Soft skills blog articles

The 3–6–9 of great leadership (according to TED …and me)

As a kid, my parents told me I watched too much TV. They would not be pleased to know that hasn’t changed very much, but at least nowadays I try to watch things that might actually inspire me. That’s where TED [www.ted.com] comes in. TED talks can be a great source of inspiration. They can be short, or long. They can be energetic or dry. And they are full of information on nearly any topic.

The “3-6-9 of great leadership”

As an intercultural trainer, business English teacher, project manager and former actor, I think a lot about what motivates people, especially at work. Three short TED talks that I have watched over and over really get to the heart of what makes a great leader. I call them the “3-6-9 of great leadership.” These three talks summarise in (more or less) 3 minutes, 6 minutes and 9 minutes what I think is the essence of great leadership. For now, I’m not going into why these and other well-structured talks and presentations work as well as they do. Let’s just take in their messages.

Derek Sivers

How to start a movement

The first TED talk, by entrepreneur Derek Sivers, explains to us in three minutes “How to Start a Movement.” Using a light-hearted video of a group of rather spontaneous dancers, he demonstrates how to lead and how to create a situation in which people want to follow. He also surprises us by highlighting who the real leader is. It’s not who you might think.

Drew Dudley

Everyday leadership

If you work in a team or an office, how often do your simple, unremarkable actions influence others? In the second talk, leadership educator Drew Dudley asks us in six minutes whether people can be leaders even if they don’t have that title. In this quick-paced, very personal story, he shows us how we can often be leaders without even knowing it.

Roselinde Torres

What it takes to be a great leader

In the final talk, the longest of the three at just over nine minutes, leadership expert Roselinde Torres details qualities of a great leader. She has spent 25 years researching leadership and her fascinating talk boils it down to the need to ask three simple questions:

  • Where are you looking to anticipate the next change to your business model or your life?
  • What is the diversity measure of your personal and professional stakeholder network?
  • Are you courageous enough to abandon a practice that has made you successful in the past?

Spoiler alert!

All three talks repeat one particular theme: While some principles of leadership may remain, true leaders are characterised by doing something different. But not just for the sake of being different. They have a goal.

  • Derek Sivers’s ‘leader’ is the first person who has the courage to follow the person you think is the leader. As the first ‘follower’ he gives others the permission to join in.
  • Drew Dudley’s ‘leader’ appears to go about his daily business fearlessly and effortlessly. In the process, he unknowingly inspires someone to go about her work as fearlessly as she can.
  • Roselinde Torres reminds that great leaders take action; they do not walk with their heads down, trying not to be noticed. They dare to be different.

Is leadership for managers only, then? Definitely not. These three talks remind us that learning to be an effective leader can help you chair a meeting, or create a presentation that people remember. Among many other things.

… so what are your thoughts?

Preparing for a performance appraisal interview

Performance reviews, appraisal interviews, annual reviews – whatever you call them it all boils down to the same thing. Extra work. I used to hate preparing for appraisal interviews with members of my team. Now I really enjoy them. Why? I’ve changed my approach. Rewind 10 years or so: I’d make the appointment, forget about it until I saw it on my schedule for the next day, have a quick think, dig out a few pertinent facts, come up with a few random goals, and off I went.

Free Download

4rs

 

What’s changed then? I want to keep my employees in the company. And performance appraisal interviews are important in making sure this happens. So, I use my “5 Keeps” approach:

“If you’re reading this, apologies to those individuals who had to live with how I used to prepare for performance appraisals. I’m probably part of the reason you hate performance appraisal interviews.”

Keep it objective

I’ve finally understood that appraisal interviews don’t work if you see them as an event that happens once a year. How can they? We’re all human and we don’t remember things. We inevitably end up reviewing what the employee did most recently. If that was good, great. If something wasn’t so good, then the employee gets a poor review for the whole period, which is not really fair, is it? Emotions play a role here. It helps to find a way of standing back from what is happening at the time of the interview and look at the whole year objectively.

Keep notes

This may sound a little geeky, but to help with the appraisal interview, I keep a little notebook for each member of my team. I make notes of the little things, feedback from clients, team members, from other members of the management staff. Anything that could be of interest really. This means I don’t have to spend time gathering information before the interview. I have the specific examples I need in front of me. All I need to do at the preparation stage of the appraisal interview then is grab my little book. I schedule time for preparation before the meeting. I align my notes with the appraisal interview form and the self-evaluation form from the employee, and I’m all set for the interview.

Keep the conversation open all year

The thing about my notes is that there is nothing secret in there. Everything has already been shared. When I get good (or bad) feedback from a client, I tell them about it when it happens. When they do something really well, I tell them. When they underperform, I tell them.

Keep it developmental

Too often the focus can be on the operational details. Sure, that’s important for the business, but you can talk about that during the year. The key question is: how can I use this opportunity to make sure that this person is not doing exactly the same thing in exactly the same way this time next year? I want to make sure the focus is on development. I want to make sure goals we set together are motivating and are going to help the person grow. If they grow, we grow.

Keep it fun

Fun? Really? Yes, appraisal interviews are a great opportunity to talk to your employee about them. Do you have much time during the year to really learn about them? Probably not as much as you’d like. Here you’ve got allocated time to hear about how they feel – make the most of it, be encouraging, and enjoy it!

More on performance appraisal interviews

This post is the first of a 4-part series on performance appraisal interviews. Make sure to come back if you’re interested to read more about:

  • Starting a performance appraisal interview
  • Giving opinions and explaining reasons in a performance appraisal interview
  • Summarizing a performance appraisal interview

 

What makes an effective communicator in Project Management?

Would you risk 56%?

The Project Management Institute’s 2013 report Pulse of the Profession revealed that US$135 million is at risk for every US$1 billion spent on a project. Of that, a shocking 56 percent of is at risk due to ineffective communications. 56% of $135 million = $75 million dollars!

As a project manager, how can you ‘make effective communication happen’?

Free Download

emails target training

Let’s look at some simple things you can do to focus your team:

Talk the Talk

You know how important it is to know what’s happening in your organization. Now, stress to your project team how valuable it is too. In project meetings, make sure your message is understood. Check in with your team, especially if it appears there may be confusion. They may not solve all your communication issues but they do convey how valuable good communication is to you:

  • Is everyone clear on this?
  • I want to make sure there is no misunderstanding.
  • What is not clear?

