Multi-tasking and the Non-verbal Message

The supervisor typed busily away on his computer, while his employee, who had an appointment with him,waited uneasily for him to look up. "Go ahead, I'm multi-tasking," encouraged the supervisor. The employee thought, "I even made an appointment with him, but he doesn't care  enough to give me his full attention."

Have you ever been in a situation like this? How did you feel when someone did not look at you and give you his full attention?

Many research studies have shown that multi-tasking is an ineffective way to accomplish your work. One study at Stanford by Clifford Nass shows that you may be 40% less effective when you multi-task. That does not even count the impact on others when you multi-task instead of giving them your full attention.

One leadership project had corporate leaders deliberately give others their full attention during meetings. They reported people were impressed enough to mention this to their peers.

Great speech makes business sense. Learn  18 crucial communication skills leaders need to be effective in their organizations, from the e-book, Executive Communication Strategies!

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Winter Storm Coming and Your Risk Assessment

Winter Storms Neptune and Octavia are on their way! Are you prepared?

1. Now is the time to plan ahead for future business-oriented weather-related potential risks.  Depending on your business and location(s), who will make the crucial decision to close (if that is an option for your work-site)? If you close, what processes will be affected? Is there a way to transfer those responsibilities to someone else to handle remotely - and do they have the right equipment to do so, at an appropriate level of security? 

Who will respond to phone calls and e-mails, handle expected deliveries or products to be shipped out? Whose job will it be to notify patients, clients, students, customers, vendors or others that you are closing?

If your plan is to shelter in place, who will make that decision and how much advance notice will employees have?

Will those employees who have children in schools, elders in daycare or other responsibilities such as pets have an option to take the day off?

2. Be prepared at home for a winter storm. Information at www.ready.gov can help prevent frozen water pipes and much more.  If power lines come down, do you have alternate sources of light, such as extra D-batteries and flashlights that use them (as they last longer than smaller batteries and generate more light)? Do you have a way to cook and a manual can opener? How do you plan to stay warm if you have a home with electric heat? Do you have extra bottled water?  Do you have extra diapers, medicine and other supplies if you can't get to a store due to icy roads? If you use a C-pap machine or other electrical equipment for medical purposes, do you have a home generator or a battery-powered option for the machine? If you have medicine that needs to be refrigerated at a constant temperature, how will you manage that if your electricity goes out?

Do you have renter's or homeowner's insurance? If so, have you read the policy and know what it covers? For example, if a tree falls, does it cover some or all of the cost of having it removed? What about if it damages your home or vehicle? Are the contents of your refrigerator and freezer covered if there is no electricity and the food spoils?  If you have to stay in a hotel because of home damage, is that covered in your policy?  Do you have the telephone number and policy number to call the insurance company if you need to file a claim for renters', homeowners' or auto insurance? If you have this information, is it written down on paper in case your electronics do not work? (If you don't have renter's insurance and you rent,  do consider getting this insurance as soon as possible, definitely before the next storm. It can be inexpensive to get, and can be a lifeline if you have a disaster in your apartment or rented home.)

3. Lastly, how well is your vehicle equipped for being on the road in bad weather, even if your commute is usually a short one? Do you have an emergency kit consisting of blankets, extra hats, gloves and warm socks (because cold affects extremities first),  a flashlight with extra batteries,  an orange emergency triangle, emergency foods, water,  jumper cables and more? (There are lists of what to include at http://www.dmv.org/how-to-guides/emergency-kit.php.) If you have babies or young children, do you have necessary supplies such as extra diapers and toys in the car for them?  Do you fill up your gas tank when the weather starts looking ominous, and make sure your cell phone is fully charged?  You can't control the weather, so think ahead about what you could need and put it in a vehicle emergency kit today!Be prepared for the these severe storms; plan now!

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in communication for business. Our e-book, Executive Communication Strategies, offers valuable tips in 18 communication skills for leadership. Get the e-book today!

