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Will You Add? - What's Your Communication Quotient? Workplace Communication - Your Key to Success!
The New Year is almost here and most of us are thinking about how we might be healthier, happier, wealthier and more productive. Here are my suggested resolutions to help you accomplish these goals.For Bookkeepers:Re-educate yourself – there is always something new to learn. See if your company offers education reimbursements and apply for them. You might want to consider non-bookkeeping type classes as well, such as classes in communications, organization, managerial skills and computer training.Organize yourself- the best way to be more productive. Start with your workspace and then move on to your work day. Ask your boss to fund the purchase of a Day-Timer or other similar organization tool and use it every day.Get Certified – a sure career booster. By earning a certified bookkeeper designation you will bring add
• Constructively critique another's performance can be one of the hardest things to do. Learn to separate performance from person, to get specific and also offer remedies or corrective plans, as well as benchmarks for success.
• Employ active listening techniques to insure you are hearing the other party and they are feeling heard as well. Many professional and interpersonal difficulties arise from a feeling of not being heard. Learn ways of insuring that you are hearing correctly and similarly being heard.
When The Going Gets Tough…
- Can You Handle Constructive Criticism?
- Can You Assert Yourself When Necessary & Speak Up?
- Can You Negotiate Effectively?
- Can You Co-exist With Diverse Personality Styles?
See Hecklers, Hardliners, and Heavy Question
Like every parent, I search for authentic ways to allow my kids to learn. Our most recent adventure has been a lemonade stand in the front driveway.We started with ten glasses of lemonade, a plate of Rice Crispies squares and lots of enthusiasm. Child 1, (six years old) was keen and had no trouble marketing his wares. Child 2, (five years old), was quickly injured by a small rock on the concrete and soon retreated to the safety of her room.Lesson 1: Expect difficulty.Things will always go wrong. Be prepared to work hard and to do everything yourself to accomplish your goals. Ownership has benefits but also means personal sacrifice.“Would you like some lemonade?” Child 1 yelled gleefully to cars and pedestrians passing by on our relatively quiet street. Sometimes, they stopped and he made a sale. However, it took several a
Every job description emphasizes it: must have excellent communication skills. In performance reviews many get marked down for it. And as entrepreneurs who wear many hats, speaking with many voices is also a requisite skill. So how is your communication quotient?
Communication takes many forms. Think for a moment about a typical workday. You must communicate with customers, clients, co-workers (both superiors and subordinates), vendors, and even city, state and federal bureaucrats. Perhaps you even have interns or volunteers to communicate with. On occasion you're also speaking with the media, members of your association or even competitors. How well are you communicating with each?
Each form of communication draws on different skills, each requires different approaches and sometimes even a different lexicon. The checklist below has broken out many of these types of communication into categories. Place a plus, minus or equal sign next to each line to rate whether you see yourself as already strong (+), average (=) or weak (-) in each area.
Can You Interact Successfully with Strangers?
- Make Small Talk?
- Ask them About Themselves?
- Tell Them About Yourself?
- Introduce Two Strangers to Each Other
- Discuss Current Events with Confidence
Networking and the ability to work a room are invaluable skills for a small business owner. Knowing how to introduce yourself to others through your elevator speech can also open many doors of opportunity. As you meet strangers are you exuding confidence? (To read more about elevator speeches: expressionsofexcellence.com/articles.html#elevatorspeech.)
Being able to mingle and mix, compliment strangers and inquire of their line of work is an effective way to expand your sphere of influence and prospect for new business. You can even qualify prospects deftly while schmoozing.
How Effective Are Your Communication Skills?
- Can You Give A Prepared Speech?
- Can You Speak Extemporaneously?
- Can You Make A Sales Presentation?
- Can You Interview Someone Else? Be Interviewed?
Some basic communication tenets to keep in mind in public speaking situations:
1. Speak clearly and audibly at all times.
2. Don't rush your presentation. Pare its content down if you have too much to cover in the time given.
3. Enunciate effectively. For many, English is a second language. Focus on the consonants of each word.
4. Employ vocal variety to keep people paying attention. Avoid sing-songy patterns of speech.
5. Learn all about interview dynamics
How Versatile A Communicator Are You?
- Can You Make A Cold Call?
- Can You Train Others?