Admittedly, all three of the tips are too often reduced to clichés. But there is truth in them. Back in my theatre days, I, and many other actors I knew, often worried about playing stereotypes and clichés. A very good acting teacher used to tell me, “Embrace the cliché. It’s there for a reason. Find the truth in it!”

Walk the Walk

Keep language as uncomplicated as possible. Be polite but be clear.

A German manager, who worked internationally and used English in Live Meetings, once told me, “the challenge is that we are sometimes not strong enough in English to understand these problems, or sometimes we don’t realize that there ARE problems.” And therein lies the risk. Not only might you miss the complexity of problem, you might miss that a problem even exists.

Recognize that not everyone is at the same level when working in a foreign language. Different project management methodologies use some different terminology. You might be come from a PMP background but your colleagues might mostly understand the language of PRINCE2. Or your organization might use its own language to discuss projects. While using different terminology may be necessary (more in the 3rd point below), try to keep ‘jargon’ to a minimum.

Get Everyone on the Same Page

Although different project management methodologies boast unique language, it’s a good idea to be able to adapt in such a way that you are able to communicate with all stakeholders.

Have a standardized communications plan. 

The Pulse reports that high performers are almost three times more likely than low-performing organizations to use standardized practices through the organization. As a result, they achieve better project outcomes. Making sure your language is standardized defines outcomes, invites trust, manages conflict, invites commitment, and embraces accountability.

Embrace the cliché!

Any good project manager will tell you that project outcomes are never guaranteed. No project manager can control everything. But keep these tips in mind and you will be ensuring that one of the most important aspects of project work which is under your control – communication – helps make your project, you and your team be as successful as it can be.

 

Leading meetings in English

What makes leading a meeting in English so hard?

Leading meetings can be hard enough in your own language. All eyes are on you, and you are responsible for achieving an outcome in an allotted space of time. You need to deal with derailers and challenges – for example manage comments, build inclusion, develop buy in, deal with challenging meeting members, and know when to start and stop discussions. Any experienced chair person knows that this is often not an easy task! And this is even harder when you have to do it in a foreign language.

Leading meetings in English can bring even more challenges:

  • Will you have to manage participants from different cultures?
  • How will you ensure involvement when some participants speak good English, and some don’t?
  • How will you manage the balance of power that language skills bring to the native speakers?
  • Are you comfortable enough working in English? 

meetingsebook

Get a copy of our latest eBook

 

Relax – it’s all about the meeting, not you!

When I’ve had to run meetings in Spanish or German, it took me a while to realize that it doesn’t help to worry about these questions. I quickly learned that the participants were actually interested in the content of the meeting – and not my grammar. I also learnt that the native speakers really appreciated the fact that I was doing all this in another language. I relaxed.

Divide the meeting up mentally

As long as you have a structure, and some key language ready to manage the structure, you’ll be just fine. Divide the meeting into sections – for example the start of the meeting, during the meeting, and the end of the meeting. And then think about what your role is at each stage. Here are some ideas, but you’ll probably be able to think of others that are relevant to you. And then make sure you’ve got a few phrases practised for each stage. Knowing that you are able to use phrases like these, gives you that extra confidence you need when leading a meeting in English.

English phrases for the start of the meeting

At this stage you need to set the scene. This could include:

  • Introducing the purpose: Thanks for getting here on time. Today we’re here to discuss the… / The aim of today’s meeting is to….
  • Giving an overview: We’re going to run through the main points of the agenda, the main points we plan to cover today are….
  • Outlining procedures: we’ll start from the top, and there should be some time for AOB at the end.

English phrases for during the meeting

What’s your main role here? Basically throughout the meeting you are responsible for maintaining structure and focus, so that a clear outcome can be reached. If that doesn’t happen, what was the point of the meeting? In order to make sure this happens, you might need to:

  • Invite comments: Henri, what are your thoughts on that? Xi, perhaps you could tell us what you think about that?
  • Ask questions to clarify information: Could you run that by us again please? I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I was clear about what you meant when you said….,
  • Clarify what someone else means: Are you saying that…? What I understood was that you’d….? Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re saying that……So, what you’re saying is…? Can I check that I’ve understood that correctly?
  • Test everyone’s understanding: Eva, could you summarize the main points of that discussion for us? What were the key points from that?
  • Steer towards the objective: Could we bring the discussion back on course? This is really interesting, but we’re drifting away from what we’re supposed to be talking about.
  • Interrupt: I don’t want to interrupt you but…, If I could just come in here…., Svetlana, let me just stop you there
  • Holding off an interruption: Could we come back to that later? If I could just finish what I was saying…. Can I just finish making my point?

English phrases for ending the meeting

This stage is about tying everything up neatly and making sure everyone leaves the room knowing why they were there and what they have to do next.

  • Summarize: So, to summarize then…., So, if I may, let me just run through what we’ve agreed here….
  • Confirm decisions: We’ve agreed that… Everyone thought it would be a good idea to….
  • Set next meeting: Would Monday 13th at 11:00 work for everyone?, Let’s schedule the next meeting…
  • Delegate tasks: Our next steps are to…., Luis kindly volunteered to…, Elizabeth agreed to send us all the ….

Share what works

Let us know about your experiences of leading meetings in English. What have been your main concerns? What did you do to overcome them? What advice do you have for others who have to lead meetings in English?

Book Review: Get the most from your meetings

As so many business people around the world already know, few people are satisfied with the quality of their meetings at work. A recent study in the US found that 50% of managers surveyed considered many meetings to be a “waste of time.”, 90% said most meetings were a failure due to “lack of advanced planning and organization,”and over 75% said that they received no formal training on how to conduct a meeting. To make matters worse, American professionals attend an average of 61.8 meetings per month, and research suggests that 50% of that time is wasted. We can assume that the situation in Europe is similar.

Despite this general feeling of dissatisfaction, meetings are here to stay because they’re still one of the most efficient ways to share information and solve problems at work. However, it’s wrong to think that they’re necessary in every situation, or that they cannot be improved. The question is: if we must have meetings, what concrete steps can we take to guarantee they are effective and efficient in terms of time, effort and money?

