Building Relationships

Tip #1 Appreciate and Respect Others

 

The other person is important. You have little to gain if you choose to deny this. Your relationships with employees and coworkers are not subsidiary to the work you all come together to do; rather, strong relationships are essential to doing that work--especially if you want to do that work well.

 

People are much more than simply what their job description implies. You are able to learn from others' experiences that which you could not from simply the experiences you've had. Begin to foster the possibilities by employing some of the following Human Relations Principles:

• Become genuinely interested in other people
• Smile
• Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves
• Talk in terms of the other person's interests
• Make the other person feel important -- and do it with sincerity

Tip #2 Build Your Human Relations Skills
To build your human relation skills, try to:

• Talk in terms of the other person's interest.
• Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
• Be a good listener.
• Encourage others to talk about themselves.
• Be genuinely interested in others.

Tip #3 Be a Good Listener
Listening skills are an integral part of building relationships in the workplace. Use the following acronym to help you remember how to employ better listening skills:
LADDER 

• Look at the other person.
• Ask questions.
• Don't interrupt.
• Don't change the subject.
• Express emotion with control.
• Respond appropriately.

 

Tip #4 Make a Good First Impression
First impressions are often lasting impressions. Each time a new person meets you, that person takes just ten seconds to form a whole laundry list of impressions, beliefs, or assumptions regarding who you are and what you are about. Follow these tips for imparting a good first impression on others:

• Good posture
• Neat appearance
• Positive non-verbal communication
• Eye contact
• Confident handshake

Energizing Yourself for Change

One of the challenging results of organizational change is that it can leave you feeling fatigued. All of your efforts are focused on new tasks, responsibilities, and relationships. Because of this, you need to look for strategies to maintain and even increase your personal energy during times of change.


Create a Vision

Nothing is more personally motivating than creating a compelling vision. Visualize yourself succeeding as a result of the change. Imagine the benefits of growing as a result of the change -- creating new opportunities, building a more exciting and dynamic future, and opening up new opportunities for success.

List Opportunities

What are the opportunities presented by the change? Make a list of all the ways that you can grow, add new skills, meet influential people, and add valuable experience to your resumes.

Create Networks

It's difficult to create energy in a vacuum. Most people need the stimulation of other individuals and their ideas, input, feedback, and support. Times of change offer an opportunity to add to the network of people who understand you, believe in you, and are willing to help you move forward.

Build Bridges

Organizational change normally involves the establishment of new relationships. Sometimes you resist these new relationships, especially if it involves a new supervisor or a perceived loss of your authority. Instead of retreating from the new relationship, draw energy from it by embracing it and building bridges between yourself and people you encounter. Meeting new people is usually highly energizing because it gives you the opportunity to find commonalities in your values and goals and in the creativity of collaboration

Time Management to Reduce Stress

One critical habit to address in reducing workplace stress involves your productive and non-productive use of time. How do these positive work habits compare to your own?


Show Up Early

There is no downside to showing up early. When you come in early, you have extra time to gather your thoughts and get prepared, and you are sure to make a better impression in every situation. All the way around, this work habit reduces stress.

Maintain a Daily Planner

Whether you use software or plain paper, you need a daily planner to make sure that you are on top of all the daily details of your workdays. When you spend time planning, you reduce time spent executing tasks. Thorough daily planning is a key tool.

Be Present

How many times do you sit in meetings and allow your mind to wander from the subject under discussion? You are often physically present, but mentally in a totally different place. When you daydream during meetings, you end up uninformed about the meeting's topic and stressed. To avoid this tendency, sit up straight during meetings, take notes on the topic, and try to keep in eye contact with the speaker.

Avoid Procrastination

Everyone is motivated in different ways. Find what inspires and energizes you to tackle work issues, instead of putting them off. Commit to a regular schedule of work output and project completion.

Set Priorities

No one likes to leave work at the end of the day or week feeling like they didn't accomplish the most critical tasks. When you set and adhere to priorities, you avoid stress and keep on pace with the demands of your workload.

Protect Your Private Time

Some anxiety-provoking work habits, such as bringing work home or staying at work late, are more exhausting than we may realize. Sometimes it can't be avoided, but if it becomes a habit, you can start to feel like you don't have a life outside of work. Try to manage your time at work more efficiently so you can enjoy your time outside of the office.

Testimonials: Dale Carnegie Course - 11/18/09 graduation

Attending Dale Carnegie Course graduations is always inspiring. An incredibly powerful reminder of why I am part of this organization. Here are some excerpts of testimonial letters the participants wrote in preparation for this graduation.


"I have participated in an increased number of potential client meetings....we expect to see increased new client cashflow over the next 6 to 12 months."

Matt Wiles
Financial Associate, Crestone Capital Advisors

"Based on the estimated assets my firm would manage if I am able to acquire this new client, the ROI on my Dale Carnegie Course would be 4900%. Moreover, I have also been offered to lead the way on connecting with a second potential new client."

Alex Paul
Financial Associate, Crestone Capital Advisors

"The major benefit for my company comes from my new approach to negotiating....allowed me to focus on the solution instead of the problem."

Daniel Furman
Purchasing, Blue Mountain Arts

"I am now a more enthusiatic person.....My goal is to better communicate with and educate all of my internal customers."

Matt Bunning
Systems Manager, Blue Mountain Arts

"This class will definitely make a good impact on the way clients or other callers view the company."

Viviana Bracamontes
Intern, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney

"I haved built new confidence in myself when talking to professionals in the construction business and my colleagues....My company has recently shown their trust in my abilities by assigning me additional responsibilities to contact potential leads to establish a relationship for future projects."

Shawn Cross
Estimator, FCI Constructors

"I have become a more productive estimator, which has allowed me to take on more responsibilities."