- Can You Conduct A Meeting As Its Leader?
- Can You Constructively Critique Another's Performance?
I help small business owners take the chill out of cold calls. Once you understand the rules of the game, develop your script, learn to bypass gatekeepers and handle objections adeptly you will find cold calling to be better than going to the dentist.
(For more information on cold calling instruction: ExpressionsofExcellence.com/cold_calling.html)
• Sometimes the true test of your understanding something is the challenge of training others. How well can you communicate your knowledge to others? Do they "get" it? Are you sure? Training requires its own approach.
• Taking the lead in conducting meetings and discussions can be a delight once you understand how best to apply your leadership. You don't have to master Robert's Rules of Order to be able to fairly and ably conduct meetings.
• Constructively critique another's performance can be one of the hardest things to do. Learn to separate performance from person, to get specific and also offer remedies or corrective plans, as well as benchmarks for success.
• Employ active listening techniques to insure you are hearing the other party and they are feeling heard as well. Many professional and interpersonal difficulties arise from a feeling of not being heard. Learn ways of insuring that you are hearing correctly and similarly being heard.
When The Going Gets Tough…
- Can You Handle Constructive Criticism?
- Can You Assert Yourself When Necessary & Speak Up?
- Can You Negotiate Effectively?
- Can You Co-exist With Diverse Personality Styles?
See Hecklers, Hardliners, and Heavy Questions
Use these simple and effective tips to boost your prospecting performance.1. Always use a conversational tone...don't come from a script. People hate to hear scripted sales pitches. Ditch the script and come from your heart. Even if you find yourself saying the same things over and over to different people, say it as if you are talking with them, not at them. Once you get a groove going, this gets easier. Your confidence and ability to assist others grows with each consecutive call.2. Don't chase anybody. Chasing just defeats you and angers them. You've got no chance to help someone if all they want to do is get you off the line. Repeatedly trying to contact those who are not returning your call only wastes your time. Use the rule of thumb "Second call, or not at all!".3. Make the objective of your conversation to fin
Each form of communication draws on different skills, each requires different approaches and sometimes even a different lexicon. The checklist below has broken out many of these types of communication into categories. Place a plus, minus or equal sign next to each line to rate whether you see yourself as already strong (+), average (=) or weak (-) in each area.
Can You Interact Successfully with Strangers?
- Make Small Talk?
- Ask them About Themselves?
- Tell Them About Yourself?
- Introduce Two Strangers to Each Other
- Discuss Current Events with Confidence
Networking and the ability to work a room are invaluable skills for a small business owner. Knowing how to introduce yourself to others through your elevator speech can also open many doors of opportunity. As you meet strangers are you exuding confidence? (To read more about elevator speeches: expressionsofexcellence.com/articles.html#elevatorspeech.)
Being able to mingle and mix, compliment strangers and inquire of their line of work is an effective way to expand your sphere of influence and prospect for new business. You can even qualify prospects deftly while schmoozing.
How Effective Are Your Communication Skills?
- Can You Give A Prepared Speech?
- Can You Speak Extemporaneously?
- Can You Make A Sales Presentation?
- Can You Interview Someone Else? Be Interviewed?
Some basic communication tenets to keep in mind in public speaking situations:
1. Speak clearly and audibly at all times.
2. Don't rush your presentation. Pare its content down if you have too much to cover in the time given.
3. Enunciate effectively. For many, English is a second language. Focus on the consonants of each word.
4. Employ vocal variety to keep people paying attention. Avoid sing-songy patterns of speech.
5. Learn all about interview dynamics
How Versatile A Communicator Are You?
- Can You Make A Cold Call?
- Can You Train Others?
- Can You Conduct A Meeting As Its Leader?
- Can You Constructively Critique Another's Performance?
I help small business owners take the chill out of cold calls. Once you understand the rules of the game, develop your script, learn to bypass gatekeepers and handle objections adeptly you will find cold calling to be better than going to the dentist.
(For more information on cold calling instruction: ExpressionsofExcellence.com/cold_calling.html)
• Sometimes the true test of your understanding something is the challenge of training others. How well can you communicate your knowledge to others? Do they "get" it? Are you sure? Training requires its own approach.
