Ever notice that some executives you interact with are instantly likeable, trustworthy and respected? Chances are they apply the following communication strategies in every conversation – eye contact, listening, enjoyment and benevolence.
It’s widely accepted that great communication skills are a key ingredient for business owners, executives and managers. How you communicate can make or break relationships, increase your team’s loyalty, set standards for your team and, strengthen your professional reputation. However, these fundamental skills are all too often overlooked.
Here are four strategies I suggest you use to earn trust in all your interactions.
Eye Contact
Essential for building rapport in meetings, interviews and panel discussions, sincere eye contact sends a message of trust. I do not advocate using eye contact to intimidate – which can happen. Narcissistic or intimidating eye contact sends a completely different message. A narcissistic gaze can be threatening and unnerving. If you want to build real rapport, I suggest a warm, sincere approach.
Listening
A crucial part of being a great communicator. Many clients of mine have realized they’ve gone about listening in a way that made them less effective communicators. Essentially in meetings if you are listening for your chance to interrupt or to add to the conversation or to impress you are exhibiting the opposite of leadership. Effective leaders listen to understand, not to interrupt.
Enjoy Your Conversations
I often advise clients to find joy in delivering their speeches. If you are enjoying yourself, chances are your audience will enjoy listening to you. The same is true for small meetings and 1:1 conversation. Take a moment to check in with your team member or colleague before jumping into work-related matters. This will make your colleague feel valued and appreciated.
Benevolence
Communicating with kindness is a valuable tool in almost any situation. If I have a client seeking a job or job promotion, I remind them that one of the most important goals for the interview is to have a pleasant conversation. The same is true for tense discussions, quarterly reviews and reprimands. In most conversations you cannot control how others will respond to your viewpoint. In an interview, you have no control as to whether or not they hire you, but you can control whether or not you are kind. This can make just as much of an impression as your accomplishments.
For more successful interactions, try these tools starting today and notice the shift in how others responded to you. Not only will you begin to earn more trust and respect, you will also help to create a more kind and effective work atmosphere.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/Grace-Under-Pressure_cover_HR.jpg18781200StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2019-04-22 17:05:422019-04-22 21:45:35Earning Trust Through Communication Skills
“I don’t know that there’s necessarily a correlation between leadership style and their email writing. I’ve never researched that specific connection.”
“Understood,” my CEO client responded. “Just review what my admin sends you and give me a one-page opinion on each of the four VPs. That’s all I ask.”
This conversation happened early in my career, and frankly, I feared that I might disappoint him in not being able to draw conclusions.
Within a few days, the CEO’s bundle of emails arrived, basically restating what he’d said on the phone. His executive assistant had collected emails from four of his VPs. Specifically, the emails were representative of those the four VPs had sent to 1) peers 2) their direct reports and 3) those higher-ups in the chain (the CEO himself or EVPs).
My mission: To describe their leadership style and general attitudes about their work as reflected in their emails. So I pushed through the pile of VP documents carefully labeled by his assistant.
After submitting my one-page opinions on each, the CEO phoned again. “You’ve pegged them exactly! … Now, I want you to meet with them one on one to debrief them. Tell them what’s apparent in their writing. Give them the details about what you found. See what they might want to change.”
The first three meetings went well. The VPs seemed quite shocked that their writing revealed so much about their personalities, attitudes, and leadership style. But basically, they agreed with my evaluations and the emails discussed as examples.
But the fourth meeting (scheduled last because I dreaded it) didn’t go so smoothly. As I suspected, the SVP reacted quite differently. Mac listened in almost total silence as I delivered my conclusions.
As tactfully as possible, I pointed out that his emails to the executive team sounded friendly, but vague and cavalier. On the other hand, emails to his staff sounded indifferent at best and harsh and dictatorial at worst.
His general response that day: “Not interested in making changes.”
A few months later, I learned that Mac was no longer with the organization. Although I don’t know all that contributed to his termination, I do know that his writing did not add to his credibility, influence, or results with clients, coworkers, or higher-ups.