Erik Henry
Estimator, FCI Constructors

"...a better supervisor for the laboratory environment. One who can manage the department and maintain a high level of performance within the department."

Frankie Lujan
Laboratory Supervisor, Molecular Products

"goal I will be working on will be...promoting our department company wide...enhancing relationships.....engaging in lively discussion of the overall culture and the challenges we face."

Debra Howeth
Project Manager, MSN Communications, Inc.

"Taking the Dale Carnegie Course has really impacted how I communicate with people."

Adaivet Martinez
Intern, Basset, Wallace, Selner, & Taylor

"Overall, at the end of next year, I expect a minimum increase of 15% over 2009 gross sales."

Clint Moore
Outside Sales, ProBuild

"Having the ability to effectively communicate and persuade others."

Vencent Singson
Technical Specialist, Hunter Douglas

The Coaching Process

Coaching is a major responsibility for every manager, and for many people, it can be a major challenge. Managers need to be able to maintain performance standards, be certain people are following policies and procedures, and hit individual and team targets through other people.

Step One: Identify the Opportunity
There are five ways to identify opportunities.
1. You identify an opportunity for another person.
2. An individual identifies an opportunity for themselves.
3. A customer, vendor, or other outsider identifies an opportunity.
4. You identify new skills needed within your team.
5. A situation creates an opportunity.

These different opportunities may arise due to a new need or out of taking on a new job or project that requires a new skill, or they may come out of a performance review or be identified after a mistake occurs.

Multiple opportunities arise for people on your team, and it is your job as a manager to prioritize those needs to keep others on your team from getting overwhelmed by the possibilities.
Jot down some opportunities that you see for yourself or for others in your workplace. Are you the right person to point out these needs? What is the best way to do so?

Step Two: Picture the Desired Outcome
Once the opportunity is identified, it is important to take the time and pinpoint what the situation will look like when the gap is filled. This is the step that many people skip or don't develop fully, which can lead to confusion, misunderstanding, and frustration for everyone.

One of the most important concepts in coaching is having a vision or end goal in mind. Without that, people often lose sight of the importance of making the needed changes. How we create this picture of what is possible is the central component of this step in the coaching process.

People with a clear vision of the end result of coaching tend to move in that direction more quickly than those without. It is crucial that both the coach and the trainee own the goal. Without that sense of ownership, coach or trainee may lose motivation. We focus on motivation and buy-in even more in the next step of the process, but this is where direction and motivation really begin.

Step Three: Establish the Right Attitudes
How well you really know your team may determine how quickly you know if you have the right trainee for the job and are able to gauge their motivation. This step is a critical part of the process of effective coaching. Without it, you spend a great deal of your time just overcoming resistance.

You often hear that people resist change. It isn't true. People resist being changed when they:
• Don't see the need
• Don't want to do it
• Believe that the change is not possible for them

In this step, you should focus on some of the skills required to cut resistance and move through the coaching process with less friction. These skills are:
• Leadership
• Communication
• Building trust
• Getting commitment vs. compliance

Step Four: Provide the Resources
In order for a coaching process to be successful, it is important the appropriate resources available. This includes time and, most importantly, a personal commitment to succeed from everyone. Other resources may include money, equipment, training, information, and upper level buy-in and support.

Ensure that the appropriate resources are in place and available. Nothing is as frustrating as being promised something and then not getting it. It can make everyone feel like they have been set up to fail.

Step Five: Practice & Skill Development
Once the resources are in place and the correct skill set has been identified, explained, and demonstrated, it is now time for the trainee to practice and apply what has been learned. For knowledge to evolve into a skill, you must practice it and perfect the skill with the help of a coach, who can ensure that you are practicing the new skill and not the old habit.

Practice also allows the coach to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement.
• How to encourage others to success
• How closely to monitor and when to let go
• How to hold others accountable for progress

Step Six: Reinforce Progress
Making progress is one thing, but without a way to reinforce and maintain it, people may quickly go back to their old habits. One of the biggest fallacies managers hold on to is the assumption that if people know something, they will do it. People don't do what they know; they do what they have always done.

Try to use these strategies to reinforce learned skills:
• Empowering people to get results after they have learned new skills
• Giving the right kind of feedback
• Following up
• Handling nonperformance issues
• Handling mistakes and people who get off track

Step Seven: Reward
One of the best ways to cement growth and progress is to reward it. Rewarded behavior is repeated, and what gets repeated becomes habit.

But change can be uncomfortable. That is why people often revert to their habits if reinforcement and reward are not motivating forces. Habit is stronger than knowledge. To ensure that change happens quickly and is kept in place as long as needed, celebration and reward are important.

Some of the skills you put into coaching in this step of the process are:
• Praise and recognition
• Positive feedback techniques
• Recognizing people's strengths and accomplishments
• Having the right credibility and impact in the delivery

Twelve Steps to Win-Win Conflict Resolution

Step 1: Have a positive attitude.
Your attitude is essential to the outcome. You have a much better chance of coming to an outcome involving mutual gains if you approach the conflict as an opportunity to learn and achieve a win-win outcome.

Step 2: Meet on mutual ground.
Find a mutually agreeable, comfortable, and convenient physical space to meet. Agree on when you will meet and how much time you want to devote to the process. Whenever possible, deal with conflict face-to-face.

Step 3: Clearly define and agree on the issue.
Agree on a statement of the issue using simple and factual terms. If the situation is multi-faceted, search for ways to slice the large issue into smaller pieces and deal with one issue at a time.

Step 4: Do your homework.
Take time to plan. You must not only know what is at stake for yourself, but you need to understand the other side's concerns and motivation. Take into consideration any history or past situations that might affect the resolution. Know the must-haves (non-negotiable items) and nice-to-haves (negotiable items). Determine the best resolution, a fair and reasonable compromise, and a minimally acceptable outcome.

