4.Dont Throw in the Towel
Lack of effective communication doesnt have to drive your business to failure.
These tips will help you solve workplace challenges. Communicate with impact and youll be a more productive person and as a result, your organization will be even more successful. Your messages will be heard loud and clear!

Credibility is the sense and proof of believability you portray to another. Credibility is fluid, what appears and sounds credible to one person may not be the same for you. The more aligned someone’s values and morals are to your own the more someone appears believable. If you have ever tried to communicate with someone you simply don’t believe you’ll realize just how little you value their words.

Here are the three forms of credibility and how you can use them to gain respect:

Initial – This is credibility that precedes you. It is formed by what others say, read and hear about you. It is your reputation and you create it by your education, title, training, and writing. Today’s instant messaging mediums and news creation (as opposed to reporting) means others can influence how people see you.

Refusing to play in the electronic communication arena does not mean you’ll escape the effects of it. Not engaging sends the message that you are not up-to-date, you are hiding something or that you have no influence in your field of work.

Here’s what to do:

Monitoring your electronic reputation is critical. Use good sense, awareness and caution when using social media. Keep business communication and social banter with friends separate. As far as possible, know who is connected to you. Remember that everything is forever on the web.

Use your resume, business cards, web sites, books etc. to convey the message that you are of good character, charitable and trustworthy. Create a sense of respect beforehand.

Derived – This is the credibility that is created during face-to-face communication. This type of credibility has a dynamic flow. A single word, a gesture or your tone of voice can shift how you are perceived and believed. When your presentation does not match your reputation your credibility begins to increase or decrease. Keep in mind that it is more difficult to recover from a poor reputation than it is to correct a good one that has gone off track.

Here’s what to do:

Have a sense of how others perceive you. If you have worked hard to create a positive reputation follow through with your posture, voice, gestures, dress, mannerisms and verbal communication. Use all of those elements to bolster your self-confidence. Confidence is inspiring and appealing. Cultivate self-confidence but avoid arrogance. Use humor when appropriate.

Terminal – Terminal credibility is not a disease rather it is what you leave behind-a legacy without the death part. What will others say when you leave the room? What feelings will you impart –a sense of good will and positivity or a sense of doubt and uncertainty?

Here’s what to do:

Check your perceptions. Ask for feedback and become acutely aware of how you are appearing to others. Follow up by doing what you say you will do.

Don’t leave credibility to chance. What you do and communicate outside of the workplace can have an impact on your credibility in the workplace. Put your credibility to work for you and you’ll gain respect quickly.

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For example, I was involved once with a community group that had no leader. This happens just as much in a business or a department within a business. Everybody was in charge. Or I should say everybody was “not in charge”. Every time we met, I heard about something new that someone had spoken about to one person but not to another.

One time at the end of an event, I was introduced to a new member who was going to use the building for certain activities. Because I already had activities going on during that same time period, some members suggested we all get together on the following Friday night to schedule workable time frames.

For that night, I changed my normal itinerary and drove a long distance to attend this meeting. When I got there three members had come out but the individual who was the cause of the meeting was not there. I asked about him and simply received an acknowledgment of the fact that he was not there. Then someone casually added that this individual had been at another separate meeting on the previous Wednesday. Nothing to do with the present agenda. Nobody seemed to know why we were there.

I reminded the members of the reason I had come, but it meant nothing. It was as if everybody forgot about the reason we were there — yet there was no mention of anyone having forgotten about it. It was simply that things had changed since the last conversation, but no one had bothered to make it known to myself or anyone else. Now the meeting I was at had a totally different purpose with which I had nothing to do.

The sad part about this is that it is typical of many mis-communications that take place all the time — and many in business environments that affect services, products and customers.

The corrective action is, first of all, any group must have someone who is the leader — or coordinator if one doesn’t like the word leader — and who will see that there is some effective organization. Through this person everybody communicates with everybody else. If you don’t have that, there will be many unhappy members, and importantly for the group, many good people will simply disappear. Busy people can’t afford to belong to such time- and resource- abusing activities.

It is popular today to shrug off communication left for others. When an outsider communicates something to the leader, either by telephone or in person, or to any of the members of a group, it is the responsibility of the individual receiving that information to make sure to advise the leader and/or the rest of the group, depending on the circumstance. If an outsider, for example, brings up the subject of an unpaid bill, it is the responsibility of the person receiving this information to pass it on to the person in charge of paying the bills.

