The concept of negotiation is relatively easy to understand. However, mastering the art is a whole lot more complicated and difficult to accomplish because it not only involves techniques, but also requires certain behavior that is not always easy to adopt.

On completion of this program, you will:

• Fully understand the nature of negotiation and the associated benefits
• Understand the key concepts of negotiations, negotiation relationships and negotiation styles
• Understand the role of their own personality and conflict handling disposition in negotiations
• Be able to prepare and plan for a negotiation
• Understand all the factors that affect the climate of the negotiation and how to use these to best advantage
• Understand how to negotiate for common ground
• Understand how to conduct truly persuasive communication
• Understand how to deal with conflict and aggression
• Be able to demonstrate the capability to apply these fundamental negotiation skills

 A couple of weekends ago I decided that it was time to cut the large tree trunk in my garden into manageable sized logs to use for fire wood etc. The sun was shining, but it was not too hot. I started the chain saw, who’s noised chased the Lories and other birds into the nearby trees. Whilst cutting through the tree trunk a lazy lizard (as it was not too hot) ran past the chain saw blade. Unfortunately the blade cut off the lizard’s tail. I stopped the chain saw immediately… The poor lizard sat there on the log, it’s little chest pulsating as it tried to catch is breath. Both the lizard and I stood there watching the lizard’s sawn off tail flapping around on the ground. The tail jumped around in the dirt for nearly 5 minutes before it stopped wriggling. By then the lizard had composed itself, gathered its little thoughts, and come up with a new strategy to survive. So off went the lizard up the nearby tree high out of my reach and to camouflage itself once more. Off to live another day. This led me to think about our own actions in life and business. Sometimes, we too confuse activity with achievement. Sometimes we get caught up within the fast pace of life, with little direction, which leads us to be very active and very busy, but we achieve little. Maybe sometimes, we need to be a little less like the lizard’s tail, and more like the lizard. Rather think, plan, slow things down, and go on to achieve what is important to us; instead of rushing about being very active but achieving little.

Well, if you haven’t already heard then who knows where you’ve been! It’s Avo’s 10^th Birthday!!! Happy Birthday to us, Happy Birthday to us, (please imagine at this point a chorus breaking into song), Happy birthday to Avo (actually more like aaaaaa-vvvvvvv-oooooooooo), Happy birthday to us!! Thanks Jules!

Seems like Avo is going through a bit of a Media Buzz at the moment. Newspaper articles everywhere!! Thenjie is busy making a scrapbook of all the articles and I hope when it’s finished that you will take the time out to have a look through it. Hanli’s little “Tea-Party” went down a treat! Let’s just say “Pimms” has a few new fans, and so does 44 Stanley!

Me missing out on Robbie’s concert? (Well it should be!). No, no, once again [Hanli!!!….] the cock-up goes to Hanli (please note that we only live vicariously through her “commendable” social life and not the cock-ups!). Yup. She actually managed to miss out on Avo’s surprise 10^th birthday party to go pick up her EX at the airport who didn’t even arrive! I’m speechless, absolutely speechless, really! As a matter of fact: She retains the prestigious “Cock-Up of the Year” Award for that little number.

I don’t care what anybody else thinks this month, I say kudos goes to Jules for 10 years of great “stuff”! And another to all the avo’s for the surprise party! (I don’t know how we pulled it off, but we are sneaky, very very sneaky)

Only Avocado Vision!!

Jenny, literally. Jen baked us a gorgeous avo cake � no really, a cake that looked like an avo! Was I jealous that it wasn�t my beautiful creation? Absolutely! (but oh-so-yummy “mmmm”). Elaine is also on some kind of soup mission, she has apparently found her “Soup-making-mojo”. I think we should have tasting volunteers!. Apart from the chicks who are literally in the kitchen, Jules is, well, cooking! You go girl! (Imagine Hanli’s Angels in cheerleading uniforms and pom-poms ”Give me J, give me”).

A funny one, cause you deserve it:”Nothing tastes as good as thin feels”. Anthony Robbins.

And one to feed your soul:”Imagination is more important than knowledge”. Albert Einstein.

Hope I made you laugh, hope I made you smile and hope to do it again next month!

Call centres are big business, and in South African today, one of the main objectives for outsourced call centres is to obtain offshore business.

This business is currently being outsourced to India, which has become the world’s call centre Mecca. Mandy Todd, an independent call centre consultant for Avocado Vision says that currently South Africa does not enjoy a fair share of the international call centre market due to a number of reasons, the primary one being labour issues. Added to that is the fact that South Africa’s telecommunication costs are the highest in the world, and previously our VOIP facilities were not up to scratch, which has since improved.