Step 5: Take an honest inventory of yourself.
Determine your level of trust in the other people and the process. Be conscious of aspects of your personality that can help or hinder the process.

Step 6: Look for shared interests.
Get on the same side by finding and establishing similarities. Since conflict tends to magnify perceived differences and minimize similarities, look for common goals, objectives, or even gripes that illustrate that you are in this together. Focus on the future, talk about what is to be done, and tackle the problem jointly.

Step 7: Deal with facts, not emotions.
Address problems, not personalities. Avoid any tendency to attack other people or to pass judgment on ideas and opinions. Avoid focusing on the past or blaming others. Maintain a rational, goal-oriented frame of mind. This will depersonalize the conflict, separate the issues from the people involved, and avoid defensiveness.

Step 8: Be honest.
Don't play games. Be honest and clear about what is important to you. It is equally essential to be clear and to communicate why organization goals, issues, and objectives are important.

Step 9: Present alternatives and provide evidence.
Create options and alternatives that demonstrate willingness to compromise. Consider conceding in areas that might have high value to others but are not that important to you. Frame options in terms of the other people's interests and provide evidence for your point of view.

Step 10: Be an expert communicator.
Nothing shows determination to find a mutually satisfactory resolution to conflict more than applying excellent communication skills. Ask questions, listen, rephrase what you heard to check for understanding, and take a genuine interest in each person's concerns. Focus on ways in which you can move toward a resolution or compromise.

Step 11: End on a good note.
Make a win-win proposal and check to make sure that everyone involved leaves the situation feeling they have won. Shake on it and agree on the action steps, who is responsible for each step, how success will be measured, and how and when the resolution will be evaluated. If there is a deadlock on non-critical issues, agree to disagree.

Step 12: Enjoy the process.
Appreciate the benefits of learning other people's perspective. People report that after overcoming conflict and reaching an agreement, the relationship grew even stronger. Reflect and learn from each experience. Determine the criteria to evaluate the process and the solution.

Communicate with Diplomacy and Tact

The way in which we communicate can elicit positive or negative emotions. If we communicate aggressively, without respect or sensitivity, defensive or angry emotions can prevent others from hearing the message we are trying to convey. Communicating with diplomacy and tact is an approach that combines strength and sensitivity and keeps negative emotions at bay.

The Six Rules for Disagreeing Agreeably

Rule #1: Give others the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the person who made that outrageous generalization isn't really insensitive. Maybe this person has had a painful experience that made him overreact.

Rule #2: After giving someone the benefit of the doubt, listen to learn and truly understand why this person holds this belief. We must let him/her know we've heard them and we are genuinely trying to see things from their perspective.

Rule #3: Always take responsibility for our own feelings, when disagreeing with someone. Make a commitment to respond using "I" statements only. When we begin with "you" we come off as blaming and confrontational and immediately put the other person on the defensive. This reduces the chance of our point of view being heard.

Rule #4: Use a cushion. Connect or "cushion" a different opinion, starting with "I hear what you're saying" Or "I appreciate your view on". Again, begin with the word "I" and not "You said..." or it will sound confrontational.

Rule #5: Eliminate the words "but" or "however" from our vocabulary. Once we have cushioned the other person's opinion, use "and," or pause and say nothing, following the cushion. Acknowledging the individual's point of view and following it with a "but" or "however" erases the acknowledgement.

Rule #6: State our point of view or opinion with relevant and factual evidence. Keep our emotions out of the equation by using the following formula:

Take time to reflect:

• What do I think?
• Why do I think it?
• What evidence do I have?
  

Then speak:

• "One example is"
• "This shows that"
• "Therefore, I think"

“Attitude Control” to Reduce Stress

Opportunity for new work habits concerns your attitude control. When you get your work attitudes under control, every other aspect of your work improves. Try to implement these attitude-control concepts to streamline your work habits.

Connect with Coworkers and Use Their Names
It's easy to become so self-focused in a workday that you start to tune out your coworkers. This can add to a feeling of isolation and stress at work. It is better from a stress standpoint to reach out and greet others, learn their names, and maybe even win friends in the process.

Let Things Go
There comes a time when you recognize that the best solution is to relax and accept that you can't have everything turn out perfectly every time. If you feel like you are experiencing too much stress in a situation, ask yourself, "Is this a situation where I should just let go?" or "Does this need to be perfect?" The answer may surprise you.

Take Charge
Your attitudes improve when you take charge of situations and accomplish a goal. At the very least, you can take charge of your own workload, relationships, and attitude. When you hesitate or procrastinate, you undermine your energy and make your work more stressful than it has to be.

Stay Calm
Whatever it takes - counting to 10, taking deep breaths, going for a walk, or doing a quick meditation, concentrate on staying calm. Avoid overreacting, lashing out, or acting impulsively, which only adds to your stress level.

Appreciate the Uniqueness in Others
As much as you sometimes feel that way, you really would not like it if everyone was just like you at the workplace. It would be boring. Differences in backgrounds, perspectives, and work styles make the workplace more interesting and vibrant, not less. Work on appreciating the unique strengths of others and the richness they bring to your life.

Facilitate for Group Results

Facilitation by definition means to make easy for others. Facilitation is about helping a group experience "discovery" and "application" while moving forward toward improved performance. An effective facilitator will help participants learn from each other through guided discussion and other methods. Often during openings, activities, coaching, questioning, and closing, the presenter is really facilitating a process rather than presenting information. An effective facilitator draws from the group and leads people to a higher level. Here is how you can be a great facilitator.