4 Ways Your Leadership Style Is on Display in Your Email
What can you apply to your own situation?
Unwillingness to Share Reasoning
When Mac presented a recommendation to higher-ups, he supported it with data or at least his reasoning. Not so, with staff. With them, he simply announced his decisions and expected compliance.
An Attempt to Bluff
When answering questions from higher executives about projects, budgets, or problems, Mac often responded with sketchy details. The tone was, “All is well, just trust me, and don’t probe.” A reader easily got the feeling that Mac took offense if the boss asked about any skeletons in the closet.
No Requests for Input
Mac wrote to his staff almost entirely in directives. He requested no opinions or ideas from them. When he informed them of a decision and upcoming action, the tone was, “Make it happen and don’t bother me with questions.” The difference between Mac and a mafia boss? Mac dealt in mortgages. Mafia bosses deal in murder and other mayhem.
Lack of Personal Accountability
Even though I analyzed more than a hundred of Mac’s emails, none contained an “accountability” statement – not even close.
No statements of goals (specific goals would have set him up to explain any shortfall)
No acknowledgement or apology for a mistake or misunderstanding
No ownership for poor outcomes – his or those related to his team’s performance
No feedback or praise to his team or colleagues
Granted, Mac didn’t send his entire email stash for the CEO’s evaluation. But reason would suggest that he’d sent his best – a collection aptly reflecting his leadership style.
Just as Mac’s writing did, your email can alter the trajectory of your career. Leaders master strategies to improve what they say, how they say it, and what NOT to say in email. And in my three decades of experience, I’ve observed that clear communicators become leaders in every industry.
Find out what secrets your own emails reveal about your leadership.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/BooherFasterFewerHiResCover-Final.jpg25501650StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2019-04-22 11:00:442019-04-22 22:05:16What Does Your Email Reveal About Your Leadership Style?
If you want to improve the success of your business, then first and foremost, you need to think of your customers. They are the ones that are going to make the difference between the business being a success or not. Because without any customers, there is no business. So what are the things that you can be doing to improve the relationships that you have with your customers? The answer is an obvious one, but it is often overlooked: improve customer service. No matter how great your team are, how good your business idea is and what you do or sell is, one of the things that customers are likely to remember is what the interaction with your business is like; both negative or positive, it will be remembered.
A strong company will want to have, and hopefully, already strive to have, great customer relationships. But a smart company will be looking for ways to improve and really getting down to the bottom of what good customer service is. It is all about listening carefully to your customers’ needs and wants. You need to make sure that you’re able to keep up, otherwise, they are likely to take their business elsewhere. So here are some ideas to help.
Strengthen Your Customer Service Skills
First, it is a good idea to make sure that your customer service team, if you have one, has the right skills for your managing the needs of your customers. They are what customers will have first contact with, so it needs to be a good experience, even if the outcome isn’t necessarily positive. customers’ needs. No amount of software or things like CRM can compensate for any shortcomings with your team’s customer service.
Improve Customer Service Strategy
You and your team may have the skills to provide some good customer service, and have no problems with customers interactions. But what strategies can you start to implement to please your customers even more? You don’t want customers to come to you with problems, if they can be dealt with ahead of time.
Getting personal with customers can be a good idea, as it can allow you to have another level of interaction, through sites like Twitter or Facebook. You can also look to improve how you do certain things, such as your logistics or supply chain. If you are noticing that there are things going wrong, then look to do something about them, such as looking into semi truck leasing or other ways to improve deliveries, before big issues come up and people then demand more from you. If you deal with things before they’re an issue, then it really does provide a good customer service experience.
