When it comes to improving your workplace communication skills, small changes will make a big difference.
Remember the David Letterman Show and his Top 10 Lists? I know I'm aging myself here - I got hooked on them in college and still love to use them as a way to illustrate the best of the best - the top of the heap... THE TOP 10!
So, I've compiled my TOP 10 workplace communication challenges with some ways to make improvements. That includes changing some habits and...
Make gratitude the new normal in your life.
As we welcome fall, we begin the season leading up to the big day of gratitude – Thanksgiving – when we celebrate all of our blessings with friends and relatives.
I love fall for this very reason. Gratitude comes into the spotlight! Then, after Thanksgiving, comes the season of giving (Christmas/Hanukkah) and more gratitude and goodwill. Win-Win.
Then, sometime in January, we go back to the “real world” of uncertainty,...
We don’t grow when things are easy, we grow when we face challenges. – Joyce Meyer
Get Comfortable with Uncomfortable Communication
If you want to improve your communication skills and become a more confident communicator there is one skill you need to begin with, and it may be one of the most challenging. That is getting comfortable with new things that are uncomfortable.
We’ve all had some recent experience in the demands of doing new things. Like many of...
If nothing else, the pandemic that started in 2020 introduced us to an historical digital experience that has changed business communication. And with it the introduction of endless virtual meetings.
The virtual and in-place communication trend is predicted to be the beginning of new era of standard communication revolution. Safe to say, they are here to stay.
One of the biggest challenges is managing all those virtual meetings. How do you keep participants engaged...
I have a confession to make when it comes to listening skills. I’m an interrupter. When I already know what someone is trying to say, or I have a point to make, I just cut right in. I know I shouldn’t do it. I know it’s rude. It drives me crazy when other people do it, so why do I?
Most of us aren’t very good listeners. Interrupting may not be your Achilles heel, but I’m guessing there is some bad habit you bring to the listening side of your communication.
...
grat·i·tude:
the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful: He expressed his gratitude to everyone on the staff.
An attitude of gratitude comes from showing appreciation and gratitude for others. It is one of the most powerful communication tools you can have.
When you show appreciation on a regular basis, it will open doors to a better conversation, a more positive exchange, and ultimately a better relationship. And the more you practice, the sooner it...
I can live one or two months on one good compliment. ~ Mark Twain
Communication Micro-Connects and Appreciation
News flash: We live in a culture that is appreciation deprived. Studies show that up to 70% of workers feel they are not regularly appreciated at work.
But the good news is that studies also show that when you give appreciation to someone on a regular and informal basis, you will see 5x more engagement/productivity. Wow!
A University of Washington study found that:
- Kids at...
We can all use a good solve session.
That’s because we all have issues that keep us up at night. And we need some different perspectives to solve them. By starting a solve session group, you can do just that.
Think about this: Have you ever come home and vented to a friend or partner about work? Or your dead-end career? Or something your boss said or did? Do you ever get stuck on the issue and need help moving from venting to solving? Then you should definitely...
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