It is not the responsibility of the outsider to look further for the right person or someone else once he has communicated the issue to a member who is representative of a group or business. But this happens all the time. Then when the bill isn’t paid, the treasurer says “I didn’t know anything about it”, and the outsider says, “well, I told Jim last week”. Jim says, “well I don’t look after bills, you should have told Jan”.

No, the person to whom the information was given was the representative of the group at that time and carried the responsibility to pass on the communication to the right individual in his/her group. In business, this is called accountability.

These situations have been occurring more and more in companies, especially in a time when secretaries are no longer available to managers. Often, this behavior is even deliberate. Now, secretaries are not there to “dutifully and correctly” take messages and transmit them to those for whom the information was intended. Messages are often received by “competing” peers who see it “best” to “not remember exactly” what the message was — “I think he said something about a phone call or a meeting or something…” is about the best way you’ll hear your message relayed to you oftentimes! You can’t say anything because they are not your secretary. This is a clear case of copping out of business responsibility and accountability.

On the subject of ‘assumptions’, I remember a friend of mine who assumed that my husband was an accountant. He passed this false information on to others. One day, someone approached my husband and asked if he would do the books for a non-profit organization. After explaining that he was not an accountant, we found out how this rumor had started.

The most fascinating part is that this friend of mine and I had been looking for a bookkeeper for over a year for our own non-profit organization. When the false information came out in the group and was clarified, this friend replied, “I wondered why your husband wouldn’t volunteer to do our books if he was an accountant.”

But, the most incredible part yet, is that this friend NEVER SAID ANYTHING all the time that we were looking for a bookkeeper, as he “assumed” and “wondered why”.

It makes you wonder what else there is that may be misunderstood and assumed that we don’t hear about and that are not questioned. Sometimes, time eventually tells. Problem is, it usually doesn’t. When and if it does, it often is too late… a friendship, a relationship, even a job may be lost.

Had my friend been trained in communication, he would have been attuned to the communication thought process and would have recognized that something did not make sense and would have questioned it to clarify his confusion. Many misunderstandings are caused by such sloppy and careless communication attitudes.

This is not to say that “assuming” is wrong. Sometimes, we have to assume, because we have no other information available. The word “assume” has acquired a bad reputation in recent years. When something goes wrong, we hammer individuals with “You shouldn’t assume if you don’t know”. But, had that assumption turned out to be right, we would have lavished praises upon those same people who had assumed correctly. To assume is part of risk-taking. And risk-taking is part of business./dmh

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Using a compass ring as a measuring analogy, let’s say that a thesis at 360° has its direct anti-thesis at 180°, one at 90° has its direct anti-thesis at 270o, and so on. There are also indirect anti-theses which may be at any points between the 360° and 180° or 90° and 270°, etc. And there are anti-theses sparked in-between these degrees which in turn begin new thesis again.

Let’s place this measuring device in a round table discussion. Let’s say we have several people discussing a topic and one individual sitting at 360° opens the discussion by giving his concept. His direct opposition at 180° gives her anti-thesis which in turn triggers someone sitting at 225° (an indirect anti-thesis) who expresses his varying view. This new viewpoint is picked up by an individual at 45° who has another point within the thesis that differs from the others, and so on.

The dialogues continue to zigzag across the table. The more flexible or controversial the topic, the more the interaction lines of arguments (anti-theses) there will be.

Before we go further, let’s talk about the word argument first. Many people have the wrong concept of the word “argument”. I remember counseling someone on a marriage problem. The husband was debating some points presented to him. When I mentioned his “arguing” the point, he straightened up and defensively said, “I’m not arguing” and expressed his feelings about his interpretation of the word. To him “argument” was akin to fight. His understanding of the word triggered a misinterpretation.

When two people argue, it is not fighting. At least it shouldn’t be. Scientists argue; they present arguments all the time. So do lawyers. Arguments are a perfectly healthy part of communication. However, we have misunderstood “arguing” for so long because of our poor communication practices, that we have made it a misnomer. We don’t know how to argue anymore. Argument is based on logical debate.