All Customers to Provide Feedback
No matter how proactive you are in the things that you do, there will always be one issue or another that you never manage to get on top of. So to make sure that you learn about all sides of the experience that your customers have with your business, then it can help you to create a simple way for them to provide you with feedback.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/adult-bath-towels-bed-1437861.jpg8541280StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2019-04-20 11:00:512019-04-20 14:11:48Key Steps to Improving Your Business Customer Service
When people drag their feet into work on a Monday morning it seems like there is no way to bring the energy levels back up. Of course not every office is going to be perfect but you could do a lot of things to keep your workforce happy. With regards to employee motivation, you need to start thinking creatively and get the ball rolling with some fresh ideas. Whether you subscribe to a reward scheme or you organize a team away day, this could be your recipe to higher energy in the office.
Rewards and Recognition
One of the best ways to improve the energy and motivation in the office is to show your appreciation for your employees’ hard work. Surprise HR (https://surprisehr.com) has reinvented employee recognition and rewards using the power of surprise. If you think your office could benefit from this sort of scheme then start exploring your options today. When you are able to show your employees how much you appreciate their hard work, you will be giving them a mini motivation boost every single day.
Free Fruit Day
This is a simple and low cost way to put a smile on your employees faces every now and again. Once a week you could invest in a fresh fruit delivery from a local farm shop. Not only will you be helping a local business, but you will also be encouraging your employees to be healthy. Somebody who has snacked on a banana or an apple mid afternoon is much more likely to have a productive day than a worker who hits the vending machine for a sugar hit.
Team Lunch
You should never underestimate the power of a team lunch. Not only does this give them the opportunity to let loose and chat in a relaxed environment, but it also shows them you care. Treat your star team members to lunch or even a gift voucher for a local restaurant on pay day. This regular treat will become a huge motivating factor so your workforce are more likely to do well.
Away Day Fun
Employee away days are very common in small and large businesses. It gives you time away from the office and allows everybody to get to know each other in a fresh environment. Away days can come in a variety of different forms, depending on the industry you are working in. It might be appropriate to head to a local event and listen to a guest speaker. Maybe your team could benefit from a relaxing day out together to avoid the high stresses in the office. Think of an away day that is suitable for your individual business.
Sometimes a little can go a very long way when it comes to pleasing your employees. A piece of free fruit in the middle of the week or an unexpected lunch on a Friday night just be all you need to keep your workforce happy and smiling. Rewarding your employees for their hard work will not only improve the mood in the office, but it will also help you to retain staff, saving you money in the long run.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/action-2277292_1280-1.jpg8731280StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2019-04-19 20:00:082019-04-22 19:35:18Magic Motivators to Boost Energy Levels In the Office
Lots of companies are still using outdated technology, despite there being plenty of new solutions and platforms that can fully transform and improve the way that they work. There are a number of reasons why many are resistant to change, including the need to re-train staff to learn how to use new technology, and the belief that it will be a struggle to migrate data from one platform to another. In many situations, though, the pros far outweigh the cons. In this article, we’re going to explain why an Office 365 migration is a good idea for your company, no matter its size.
1. No Need to Worry About Maintenance or Servers
Office 365 is fully hosted in the cloud, so there’s no need to worry about investing in local servers or performing maintenance either. The Trust Center that comes with the platform ensures that your data remains in safe hands too. Cloud services are becoming increasingly popular with businesses of all sizes, as they offer so many benefits that you just can’t get from hosting software locally. Plus, the software can also be seamlessly linked with many on-premises solutions if needs be.
2. It Can Grow with Your Business
One of the best things about Office 365 is that you only need to pay for the programs that you plan to use. And, if at any point, you think an additional program could help your business, you can easily add it to your subscription. The same goes for data storage. Unless you need tons of storage right away, you can simply opt for the cheapest plan, and increase it later on as your storage needs grow. OneDrive offers a large amount of storage for a very affordable rate too, so you’ll never be left struggling for space again.
3. Take Advantage of Updates and Features as They’re Released
If you currently use any Microsoft Office products, you probably choose to invest in the newest version a while after they’re released. This could be for cost reasons, or simply because you don’t have the time to re-install the software on all your devices. With Office 365, this is no longer a worry. You will instantly have access to the latest updates and features the second they’re released, and won’t be stuck in a cycle of waiting for the next large update to launch.