• Taking the lead in conducting meetings and discussions can be a delight once you understand how best to apply your leadership. You don't have to master Robert's Rules of Order to be able to fairly and ably conduct meetings.
• Constructively critique another's performance can be one of the hardest things to do. Learn to separate performance from person, to get specific and also offer remedies or corrective plans, as well as benchmarks for success.
• Employ active listening techniques to insure you are hearing the other party and they are feeling heard as well. Many professional and interpersonal difficulties arise from a feeling of not being heard. Learn ways of insuring that you are hearing correctly and similarly being heard.
When The Going Gets Tough…
- Can You Handle Constructive Criticism?
- Can You Assert Yourself When Necessary & Speak Up?
- Can You Negotiate Effectively?
- Can You Co-exist With Diverse Personality Styles?
See Hecklers, Hardliners, and Heavy Question
What is one of the greatest ways to add value to your business? Nope, it's not giving away free merchandise, offering special discounts, or even creating a preferred customer club. One of the most valuable commodities that you can provide your customers is INFORMATION.WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?Think about it. In this society, we are faced with an overwhelming sense of information OVERLOAD. There is so much "junk" out there cluttering up the landscape that it can be hard to find the one bit of data that is really useful to you. How many times have you gone onto the internet or searched through the database at your local library for one very specific piece of information -- only to come up with hundreds or thousands of documents that are completely unrelated to the topic at hand? All of this informational garbage has become known as DATA SMOG,
Being able to mingle and mix, compliment strangers and inquire of their line of work is an effective way to expand your sphere of influence and prospect for new business. You can even qualify prospects deftly while schmoozing.
How Effective Are Your Communication Skills?
- Can You Give A Prepared Speech?
- Can You Speak Extemporaneously?
- Can You Make A Sales Presentation?
- Can You Interview Someone Else? Be Interviewed?
Some basic communication tenets to keep in mind in public speaking situations:
1. Speak clearly and audibly at all times.
2. Don't rush your presentation. Pare its content down if you have too much to cover in the time given.
3. Enunciate effectively. For many, English is a second language. Focus on the consonants of each word.
4. Employ vocal variety to keep people paying attention. Avoid sing-songy patterns of speech.
5. Learn all about interview dynamics
How Versatile A Communicator Are You?
- Can You Make A Cold Call?
- Can You Train Others?
- Can You Conduct A Meeting As Its Leader?
- Can You Constructively Critique Another's Performance?
I help small business owners take the chill out of cold calls. Once you understand the rules of the game, develop your script, learn to bypass gatekeepers and handle objections adeptly you will find cold calling to be better than going to the dentist.
(For more information on cold calling instruction: ExpressionsofExcellence.com/cold_calling.html)
• Sometimes the true test of your understanding something is the challenge of training others. How well can you communicate your knowledge to others? Do they "get" it? Are you sure? Training requires its own approach.
• Taking the lead in conducting meetings and discussions can be a delight once you understand how best to apply your leadership. You don't have to master Robert's Rules of Order to be able to fairly and ably conduct meetings.
• Constructively critique another's performance can be one of the hardest things to do. Learn to separate performance from person, to get specific and also offer remedies or corrective plans, as well as benchmarks for success.
• Employ active listening techniques to insure you are hearing the other party and they are feeling heard as well. Many professional and interpersonal difficulties arise from a feeling of not being heard. Learn ways of insuring that you are hearing correctly and similarly being heard.
When The Going Gets Tough…
- Can You Handle Constructive Criticism?
- Can You Assert Yourself When Necessary & Speak Up?
- Can You Negotiate Effectively?
- Can You Co-exist With Diverse Personality Styles?
See Hecklers, Hardliners, and Heavy Question
Can Project Managers prevent projects from slipping?Ask a techie to come up with a schedule for a specific list of activities, and more often than not, he/she will present a fairly accurate estimate. Some activities might be underestimated, others overestimated, but overall, the plan will be fairly accurate.However, something happens to these estimates between the time the techie writes them down and the time the Project Manager publishes a baseline project schedule. That “something” is why projects slip.Projects tend to slip for two reasons. Either Project Managers don’t account for derivative activities such as vacation days when planning the overall project schedule, or they simply succumb to the pressure from management to compress the schedule.The case surrounding derivative activities is well documented eech.
5. Learn all about interview dynamics
How Versatile A Communicator Are You?