Free eBook Download

meetingsebook

 

Along with our  latest eBook “Keys to effective meetings”, here’s a list of resources you can use to make your meetings more effective.

Facilitation Made Easy: Practical Tips to Improve Meetings and Workshops

Esther Cameron

Facilitation Made Easy is a comprehensive study of the complete process of planning, carrying out and debriefing workshops, conference calls and meetings. In addition to a description of what you need to do, this book also describes why, so you know the theory behind the key factors that make a meeting successful.

Meetings That Work!: A Practical Guide to Shorter and More Productive Meetings

Richard Chang & Kevin Kehoe

Written by consultants with experience working with multinational companies, Meetings That Work! focuses on keeping meetings short, concise and to the point. Examples and techniques are provided that you can put to work in your meetings right away.

Talk Lean: Shorter Meetings. Quicker Results. Better Relations.

Alan Palmer

‘Talk lean’ in this context means to use fewer words and less time to convey your intended message to your audience, while being careful to remain respectful, polite and considerate. The focus in this book is on honing your communication so that you’re always using time in the most efficient way possible.

Read This Before Our Next Meeting

Al Pittampalli

Pittampalli starts with an interesting question: “What can you do to make a difference in your company’s meeting culture that requires no one’s permission but your own?” The emphasis here is on responsibility: when you make changes that work based on your own initiative, others have no choice but to follow your example. One of the more thought-provoking books on meetings and meeting culture, Read This Before Our Next Meeting will challenge you to take personal responsibility for the quality of the meetings you hold.

Boring Meetings Suck: Get More Out of Your Meetings, or Get Out of More Meetings

Jon Petz

If you can’t tell from the title, Boring Meetings Suck is an unconventional and irreverent look at how meetings work and why they sometimes go wrong. Petz takes a humorous approach to some of the more common problems with meetings in companies around the world. The situation becomes less humorous as you realize many of the situations happen in your own organization every day.

Meeting and Event Planning Playbook: Meeting Planning Fundamentals

Debi Scholar &  Susan Losurdo

While it’s written from an administrative assistant’s perspective, the Meeting and Event Planning Playbook can still be useful for the comprehensive view of the meeting planning process it offers. The section “75 Questions to Ask to Plan a Meeting” might come in handy for meetings where you need to make a particularly good impression, like customer visits.

First aid tips and tricks for sickly teleconferences

I’m going to give you a few quick and easy tips and tricks to make your teleconferences better. Why am I going to do this? You know why. Many teleconferences are horribly ineffective and waste a lot of valuable time. I have sat through hundreds of telecons, and have trained hundreds of other people who have sat through hundreds of teleconferences.

Three complaints I have heard time and time again are:




DOWNLOAD A COPY 16 steps to better teleconferences

//

  1. There’s a weird atmosphere on the call because there is too much silence.

  2. I can’t understand certain people when they talk.

  3. Our teleconferences are “always” a waste of time.

So, if you can give me a few minutes by reading on, I will try to give you some quick and easy ways to overcome these issues.

Silence is deadly…and uncomfortable

Silence can kill…a teleconference that is. If you are on a call, show some life and participate. Here are a few things you can try on your next call:

  • Give verbal feedback throughout the call. Simple sounds and phrases can really help the flow and atmosphere of a call. “Uh huh”, “I agree” and “Nice work Tom” are a few examples that can be used.
  • When you go through the agenda before the call, try to have at least one thing to contribute for each point. This way, you will be prepared to break the silence and look smart at the same time!
  • Don’t be afraid to express your opinion or give someone positive feedback. Not only does this help fill silence, but it can also build rapport (agreement) or generate some healthy discussion (disagreement).

What did he say?

It can be very difficult to understand some people on the telephone, and especially in teleconferences. This can be due to language issues, accents, the volume of a person’s voice, their phone habits, etc. The next time you don’t fully get something someone says on a call, try these:

  • Make sure you actually say something to them about it. Many times we don’t understand someone but don’t say anything because it is easier. Politely ask them to repeat themselves. Most of the time people don’t realize they are hard to understand.
  • Confirm understanding when you are not sure. Use phrases like “If I understand you correctly, you are saying…” and “Just to make sure I understand correctly, did you say…” This can be a more diplomatic way of telling someone they are hard to understand, and is especially helpful if you have asked them to repeat themselves a lot on a call.
  • Contact someone personally after the call. If you are having trouble understanding someone on a consistent basis, try calling them or emailing them after a call to politely bring this to their attention. You have to be careful how you do this, but many people will appreciate knowing that they should change the way they speak so people can better understand them.

These calls are a waste of my time

Most teleconferences run too looooooong. Here are a few things to do to save everyone some time:

  • Get feedback from the participants. First, assess if this is a common opinion by asking for feedback from the participants. Ask everyone what they think is causing the calls to run too long. Then, using the feedback, try to get rid of those ‘time wasters’.
  • Make some calls optional if possible. Give people a chance to opt out of certain calls. Then they can choose to use their time the way they want. Just make sure to take clear and concise minutes so that anyone who misses a call has the important information discussed.
  • If you usually have 30 minute calls each week, try doing the same thing in 20 minutes. If you usually have 60 minute calls, try doing them in 40 minutes. You will be surprised how much you can accomplish in less time if you focus on doing so. Remember, it is the moderator’s responsibility to keep things within the timeframe. With that said, some of the most successful teams I’ve worked with have had a designated “time watcher” that can help remind the moderator when time is running out.

These suggestions can turn your sickly teleconferences into the most productive time of the week!

Ok, just joking; but at least you can make them a bit better. If you are interested in more ways to make your teleconference better, download our ‘Sweet sixteen – quick and easy steps to better teleconferences’.

Email MADNESS!! Misusing and abusing email –and what you can do to stop this

Knowing how to use email is simply assumed

Did you know that the majority of email traffic comes from the business world, with business users sending and receiving an average of 121 emails a day in 2014? Email is the most pervasive form of communication in the business world, and therefore effective email writing means effective business communication. But surprisingly (or perhaps not) email doesn’t always mean effective communication, does it?