4. Workflows are More Collaborative
Office 365 is designed to make collaborating on documents easy. When all of your devices have Office 365 installed on them, colleagues can quickly leave comments, make edits, and access documents in real-time. This completely eliminates the need to email documents between different departments, download them, make edits, and then email them back. Not only does this improve efficiency, but it means that different team members can collaborate on one document all at the same time.
Office 365 is the number one product when it comes to data and security. Most large and medium size business owners prefer Office 365 migration services from a reliable cloud hosting provider which provider impeccable support. If you value your business, want to improve efficiency, and want to spend less time performing server maintenance, migrating to Office 365 is definitely something you should consider.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/laptop-2587224_1280.jpg7601280StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2019-04-19 16:00:482019-09-22 22:57:344 Reasons Your Business Should Move to Office 365
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Business Programs
Earning Trust Through Communication Skills
/in Business Communications/by Lisa WentzIt’s widely accepted that great communication skills are a key ingredient for business owners, executives and managers. How you communicate can make or break relationships, increase your team’s loyalty, set standards for your team and, strengthen your professional reputation. However, these fundamental skills are all too often overlooked.
Here are four strategies I suggest you use to earn trust in all your interactions.
Eye Contact
Essential for building rapport in meetings, interviews and panel discussions, sincere eye contact sends a message of trust. I do not advocate using eye contact to intimidate – which can happen. Narcissistic or intimidating eye contact sends a completely different message. A narcissistic gaze can be threatening and unnerving. If you want to build real rapport, I suggest a warm, sincere approach.
Listening
A crucial part of being a great communicator. Many clients of mine have realized they’ve gone about listening in a way that made them less effective communicators. Essentially in meetings if you are listening for your chance to interrupt or to add to the conversation or to impress you are exhibiting the opposite of leadership. Effective leaders listen to understand, not to interrupt.
Enjoy Your Conversations
I often advise clients to find joy in delivering their speeches. If you are enjoying yourself, chances are your audience will enjoy listening to you. The same is true for small meetings and 1:1 conversation. Take a moment to check in with your team member or colleague before jumping into work-related matters. This will make your colleague feel valued and appreciated.
Benevolence
Communicating with kindness is a valuable tool in almost any situation. If I have a client seeking a job or job promotion, I remind them that one of the most important goals for the interview is to have a pleasant conversation. The same is true for tense discussions, quarterly reviews and reprimands. In most conversations you cannot control how others will respond to your viewpoint. In an interview, you have no control as to whether or not they hire you, but you can control whether or not you are kind. This can make just as much of an impression as your accomplishments.
For more successful interactions, try these tools starting today and notice the shift in how others responded to you. Not only will you begin to earn more trust and respect, you will also help to create a more kind and effective work atmosphere.
About the Author
For more information please visit www.lidpublishing.com or www.lisawentz.com
What Does Your Email Reveal About Your Leadership Style?
/in Management & Leadership, Practices for Professionals/by Dianna Booher“Understood,” my CEO client responded. “Just review what my admin sends you and give me a one-page opinion on each of the four VPs. That’s all I ask.”
This conversation happened early in my career, and frankly, I feared that I might disappoint him in not being able to draw conclusions.
Within a few days, the CEO’s bundle of emails arrived, basically restating what he’d said on the phone. His executive assistant had collected emails from four of his VPs. Specifically, the emails were representative of those the four VPs had sent to 1) peers 2) their direct reports and 3) those higher-ups in the chain (the CEO himself or EVPs).
My mission: To describe their leadership style and general attitudes about their work as reflected in their emails. So I pushed through the pile of VP documents carefully labeled by his assistant.
After submitting my one-page opinions on each, the CEO phoned again. “You’ve pegged them exactly! … Now, I want you to meet with them one on one to debrief them. Tell them what’s apparent in their writing. Give them the details about what you found. See what they might want to change.”
The first three meetings went well. The VPs seemed quite shocked that their writing revealed so much about their personalities, attitudes, and leadership style. But basically, they agreed with my evaluations and the emails discussed as examples.
