StrategyDriven Communications Forum

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Information flow is the lifeblood of every organization, whether passing verbally, electronically, or via hard copy. The clarity, accuracy, and conciseness of information passed as well as the quality of understanding by the intended receiver(s) determine, in part, the effectiveness of transference by the overall communications network. The fluidity of the system, formal and informal, composed of people, applications, hardware, and paper, serves as the remaining factor in the organization’s communications effectiveness.

While critically important to every organization’s success, variations between individual knowledge, experience, and motivation, creates differences in perception that makes all communications difficult. Similarly, differences between the organization’s computer applications and hardware systems employed challenge the smooth, unaltered passage of data and information.

Focus of the Communications Forum

Materials within the Communications Forum focus on those principles and best practices implemented at leading organizations to ensure consistent, fluid transfer of information between individuals. The following articles, podcasts, documents, and resources cover those topics critical to an exceptional internal and external organizational communications.

Articles

Principles

Best Practices

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor Articles

StrategyDriven Podcasts

StrategyDriven Podcast – Special Edition

The Dark Side of the Digital Revolution

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Recently, The Los Angeles Times reported on cell phone use in Korea and revealed remarkable information about where our digital culture may be heading. They discovered Korean teenagers make up to 90 cell phone calls a day, and social scientists are now beginning to correlate high cell use with rising rates of depression. For some time, I’ve noticed that many young people value their digital life as much (if not more) than their real life. A friend of my daughter sent 3,500 text messages in a single month, (that’s more than 116 per day, and not unusual for today’s teens).

Add that to another recent study released by the Knight Ridder news service that Americans are reporting fewer and fewer close friends. In 1985, pollsters noted that the average person reported having three close friends, but today, it’s only two. And the number who say they have no one to discuss important matters with has doubled to one in four. The social implications are significant, from no friends to visit people in the hospital, weakened bonds during crisis, fewer watchdogs to deter neighborhood crime, and a lack of community.

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About the Author

Phil Cooke is a television producer and media consultant at Cooke Pictures in Burbank, California. His new book is ‘Jolt! Get the Jump on a World That’s Constantly Changing.‘. Find out more at philcooke.com.

The Exchange: Four Tips for Having Conflict-Busting Conversations in the Workplace

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A long-time consultant is offended by something a new salesperson said on a conference call and is threatening to leave. And an employee in marketing is furious about being passed over for a promotion in favor of her coworker and is trying to discredit her. These are just a couple of examples of the workplace conflicts that take up 42 percent of the typical manager’s time. The trick to moving past these conflicts and on to increased productivity for everyone at your organization is knowing how to broach the topics in a way that leads to improved working relationships.

Disagreements, disputes, and honest differences are normal in any workplace. When these normal occurrences are treated as opportunities for exploring new ideas about projects, they can become catalysts for increased energy and productivity. Getting to that place starts with an honest discussion.

The following tips – excerpted from The Exchange – will teach you how to turn your next meeting with conflicting employees into a productive conversation.

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About the Authors

Steven P. Dinkin is president of NCRC. He received his law degree from George Washington University, where he taught a mediation clinic as an adjunct law professor. He has also taught mediation courses in the United States, Europe, and Latin America. For several years with the Center for Dispute Settlement in Washington, D.C., Steve served as an employment and workplace mediator for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other federal agencies. In 2003, he moved to San Diego to lead NCRC. His experience managing a talented and opinionated staff has contributed to the realism of this book. To read Steven Dinkin’s complete biography, click here.

Barbara Filner was the director of training for NCRC from 1984-2010. She currently works as a consultant for NCRC. Barbara has a master’s degree in teaching from Indiana University and has worked as a teacher, a labor union official, and an analyst in local and state government. She has designed and conducted workshops on mediation and conflict resolution in the workplace in both the United States and Europe. She has lived in Pakistan, India, and Egypt, and thus brings a multicultural perspective to this book. She has also co-written two books about culture and conflict, Conflict Resolution Across Cultures and Mediation Across Cultures. To read Barbara Filner’s complete biography, click here.

Lisa Maxwell is currently the director of the training institute at NCRC. She has traveled all over the world as a trainer for NCRC for almost 20 years. Lisa has a master’s degree in education from San Diego State University and has developed curricula and taught courses at the high school and university levels. Mrs. Maxwell developed and is the lead trainer in The Exchange Training. Lisa has worked with businesses, with the military, and with nonprofit organizations on finding creative, effective ways to manage conflicts. To read Lisa Maxwell’s complete biography, click here.

To learn more about the NCRC, or to attend one of its upcoming training sessions, visit its Web site, www.ncrconline.com.

How to Give a Briefing that Impresses the Boss

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Let’s say you have to brief the boss on the status of a project. How can you do it best? Here’s a five-step process you can use for a meeting, an email message or a stopped-in-the-hallway request for an update. This process will help you make it obvious to the boss that you’re on top of the project. You’ll also show you’re a clear and crisp communicator who values the boss’s time.