Todd says that South Africa’s labour problems in the call centre arena stem from our education and skills challenges. In comparison, even though unemployment is high in India, the workers all have a certain level of education and skill. An international delegation visited South Africa a few years back to undertake an analysis of how South Africa could compete as a global player in the call centre market. Coupled with statistics from a survey undertaken by the Department of Labour, figures indicate that 20% of the South African workforce is skilled, with the other 80% semi –skilled or unskilled. In the USA, these statistics are reversed. Seventy percent of the US labour market is skilled, with only 30% falling into the semi-skilled and unskilled category.

The international delegation also found that the South African middle management sector has a big skills gap when it comes to the  management required for call centres. In international markets, call centres form the hub of a business, so it goes without saying that international companies will not outsource this vital component of their business to unskilled people.

Furthermore, South Africans often battle to understand the culture of the international business market. “Because English is not a first language for many South African employees, they may also experience problems in correctly interpreting written communications,” comments Todd.

Call centres are a highly controlled environment from a labour point of view. Everything is closely measured - from how many calls an operator takes, to how many calls they drop and how long they spend on each call. “It is a highly stressful environment because the operators have to deal with clients who are rude and dissatisfied and outright angry on a regular basis. This is coupled with the pressure they feel from having their performance measured so closely all the time. They also have to be up-to-date and able to operate the latest communication technology,” says Todd.

Due to all these dynamics, a very different set of management skills are required in a call centre environment. These skills revolve around motivating teams, understanding team dynamics and cultural diversity. Call centre managers also need to be equipped to deal with the stress of the employees and assist in diffusing and alleviating this stress.

In addition, call centre managers need to coach people for excellence, they need to understand call centre metrics, how to use these systems and procedures to the advantage of the call centre, as well as cost management and how to get more for less. Correct staffing is also paramount for a successful call centre operation, and managers, aside from staffing correctly, will also need to understand and implement cost saving areas with regards to staff and creating better working mechanisms.

Todd suggests that call centres should look at a different staff payment model. “They should pay staff based on performance instead of a flat rate, and in that way motivate a better level of performance and incentivise the staff,” she says. Call centre management is a people oriented role. In South Africa, managers are traditionally 80% task oriented and 20% people oriented. Internationally managers operate the other way around with 80% of their focus on the people that they manage. This indicates that the people component is definitely missing from the South African call centre management arena, which often results in unhappy labour and therefore high staff turnovers.

From all this, it is evident that training for middle management of the call centre industry is a vital component that is sadly lacking in South Africa. Todd recommends a dynamic middle management curriculum, a course that will result in a recognised qualification. To address this clear gap in the market, Avocado Vision, which was established in 1996 by interpersonal communications specialist, Juliet Newton, to specifically address the need for businesses to manage the ‘people connections’ interface, has developed a call centre management and discipline curriculum that provides a comprehensive training intervention for the middle management of call centre industry.

Among other things, this course includes a people component, possibly the most important skill for call centre managers. This section provides managers with the tools for effectively measuring staff performance and developing a compensation and recognition model. Motivating teams, being a good, inspirational leader, coaching and mentoring as well as handling of conflict and conflict resolution also forms part of this curriculum.

Call centre managers need a thorough understanding of the processes of the business. In a call centre environment, processes need to be well defined and followed to the letter in order to achieve success. This section of the course teaches managers how to establish and implement effective processes, the process workflow, supporting documentation and on-desk material for staff. It also provides managers with the skills to control, audit and improve on existing processes and teach them how to undertake a root cause analysis to find out where processes are failing.

Performance is key in any business, and call centres managers need to have an intimate understanding of the drivers of staff satisfaction, proper resource utilisation, the cost of poor quality work and the design and implementation of a quality staff programme. Lastly, the course looks at workforce management and equips call centre managers with the correct tools for staffing and scheduling on which each and every call centre is heavily reliant.

There are many training institutions that deal with bits and pieces of what is required for call centre training. “Leadership courses abound, as do those on people skills, but there is no comprehensive curriculum directed at the call centre market specifically,” says Todd, who goes on to say that the problem with most leadership and coaching courses is that delegates walk away unable to apply what they have learnt in the workplace. “That is because the knowledge is gained in isolation,” says Todd.

If South Africa wants to be a true global player in the international call centre market, it has never been more crucial for local call centres to reassess their operating mechanisms and staff training. “South Africa as a country needs to be able to operate in that international space, which will result in wealth and job creation,” Todd concludes.

Avo has come of age.  This month we celebrate our 10^th birthday.  I thought the event may go past without too much ado, but I have to confess that it has actually taken me into a place of reminiscence and reflection that is probably already boring my colleagues!  So indulge me – there are not many small businesses that can celebrate this milestone, and if you are reading this, then you are probably one of the special people that have supported us over the years to get where we are today.