But the fourth meeting (scheduled last because I dreaded it) didn’t go so smoothly. As I suspected, the SVP reacted quite differently. Mac listened in almost total silence as I delivered my conclusions.
As tactfully as possible, I pointed out that his emails to the executive team sounded friendly, but vague and cavalier. On the other hand, emails to his staff sounded indifferent at best and harsh and dictatorial at worst.
His general response that day: “Not interested in making changes.”
A few months later, I learned that Mac was no longer with the organization. Although I don’t know all that contributed to his termination, I do know that his writing did not add to his credibility, influence, or results with clients, coworkers, or higher-ups.
4 Ways Your Leadership Style Is on Display in Your Email
What can you apply to your own situation?
Unwillingness to Share Reasoning
When Mac presented a recommendation to higher-ups, he supported it with data or at least his reasoning. Not so, with staff. With them, he simply announced his decisions and expected compliance.
An Attempt to Bluff
When answering questions from higher executives about projects, budgets, or problems, Mac often responded with sketchy details. The tone was, “All is well, just trust me, and don’t probe.” A reader easily got the feeling that Mac took offense if the boss asked about any skeletons in the closet.
No Requests for Input
Mac wrote to his staff almost entirely in directives. He requested no opinions or ideas from them. When he informed them of a decision and upcoming action, the tone was, “Make it happen and don’t bother me with questions.” The difference between Mac and a mafia boss? Mac dealt in mortgages. Mafia bosses deal in murder and other mayhem.
Lack of Personal Accountability
Even though I analyzed more than a hundred of Mac’s emails, none contained an “accountability” statement – not even close.
Granted, Mac didn’t send his entire email stash for the CEO’s evaluation. But reason would suggest that he’d sent his best – a collection aptly reflecting his leadership style.
Just as Mac’s writing did, your email can alter the trajectory of your career. Leaders master strategies to improve what they say, how they say it, and what NOT to say in email. And in my three decades of experience, I’ve observed that clear communicators become leaders in every industry.
Find out what secrets your own emails reveal about your leadership.
About the Author
Key Steps to Improving Your Business Customer Service
/in Customer Relationship Management/by StrategyDrivenIf you want to improve the success of your business, then first and foremost, you need to think of your customers. They are the ones that are going to make the difference between the business being a success or not. Because without any customers, there is no business. So what are the things that you can be doing to improve the relationships that you have with your customers? The answer is an obvious one, but it is often overlooked: improve customer service. No matter how great your team are, how good your business idea is and what you do or sell is, one of the things that customers are likely to remember is what the interaction with your business is like; both negative or positive, it will be remembered.
A strong company will want to have, and hopefully, already strive to have, great customer relationships. But a smart company will be looking for ways to improve and really getting down to the bottom of what good customer service is. It is all about listening carefully to your customers’ needs and wants. You need to make sure that you’re able to keep up, otherwise, they are likely to take their business elsewhere. So here are some ideas to help.
Strengthen Your Customer Service Skills
First, it is a good idea to make sure that your customer service team, if you have one, has the right skills for your managing the needs of your customers. They are what customers will have first contact with, so it needs to be a good experience, even if the outcome isn’t necessarily positive. customers’ needs. No amount of software or things like CRM can compensate for any shortcomings with your team’s customer service.
Improve Customer Service Strategy
You and your team may have the skills to provide some good customer service, and have no problems with customers interactions. But what strategies can you start to implement to please your customers even more? You don’t want customers to come to you with problems, if they can be dealt with ahead of time.
Getting personal with customers can be a good idea, as it can allow you to have another level of interaction, through sites like Twitter or Facebook. You can also look to improve how you do certain things, such as your logistics or supply chain. If you are noticing that there are things going wrong, then look to do something about them, such as looking into semi truck leasing or other ways to improve deliveries, before big issues come up and people then demand more from you. If you deal with things before they’re an issue, then it really does provide a good customer service experience.
