Communication

7 Ways to Deal With a Poor Communicator

by
7 ways to deal with a poor communicator

Do you have to deal with a poor communicator at work? You might have someone who always seems to forget to mention things to you. Maybe you deal with some people who are trying to convey an idea but do it poorly. Perhaps you have to figure out the difference between what someone says and what they mean. A bad communicator comes in many forms. It’s the kind of thing that makes me nuts. Because it’s time wasting, energy draining, and not at all productive. Which made me frustrated. Until I figured out a better way. Who feels the pain … Read more

8 Great Team Meeting Ideas You Probably Aren’t Using

by
team meeting ideas every leader should know

You need great team meeting ideas because team meetings are a basic building block of work today. Nothing happens in isolation in today’s hyper-connected world. Too often, however, team meetings fall into a rut. A routine is established, often without much thought. And then it is repeated out of habit. This creates a problem because every team needs to adapt to changes and new challenges. Different team members need to play different roles at different times. You can avoid the rut and build more dynamic capabilities into your team meeting structure using the ideas shared in this post, whether you … Read more

How to Gain the Confidence to Speak Up More – 5 simple steps

by
confidence to speak up in meetings

I used to get very frustrated in meetings because I had lots of ideas–good ideas–but nobody was interested to hear them. Maybe it was because I didn’t have enough authority. Or expertise. Perhaps it was because of my limited experience. Or worse. Maybe they knew I was really a fraud. That I didn’t know what I was doing and that it was just dumb luck that got me here in the first place. They are all experienced professionals and I am just barely scraping by. Of course, that’s not really true. But that is how it feels. Because it can … Read more

This Simple Truth Will Change The Way You Write

by

Simple writing is effective. That’s the truth. Ernest Hemingway wrote “The Old Man And The Sea” at a 4th grade level. Then he won a Nobel prize with it the next year. Simple writing makes it easy for readers to follow along. Which helps them to easily take in your message. And that’s what you want. Your goal is not to impress them with your writing. You goal is for them to hear your ideas. Once they take in your ideas, you can earn their confidence. Maybe even their trust. And then you can win their support. That support will … Read more

The Secret to Fixing the Most Common Communications Problems

by
fix poor communications featured

I went from being stressed out by poor communicators to someone who is adept at getting the information needed to get my work done. You can too. I’ll tell you how it works so that you don’t have to learn it the hard way like I did. It’s turned out to be one of the most effective leadership skills. Adding this to capability to your leadership toolkit will help you be more successful in a bunch of important ways. Maybe your organization suffers from some of the most common factors that create communication problems: Time pressure Unclear responsibilities A lack … Read more

Effective Listening is More Important Than Talking | 6 Secrets You Need to Know

by
Effective Listening is More Important Than Talking

Effective listening is more important than talking if you want to be truly influential when you communicate. If you want your talking to be more powerful, the absolute best place to start is with listening. Effective listening. Think for a moment about what happens when you don’t listen well. When your listening is not effective, you are hearing things but you are also missing important signals. And that makes your talking less effective. You may have experienced when something you thought would resonate doesn’t. Or when it outright backfires. When your listening is not effective, you end up missing important … Read more

Make People Like You at Work | 8 Simple Steps

by
make people like you at work

You can be liked more at work. And while that may sound a little trite, it can be useful. Because if you are liked more, you can get more done. You can become more influential. And you can become more effective. The thing is, focusing on being liked isn’t really the right way to look at it. It’s important to be liked for the right reasons. You can be affable or funny or attractive and be liked. That doesn’t necessary mean you will be more influential or respected. But there are some things you can do that are simple, effective, … Read more

How to Become Less Overcommitted at Work

by
how to become less overcommitted at work

You are probably wondering how to become less overcommitted at work. So why do you seem to default to agreeing to more? Many of us keep falling into that same trap. After all, it seems like most organizations these days are running thin, trying to “do more with less.” With that sort of frenzy going on constantly, it can be hard to stem the tide as the requests keep rolling in. With every yes, you risk taking on too much. Letting the quality of your work suffer. Missing deadlines. That can lead to problems. And, of course, it can hurt … Read more

+ More