One of the more interesting aspects of being a trainer is the opportunity to meet, talk with and learn from other professionals in a wide range of jobs and industries. The following is a true story. I’ve changed names to protect the innocent – and the guilty. Sadly though, I’m guessing that as you read this you’ll have your own stories of email madness spring to mind.

Writing emails that people read: Free eBook download

//

The use, misuse and abuse of email communication (yes, this is a true story)

I met Sven in an open seminar. Sven was the manager of the facilities management department at a large manufacturing company. His administrative location had just moved premises, and as you can imagine this was an incredibly busy time for Sven and his team. However even though (or perhaps because) Sven was busy he was determined to attend the time management seminar his HR department had organized with us. Sven set his out of office reply up the night before, and I met him on a cloudy morning the next day.  The training went very well as the group shared, discussed and developed practical solutions to the problems they faced. Then at lunch time the following emerged …

Somebody (let’s call him Michael) had sent Sven a mail and received Sven’s out of office reply. Sven had not changed his automatic signature block and Michael knew that Sven had moved offices, so why did his signature block still have the old address? Michael concluded that this could well be an IT problem, but as he wasn’t sure he sent a mail to his 12 teammates asking if they had experienced something similar. Of these 12 teammates, one sent a mail to the IT help desk, one of them sent a mail to his line manager (let’s call her Marie) … and one of them sent a mail to Sven’s colleague, who then sent a mail to Sven.

Marie sent a mail titled “URGENT – critical email problem” to the CFO. The CFO, who was in a meeting, saw the title and sent a mail to the Head of IT asking what the problem was and how quickly it could be resolved. The Head of IT sent a mail to the IT help desk asking what the problem was and how long it would take to be resolved. … and I think you can imagine the rest yourself. At some point during lunch time somebody from the IT help desk phoned Sven to ask whether he knew his signature block was old. At this point Sven explained it was his oversight – and that he’d update it when he got back into the office the next day.

Key learning points that all email users should keep in mind

Now obviously the above is not strictly speaking about just an email problem. But the elements of the story do highlight some all-too-frequent behaviours. Here are 4 key learning points which, if they’d been followed would have prevented the situation above:

Just because you can send an email it doesn’t mean you have to!

It is possible to over communicate sometimes. How many emails do you receive each day? One of the biggest sources of stress at work is the sheer volume of emails that people receive. So, before you even begin writing an email, always take a few seconds and ask yourself: Is this really necessary? Then ask yourself the same question again before you hit “send”.

Know when to use cc , and when not

Discuss this with your colleagues and agree on a “code of conduct”. Keep in mind that people can interpret what “cc” means in different ways. They can also read meaning into who was and was not copied in.

Think carefully about the subject lines in email

In particular think about how often you want to use words such as URGENT, NEED HELP, PRIORITY etc. If you use them too often in your subject lines, you should be prepared that when you really need to draw attention to your email, your reader won’t be interested.

Know when to pick up the phone

Email is not always the most effective form of communication. Sometimes, picking up the phone is faster. Email is great for giving information, sharing updates or making simple requests. However use the phone if something could be a sensitive or emotional topic, or if you need to deal with questions that are likely to need some back-and-forth discussion.

Your email madness

As I was preparing this post, everyone I spoke to about it had their own email madness story to share. You can use the comments function below to share your example of email madness with our readers.

Book Review: 5 great books to boost your virtual teams’ performance

As we’ve heard from many of our participants in our virtual team seminars , the challenges of virtual teams are similar to the challenges of face-to-face teams but magnified. Additionally, new challenges arise, such as the impact of a lack of contact on the social glue that holds teams together, and matching the right technology to the right task. The sources we’ve looked at below continue to help us to focus on practical solutions to the real-world problems and opportunities virtual teams present. We hope they will help you to succeed in a virtual environment as well.

VTchecklists

Free eBook download

Virtual Team Success

By Darleen Derosa & Richard Lepsinger

This research-based book is a compilation of practical approaches to virtual teaming. The book contains a number of helpful checklists and best practices that can serve as a guide for virtual team leaders and participants. The behavioral focus of Virtual Team Success will help you to get out ahead of any problems before they happen with no-nonsense advice based on real-world success. If you need to justify the investment of time, energy and resources needed to improve your virtual teams, this book will help you do so. The processes for solving common problems in virtual teams is a highlight.

Mastering Virtual Teams: Strategies Tools and Techniques that Succeed

By Deborah Duarte & Nancy Snyder

The authors of Mastering Virtual Teams have applied best practices, tools and techniques from team theory and information and knowledge management to the challenges of virtual teams. They’ve organized the information in three, easy to follow areas: Understanding, Creating and Mastering Virtual Teams. Their vast practical experience as professors, consultants and business leaders inform the “how to” approach of the book. The book provides a toolkit for participants, leaders and managers of virtual teams. Practical tools, exercises, insights and real-life examples help you to master the dynamics of virtual team participation with guidelines, strategies and best practices for cross cultural and cross functional work. For example, instead of simply stating “build trust”, the authors give us three general guidelines for building trust in a virtual environment. Not surprisingly, these factors work in collocated teams as well. They’ve included a CD Rom with the third edition as an easy way to print the checklists and helpful documents from the book.

Where in the World is My Team: Making a Success of Your Virtual Global Workplace

By Terrence Brake

Where in the World is My Team: Making a Success of Your Virtual Global Workplace follows the exploits of Will Williams as he makes his way in a virtually enabled workplace and the life of a young professional in London. As a narrative that weaves the best practices of virtual organizations and teams, Where in the World is my Team succeeds in helping the reader to want to go from cover to cover and not use the book merely as a resource document. The book is far more than just an entertaining look at a digital life. The book’s very detailed appendix provides researched support for the virtual structures and tools highlighted in the story. Brake’s 6 C’s of global collaboration provide a logical framework for the needs of effective virtual teams.

Leading Virtual Teams

Harvard Business School Publishing

Leading Virtual Teams  is a quick and easy guide for those who don’t need to be convinced to do what it takes to improve their virtual teams, needing only tips on how to do it. The book covers the basics for those beginning their experiences with leading virtual teams. There are references to related Harvard Business publications, a mention of the Harvard extension course on Managing Virtual Teams, taught virtually, and a brief test as a check-on-learning.