All Customers to Provide Feedback
No matter how proactive you are in the things that you do, there will always be one issue or another that you never manage to get on top of. So to make sure that you learn about all sides of the experience that your customers have with your business, then it can help you to create a simple way for them to provide you with feedback.
Magic Motivators to Boost Energy Levels In the Office
/in Talent Management/by StrategyDrivenRewards and Recognition
One of the best ways to improve the energy and motivation in the office is to show your appreciation for your employees’ hard work. Surprise HR (https://surprisehr.com) has reinvented employee recognition and rewards using the power of surprise. If you think your office could benefit from this sort of scheme then start exploring your options today. When you are able to show your employees how much you appreciate their hard work, you will be giving them a mini motivation boost every single day.
Free Fruit Day
This is a simple and low cost way to put a smile on your employees faces every now and again. Once a week you could invest in a fresh fruit delivery from a local farm shop. Not only will you be helping a local business, but you will also be encouraging your employees to be healthy. Somebody who has snacked on a banana or an apple mid afternoon is much more likely to have a productive day than a worker who hits the vending machine for a sugar hit.
Team Lunch
You should never underestimate the power of a team lunch. Not only does this give them the opportunity to let loose and chat in a relaxed environment, but it also shows them you care. Treat your star team members to lunch or even a gift voucher for a local restaurant on pay day. This regular treat will become a huge motivating factor so your workforce are more likely to do well.
Away Day Fun
Employee away days are very common in small and large businesses. It gives you time away from the office and allows everybody to get to know each other in a fresh environment. Away days can come in a variety of different forms, depending on the industry you are working in. It might be appropriate to head to a local event and listen to a guest speaker. Maybe your team could benefit from a relaxing day out together to avoid the high stresses in the office. Think of an away day that is suitable for your individual business.
Sometimes a little can go a very long way when it comes to pleasing your employees. A piece of free fruit in the middle of the week or an unexpected lunch on a Friday night just be all you need to keep your workforce happy and smiling. Rewarding your employees for their hard work will not only improve the mood in the office, but it will also help you to retain staff, saving you money in the long run.
4 Reasons Your Business Should Move to Office 365
/in Managing Your Business/by StrategyDriven1. No Need to Worry About Maintenance or Servers
Office 365 is fully hosted in the cloud, so there’s no need to worry about investing in local servers or performing maintenance either. The Trust Center that comes with the platform ensures that your data remains in safe hands too. Cloud services are becoming increasingly popular with businesses of all sizes, as they offer so many benefits that you just can’t get from hosting software locally. Plus, the software can also be seamlessly linked with many on-premises solutions if needs be.
2. It Can Grow with Your Business
One of the best things about Office 365 is that you only need to pay for the programs that you plan to use. And, if at any point, you think an additional program could help your business, you can easily add it to your subscription. The same goes for data storage. Unless you need tons of storage right away, you can simply opt for the cheapest plan, and increase it later on as your storage needs grow. OneDrive offers a large amount of storage for a very affordable rate too, so you’ll never be left struggling for space again.
3. Take Advantage of Updates and Features as They’re Released
If you currently use any Microsoft Office products, you probably choose to invest in the newest version a while after they’re released. This could be for cost reasons, or simply because you don’t have the time to re-install the software on all your devices. With Office 365, this is no longer a worry. You will instantly have access to the latest updates and features the second they’re released, and won’t be stuck in a cycle of waiting for the next large update to launch.
4. Workflows are More Collaborative
Office 365 is designed to make collaborating on documents easy. When all of your devices have Office 365 installed on them, colleagues can quickly leave comments, make edits, and access documents in real-time. This completely eliminates the need to email documents between different departments, download them, make edits, and then email them back. Not only does this improve efficiency, but it means that different team members can collaborate on one document all at the same time.
Office 365 is the number one product when it comes to data and security. Most large and medium size business owners prefer Office 365 migration services from a reliable cloud hosting provider which provider impeccable support. If you value your business, want to improve efficiency, and want to spend less time performing server maintenance, migrating to Office 365 is definitely something you should consider.