One of my reflections is that I am who I am because of everybody else.  I know that where I stand, I stand on the shoulders of giants who have so generously and wisely mentored and supported me on my journey to this point.  Gavin Sharples, you challenged me to start this thing, even though I was terrified out of my wits; Dave Harvey, you signed off a homeloan for me, (a soon-to-be-unemployed single mom), because you believed in me and knew I would make it work; Mike Romburgh, who gave me my first piece of work at SAB, which 10 years later, is one of the solid business relationships we still have the privilege to work within; Vanessa Bluen, who helped me find my own voice on the speaking platform, and continues to be a great friend and mentor; Maurice Kerrigan, from whom I learned so much about running a small business, and achieving excellence in my work; Sharon Kersten, you stretch me and my team always with the challenges you set us and the conversations we share; Pat Lamont and Nedbank for supporting us when our finances nearly sank us, Nic Slingsby, my coach, who challenges me and encourages me always…Andre Grobler… I wish I could acknowledge all the giants that have made such a significant difference to my journey over these years.  I have learned at the knee of you all, and I honour you for your companionship on our road.

And then there is the Avo team: my heart people, all so special to me.  Every day, I can’t wait to get in to work with you all.  I learn new things with you every day, and I can never repay my debt of gratitude to you all for pulling together when the going got really tough!  Together, we are creating a space where we can all find our voices in the world.

To my two partners: Grant, my life partner, and Elaine, my business partner: Walking with you both along this path is a privilege.  We’ve only just begun…

As a company, we are standing on the brink of big and exciting new things.  If our funding comes through from the IDC, we will soon be making a significant difference in this country, by providing over 1000 new jobs for black women across South Africa.  I feel like everything we have done in the past has been preparing us for this new opportunity we have to make a contribution. Thank you to all the giants: you helped plant the Avo seed: please take pleasure in watching the tree fruit, and know you had a significant part to play in it.

May we all continue to plant the seeds for trees in whose shade we may never sit, and whose fruit we may never eat.  This is the world of abundance: our world of Avocado Vision.

Perhaps you own one. I don’t. I barely write anymore – most of my thoughts get hammered out on a keyboard or spoken directly into a digital recorder. But I’m intrigued. Not by the odd Moleskine-bearer strolling nonchalantly around Melville or Rosebank (I usually dismiss them as artsy-types), but rather by the phenomenal online following the ol’ Moleskine brand enjoys.

The Moleskine (pronounced mol-a-skeen-a) is simply a brand of notebook manufactured by Modo & Modo, an Italian company, bound in oilcloth-covered cardboard (Moleskin) with an elastic band to hold the notebook closed and a sewn spine that allows it to lie flat when opened. Not particularly high tech, or particularly sexy, for that matter. The pocket notebook’s reputation has grown in stature through the endorsements of the likes of Bruce Chatwin, Neil Gaiman and Pete Doherty, and rumour would have it that the Moleskine was a favourite accessory to the likes of Picasso, Hemingway and Van Gogh.

Whether all the folklore is verifiable or not the Moleskine brand, through its product’s minimalist design and stylish simplicity, continues to enjoy a formidable, almost cultish following. I’ve never heard Moleskine notebooks advertised on the radio, nevermind on the telly, and yet everyone who’s anyone either owns one or can tell you something about them. That’s exceptional - the immense power of viral marketing, personified by a wad of blank pages.

I was interested to hear Jackie Huba of the Church of the Customer blog talking about her Moleskine-fetish, and she listed some fascinating links to some of the more fanatical Moleskine Evangelists in the online world. Moleskine blogs, a MySpace site and even a comprehensive Wikipedia entry (from which, just by the way, I got most of the information for this article). All this free marketing by unpaid, enthusiastic citizens, who believe in the unobtrusive allure of an overpriced notebook.

How many citizen marketers does your brand have?

Hi there gorgeous people.

Meet two of the coolest nutritionists ever! Please have a read through what they get up to and go check out their website - lets not pretend we’re not interested!

Thanks!:)

Complete Nutrition Solutions

Christine Stent Pinha and Celynn Erasmus (Nutrition experts and professional speakers)

Healthy eating should be delicious, easy and fun and can fit into any lifestyle!

Our guarentee is simple: an extra two productive hours in your day - without working overtime!

As qualified dieticians and nutritionists we specialize in wellness strategy development and implementation,specifically focusing on boosting energy levels. No fads, no gimmicks and absolutley no dieting…just practical advice that works!

We achieve this through dynamic presentations, live cook-offs and interactice demos! 

IT’s OUR BIRTHday!  Today Avo turns 10 years old!  I’m not even going to begin reminiscing on the past 10 years…. suffice to say  I’m really PROUD that we’ve come this far!

WELL DONE EVERYBODY!!!!!!!