The Big Book of Virtual Team Building Games

By Mary Scannell & Michael Abrams

The Big Book of Virtual Team Building Games fills a present developmental need for many virtual teams with games that encourage building rapport, solving problems and team skills. The games are designed to be played using various virtual team platforms and are cleverly arranged according to Tuckman’s stages of team development–forming, storming, norming, performing—with the additional stage, transforming. Each game is described in detail with the approximate time for completion. Keep in mind that teams with member using a non-native language may take a little longer than predicted.

 

What I learned about being a trainer when I was a participant

I recently took part in a management training workshop. Aside from what I learned in the two days, it was very interesting to be a participant for once and not a trainer! As a participant, I was able to experience the training from a different perspective. Sometimes I felt a little bit nervous, especially during role plays. I hadn’t expected that. It certainly got me thinking about how I could transfer my experiences of being a participant into my training.

Encourage questions and check understanding

From time to time I didn’t understand the task that was set and I was always relieved when someone else asked the trainer to clarify what we had to do. It took a while for me to get comfortable enough to ask questions when I was confused. As a trainer, I can keep this in mind and make sure to check that everyone understands their task, or give people an extra minute to ask questions.

Power to the participants

One person in my group insisted on keeping his mobile phone turned on throughout the workshop and was constantly using it. The trainer asked a few times for him to stop using his phone but it wasn’t until I got annoyed and asked him, a fellow participant, did he understand that his behaviour was impacting other people. He then put his phone away. This was interesting for me as I would have normally thought the trainer carried the most authority in the room.

Encourage learning after the session

I was encouraged to read through my notes a few days after the workshop had finished. It only took a few minutes but it really helped me to remember what I had learned. That would be my top tip for learning. It sounds simple but actually finding the time to do it is another thing. In future I think I will make an Outlook appointment with myself, even if it is just for 15 minutes. I will encourage my participants to do the same.

Short breaks

It was tiring being a participant. What really worked for my concentration was to have multiple short breaks. Even a break of just a minute helped me gather my thoughts.

jonnyroundSend me your tips and ideas

What can the participants do to make the training a success? What does your trainer do to make the training interesting and useful for you? How important is training for you? And, do you also get nervous during role plays?

 

 

 

 

 

Leading interactive virtual meetings

What strategies can be used to make virtual meetings as effective and engaging as possible?

One of my clients recently asked me to listen in on a virtual meeting and give feedback to the chairperson of the meeting. This person wanted to make the daily meeting more interesting, interactive and motivating for the participants. Regularly scheduled meetings with topics which may or may not be completely relevant to all of the participants can lead to boredom. The temptation to multi-task and read emails, mute your microphone and tune out completely are high. Afterwards, we discussed the possibilities. Below is a summary of the ideas we came up with.

Know and use the virtual tools available to you

Do you know which tools are available to help make your meetings interactive? There are other tools you can use apart from just sharing your desktop. If you don’t know the system which your company uses very well, find out by doing some research or asking others. Or perhaps taking formal training is the most effective way to learn more about it.

Insist that participants dial in with their name or department

It is very helpful to have some way of identifying exactly who you are speaking to about a certain point. People often feel more inclined to answer or respond when they are addressed by name. Plus encouraging people is also more effective when you use their name!

VTchecklists

Free eBook download

Clearly identify (and stick to) the topics for the day

If possible, identify the people who need to be involved before beginning to speak. If this isn’t possible, clearly identify the topic and ask those people involved to give you some sign that they are listening.

State expectations and rules for participation in advance

Does this mean that you want people to orally respond when spoken to? Should they raise their hands using the virtual feature? Should they do nothing? Sometimes people do nothing simply because they don’t realize that you want them to respond at a given moment. Setting expectations beforehand can make participants more willing to engage.

If participants aren’t very motivated, ask yourself if the meetings are being held too frequently

Sometimes frequency leads to apathy. Are people starting to think that it isn’t important if they come or not or if they actively participate or not? Perhaps having fewer meetings might make them pay more attention and give the event a sense of importance again.

Consider having an assistant

This person could take the notes for you, prepare information, moderate chat sessions for big groups or help motivate people to respond by using pointed questions to individuals by using the chat feature. This will leave you free to concentrate on other matters.

Which strategies do you use?

There are certainly many other ideas which can be helpful for leading online meetings.  If you would like to share, feel free to use our comments area below.

 

 

Being effective in 2015 – 2 time management tips I know will make an impact

Anyone who knows me well will tell you that I’m not the most structured and organized of people. Like many managers I’ve got multiple roles – some I enjoy, others are a “necessity”. At the end of last year I was, quite frankly, ready for a break. Over the holidays I walked the dogs and reflected on the causes and possible solutions – and, like many of us, I’ve resolved to make a few changes this year. Drawing on the techniques we share in some of our seminars, these are two concrete time management tips I’m going to focus on going forward, and I know from past experience that they’ll make an impact. Maybe they can support you too.

Time management tip #1 – Talk with people about how they communicate and interact with me

Identifying why I seemed to be so busy was a first step. I then split these reasons into “time sins” , “time thieves” and “time wasters”. Time sins are things I do to myself, for example getting easily distracted, poor planning etc. Time thieves are things that others do which mean I’m not as effective as I could be, for example sending me too many emails when a phone call would be more effective, not preparing for a meeting which means everyone loses time, pushing problems up to me that they can and should be dealing with themselves. Time wasters are those things that just happen and are out of my immediate control e.g. delays caused by traffic, IT issues etc.

I’ll address time sins in the tip below – but in my case time thieves are also clearly a problem. So, going forward in 2015, I’ve resolved that, as and when time thieves reappear this year, I’m going to take (or make) the opportunity to talk with my colleagues. I’ll try to understand how they see things and why they are working like this, explain how I see things and then together agree to build new routines and habits. I know that time thieves won’t just disappear by themselves unless I talk with the “thief” directly. These conversations won’t always be easy but having them is important.