There is an excellent tape, “How to Argue and Win Every Time,” (Audio Renaissance), by Gerry Spence, who has been practicing law for over forty years and who is widely regarded as one of the most skilled courtroom advocates in America. The author shows how to apply his techniques at work, in court, everywhere, every day. He says that the success of a good argument lies in the preparation. So, next time you face an argument with someone, hold off and go prepare first! In other words no one can jump into an argument without having some facts and realities on hand. This process would eliminate a lot of problems in marriage as well as in business.

Often, the one presented with an argument does not want to give into it because he or she knows that on the basis of logic his/her argument would lose. To avoid interaction with “argument” the Receiver either agrees, gives lip service or terminates the discussion. If the discussion does not terminate (i.e., the Sender continues the argument or dialogue), the Receiver may then lose control and start a word fight — or even a fist fight — which is where the word “argument” gets its bad reputation.

Arguments can be made into “fights” by inconsiderate Receivers who pick on any small discrepancies transmitted by the Sender — sometimes it may be the other way around. For example, an uneducated individual in a plant is trying to express his complaint about top management to his/her supervisor using “the guy” when referring to an executive. The supervisor, in defense of management might interrupt and say, “Hey, ‘the guy’ you’re talking about is the owner of this business and has a name”. If the supervisor does that every time the individual uses the wrong expression, he will aggravate the subordinate’s efforts to communicate.

The supervisor should eliminate correction at the “hot time”. Saying anything to aggravate the one who struggles in his uneducated capacity to communicate, will only take the matter out of context where the focus will no longer be what it was initially. The trained or considerate supervisor will make a note of the secondary problem and come back to it later at an appropriate non-threatening time or in a group as part of a staff meeting non-personalized topic.

Anti-theses exist plentifully and, in any communication, the communicators must be aware of them and be prepared to receive them and handle them throughout the activities of effective communication.

Looking at our mental picture of the people sitting around a table, our compass serves to explain something else about anti-theses. A direct anti-thesis (360°-180°, 90°-270°) is a 100% opposition and may be harder to defend than an indirect one (360° to 45°) which is only a 45% opposition. The less degrees between theses in our measuring compass, the less differences on the subject — someone may agree with a concept but differ only on a specific point and not the entire idea. Of course in a real round table discussion, the opposing or differing “degrees” are not sequential as in our compass analogy. They will come from any seated area.

So next time you have people arguing over a matter, place their arguments at the “degree” of their differing points in your mind to give a measure of their differences and deal with those that are most opposed or least opposed, whichever are the best winning targets from your point of view.

The 360 Degrees of Arguments communication tool is used to ask the question “Where on the compass does this anti-thesis come from, relative to my point of view”. If it is totally opposite (direct), I may need a strong logical counter-presentation which may require re-scheduling a meeting to another time after I have had a chance to get further information or ammunition for my case. If it is partially different (small degree), it may only require an explanation of some misunderstood points or a persuasion about an element of the whole concept which can be given right there and then as long as I have well prepared my case ahead of time./dmh

