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Science Management Associates

Addressing the unmet need for interpersonal, group and organizational training of scientists and science executives in both the public and private sectors.

Contact us: carlmcohen@gmail.com           Phone : 617 965 1826      Science Management Associates is based in Newton, Massachusetts

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Science Management Associates Workshops Negotiation and conflict resolution for scientists: A workshop for scientists, researchers and research managers                              Click here to view a one page descriptive flyer for the "Negotiation" Workshop View a sample "Negotiation" workshop agenda here So much of what takes place every day in the lab or in science team meetings involves resolving differences of opinion or accommodating multiple viewpoints in complex scientific discussions. Often such discussions engender strong emotions, leading the participants to engage in counterproductive behaviors. At times the scientific discussion can get de-railed by emotion laden interchanges, and projects can be hampered or even halted. What do scientists find hard to do?       •Disagreeing productively over technical matters (“That can’t possibly be right, you forgot to       pre-incubate it ..”)    • Dealing with demanding supervisors (“I need these 30 cell lines assayed by the end of       the week.”) or recalcitrant employees (“No way can I get that done, I’m taking next week off       –  didn’t I tell you?”)    • Providing honest and useful feedback to employees    •Dealing with embarrassing personal  matters (“Larry, people in the lab find your body        odor distracting…”)    •Dealing with pushy, obnoxious, competitive colleagues who defocus you from the task    •Dealing productively with vexing issues such as space allocation, equipment use and lab       cleanliness    •Mediating disputes between employees    •Dealing with others taking credit for their work What do all these situations have in common?    •They all involve interacting with others.    •They all involve an uncomfortable situation in which emotions are stirred up.    •This can lead to instinctual responses – “fight or flight” reactions- that lead to confrontation,         avoidance and un-productive outcomes . It doesn't have to be this way. Dr Carl M. Cohen has created a series of workshops that are specifically focused on helping scientists interact and collaborate more effectively. The workshop on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution is the most popular of these. The workshop can be tailored to meet the needs of the audience, typically runs from four to six hours, and is highly interactive.    How can learning negotiation help?    •Becoming a good negotiator forces you to “read” needs, interests and beliefs of others.    •Good negotiators learn to monitor and modulate their own behavior in tense and emotion laden         situations.    •Negotiation teaches that listening can be more productive than talking.    •Effective negotiators (like effective leaders) identify and focus on underlying interests  rather        than on rigid positions. This is not a generic negotiation workshop. It focuses specifically on situations that scientists encounter every day, and provides tools and guidelines that will be immediately relevant and useful to a scientific audience. The workshop can be customized for different audiences - for example the situations and case studies will be different for academic audiences and audiences from, for example, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Because of the interactive nature of these workshops, they are typically limited to no more than 70 participants. The workshop is suitable for a mixed audience ranging from graduate students, post-docs and faculty at academic institutions and scientists, managers and above in Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical companies. The outline of a recent workshop can be found here.

Comments from recent Negotiation Workshop participants: "The workshop was put together extremely well - insightful, clear and concise. The role playing exercises were..a great way to keep the audience involved."  Post-doc. "I found it extremely useful because it gave names to problems I have and gave me tools to use in those situations." Post-doc "The examples of situations are nearly exactly what occurs in my lab" Faculty member "The focus is mainly on scientists and science managers. Carl having been through these makes it more personal and relevant" Pharma. Scientist ""Absolutely useful! Gave me a lot to think about regarding my communication and leadership styles. I think Carl's tips will benefit me both personally and professionally" Post-doc "Useful because this workshop was 100% focused on scientists. Everything was related to scientists and their environment"  Biotech Manager "This workshop is great! I have a lot of questions and concerns in the lab. Now I know what to do better." Grad Student "The workshop made me think about new ways of dealing with people, which will the lab team more collaborative"  Post-doc "This was useful because of Dr. Cohen's examples and modeling of behaviors. I found it useful to watch someone be the kind of lab manager I'd like to be" Post-doc