Pacing

• Keep a sense of urgency for yourself and for the participants.
• Use a countdown timer for some exercises and activities to ensure the group stays on topic and on time.
• Start and end on time.
• Look for signals from participants that they are bored. Change the action.
• Put people into small group discussions to drive up pace and energy.
• Get people on their feet.
• Mix people into different groups.
• Change the room setting. Shift the front of the room by ninety degrees or use a different layout for the tables or chairs.
• Do something unexpected, like a pop quiz or team competition.
• Take a break every 90 minutes.
• Never mention breaks unless you are about to take one.
• If participants know it is time for lunch or time to end the day, just stop. Nothing you say or do will keep everyone's attention.

Encouraging Discussion

• Before we begin our session on..., let's go around the room and get some words that describe this topic as you understand it.
• Describe a time when you were encouraged to....
• Describe a time when you were discouraged from....
• Describe a time when effective...paid off.
• Describe your worst experience with...
• Describe your best experience with....
• What is your definition of...?
• What lessons have you learned about...?
• If you had to offer advice about..., what would it be?
• The word...means many things to people, what does...mean to you?

Summarizing

• Don't tell people what you can ask them.
• Briefly review key learning points.
• Confirm the benefits and value of being in the room.
• Discuss application opportunities and coach people to identify specific upcoming situations where they will use what they learned.
• Have participants discuss learning and applications in small groups and report back.
• Create a sense of urgency. Coach participants to act immediately, like at a break on the phone, rather than a week or month from now.
• Have participants get into teams and do "teach-backs" of key points to the full group.

Alex Zaborenko
Dale Carnegie Training of Colorado of Southern Wyoming
http://www.dalecarnegiecolorado.com/

Presenting to Gain Input

One of the most common and critical types of business presentations is the presentation to gain input. Rather than being a one-way delivery of information, this presentation seeks involvement from the participants and relies on getting productive outcomes to move processes forward. By its nature, this type of presentation requires flexibility on the part of the presenter and a willingness to allow the process to unfold without dominating the discussion. In planning a presentation to gain input, carefully consider the people who will attend the meeting. Who is your audience?

Knowledge of the topic. To gain input, you typically invite participants who have a thorough knowledge of the topic. Sometimes, however, you want an audience that has little or no experience with the topic, as in focus groups or market research.

Previous experience with the topic. Does your audience include individuals who have had a range of experience with the topic? How have they reacted: positively or negatively? What specific examples do you know?

Level of preparation required for the meeting. If you are looking for informed input, you may need to ask your participants to prepare for the meeting. Consider what they may need to bring with them to the presentation in the way of documentation, homework, research, or planning and let them know in advance.

Individual bias concerning the topic. Are you aware of bias for or against your topic? Does this audience include individuals who either champion this topic or who are antagonistic toward some aspect of it?

Attitudes of open-mindedness and cooperation. Review the individuals participating in the presentation. Do they include people who are open about exchanging their ideas and opinions? Are there participants who are reluctant to speak up? Will this audience cooperate with your agenda and purpose?

Degree of detail preferred by participants. Some audiences want only the basics about the topic under discussion. Others need more details before they are willing to express themselves. Consider preparing levels of detail from broad to specific that you can bring into the discussion as needed.

Supporting evidence needed to present the topic. Present basic evidence in the body of your presentation. Be prepared to reveal additional evidence in response to questions and requests for clarification.

Alex Zaborenko
Dale Carnegie Training of Colorado and Southern Wyoming
www.dalecarnegiecolorado.com

Twelve Tips to All-Win Negotiations

Negotiating is the process of attempting to agree on a solution. Compromising, or settling on a mutually agreeable solution, is the result of successful negotiations. Compromise is all about being flexible. It means being able to generate alternate solutions when you've "hit the wall." Whether it involves a person you can't get along with, an idea you know will work but that others are reluctant to embrace, a change in office systems, or a turf war that needs ending, learning to negotiate and compromise is essential to your success.

1) Have a positive attitude. Your attitude is essential to the outcome. You improve your chance of achieving a mutually rewarding solution if you approach the negotiation as an opportunity to learn and achieve an all-win outcome.

2) Meet on mutual ground. Find a mutually agreeable and convenient physical space to meet that is comfortable for all involved. Agree on when you will meet and how much time is available to devote to the process. Whenever possible, deal with negotiations face-to-face. Be careful about negotiating over the phone or in e-mail. A lack of facial expressions, vocal intonation, and other cues can result in a negotiation breakdown.

3) Clearly define and agree on the issue. Agree on a statement of the issue using simple and factual terms. If the situation is multifaceted, search for ways to slice the large issue into smaller pieces and deal with one issue at a time.

4) Do your homework. Take time to plan. You must not only know what is at stake for yourself, but you need to know the other side's concerns and motivation. Take into consideration any history or past situations that might affect the negotiations. Know the must-haves (non-negotiable items) and nice-to-haves (negotiable items). Determine the best resolution, a fair and reasonable compromise, and a minimally acceptable deal.

5) Take an honest inventory of yourself. Determine your level of trust in the other person and the process. Be conscious of aspects of your personality that can help or hinder the process.

6) Look for shared interests. Get on the same side by finding and establishing similarities. Since conflict tends to magnify perceived differences and minimize similarities, look for common goals, objectives, or even gripes that can illustrate that you are in this together. Focus on the future, talk about what needs to be done, and tackle the problem jointly.

7) Deal with facts, not emotions. Address problems, not personalities. Avoid any tendency to attack the other person or to pass judgment on his or her ideas and opinions. Avoid focusing on the past or blaming the other person. Maintain a rational, goal-oriented frame of mind. This will depersonalize the conflict, separate the issues from the people involved, and avoid defensiveness.