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Communication may be a level which stands out and therefore the test at this level can be a lot of refined and wide ranging than you think. We have a tendency to are wanting at communication and as a Black and Minority Ethnic skilled it is essential that you recognize what goes on here for your bosses. They actually want to have a sensible proportion of staff from various backgrounds so that you’ll work with the services users but your bosses will at times struggle to speak with you and therefore you will not attain as simply as some of your colleagues. There is a bit of a knock on impact here which starts with their use of language Language They will use jargon or slang, acronyms and short forms for concepts or titles, examples that create no sense to some workers expertise, unknown brands names and laborious to decipher research, sometimes taken out of context. And they will expect you to know what they mean. They themselves may not use plain English. Fashionable technology By using tools to aid potency like Computers and emails aimed toward giant numbers of workers non-verbal communication is lost and interfered with. Body language, expressions, pronunciations and tone are not seen and matched with the use of short hand and jargon employees can get the alternative message for example an inquiry concerning a case will be translated to criticism by the employee receiving it. Behavior With the lack of face to face communication and breakdown in understanding several problems will come into the combination like stereotyping, mistrust, racism, inequality. Some staff can be viewed as not having the mandatory mindset and perspective for the task, the discussion when the interview will perpetually embrace what’s known about that person in explicit or what’s known regarding employees like that. This can be mainly generalizations or personal experience of every individual member of the interviewing panel, or your manager’s experience of operating with individuals like you once they are doing all of your appraisal. Thus what can you do about this as a Black and Minority Ethnic worker? Your bosses have a duty to supply you with communication that meets your wants and does not discriminate against you; however we have a tendency to are talking about the subtleties of the elevator levels which get you past the floors in order to interrupt the glass ceiling. There are things you can do to organize yourself for career progression and to additionally lessen the impact of communication breakdown in your commonplace job. o Become familiar with how they communicate: look for patterns and similarities, knowledge is power o Make your responses to them in concise forms: this can encourage your bosses to retort to you in a concise means, ideally point by point which makes things easier to deal with o If you do not understand jargon and acronyms say thus, many individuals do not understand it but fake they do, you’ll be posing for clarity not seeming to be ignorant. o Don’t take into account each correspondence or verbal interaction as a threat or criticism, think about attainable meanings and obtain recommendation if it still seems vague or negative o Request support; if the support you have got been obtaining still will not make a difference you will want to contemplate getting outside advice and guidance for your development My best recommendation is for you to get a Mentor, why? As a result of a number of us are breaking the glass ceiling for years by generally getting off the glass elevator and using the steps, and contrary to well-liked belief, we have a tendency to are keen to pass our data on!

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A classic example is a corporate client we had that was in serious danger of bankruptcy. They hired a “turn-around” specialist who had the Goals Perceptual Style. His initial plan involved some severe “reductions in force” and the shutting down of all projects and lines of business that were not part of the organization’s core. The time frame he outlined was aggressive.

In explaining the Goals Perceptual Style, I often use a military analogy: If you tell a person with the Goals Style that the objective is to “take that hill”, they will immediately march forward, straight to the top of the hill, dispatching any resistance they meet along the way, and perhaps even sustain heavy losses to their own platoon in the process.

While the example is simplistic, the image conveys the Goals approach—direct, immediate, tenacious, determined, and fully focused on the objective.

These qualities make such people a tremendous asset in a crisis, as they have the ability to see the most important objective and drive towards it, ignoring everything else.  

This particular organization, however, had been around for over a hundred years and had a long history and tradition. Part of that tradition was placing a high value on people—an attitude of “taking care of our own”. The specialist failed to take these organizational values into account at the beginning of the process when he brought all the managers together and laid out his restructuring plan.

Three of the key managers involved had the Flow Perceptual Style. Those with this style are the keepers of history and tradition, and they understand the human dynamics involved in organizations better than any other Style. People with the Flow perspective see the impact on the human system that changes will create, and they know how to subtly use and influence the human community within an organization to mitigate, diminish or even block such changes.

This group of Flow managers began “doing their thing,” and before the specialist knew what was happening, he found himself in front of the company’s CEO defending and then finally backing down on the abrupt nature of his plans. He was shocked by this turn of events because he knew that unless the organization changed quickly, they would not survive. What he missed was that because of the power of the organization’s history and traditions, it could not survive if it tried to change so quickly.  

This is a common Goals versus Flow conflict, and although the example is from a corporate client, this type of conflict can occur just about anywhere: in coaching relationships, in small business environments and even at home—anywhere these two styles interact.

People with the Goals Style step up to engage a problem and boldly and directly lay out a solution that will achieve the desired end, but ignore the impact and ripple effects it will have on people, the environment, and clients. People with the Flow Style see these impacts only too well and begin to refine, modify, discreetly block, or completely ignore those directives in order to soften the “damage”. The more Goals pushes, the more Flow backs away, and the more Flow backs away, the more Goals pushes.

As in all conflicts, of course, there is truth on both sides, and a solution lies in accepting that each view is limited.

In our example, the specialist had to accept that his ability to understand the human impact of his plan on the organization was limited, and that his plan would have a much greater chance of success if he listened to the managers’ advice on how to deal with its impact. The managers had to acknowledge the reality of the dire situation they were in—and accept that if they blocked all of the changes proposed, the organization would disappear.

Conflicts can be resolved by acknowledging the value that other Perceptual Styles bring to the table, and by accepting that one’s own understanding, without the input of others’, is both limited and incomplete.