Better Business Communication Day: the most important letter in "persuasion"

                             

        Better Business Communication Day: the most important letter in "persuasion"

Better Business Communication Day is January 20, 2014.  Much of business involves persuading others, or being persuaded (or not) by others. Here are some tips on how to persuade others, or to detect when others are trying to persuade you.

We persuade when we appeal to someone else's interests. For example, in his incredible speech, "I Have A Dream", Dr King spoke about the struggles that some of the listeners had gone through recently, such as coming out of jail. He also spoke about their common experiences in America.

In business, consider the concerns and needs of the person you are persuading. Does your supervisor want more prestige, lower operating costs, or higher productivity? Does your customer want less hassle, a more user-friendly device, or quicker service? These factors are usually grouped into more

(pleasure) or less (pain).

If you are being persuaded, try asking these four questions. First, what are the disadvantages to the proposed action? Second, do all the pieces of the proposed solution fit together, such as the vendors, time-frame, employee scheduling, and customer expectations? Third, ask if there is anything else you should know about this situation. Fourth, listen carefully for the persuader's emotional overlay, such as fear, excitement or frustration; ask how he feels about this and why. Then, say nothing for a few seconds. This will often bring forth additional information from the persuader.

So what's the most important letter in "persuasion"? Why, "u", of course!

This information is summarized from page 16 of the Executive Communication Techniques, an e-book by Business Speech Improvement. This tip-filled e-book offers techniques from 18 different vital communication needs of today's executive. Get the e-book now and be better prepared for work tomorrow!

Decision-making: A vs B - What if There's a C?

                         

A favorite technique of people who want you to make a decision is to offer you two choices, A or B.

Professionals in many fields use this method. Do you want to meet on Monday or Wednesday at 2 PM?

Do you want to try treatment X or Y? Do you want to study your spelling or your history first?

Think beyond the box, though. Consider if there is a third option that for some reason the person is not mentioning.  For example, in the case of a medical treatment, is there a third process such as physical therapy that might be an equally effective option for a given problem?  Is there some reason the person is only offering you two choices and has not mentioned a third one, such as a business person having a financial interest in the two options discussed?

This critical listening question is similar to the 10 that are discussed on page 16 of the tip-filled Executive Communication  Strategies, the e-book you'll wish your boss had read! Learn techniques ranging from appreciation to critical thinking and persuasion, 18 different subjects in all. Find out more here!

What is the job of a leader?

                         What is the job of a leader?  

New Year's is a traditional time to reflect. As I begin another year of leadership, I am trying to define what the job of a leader is, and how I can do it even more effectively.
According to Max DePree, "The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant. " Theodore Roosevelt put it another way, "The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it."

Leadership to me is developing a plan for the future, selecting motivated people, coordinating and cheering on the team of workers, providing resources if needed, and staying out of the way while the workers figure out how to do their jobs.

What do you think are the 5 most important jobs of a leader?

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive, customized training in verbal communication skills. This includes executive communication skills.

5 Tips for Leading A Volunteer Project

Leading a volunteer-run project takes excellent leadership skills. Volunteers usually agree to participate in such a project because they want to be useful, want to connect with other volunteers on the team, or want to learn new skills. If something else takes higher priority in their lives, or they dislike the leadership of the team, they leave.

1. Plan your objective, time-frame, staffing, financial and equipment needs carefully, in advance.
If you ask team members to bring equipment or supplies, make sure what you request will be needed. They may have purchased something especially for this project. Carefully determine how many volunteers you will need, and what skills they should have, if any. For example, do you need someone with excellent skills in carpentry, baking, or writing? Announce the necessary number of volunteers and specific skills that will be needed in your request for volunteers. If your project is one that is suitable for families, are you prepared to include children of various ages in the work you are doing so they feel needed? Do not assume the parents will have brought toys for little ones to keep them busy, for example. If children under a certain age should not be there, for safety or other reasons, state that ahead of time.

