November Event Recap | “Ask For It – Using Negotiations to Get What You Want.”

On November 3, 2016, iaWia collaborated with CREWIowa, Polk County Women Attorneys, and the Nexus Executive Women’s Alliance in hosting a workshop entitled “Ask For It – Using Negotiations to Get What You Want.” Presenter Brooke Benschoter – strategist with The Consultancy and certified Moxie trainer – led an interactive workshop at the Windsor Heights Community Center that allowed participants to explore their own perceived barriers to getting what we want and need in our daily lives due to discomfort with negotiating. 60 participants from all organizations, plus 14 nonmembers, learned that results can be achieved by overcoming fear, clearly articulating needs, and approaching negotiation as solving a problem instead of a win-lose situation. Successful negotiations do not begin as a demand or ultimatum. They start with the question, “Is there an alternative solution that can benefit both of us?”

Midway through the workshop, panelists representing each of the collaborating organizations offered professional insights into negotiations. Pictured here are Janette Larkin from the Des Moines Business Record (Nexus), Siobhan Harman from Kum & Go (CREWIowa), Jeanne Huntsman from The Weidt Group (iaWia),  and Federal Magistrate Helen Adams (Polk County Women Attorneys) along with facilitator Brooke Benschoter. The event concluded with a networking reception. Participants said they appreciated the networking connections as much as the professional training.

Thanks to Jill Boetger, Susanne Roesch and Susan Judkins for representing iaWia in helping to plan the event. Plans for a future collaboration with these professional groups, and possibly others, are already being explored for 2017.

Written by Susan Judkins.