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Good communication can save the company much time and money, because the employees would not have to repeat the tasks. Good communication in the workplace will allow the supervisors to have better management of their time. Some of the benefits of good communication for a company are avoiding loses due to poor communication, saving time and money, and increasing productivity.

On the other hand, when the employee interprets the message in a negative way, it can cost the organization losses in job performance and expenditure of physical resources. You should realize that what you say to others in meetings, memoranda, and on the telephone can have an effect on productivity in a positive or negative way. When you say it the right way, you avoid losses due to poor communication.

Try to see things from the other person’s point of view and apply these principles to make life better for everyone. Remember when you want other people to change always let them see the change in you. Start today speaking the words and phrases to cause better communication in the workplace and do it by “Communicating effectively” with them.

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Prepare, prepare, prepare. If you’ve got a specific message to deliver, practice what you’ll say and how you’ll say it. Envision the recipient’s response. How will the conversation flow? Consider as many possible scenarios as are reasonable. Be ready to handle whatever comes your way.

Find an appropriate place to talk. If the conversation is private in nature, don’t bring it up in front of others. Plan ahead to assure an appropriate setting is available.

Listen before you speak. Many times, the most effective way to get your point across is to let the other person talk first. You can get things rolling by asking his opinion or perspective on the situation. Then just sit back and listen. What better way to understand how the other person feels and what he thinks… and then to frame your message accordingly?

Empathize. Try to see things from the other person’s point of view. You can and should work on this even before starting the conversation.

Start with something positive. If you begin the conversation on a genuinely positive note, you will help set your listener at ease. He’ll be less defensive and better able to hear what follows.

Use appropriate language. Don’t talk down to people by overly simplifying language. Likewise, don’t try to wow the other person with your working knowledge of obscure words or needlessly technical terminology.

Be kind. Be aware of your tone of voice. You can deliver even the most negative feedback without figuratively beating up the recipient.

Be clear. The other party shouldn’t have to work at figuring out what you’re trying to say.

Be concise. Get to the point, then move on. Most people have a whole lot of other work to attend to and are eager to get back to their ‘to do’ lists. Don’t waste their time or yours by dancing around the issue.

Be direct. Communication shouldn’t be a game of ’20 Questions.’ Say what you mean. Chances are, the other person will appreciate your straightforward approach.

In the words of Lee Iacocca, “You can have brilliant ideas but if you can’t get them across, they won’t get you anywhere.” Be strategic in your communication. Get your ideas out there. Be heard.

copyright 2006, Bywater Consulting Group, LLC, Liz Bywater, PhD. All Rights Reserved.

Well, the answer is simple. Though technical skills are essential in any business organization, abundant of the skills that are needed to have a successful business are actually not technical. Instead, these are what many people think about as “soft skills”. These skills are thought-about as “soft skills” as a result of they’re the overall skills that a member of the organization should possess, whether she or he may be a manager in the corporate for the past twenty years, or a newly hired employee. That being said, these soft skills are literally required in all departments and practically in all of the activities conducted by the business organization.

Maybe the most necessary of of these skills is communication. Here are just some of the reasons why this can be the case. The first reason is that having the right communication skills result to a healthy operating environment. Communication happens all the time in the workplace, whether it’s a friendly chat between two staff throughout their coffee break or a business meeting between the manager and the workers of a particular department. The shortage of effective communication skills at intervals the workplace can result to strife and friction to occur between workers inside the same department or maybe managers between completely different departments. Aside from this inflicting your department not having the ability to urge the work done, having an unhealthy and unwelcoming working setting as a results of poor communication skills will also lead to a rise within the frequency of absenteeism among staff and even having a high employee turnover rate.

One more reason why communication skills are very necessary among the workplace is its ability to confirm that your customers and purchasers are glad with the products and services that they need availed from your company. Not only would this ensure that your existing customers and clients will keep patronizing your company. Providing excellent service to your customers and clients will cause them to unfold the word and suggest you to alternative potential customers and clients. On the opposite hand, having poor communication skills would cause a great frustration on the half of your existing customers and purchasers, that eventually leads to you losing business and profits in the long run.

Communicating effectively with all the generations in the workplace takes skill to know who responds to what
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