8) Be honest. Don't play games. Be honest and clear about what is important to you and communicate why your goals, issues, and objectives are important to you.

9) Present alternatives and provide evidence. Create options and alternatives that demonstrate willingness to compromise. Consider conceding in areas that might have high value to the other person but are not that important to you. Frame options in terms of the other person's interests and provide evidence for your point of view.

10) Be an expert communicator. Nothing shows determination to find a mutually satisfactory resolution to conflict more than applying excellent communication skills. Ask questions, listen, rephrase what you heard to check for understanding, and take a genuine interest in the other side's concerns. Reduce tension through humor, let others vent their concerns, and acknowledge their views. Focus less on your position and more on ways in which you can move toward a resolution or compromise.

11) End on a good note. Make an all-win proposal and check to make sure that everyone involved leaves the situation feeling they have won. Shake on it and agree on the action steps: who is responsible for each step, how success will be measured, and how and when the decision will be evaluated. Be open to accepting an impasse for noncritical issues; agree to disagree.

12) Enjoy the process. Look at the benefits of learning other people's point of view. People report that after overcoming conflict and reaching an agreement, the relationship grew even stronger. Reflect and learn from each negotiation. Determine the criteria to evaluate the process and the solution.

Alex Zaborenko
Managing Partner
Dale Carnegie Trainnig of Colorado & Southern Wyoming

Managing Customer Expectations

It is important to manage expectations from the first moment of interaction with a customer. To do so effectively, utilize the following process.

1. Set Expectations

Cushion with empathy. A cushion is a verbal statement that tells the customer in various ways that "I hear what you are saying, and what you are saying is important." Being empathetic simply acknowledges your customer's emotion and experience.

Understand the priorities. Ask questions of the customer to ensure that you understand their priority needs. For example, a customer may need to have their new payroll system set up by the start of their fiscal year or a company may need to have their phone system installed in the next thirty days.

Ask the customer for their expectations. Often their expectations may be more reasonable than you anticipate, and it may be quite easy to satisfy and resolve the situation.

Use headlining. Headlining is explaining your "train of thought" to the customer -- telling a customer what you are going to do before you do it. For example, you may say, "First, I will ask questions so that I understand exactly what is needed. Then, I will place the order. I will give you a realistic estimate of delivery time. I will call you immediately when it comes in."

Under-promise and over-perform. This guideline simply reminds you to set expectations with your customer at a reasonable level, but at a level that allows you to consistently exceed their expectations.

Check for agreement. After explaining an expectation or headlining a process, check with the customer for agreement. For example, "How does that time frame sound to you?" or "Will that process work for you?"

Policies and procedures. Policies and procedures are in place to protect you. When it comes to invoking a policy, it is not so much what you say as how you say it. Company policy rarely makes customers happy, so try to use policy as a last resort.

2. Monitor Expectations

Unless the situation is resolved immediately on first contact, your goal should be to have regular and appropriate communication with the customer. Continue to use the process to set expectations.

During an open situation, if the customer contacts you, that contact effort should be acknowledged within the guidelines set by the organization. Typical guidelines for most companies are to respond within one to twenty-four hours of the customer calling or sending a message. The reply should match the customer comment, response, or statement, and it should utilize the same process you used to set expectations initially.

Examples of monitoring the process:

• Acknowledge any information that the customer provides.
• Indicate where your organization is in resolving the situation and explain the next steps in the process. To gain trust, include an expectation of when they can expect the next communication.
• Respond to a customer request to talk to a manager or transfer the situation to a product expert. Respond by headlining the process for the appropriate action and setting an expectation for the next communication. For example, "Your issue will be turned over to our service technician. She will call you by the end of the day."
• Respond to requests for additional information. Respond by relating when you or one of your co-workers can follow up on that requested action. Then follow-through and follow up!

3. Influence Expectations

Influencing expectations is usually the meaning of "managing expectations." When you influence, you are the one who modifies or changes your approach and style. People are influenced by:

People who they trust. Trust is earned. You must follow up on what you hear to gain trust.

Education. The more you educate your customers, the more they understand the complexity of the situation and can align their expectations more accurately. For example, you may propose a higher quality solution that will take longer, but if you educate the customer about why it is a higher quality solution, that customer can better understand the solution and they will not have unrealistic expectations.

Situations where they can save face. Most people will not change their minds and have difficulty admitting their lack of knowledge in public. Allow them to easily move beyond a difficult situation without additional embarrassment.

Ease Public Speaking Anxiety Through Preparation

Prepare, prepare, prepare. You can never be too prepared to present. Knowing your presentation through and through can help boost your confidence while easing your fear and anxiety. Preparation does not just include knowing what you are going to say, it also includes how and why you are going to present the information. Here are some tips to help you create an effective speech or presentation.

1. Open with Confidence. Your opening gives your audience a first impression. Know the audience and the purpose of the presentation. Find out what they might expect from your remarks and what they may already know about the topic. Consider how you will grab the audience's attention. If you need to deliver bad news, consider ways to connect with the audience from the beginning of the presentation. Be well prepared for the opening because it sets the tone for your entire presentation--leave nothing to chance.
   
2. Focus on a Few Key Points. Know the major points you want to make. This will help ease your worry and increase your confidence. Outline the key concepts in your electronic visuals, on a note card, or better still use a memory technique such as stacking so you remember your key points. Avoid trying to memorize your presentation because it will sound canned and stiff and you want it to sound comfortable and real.
   Support Ideas with EvidenceIt is always important to provide evidence to support your main points. Supporting evidence will reinforce your points to the audience and give you a chance to explain your points more fully.
   
3. Close with a Call to Action. This will be the last impression your audience has of you and your presentation. It is important to look at the purpose of the presentation and then determine a proper close. Emphasize the key action or actions that you want the audience to take after hearing your presentation. This serves as a nice summary of your content and assures they leave with a clear direction.
   
