20th January 2008
Listening is an important communication skill that is widely underused. That's because although we consciously learn to write and to speak, somehow we think listening should come naturally. That's not always the case.
Here are nine simple steps to impr...
16th January 2008
I recently had a conversation with a director of a major law firm about morale among employees. It was low, and employee retention was beginning to be an issue.
As we talked, it became apparent that while the lawyers had access to everything that would...
11th October 2007
Did you know that we human beings are incapable of NOT answering a question? I just asked you a question, and you answered it in your mind --- either you knew or you didn't know, and it was impossible for you not to at least THINK your answer. Isn't that ...
18th September 2007
If you want to stop feeling powerless at work, here's a good way to start: take responsibility for your own communication.What does that have to do with power? A lot, because many people handle their half of communication exchanges in a way that erodes th...
03rd September 2007
It's essential that you provide benchmarks in presentations when you are talking about the size, age, value or other attributes of a subject.
I have a friend who owns a temporary placement agency. In conversation, she told me she had x-number of temps ...
26th August 2007
In learning how to write a business letter, you need to know and understand the eight parts that should be included in any business letter. Here they are:
The return address: This is the writer's address. If you are writing on behalf of a company or or...
20th August 2007
If there's one skillset that can help you position yourself for career success, it's presentation skills. That's because in today's highly competitive workplace, it's not enough just to be competent - you need to be seen to be competent. And the best way ...
13th August 2007
Praise is often given to groups of people in recognition of a group achievement. This is a good thing. When we've all pulled together to meet an objective, that recognition helps extend the "feel good" moment that comes with achievement.
Unfortunately,...
06th August 2007
I sat in on a client meeting one day, and saw the leader make a classic communication mistake that never fails to cause resentment.
Tom had decided on a course of action for the group to take. I don't know how much research he had done, or whether he h...
31st July 2007
I'm often surprised when I hear people talk about "communication skills" and "writing skills" as if they were two separate attributes. Writing is a communication skill, and an important part of any communication skillset. Good writing skills are important...
29th June 2007
People love to be praised. Good managers know this, and take every opportunity to reward good performance with a word of public praise.
What many don't realize is that constructive criticism is also welcomed by employees. There are two reasons for this...
21st May 2007
Have you ever come back from vacation, or from a business trip of more than a few days, to find an overstuffed e-mailbox containing a blow-by-blow account of everything that happened while you were away? E-mail overload at its worst!
You know the kind ...
08th May 2007
Look at any number of want ads, particularly for senior employees, and you will see that most of them ask for team players. We all think we are team players, but the problem is we don't all mean the same thing. Noticeably, men and women have different ide...
30th April 2007
If you want to advance in your career, you can borrow the idea of positioning from the marketing world. Positioning has a simple objective: to make a target group of people see a particular brand of product as the best of its kind.
What does this have ...
22nd April 2007
You're happily mixing and mingling at a conference, when you find yourself speaking with an expert in a subject that's totally foreign to you. What do you do?
First, don't try to wing it, because you'll make mistakes and look foolish. Why would you wan...