- Can You Make A Cold Call?
- Can You Train Others?
- Can You Conduct A Meeting As Its Leader?
- Can You Constructively Critique Another's Performance?
I help small business owners take the chill out of cold calls. Once you understand the rules of the game, develop your script, learn to bypass gatekeepers and handle objections adeptly you will find cold calling to be better than going to the dentist.
(For more information on cold calling instruction: ExpressionsofExcellence.com/cold_calling.html)
• Sometimes the true test of your understanding something is the challenge of training others. How well can you communicate your knowledge to others? Do they "get" it? Are you sure? Training requires its own approach.
• Taking the lead in conducting meetings and discussions can be a delight once you understand how best to apply your leadership. You don't have to master Robert's Rules of Order to be able to fairly and ably conduct meetings.
• Constructively critique another's performance can be one of the hardest things to do. Learn to separate performance from person, to get specific and also offer remedies or corrective plans, as well as benchmarks for success.
• Employ active listening techniques to insure you are hearing the other party and they are feeling heard as well. Many professional and interpersonal difficulties arise from a feeling of not being heard. Learn ways of insuring that you are hearing correctly and similarly being heard.
When The Going Gets Tough…
- Can You Handle Constructive Criticism?
- Can You Assert Yourself When Necessary & Speak Up?
- Can You Negotiate Effectively?
- Can You Co-exist With Diverse Personality Styles?
See Hecklers, Hardliners, and Heavy Question
Forums that you frequently post on can be an excellent source of interested contacts as long as you do it tactfully.First, The Proper Use Of Forum Signatures (sigs).Putting a small signature on the bottom of your posts in a forum you frequent is a very good way of getting people to your site. Most forum's allow you to specify a sig in your profile or account settings.There are wrong ways to do it, but no right way written in stone. How you do it depends on your personality and personal style. I will list the wrong ways, then give you some tips on getting the most out of forums.First the _wrong_ ways: Do Not spam your sig with a lot of "salesy" copy. Keep it simple and clear. Do not use ALL CAPS in any part of your sig, it annoys people. Do not create a post for the sole pur
• Constructively critique another's performance can be one of the hardest things to do. Learn to separate performance from person, to get specific and also offer remedies or corrective plans, as well as benchmarks for success.
• Employ active listening techniques to insure you are hearing the other party and they are feeling heard as well. Many professional and interpersonal difficulties arise from a feeling of not being heard. Learn ways of insuring that you are hearing correctly and similarly being heard.
When The Going Gets Tough…
- Can You Handle Constructive Criticism?
- Can You Assert Yourself When Necessary & Speak Up?
- Can You Negotiate Effectively?
- Can You Co-exist With Diverse Personality Styles?
See Hecklers, Hardliners, and Heavy Questions for tips on this difficult area of communications.
Many of us shy away from speaking up and speaking our for fear of negative feedback or political ramifications. In our quest to be liked or avoid "making waves" we bite our tongue and look the other way instead of righting wrongs and correcting improprieties. Yet there are times when speaking up and speaking out is the right thing to do. Learn to speak your mind when it's time, professionally and with precision, to get the results you desire.
Negotiating effectively can involve different types of communication skills. You may actually want to induce silence, or to repeat yourself, reiterating your stance or stipulations, for effect. Listening skills and creative problem solving skills are also involved. Learn to speak the language of win-win and be able to reiterate your adversary's perspective so as to build consensus.
There is no right way to speak. Each of us speaks in our own communication style. Some of us use long sentences and many words, others are short winded and direct. Learn recognize how best you communicate and how to best communicate with others.
How Effectively Can You Communicate in "One-on-One" Situations
- Can You Instill Trust in Others? Engender their Support?
- Can You Diffuse Verbal Criticism and Maintain Control?
Learn coaching and training techniques for speaking one-on-one with co-workers, subordinates and superiors. Learn to communicate with others so as to build trust and confidence in others.
Where Do You Go From Here?
We're all developing our Communication Quotient on the job. Learn to recognize how different forms of communication require different skills. Make a point of analyzing your style and the results it engenders. Where can you improve? Can classes, practice or coaching help? Become a student of improved communication. As for feedback. Study those whose communication style you respond to. Seek to raise your own CQ!
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