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About the Author

Bill Rosenthal is the Chief Executive Officer of Communispond Inc., an organization that has taught business communications skills to more than 600,000 persons. Bill is responsible all aspects of the business including sales, marketing, content development, and the delivery of Communispond courses by certified faculty. Prior to joining Communispond, Bill was CEO of Digi-Block Inc., a K-12 education publisher focusing on mathematics. He also served as President of Kaplan College, a division of Kaplan Inc., the well-known test preparation company, where he developed and launched the online college that offers Associates and Bachelors degrees and certificates in Business, Information Technology, Nursing, and Law. In a previous role as President of Ziff-Davis Education (now called Element K), Bill oversaw the leading supplier of computer training products worldwide and supervised the operations of ZD University, the leading web-based computer skills site.

The Big Picture of Business – Sayings, Meanings and Interpretations

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals ArticleThis essay uses grammar as an analogy for looking new ways at how business is conducted. Strategy development requires the mining the gold within any organization and seeking new outcomes via creative applications of ideas.

Times of crisis and economic downturn get people thinking differently about the conduct of business. Organizations say that they need to re-evaluate and get back to basics, that nothing is guaranteed. They realize that the old ways of doing business will no longer work. They seek to better themselves as professionals and to rethink the business models. Changing times require new perspectives.

For some, these are stark new approaches. This is the reality in which the small business and entrepreneurial worlds have always experienced. Welcome to the paradigms that many of us have operated under for some time.

Accepting change as a positive guiding principle, one then seeks to find, analyze and apply fresh approaches toward addressing the old problems. For many, times of crisis mandate that they think boldly and get used to doing business that way henceforth.

This essay is an exploration into the creativity, the opportunities and the potential rewards of reflecting differently upon business. Our intention and the experiences of many companies who have followed the model presented here is that organizations must now learn how to paint their own ‘big pictures’ of business, rather than focusing upon certain niches. They benefit from change, while the non-change stagnates become additional casualties.

Punctuation changed the meaning of this telegram to a business associate:
Have discovered oil on your property. Nothing but good luck to you.
Have discovered oil. On your property, nothing. But, good luck to you.

Fish is one of those rare multi-purpose words that is used as a noun, verb, adjective and adverb.

  • Let’s have fish for dinner.
  • Are you fishing for an answer?
  • This has a fishy taste.
  • Something smells fishy.

Bar has numerous meanings and is used as a noun, verb, adjective, adverb and preposition.

  • Raise the bar. (increased standards of quality, measurement)
  • Stand by the bar. (piece of furniture, a counter)
  • Visit the bar. (place of business where alcohol is served, nightclub)
  • Pass the bar exam. (qualification to practice in the legal profession)
  • Bar someone from doing something. (ban, prohibit, exclude or prevent)
  • Bar coding. (price verification, inventory control)
  • Bar none. (unlike any other, unsurpassed)
  • Bar in the courtroom. (railing that encloses the judge)
  • Bar bells. (weights for physical training)
  • Bars as accent materials. (used in construction)
  • Bars of music. (contents of notes and accents)
  • Barring elements together. (fasting, joining)
  • Put someone behind bars. (sentenced to jail)
  • Bars on a uniform. (metal strips, connoting military service)
  • Bars on the windows. (metal pipes, for safety and protection from intruders)

Concepts which have changed names over the years…

  • Peep show | film arcade | silent films | talkies | movies | cinema | video
  • Mexican | Chicano | Mexican-American | Hispanic
  • Soda | fountain drink | ‘coke’ | pop | soft drink | mixer | diet drink
  • Janitor | custodian | sanitation engineer
  • Washroom attendant | maid | domestic | steward
  • Housewife | homemaker | domestic engineer
  • Sheriff | marshal | constable | bobby | COP | law enforcer | peace officer
  • Militia | rangers | soldiers | battalions | regiments | army | military forces | peace keeping forces

Categories of Words and Terms

  • Anomaly – Something different, irregular, of uncertain nature, peculiar or not easily classified.
  • Contronyms – Words that have opposite meanings, depending upon usage.
  • Heteronyms – Words that are spelled identically but have different meanings when pronounced differently.
  • Oxymorons – Combination of contradictory or incongruous words…pointedly foolish.
  • Paradox – A tenet that is contrary to expectation or received opinion. Self-contradictory statement that at first seems true. Something with seemingly contradictory qualities or phrases.
  • Pleonasms – Two concepts (usually two words) that are redundant….needless repetition of an idea in a different word, phrase, or sentence.
  • Homonyms – Words pronounced alike but different in meanings, connotations or significance.
  • Synonyms – Words with the same or nearly the same meanings.
  • Antonymns – Words with opposite meanings.
  • Homograph – One of two or more words spelled alike but different in meaning or pronunciation (as the bow of a ship, a bow and arrow)

Sound similar…but different meanings…

  • Arthur – Author
  • Gorilla – Guerilla
  • Mussel – Muscle

Spelled the same…but different meanings…The word “set” has more definitions than any other word in the English language.Homonyms – Words pronounced alike but different in meanings, connotations or significance.