4. Remember, Anxiety is Normal. Most people have some presentation anxiety. Remember that people who don't feel some stress may appear to be taking their audience for granted. Replace negative thoughts that creep into your subconscious mind with positive affirmations from yourself and others.
   
5. Be Human. Allow yourself to make mistakes. Do not try to be a perfect presenter. A brief pause to collect your thoughts may feel like eternity, but it's not. Tell stories from your personal experiences. Conduct your presentations as if you are having a conversation with people rather than talking at them.
   
6. Ask for Feedback. You will be surprised how much will be positive. Accept and internalize compliments you receive without minimizing them. Remind yourself about what went well rather than what didn't. Focus on one or two key improvement areas for the next time. Not ten or twenty.
   
7. Prepare for Future Success. View each presentation you give as a development opportunity. Enjoy the experience. Use each presentation as an opportunity to enhance your confidence and skills for the next presentation.

Alex Zaborenko
Managing Partner
Dale Carnegie Training of Colorado and Southern WY

How to Encourage Your Team Members to Stand Up and Lead

To win in today's market, team members have to step up and be ready to take a leadership role. It is not easy to develop leadership skills in others. It's very important to also understand that some people do not share your goals and aspirations. Keep an open mind and learn to use different techniques to inspire different team members to stand up and lead.

Throw down a challenge. - In today's market environment, you probably have many challenges to issue. Some people need a specific challenge to motivate them. By laying down a challenge, you also create a very clear and measurable goal for a staff member to achieve.

Appeal to noble motives — Many employees think that their work does not make a difference. By appealing to a team's noble motives, you can increase morale while also setting higher standards for your staff members.

Be sympathetic — Never tell someone that they are wrong. Even when you disagree, listen and be empathetic to another person's ideas and desires. Listen to what your staff members have to say. Some employees may not want to reach top corporate positions; instead, they may simply be content if their opinions and ideas are valued. When people feel that their ideas or concerns are being heard they will be more engaged.

Dramatize your ideas - Back up your ideas with proof. Use stories to explain why you have the right idea. By providing evidence, you can give instant credibility to your ideas. If you have evidence, even staff members who have a different perspective will take notice.

Ask questions — Instead of giving direct orders, ask questions to guide your staff members to think through the issues and come up with their own solutions. When your staff tells you what they should be doing through effective questioning, they will have bought into the idea.

Make your staff members feel genuinely important - Faced with the market challenges today, your employees must be reassured that their contribution and leadership DOES have a huge impact on the company's survival, stability, and growth.

Alex Zaborenko
Dale Carnegie Training of Colorado and Southern Wyoming
http://www.dalecarnegiecolorado.com/

Meet and Greet: The Most Common Mistakes

The last thing you want is for your customers to get turned off in the first few moments of their interaction. Yet, it happens all the time. Someone makes a mistake at the start of the customer service transaction, and the customer simply chooses to take their business to someone else. At all costs, avoid these relationship-damaging mistakes:

Ignoring waiting customers: Sometimes you are too busy with current customers to be able to help a waiting customer immediately. Even in those situations, you should never ignore a waiting customer. Establish eye contact, give a wave, or say a word or two to let the customer know that you are aware of them and will get to them as soon as you can.

Getting distracted: It is easy to become distracted by other customers, other responsibilities, and the variety of activities involved in customer service. When customers see that you are distracted, they sense that they are not your first priority.

Answering questions or taking calls while assisting a customer: It is a challenge to make every customer feels equally valued, and some customers try to push their way to the head of the line. But don't let these customers overstep earlier customers. Instead, say a few friendly words to the individual to indicate that you will help them when you are finished serving the current customer.

Giving a bored, trite greeting: Put some energy into your greeting and come up with something more creative than, "May I help you?" Make it a personal challenge to say something specific to each customer. It will make the meet and greet portion of the sales process more interesting and rewarding.

Alex Zaborenko

Dale Carnegie Training of Colorado and Southern Wyoming

www.dalecarnegiecolorado.com

Effective First Impressions

The critical first step in the customer service process is meeting and greeting the customer. Those vital first moments with the customer set the tone for the entire interaction. By energetically and professionally welcoming your customer, you make successful customer interactions not only possible, but probable. Customers want to be recognized, appreciated, and treated with courtesy and understanding. For this to happen, you have to be at your best in the meet and greet stage of the service process. You need to know what your customers want.

Each customer is different, but certain basic principles apply to nearly all customers, and you can safely assume that most customers are looking for the same things in their interactions with you.
To be treated with courtesy:Even rude people dislike being treated rudely. Common courtesies go a long way towards expressing respect to your customers. Good manners, like saying "please" and "thank you," listening attentively, and expressing understanding, are courtesies that nearly everyone appreciates.

1. To be heard: Every customer has a unique situation, issue, and desired resolution. Even though a customer's circumstances may seem identical to the circumstances of many other customers, each customer typically still wants to talk through their issues, and your role is to listen.
2. To get what they want quickly: Customers are on the move today, and you are just one stop on their list of errands. While there are exceptions to this preference, you can assume that the faster you address the customer's issues, the happier they will be.
3. To be satisfied with their transaction: Every customer wants a satisfactory end result and a hassle-free encounter with a customer service professional. Your primary goal in serving the customer is to leave them feeling positive about your organization.
4. To deal with someone who is knowledgeable: Customers come to you for your expertise, advice, and experience, as well as for the products and services that you provide. They expect you to be able to answer their questions or know where to find answers.
5. To deal with a decision maker: A customer's life is easier if one person can provide answers and make decisions about the resolution of the problem. Customers don't want to have to repeat their requests over and over as they are referred to other people for decisions.
6. To be appreciated: Customers have a wide range of options. You should never take for granted their willingness to do business with your organization. It takes little time to express your appreciation for their business, and it sends a positive, reinforcing message to the customer.