2. If your team will work together only once, for a short time, how will you divide the work to keep all the volunteers busy, preferably all or most of the time? As leader of the team, use your expertise to keep others involved, in addition to doing some of the actual tasks yourself. Think of yourself as a juggler, keeping all the people busy simultaneously while also keeping everything on schedule. Look around often and see who is standing around doing nothing; find a task that person can do.  If a volunteer is bored, often he will think of other things he would rather be doing - and he will regard this time as wasted.

3. If your team will work together over a long period of time, ask each person to complete a volunteer information form beforehand. Find out if the person likes to complete short term projects which have a sense of closure, is detail-oriented, wants to learn new skills and has a special interest that might fit into the project, likes to do a small amount of volunteer work regularly, or can help but only during certain time periods, for example. Each of those types of volunteers can be invaluable - if you know their needs in advance.

4. Some volunteers get involved to seek recognition and praise. Frequent public or private praise, depending on what they prefer, is easy to offer. (If in doubt, praise them publicly.) For example, have a "volunteer of the week or month", and specify what the person did that was terrific! Possibly you can give them a small token of the group's appreciation, such as a gift card to a local coffee-shop, if that is appropriate, as well as a letter of thanks.

5.  If you are likely to need more volunteers, ask your current ones first what they most enjoy about doing this work. With their permission, use quotes from them as part of your strategy to recruit new volunteers via fliers or online. Also ask current volunteers if they know of someone they would enjoy having on the team. Either they or you can contact the person.

Business Speech Improvement offers training in executive communication skills, as well as an economical  e-book on this.  "Executive Communication Strategies" is a 21 page e-book concisely covering 18 different communication techniques for leadership. It's a book you will wish your boss had read! Click here to get it.

Relationship-building and trust

Building a business or a personal relationship takes consistency and trust. Consider these situations: A recruiter promises a sought-after candidate that people at fast-growing Company X have frequent opportunities for advancement Before signing anything, the candidate finds a current employee online and discovers that few insiders get considered for these new openings. The candidate no longer trusts anything else the recruiter tells him. A new customer of a car dealership buys a vehicle with an extended warranty. The dealership makes an error in servicing the vehicle, and the vehicle now needs expensive repairs. The dealership does it for free, as promised, and works hard to regain the customer's trust. Someone on a dating site misrepresents himself in his personal description, and a potential date discovers this. She now distrusts him, and refuses further communication with him. Consistency builds trust, and in the beginning of a business or personal relationship, trust is crucial. If trust is broken, the relationship is very hard to repair. Sometimes the person who erred can apologize and explain the situation, but often it takes considerable work over an extended period of time. In a new relationship, it often is not worth the effort by at least one of the parties. Promise only what you are sure you can deliver. Consistency is a key to trust. Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in verbal skills, including communication skills for leadership development.

Recruiting: Corporate first impressions in communication for potential applicants

As a manager, executive or recruiter, do you know what kinds of impressions your company gives potential applicants? For example, does everyone involved respond promptly, within 24 hours, to an applicant's resume being received, or to questions from applicants, especially in high-demand fields? When there is a problem and an application is not responded to in a timely fashion, do employees blame each other - in e-mails sent to the applicant - and thus feel OK about the situation, or does someone take responsibility and indicate "the buck stops with me, and I erred"?

If a valued applicant turns down a position, does anyone ask the person why the position was not accepted, so the company can learn from the situation? This can benefit the bottom line as the company develops a better system next time.

Business Speech Improvement provides training in Executive Communication Coaching, which includes training in employee retention and other communication skills. Individual speech coaching in this and other skills can be scheduled. For more information, visit http://businessspeechimprovement.com/enabler/scripts/category.pl?Classes.

Is decision-making difficult for you?

Many managers and executives struggle with making good decisions. They often are concerned they have not considered all the angles. Here is a simple decision-making model for important decisions.

Consider PANOAPT: Positives And Negatives, Other options, Additional information needed, People/processes affected by the decision, Time-line for action.

If you are a CEO, manager or executive, what do you think of this model as it relates to your work or industry?

Business Speech Improvement (www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com) offers individual and group training in Executive Communication Skills, as well as many other verbal communication skills.