  • Ant is an insect. Your aunt is a relative
  • Bat is sports equipment in baseball. A bat flies around in the dark
  • Chips are units of snack food (potato, corn). Chips are components of computers

Business Meanings Via the Perspectives of Words…..

  • To most people, the milkman brings bottles of milk products to your door. (At least, they did in the old days.) On the farms, the milkman is the one who takes cans of milk away to the dairy.
  • Marketing can be either inward or outward. Companies undergo marketing campaigns to promote products and services to potential customers. Those same consumers do their own marketing when they shop at grocery stores.
  • People define music according to their personal tastes, experiences and backgrounds. What may be entertainment to one person may be noise or objectionable content to another. Music to one’s ears is defined as what they want to hear or choose to acknowledge.
  • Service is a term that constitutes more hype than actual practice. Companies say they pride themselves on customer service. In reality, they see service as a sales vehicle or an add-on product. When customers ask for non-paid service (politeness, consideration, follow-up, manners), that’s a totally different situation, and they are often disappointed. Sadly, customer service in business is poor, declining or nonexistent, per company.
  • Change is a wonderful phenomenon that people hate and fight to their detriments. Research shows that change is 90% positive and that people and organizations change at the rate of 71% per year. Yet, out of fear, they fight, resist and are combative toward change and to those who are change agents. It is inevitable, and one should benefit from change, rather than become a victim of it.
  • When some people hear the term consultant, they run. Research shows that only 2% of all consultants are really veteran business advisors. Most consultants are vendors who sell packages of products and services, displaced executives, computer vendors or people in transition. There really is an art to quality consulting, which requires years of experience, finesse, discipline and talent to amass…few have it.
  • Futurism is seen as an esoteric term. Some say they have no control over their destiny. In reality, thoughtful planning for future eventualities enables one to prevent tragedies 85% of the time. Futurism is a series of thinking and reasoning skills, backed by planning. To deny, ignore or fight the future is foolhardy. To prepare for it means steady growth and success.
  • Diversity is a concept that encompasses ideas, cultures, philosophies and behaviors. Sadly, some people see diversity as a punishment, when associated with training. To the contrary, it is a gift because all of us are living examples of diversity.
  • Technology is a tool of the trade, not an ideology or a mantra. Some people mistakenly believe that technology creates the future, or they are willing to abdicate control of their own destinies to outside forces. Such an extreme position is not fair to technology because it sets up mechanical processes to get blamed later for thinking not done today. Thought processes need many avenues in which to be successful. Thereafter, tools of the trade (including technology) may be applied.
  • Food is a means of survival for some…a base source of nutrition, sustenance and nourishment. Food becomes a creative expression of artistry for gourmets. For many people, food equates to a reward system. Mealtimes are prime business development and networking events. Social occasions have quality food and beverage components.
  • Transportation is necessary to get people from here to there. Transportation is a vital component of the economy…conveying goods throughout intricate networks to marketplaces. Transportation is a status symbol to some people.
  • Business is a livelihood for some. It is a cut-throat game for others. It is a creative expression for still others. For most people, the team becomes an extended family. Business is really a grouping of wants, needs, objectives, outcomes and much more. The way in which priorities and stresses are juggled depends upon how successful the business becomes.
  • Communication is something that all of us utilize, yet is one of the most misdirected concepts. Many people see communication is a one-way process…it is only effective if it is two-way and continually refined. Many businesses put out messages that they want to be heard, yet do not test for effectiveness of messages received. Many organizations seek out response from audiences, and many others set roadblocks to dissenting messages getting within earshot. Communication is the barrier that causes misunderstanding, strife, unrest and productive shutdown in organizations. Depending entirely upon the mindset of human beings in charge, communication can also be the “breath of fresh air” or information source that widens opportunities for understanding, action, support and interactive participation.

About the Author

Hank Moore has advised 5,000+ client organizations worldwide (including 100 of the Fortune 500, public sector agencies, small businesses and non-profit organizations). He has advised two U.S. Presidents and spoke at five Economic Summits. He guides companies through growth strategies, visioning, strategic planning, executive leadership development, Futurism and Big Picture issues which profoundly affect the business climate. He conducts company evaluations, creates the big ideas and anchors the enterprise to its next tier. The Business Tree™ is his trademarked approach to growing, strengthening and evolving business, while mastering change. To read Hank’s complete biography, click here.
 

Older Name for It Modern Name for It
Parasol Umbrella
Ice box Refrigerator
Horseless carriage Automobile
Constantinoble Istanbul
Yugoslavia Kosovo
New Amsterdam New York
French Indochina Vietnam
Pocketbook Purse
Handbag Backpack
Stove Range
Toilet Commode
Toilet paper Bathroom tissue
Tin foil Aluminum foil
Refuge receptacle Trash can, garbage can