Time management tip #2 – Eat my frogs

Do you ever have that feeling that you just don’t know where to start? Everyone procrastinates at some time, and Brian Tracy’s “eat that frog” technique is an approach I’ve relied upon time and time again when things are getting a little too crazy at work and I don’t know where to start. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, it goes something like this…

Your alarm goes off, and you roll over, turn it off and rub your eyes. Another day has begun and it’s time to get up and get ready to go to work. However before you get out of bed you sit up, reach across to your bedside table and pick up that big glass jar you keep next to you. You unscrew the lid, put your hand in and pull out … a frog. A living, croaking, slightly slippery frog. You then open your mouth, push the frog in, and start to chew it. Bones crunch, you resist the temptation to throw up, and then you swallow it. You then get up feeling relieved that this dreadful task is over. That was probably the worst thing that’ll happen to you all day .

Got your attention, right? Obviously this is a metaphor – eating frogs doesn’t actually help you become more effective. “Eating the frog” is a metaphor for doing the task that you’ve been avoiding, delaying or ignoring – and doing this task first thing! Most of us start work with the same comfortable routine. We get into the office, start up our computer, talk with a colleague, grab a coffee (and perhaps even read the news online) and then open and read our emails. Eating your frog means the very first thing you do when you get to work is that task you’ve been avoiding, delaying or ignoring. It could be a task that you’re nervous about tackling a task that you just don’t enjoy doing, or a task that you just don’t know where you should start. But before you open your emails, before you allow yourself the luxury of perusing the morning paper, before you even start chatting with a colleague – you do the thing you don’t want to do (for me this could typically be an administrative task). Once you’ve got your frog out of the way you’ll hopefully then spend the rest of the day being more effective, feeling more effective and focussing on other challenges.

These are 2 approaches I’m going to commit to. How about you? What tips and tricks do you have to share? How will you make sure that you are effective in 2015?

Helping out the non-native speakers in the room

Advice on how to improve your business communication skills is often directed at helping the non-native speakers communicate better, but what about the native speakers? What could/should they do to have a more successful outcome? Below are two considerations for native speakers preparing for meetings with mixed language ability colleagues. The examples shown below are from the observation of English native speakers, but the advice holds true for any meeting with different nationalities present.

Reformulate

It’s hard to cross-check yourself as a native speaker, especially when you are in full-flow and a strong, educated talker. It may be worth, however, trying to reword what you have just said- especially when you do catch yourself seeing some blank looks. The following expressions are taken from an actual meeting. Consider how difficult they might be to understand for a non-native English speaker. One way to evaluate this is by asking yourself: “Have I ever heard the other people in the room use this expression?” If the answer is “no”, then you should consider reformulating.

  • It’s all a bit clunky
  • We didn’t want to go there (not referring to travel, but a topic)
  • It didn’t go down very well
  • One-upmanship
  • That does seem a bit steep

Reduce excess words

English native speakers are especially good at using ‘softeners’. Softeners are words used to modify the potential force/impact of the message. For non-native speakers, the use of softeners can be ambiguous or confusing. Extracting the important information from someone’s speech is not always a simple task for a non-native English speaker. Take a look at the following example:

“We need some sort of decision probably by the end of the week”

This sentence could be interpreted as meaning, ‘I only need to think about part of the decision and I have no firm deadline to do so’. Non-native English speakers sometimes view softeners (the words in bold) as indicating that the real information they support is not that important. For a native English speaker, softeners are very hard to eradicate. On a simple level, however, you can see that softeners increase the number of words in a sentence and therefore might make comprehension of key facts trickier. This is not to say that softeners aren’t a useful tool, but factor in when it might pay to simply not use one.

More on meetings

Our blog features a number of posts on meetings.

Using the 3 dimensions of customer service in business communication

In a previous post, I talked about the 3 dimensions of customer service and how balancing the needs of your customer in each of the dimensions is a large step towards customer satisfaction. This post focuses on how you can use the 3 dimensions of customer service in your day-to-day business communication.

A quick reminder of the 3 dimensions

  • The business dimension – the reason for contacting you
  • The human dimension – the personal need of your customer (assurance, empathy, understanding)
  • The hidden dimension – everything that is going on behind the scenes

Read the full post

Focus on the person, not on the problem

Regardless of how the customer query ends up on your to-do list, and regardless of the type of query, the person most likely contacted you with a business problem. More often than not, you can tell how the customer is feeling by the tone of their voice, or the tone of their email. If you spot something in the tone of the conversation, you need to address it. You can’t ignore it.

Even if there’s nothing in the call or email that explicitly displays emotion, you should be able to address how you think the person is affected by the problem. Of course you need to solve the problem as soon as you can, but it shouldn’t be your first focus.

Here’s an example.

 

Customer query

Dear John,

When can we expect delivery of the replacement parts? Note that the order was placed almost 7 weeks ago.

Regards,

Bruno

 

John’s reply to the customer

Dear Bruno,

I understand that the delayed delivery will start causing problems for your end-client if the parts aren’t delivered soon (1). As you know, these parts are normally dispatched within 4 weeks of ordering (2).  I tracked your order. The problem lays in the manufacturing department. I have just spoken with a colleague there, and she said that the parts should be dispatched within 7 days. (3)

Leave it with me (4). I will follow up with my colleague on Monday and contact you to let you know if everything’s on schedule and when you can expect delivery of the parts (5).

My sincere apologies for the delay (6).

With regards,

John

What John did

  1. John starts the mail by saying that he understands the impact this has. (Human/business dimension)
  2. John reminds the customer how it “normally” works. (Business dimension)
  3. John tells the customer what he has done to find out about the order. (Hidden dimension)
  4. John takes responsibility for the query, assuring Bruno that someone is taking care of his problem. (Human dimension)
  5. John explains how he will follow up. (Business/hidden dimension)
  6. John apologizes for the service breakdown. (Human dimension)

 

Try it for yourself

Use the comments box at the bottom of this post to reply to this email, using all 3 dimensions:

I recently sent you a fax to cancel my contract with you. I have received no confirmation and my bank account shows that I’m still paying for your service. When I contacted your customer service department, they told me that I’d receive a confirmation within 6 weeks.

I’m still waiting.

