Last week I worked with a client who will be on vacation this week. She’ll be at the beach with her family — and her Blackberry. We talked a little bit about her plans to manage the amount of work she does while on vacation. Her habit is to check e-mail once in the morning and then again late afternoon. She does not take her Blackberry out with her during the day so she is not tempted to check it more often.
What’s your vacation workload management strategy? I’m of the opinion that there is no right answer, only one that is right for you. Some people have no problem escaping the grip of email - if you are one of them this post is not for you!
Some ideas for those who do struggle: (more…)
TAGS: business communication, Communication Skills, coping skills, simplifying
We at the Thin Pink Line get feedback that readers like the combination of “news you can use” and commentary on current events from women’s perspectives. You too can get positive feedback about your communications if you follow the same guidelines Carol, Kathleen, Liz, and I use: balance the big picture and the details. We know that some people like ideas, concepts and theory while others like practical tools and tips, so we mix it up. Here are 3 easy tips for how you can do the same for more powerful communications in your work setting:
1. Prepare for every presentation you make — and remember that every time you open your mouth or prepare a written communique it’s a presentation. Think about the two or three most important things you want people to take away and keep your message focused on just those. You’ve heard me say it before: short sounds confident.
2. Do your homework. My 7th grade science teacher, Hans Selye, used to tell us, “Chance favors the prepared mind.” I never forgot that (and that was quite a while back!). Regularly reading professional journals, newspapers, and magazines (my favorite is The Week) keeps your mind agile and open to new ideas. It also helps make for sparkling party conversation.
3. Brainstorm ideas with people who think differently than you. If you know you’re an “idea person” who has difficulty communicating the tangible benefits of your ideas, talk to someone who’s good at it and ask for help in synthesizing your concepts for crisp communication. Conversely, if you tend to get bogged down in the weeds, look to those who are always coming up with new ways of approaching old problems for help in assessing the bigger picture.
Make yours a great week-end.
TAGS: business communication, Communication Skills, influence with impact
Emotions ─ and our ability to control them ─ make all the difference in our negotiations. And, the more important the negotiation is to us, the more challenging to manage our emotions. I had a personal experience recently when my temper flared and, as a result, I didn’t get the outcome I wanted. Yes, I knew better but still fell into the emotion trap.
Deepak Malhotra, Gillian Ku and J. Keith Murnighan’s Harvard Business Review article, “When Winning Is Everything” (May, 2008) discussed the problems negotiators face when they get so emotionally invested in besting the other party that their judgment suffers. These experts isolate three drivers of what they call “competitive arousal”:
- intense rivalry, especially when there is “history” between the parties
- time pressure, a ticking clock increases anxiety
- being in the spotlight, negotiating while others watch
Dan Ariely’s fascinating book, “Predictably Irrational” also discusses the risk we take when we underestimate the power of emotion; the decisions we make “in the heat of the moment” not only differ than those we make when we are cool, calm and collected but can get us in all sorts of trouble. (more…)
TAGS: business communication, competition, Dan Ariely, Deepak Malhotra, gaining confidence, Gillian Ku, Harvard Business Review, J. Keith Murnighan, negotiation skills, Self-trust
A study published in the Journal of Personality and Psychology suggests that if you want your opinion to be widely accepted all you have to do is keep repeating it. Researchers found that if you repeat a viewpoint three times it’s just as likely to be considered a “popular” opinion as if three people each express the same viewpoint once. I don’t think nagging your child or spouse three times to do something you want counts here, but I do think we women may not be as persistent as we could be in expressing ourselves. If you’re in a meeting and your idea is overlooked, present it again using slightly different words. Or force the issue by stating your opinion then asking for affirmation on it, “I recommend we begin recruiting at Harvard. Would anyone have a problem if I started the ball rolling with their career placement center?”
Now if you put an idea out and it’s ignored only to be picked up by someone else in the room who gets credit for it, that’s a different story. The secret here is to diplomatically call attention to the fact that the idea was originally yours. Try this, “Joe, thank you for coming back around to my idea. I’d like to better explain what I meant.” Then launch right into your clarification without missing a beat. As I always say, a woman’s got to learn how to tell people to go to hell so that they look forward to the trip.
TAGS: business communication, getting heard, stealing ideas