Alex Zaborenko

Dale Carnegie Training of Colorado and Southern Wyoming

www.dalecarnegiecolorado.com

Presenting with Visual Impact

You have the opportunity to be a better leader, mentor, educator, and more refined communicator when you use the strength of visuals and graphics. Human beings possess separate thinking systems for processing visual and verbal material. Your capacity for meaningful learning increases when you tap into the power of both. When selecting and preparing visuals, keep the following general guidelines in mind:

Clarity - Is the visual understandable within a few seconds?

• As a rule of thumb, use no more than six lines with six words or fewer to a line.
  If the visual is a mixture of text and drawing, remember to keep 60 to 70 percent blank space.
• Font size is extremely important. Text that is too small and cannot be read becomes a point of distraction and possibly frustration to participants. The absolute minimum font size is 24 points, but larger is preferred.
• A rule of thumb is that for every 12 feet of depth in audience seating, there should be one inch of height on the screen or flip chart.
• Use a combination of upper and lowercase letters. Avoid all capitals in the body of the text. All uppercase letters are hard to read. Words in lowercase letters are easier and quicker to read. Ninety-five percent of all reading material is in lowercase.
  

Relevancy - Does the visual support and reflect your point?

Remember, just as visual aids can enhance a presentation, they can also compete with the message. Don't create competition with irrelevant and distracting visuals. Even if something is highly entertaining or funny, do not use it unless it clearly makes a point.

Eye Appeal - Is the visual aesthetically pleasing?

• Lines, borders, boxes, and shapes add interest to a visual and make it more interesting, eye-catching, and desirable.
• Experiment with fonts to find the ones that best match the presentation's style.
• Don't overdo type-style variations on a series of visuals. Too many varieties of styles can be distracting, confusing, and amateurish.
• Because people form judgments from first contacts, the acceptability of visuals can be enhanced by the thoughtful use of art. Make sure that the image portrayed generates the reaction desired.
• Visual layouts should be landscape rather than portrait because the eye finds it more natural, comfortable, and pleasing to look across rather than up and down. Likewise, some professional presenters feel that projection screens, flip charts, etc, should be to the audience's right, when they are facing the speaker. This allows audience members to focus on the speaker first and then "read from left to right" to see the related visuals.
  

Quality - Does the visual look professional?

Use all the professional help and tools available to ensure your visuals look professional. Get an unbiased person's opinion before using them. Remember, your visuals will reflect your image, and simple mistakes like misspelled words can undermine your professional image.

Memorable

Well-chosen graphics can have a significant impact on the success of a visual because we think in pictures rather than in words. Many research studies indicate that the use of color increases retention and impact.

Visibility - Can everyone see it?

• Use presentation enhancements that are large enough for the audience. Even the person farthest away must be able to see it.
• Be sure the font size is legible. As stated previously, the absolute minimum font size is 24 points, but larger is preferred.
• If projected visuals are used, place the screen where everyone in the room can see it without having to twist into an uncomfortable position. The corners of a room are usually the best choice.
• Check the lighting. When possible, dim room lighting so that it will not shine on the screen. However, avoid making the room so dark that participants can't read or write. A darkened room can reduce the amount of participation and the level of enthusiasm within the group.
  

Background - Does the color scheme enhance visibility?

• A clear or light background with dark text is best when the room is bright or the lights are on and/or the projector is of a lower intensity.
• A medium color background with dark text (shadow text adds contrast) is acceptable for light rooms and small audiences because it adds interest.
• A dark background with light text is best in dark rooms with large audiences. It is usually limited to slides on computer-generated projection. It requires high-quality equipment and is not suitable for overhead transparencies or LCD panels.

Alex Zaborenko

Dale Carnegie Training of Colorado and Southern Wyoming

www.dalecarnegiecolorado.com

Leading Strong Teams

Are you a great leader? To emerge as winners from this global financial crisis, organizations-big and small, international and local, for-profit and nonprofit-need the great leaders who emerge in times of crisis, uncertainty, and turbulence. 　

One of the most common reasons an organization will promote you into a leadership position is because you are very effective at your job. Once promoted to a leadership position, you are no longer supposed to do that job you mastered. Instead, you become responsible for helping others become more efficient at performing that job. Inspiring others to perform a task and performing that task yourself require different skill sets.

"If only I had a stronger team!" Most leaders have thought this at one time or another. Yet successful leaders seem to develop strong teams for their projects wherever they go. There are several key factors in leading strong teams.

Establish continuous improvement by building on the characteristics of strong teams

• Cooperation: In a strong team, individuals rely on each other to make processes and interactions function as planned. Strong teams root out uncooperative members and either replace them with people who will move the process forward or coach them on more cooperative behavior.
• Mutual Respect: In a strong team, individuals avoid arrogance, condescension, and criticism. Teams achieve success when their members respect each other's talents, opinions, and efforts.
• Democratic: In a strong team, every team member has a voice. Each member of the team has a right to question the process, add input, and evaluate the team's progress.