Please let me know the status of my cancellation asap.

Thank you,

How do you measure the success of training?

More specifically, how do you measure the success of training when learners don’t have a test to pass? The goal of our training is for participants to be able to do their job better. How easily can that be measured, taking into account all of the other variables that can affect job performance?

When we look at the success of our on-the-job training, we use the Kirkpatrick Model as a guide. The Kirkpatrick model has four levels. When you measure each of the four levels, you have an overall impression of the success of the training. By looking at all four levels, it gives us the chance to make sure that what is learnt can really be implemented. Each level can individually help, but looking at all four levels together gives the real story. If you’re not familiar with the Kirkpatrick Model, here is a short summary:

Kirkpatrick’s four levels

Reaction

Are the learners/participants happy with the process?

Learning

Did the learners acquire the knowledge, skills or attitude that they were meant to learn?

Behavior

Have the learners changed the way they do something when they got back to the job?

Results

Has the training helped to achieve certain results?

An example of the four levels in practice

A group of phone operators in a help desk take English training. Following the training, they fill in a feedback form (reaction) about their satisfaction with the training. They could be tested either during or after the training to assess their new knowledge (learning). Once back on the job, they can be observed to see what they are doing differently (behavior). Finally, some sort of job-performance indicator can be used to see if the actions of the learners are having the desired effect (results), e.g. the time it takes to resolve a problem or a measure of customer satisfaction.

When looking at all four levels, we can not only measure success of the program, but we can also pinpoint potential problems. For example, if we only measure the end result and we don’t see any change, it may be possible that some other variable is responsible for the situation. Maybe the learner is learning and is satisfied with the training but is not given the opportunity to implement their new skills.

More on the Kirkpatrick model

Some of our key staff are Kirkpatrick certified and available to answer your questions about training assessment. Use the comments function below or contact us via email.

Linking your emails will make them more reader-friendly

Love them or hate them, emails are part of working life. We have probably all dreaded the moment we return from our holiday because we knew we were facing a mountain of emails. Or maybe we have a colleague who has a gift for writing emails that seems like coded messages – except that you don’t know the code.

When emails are not ‘stand alone’ messages

Emails often form part of longer conversations. There are ways we can help the reader, and ourselves, to ‘follow the conversation’ in an email. In this post, I’ll outline three situations where you might have to link your reader to previous conversations or information, with examples of language to use included:

  • Linking to another paragraph.
  • Linking to an attachment.
  • Linking or referring to a previous email.

writing emails that people read

Linking to another paragraph

Let’s look at each situation briefly. We’ll start with the most common. When you’re linking to another paragraph, you’re often referring the reader and reminding them of something that has already been said, usually in the same email. These simple phrases at the beginning of your sentence will alert your reader and focus their attention on a previous point.

“As I mentioned above, your shipment should arrive by the end of calendar week 23.” or

“As discussed at the beginning of this email, we will meet at 10:00”

Linking to an attachment

If you have to attach an image, a document or some other kind of file, there is a standard phrase that you see a lot: “See attached.” This is ok, but it’s not very personal or friendly. Remember, friendly does not necessarily mean informal or impolite. You can easily make it friendlier by changing up the language a little. Instead of simply “See attached” try this:

“In the attachment, you will find…” or

“For your convenience, I have attached the…..to this email.”

Linking to a previous email

Finally, you may have to link to a previous email. This can be the trickiest, because we deal with so many emails and referencing other emails can easily lead to confusion. The best way to minimize this confusion is by referring to a specific email stating the date of the email you are referring to and then make your point, especially if the conversation is ongoing and there are several emails in question.

“As I mentioned in my email from (date)….”

“Regarding my previous email, sent to you on (date)…”

More on emailing

Our emailing theme continues next week, with a two-part post about tone in emails. In the meantime, you can find lots more emailing tips on our blog. There’s also our latest Ebook for you to download.

Emails with effective subject lines

How many emails do you get a day? Too many, right? For good or bad, emailing surpassed telephoning as our primary method of communication in the workplace years ago. Yet today we still receive poor, confusing and ineffective emails – and worst of all we still write them too! If you want to improve the quality and impact of your emails, there’s no better place to start than at the beginning – start by writing an effective subject line.

The email subject line is where writing effective emails begins. It is often the first thing that your reader sees, and plays a key part in whether they open the email immediately, later or not at all. And it’s pretty simple to do. Here’s how …

writing emails that people read

 1) Write your subject line first

Too many of us either just hit reply, forward or even write nothing at all in the subject line. An email with a blank subject line isn’t going to get the attention it deserves, may go unread and will certainly be difficult to find later on. Obviously you’ve planned your email before you started writing, so write the subject line before you write your email.

2) Keep your subject line simple, clear and honest

An effective subject line should be simple to understand, clearly convey why you are writing, and accurately summarize the email’s contents. This helps your reader prioritize the email’s importance without having to open it. It also help you to build trust with your reader , as you’ll quickly be seen as somebody who is clear, open and reader-oriented.

3) Keep your subject line short, with key words at the beginning

A typical inbox reveals about 60-70 characters of an email’s subject line. That’s about the length of the last sentence. HOWEVER today more than 50% emails are ready on mobiles. This means you’ve got 20-30 characters to get it right. Place the most important words at the beginning!

4) Help your reader (and yourself) by using obvious keywords

Your reader, and perhaps you, manage the flood of emails via search functions, filters and folders. That’s why it’s important to include keywords related to the topic of the email that will make it searchable later.

5) Don’t cry wolf too often

Think carefully about how often you want to use words such as URGENT, NEED HELP, PRIORITY etc. If you use them too often in your subject lines, you should be prepared that when you really need to draw attention to your email, your reader won’t be interested.

6) Make sure you reread the subject line before you click send

Once again, check that your subject line accurately reflects what you wrote, that the key words are at the beginning and your subject line will be easily searchable.

A very short, practical exercise

  1. Open your inbox and look at received emails. Based on the simple guidelines above, how many of the emails in your inbox have effective subject lines?
  2. Now open your own sent mails folder. To what extent would you describe your own subject lines as effective? Can you anticipate the content of your own emails based on the subject lines you wrote? Give yourself a score out of 10.
  3. Now set up a reminder in your calendar to repeat step 2 in 14 days time.

