Episode 207 – From Claims to Closures: A Guide to Project Negotiation

The podcast by project managers for project managers. How do successful project managers turn tough project negotiations into win-win outcomes? Discover a practical seven-step approach to managing claims, negotiating with customers, and closing negotiations effectively, offering a competitive edge for project managers handling complex projects. Stay in touch and give Rick some feedback on this podcast here: https://talk.ac/rickc?code=VELOCITEACH Table of Contents 02:34 … Meet Rick04:03 … Hiring Tips05:56 … Defining a Claim06:53 … Best Practices and Negotiation08:26 … No Knee-Jerk Project Negotiating10:15 … The Seven Step Approach to Managing Claims13:56 … Rehearse What you’re Saying15:14 … Leveraging Schedule or Payment17:07 … Connect with the Customer18:53 … Look for the Root Causes22:25 … Kevin and Kyle23:12 … Clarifying your Claim26:08 … Check the Numbers29:24 … Finding Leverage33:42 … Prioritizing Problem Areas34:35 … Successfully Closing a Negotiation36:13 … Contact Rick37:51 … Closing RICK CZAPLEWSKI: When you’re a project manager, your most critical project, the thing that is on your critical path as a PM is a distressed project.  If there’s a problem, that is your priority.  You have to get on that right away.  Because what you’re trying to do here is, if you know you or your company has done wrong, you want to put out the small fire before it blows up into an inferno.  That’s a common PM trap is, oh, man, this is a hard situation.  I’m going to leave it till the afternoon. WENDY GROUNDS:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  I’m Wendy Grounds, and in the studio with me is Bill Yates.  We just want to remind you that if you’re looking for opportunities to acquire PDUs, your professional development units, toward recertifications, you can still claim your PDUs for all our podcast episodes.  Listen up at the end of the show for information on how you could claim your PDUs. Today’s guest is Rick Czaplewski and he’s a seasoned expert in project management, especially in the art of negotiation.  He teaches negotiation and leadership skills to executives and professionals.  Today he’s going to share some invaluable insights from his journey and the critical aspects of negotiation within project management.  BILL YATES:  Wendy, negotiating, dealing with claims, dealing with disputes, that’s a part of project management life that is not very appealing to most of us.  There may be a few out there who just love it.  But there’s a lot of fear and trepidation when it comes to that disagreement with your customer.  Rick is going to provide us with a seven-step process for how to go about facing those claims and some tips on how to negotiate your way through. Now, a couple things about Rick.  He is a unique combination of CPA and PMP.  Also, a little background.  Rick and I first met, I don’t know, at least 10 years or so ago.  He started his career with HP, and then he was working with Siemens.  He was working with Siemens Light Rail in Sacramento when I had the privilege of teaching a PMP prep class in Sacramento for Siemens.  Rick was my point of contact there and participated in the class, earned his PMP on his first try and gave me the most exciting tour of their facility so I could see how they take raw materials and build light rail systems out of them.  So, we are delighted to have him as our guest today. WENDY GROUNDS:  Hi, Rick.  Welcome to Manage This.  Thank you for joining us. RICK CZAPLEWSKI:  Hi, thank you for having me. Meet Rick WENDY GROUNDS:  We are looking forward to this topic.  We’ve talked a bit about negotiation before, but you have something else.  You have a whole lot of different experience in negotiation.  So, we want to hear more about that and definitely get your advice.  But before we go there, can you tell us about how you got into project management, and a little bit about your career? RICK CZAPLEWSKI:  Yes,