ needs on an individual basis to ensure we are providing each with the best work environment possible.” Read more

Author Reveals The 61 Secrets of Fame

Author and US media personality David Seaman details in a new book, Dirty Little Secrets of Buzz, how anyone can become the mainstream media’s latest flavour of the month.

In Dirty Little Secrets of Buzz: How to attract massive attention for your business, your product, or yourself, veteran PR stunt-planner David Seaman brings a fresh approach to the traditional marketing and PR handbook.

Available in bookstores nationwide in the United States and on the Internet at Amazon.com, this book reveals 61 controversial secrets that “inevitably lead to fame.” These are the tricks regularly used by politicians, celebrities, and powerful businesses to secure media attention.

The book has been featured in The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, and elsewhere.  No word yet on when this book will be released in Australia and New Zealand.

Travel Tips for Women Traveling Alone

As a woman, sometimes traveling on your own can be a little daunting, so why not consider joining a group tour. Depending on the type of tour you choose, you will be able to maintain your personal space, whilst having the security of being in a group.

Here are a few suggestions from www.adventurouswomen.com.au on making your travel experience a rewarding one:

• Look at photos of passengers in the brochures to check out the demographics of a tour.  What age and gender are the clientele – Ask the question?

• Ask if the trip has a welcome dinner or cocktail party. If not, ask what they do to integrate solo travelers?    Some cruises invite solo travelers to parties or will give telephone numbers ahead of time. Some tour operators have a pre-departure meeting or dinner prior to take-off.

• Enquire about the location of your hotels, so you are comfortable going out alone when there is down time. Are these centrally located hotels in safe areas?

• Strongly consider twin share accommodation, as single supplements often work out very costly – perhaps choose a “women only” tour where you are comfortable to twin share. More often than not, there are other women traveling solo on these types of tours.

• How big is the tour group? If the group is too big, you may feel like your being shuffled from place to place and it can get a little impersonal.

If you reside in Australia, the federal government has created a website that includes lots of useful information for travelers.  Visit the website www.smarttraveller.gov.au

Risky Business: why 50% of business mergers fail

Around half of all business mergers are classified as unsuccessful in terms of “benefits realisation” and yet proposed large-scale mergers in the retail banking sector show that businesses are not losing their appetite for this risky process.

Brisbane-based change management experts Astor Levin explain in a recent whitepaper** the five reasons why mergers fail and six things organisations must do to stop this happening. Read more

World’s Biggest Book to be published in Australia

EARTH (pictured) is a 580 page Atlas that will never be repeated, weighs an enormous 35kg (boxed) and is billed as the Gutenberg Bible of our time, a time capsule of the Earth as it stands in 2008. An Australian owned publishing company is the brainchild behind EARTH which will have its world debut in Sydney on 9 October 2008.

EARTH has been a 20-year professional dream for Gordon Cheers that led him to create his own publishing company, Millennium House, known internationally as one of the most authoritative reference publishing houses in the world. Read more

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