5 tips for successful networking

Originally published on 25.03.2013

I know enough people at my company.  I have enough friends.  I’m not comfortable speaking and reaching out to people I don’t know.  I’m not a salesperson. 

The list of excuses on why not to engage in professional networking can go on and on.  As undesirable as it can seem, networking successfully can lead to improved performance in your current job, as well as opportunities for future career development.

5 quick tips on making networking easy

Network with a purpose

Set a specific goal (improving inter-department relationships, growing sales in the logistics industry, discovering opportunities to work abroad in your company, etc).  The more focused your networking is, the faster the desired results will be.

Share useful information

It is always easier to reach out to someone when you know you have something they can use.  Think of something that has helped you in your job (a process, document, tip, etc) and pass it along.  If you help someone first, they are more willing to help you when you may need it in the future.

Use the other person’s ego

You don’t want to contact someone and ask them for a job.  Instead, contact them and ask for an informational interview if you are looking for a job.  Tell them you have some questions that you feel their experience will help answer.  You will get some insight and a good networking contact, and they get to feel like an expert and helpful.  It’s a win-win situation.

Follow up

If you say you are going to send something, send it.  If you say you are going to check on something, do it.  Following up on what you say you will do shows respect and professionalism, and helps build trust with the contact.  Also, make sure to follow up regularly with contacts even when you don’t need something as there will be a time when you will; and no one likes that friend who only calls when they need something.

Use good etiquette

The same skills you have used to become a successful professional are the ones you will use to build and maintain a good network of contacts.  Here are some good reminders on what to do/not to do when networking online and face-to-face.

There are many other ideas on networking successfully.  Check out Target Training’s seminar on networking for professionals here.  Tell us in the comments area below what have you done to build your network.

Effective introductions when presenting in English

If you are nervous about presenting in English, making an effective introduction is especially important. An effective introduction will help your audience know what to expect and it will help you feel confident.  Once you’ve started well it is easier to keep going – and don’t forget that your audience is there to listen to what you have to say and not your English!

eBook: The definitive checklist for qualifying training providers

Effective introductions for beginners – the 3 Ps

This simple technique always works. When you are presenting in English (or in any language) your introduction needs to answer three questions:

  1. Why are you standing there presenting? What is the purpose of your presentation?
  2. What are the steps in your presentation? What is the process you will follow?
  3. Why should your audience listen to you?  What is their payoff?

It doesn’t matter if you are introducing your team, presenting a process or giving an update on a project – the structure is the same. The 3Ps help you remember this structure, and if it helps you when you are nervous, why not use the three keywords?

Presenting in English – an example of the 3Ps in action

“Good afternoon and thank you for coming.  The purpose of my presentation today is to update you on the factory acceptance test.  The process I will follow is to first review the agreed schedule, then talk about the tools we are using and finally we will look at two problems we have found and how we will solve them.  This will take me 10 minutes. Why should you listen?  Well, your payoff is that you will be confident that we can complete the FAT on schedule and that everything is under control.”

Simple, clear and effective

If you follow this structure, your introduction will be simple, clear and effective.  Most importantly you can concentrate on what you want to say, and stop worrying about the English.

Good luck, and why not let me know how it works for you?

Ground rules for working effectively in groups

Originally published on: 05.06.2014

One of my program participants recently mentioned the workplace value of the skills of moderation and facilitation. This conversation piqued my interest, so I searched the Net for the best books about facilitation and chose one that is considered a classic text on the topic of facilitation: The Skilled Facilitator: A Comprehensive Resource for Consultants, Facilitators, Managers, Trainers, and Coaches by Roger Schwarz. As a trainer who very often works with groups, one of Schwarz’s theories caught my eye: establishing ground rules for groups. Schwarz compiled a list known as The Ground Rules for Effective Groups that help make sure groups are communicating effectively. Below, the nine Ground Rules are listed with a short description (some or all of these rules can be adopted, or the group can create their own, at the first group meeting).

9 Ground rules for effective groups

1. Test assumptions and inferences

Making inferences from available information is a valuable skill, but what if we make these assumptions based on incorrect information or a misunderstanding of what someone else said? 

2. Share all relevant information

If members of the team don’t share all of their information, this can lead to incorrect decisions. Even worse, if it’s discovered later that someone withheld information, it can cause major problems. 

3. Use specific examples and agree on what important terms mean

If important terms are fully defined, team members can be assured that they’re speaking about the same issues in the same way.

4. Explain your reasoning and intent

If you can explain your line of reasoning to your colleagues, they’ll be better able to understand where you’re coming from. In addition, listening carefully to your colleagues’ explanations will help you understand the situation more fully.

5. Focus on interests, not positions

Closely linked to Ground Rule 4, number 5 suggests that we discuss the interests of the people involved and not the position they are taking. Rather than, for example, “He says the budget can’t go up, but I want a new computer,” think, “He needs more money for the advertising costs, but I can’t process the graphics with my old, slow computer.” Then, we’re thinking in terms of what people really need, instead of what we think they might want.

6. Combine advocacy and inquiry

In a nutshell, this ground rules means that when you state an opinion, you ask for comments and questions immediately. 

7. Jointly design next steps and ways to test disagreements

Agreeing on a system for solving disagreements beforehand can save time and make sure disputes don’t bring the meeting to a halt. 

8. Discuss undiscussable issues

Bringing sensitive subjects out into the open needs to be handled very carefully, but can ultimately lead to a group that is moving forward rather than constantly avoiding an uncomfortable conversation.

9. Use a decision-making rule that generates the degree of commitment needed

If these (or other) ground rules are followed, hopefully all members will feel that they have all the information necessary to make an informed choice and that their voices have been heard. If this is the case and a consensus is reached, every member of the team will feel more dedicated to following-up on the decision, as they they have been an active part of the decision-making process.

More on effective groups and facilitation

The short description of the ground rules above doesn’t really do the book justice. If you’re interested in this topic, I’d recommend getting a copy of The Skilled Facilitator for yourself. If you have experience with groups that work well together (or more tips for how to make group interaction more effective), please share them with us in the comments section below.