Capitalize on individual strengths to take teams to higher levels of performance. In a strong team, the leader knows how to capitalize on each member's individual strengths. Not everyone on the team has to be a great people person, but some team members have to be. Not everyone has to be meticulous, but certain members of the team must be. To capitalize on individual strengths, team leaders must be able to:

• Recognize strengths: Many leaders have a hard time recognizing their team members' strengths. In a business climate where appreciation is often in short supply, many of us get out of the habit of looking for the strengths in others. It takes a change in our mindset to start seeing what we admire or appreciate in others.
• Combine strengths to make a team: Combining strengths in a strong team is a little bit like combining ingredients in a great recipe. Just dumping ingredients into a pan doesn't make a great dish, no matter how excellent each individual ingredient may be. It is typical to see talented, capable individuals who underperform as a team.
• Focus on strengths, not weaknesses: Dale Carnegie tells a story about a man in one of his programs who was asked by his wife to list six things that he would like to change about her. The participant recounted that he told his wife he would have to think about it and give her an answer in the morning. He realized that it would be easy to list six things he would change about her, but rather than doing that, he called the florist and ordered six red roses. He had them delivered to his wife with a note that said he couldn't think of six things to change about her; he loved her just the way she was. You can imagine the positive reaction that he received. He stated that, at that moment, he realized the power of appreciation. Do you show appreciation for your team members' strengths or do you focus on their weaknesses?

Facilitate the interaction of diverse personalities on strong teams. Even leaders with the best intentions are sometimes guilty of wanting their team members to do or act like they do. Working in a team with diverse personalities requires flexibility, patience, and open-mindedness. When you embrace your team members' diverse personalities, you enable your team to reach its fullest potential.

• Celebrate diversity: Although it seems easier, most people would be bored working with a team whose members all had the same personalities. Team interaction is much more stimulating and interesting when the team has a variety of personal styles and characteristics. By celebrating differences, you acknowledge that all of us are enriched by our opportunity to work together.
• Open lines of communication: Team members tend to avoid other team members with different personalities and to form informal alliances with similar members. If team leaders allow these tendencies to go on indefinitely, team sub-groups become cliques with insiders and outsiders and the lines of communication within the team are blocked.
• Build bridges, not walls: Leaders of strong teams learn to facilitate connections between diverse styles. Look for ways to make it easier for team members to form alliances, increase mutual understanding, and break down perceived barriers in the way they approach the work.
• Manage results, not tasks: Ultimately, what matters is each team member's contribution to the team's goals and mission. Leaders who are adept at facilitating strong teams with diverse personalities have learned to focus on the results each team member achieves, rather than on trying to make them achieve the results in a certain way. This allows the individuals to express their personalities through their work and still contribute significantly to the team effort.

Leverage competitive spirit to gain cooperation. Friendly competition generates results. Leaders of strong teams keep the competition between the team and its own past results — not between individual team members. Make competition exciting. Who would you rather have working at your side — a competitive individual or someone easily satisfied by mediocre results?

Alex Zaborenko
Dale Carnegie Training of Colorado and Southern Wyoming
http://www.dalecarnegiecolorado.com/

Becoming a Contributing Team Member

In today's workplace, you are expected to be a contributing team player, usually serving on several teams at once. Some teams are comprised entirely of individuals within your work group. Other project teams are cross-functional and consist of colleagues from across the organization, and yet other teams include people from other organizations such as consultants, vendors, and clients.

Your ability to be a valuable, contributing member of these teams can have a significant impact on achieving your career goals. Gaining a reputation as a valuable team member impacts your current work goals, your relationships at work, your opportunities for team leadership, and how satisfied and motivated you feel in your job. Here are some characteristics of a contributing team member.

Cooperative and Supportive Attitude Toward Other Individuals on the Team - For any team to achieve its full potential, you, as an individual team member, need to set aside your own personal agenda and support the other members of the team. Nothing slows down the forward progress of a team more than individuals with uncooperative attitudes. You may not always be in total alignment with the direction of your team, but you need to support your colleagues and leaders and cooperate with them to achieve desired team outcomes.

Focused Listening Skills - For the whole team to operate efficiently, you need to focus on the input of others, integrate the message, and act on it without having to be reminded.

Consistency in Preparation and Performance - Successful teams function well when individuals do their part and then hand the task off to others on the team. If you are poorly prepared or perform your tasks inconsistently, you slow down the entire team effort. Teams live and die by the trust they have in each other, and when you are consistent about performing your tasks, you increase the amount of trust your team members feel comfortable placing in you.

Skilled in Planning, Organizing, and Time Management - Because of the intricate way that workloads are shared and sequenced in a team, you must be skilled in planning your role, organizing your individual workload, and completing your function in a way that enables everyone else to complete their work on time.

Knowledgeable and/or Experienced in Team Role - An ideal team member has the training, knowledge, and experience to perform effectively in their role. If your role is new to you and you lack the desired experience, you have a responsibility to make up that deficit through study, mentoring, or additional training without slowing the team's progress.

Alex Zaborenko

Dale Carnegie Training of Colorado and Southern Wyoming

www.dalecarnegiecolorado.com

Listening More Effectively

Exceptional listening skills and the ability to persuade others to your way of thinking make the difference between good and great teams. Pure listening builds trust, credibility, and respect. One reason is that when you fully listen instead of trying to compose your response, the result is a relevant and on-target response. What you say when you do respond is proof of how well you listen. Here are 7 types of listeners and tips to communicate with them:

1) "Preoccupieds" - These people come across as rushed and are constantly looking around or doing something else. Also known as multitaskers, these people cannot sit still and listen.

Tips - If you are a "Preoccupied" listener, make a point to set aside what you are doing when someone is speaking to you. If you are speaking to a "Preoccupied" listener, you might ask, "Is this a good time?" or say, "I need your undivided attention for just a moment." Begin with a statement that will get their attention, be brief, and get to the bottom line quickly because their attention span is short.

2) "Out-to-Lunchers" - These people are physically there for you, but mentally, they are not. You can tell this by the blank look on their faces. They are either daydreaming or thinking about something else entirely.

Tips - If you are an "Out-to-Luncher," act like a good listener. Be alert, maintain eye contact, lean forward, and show interest by asking questions. If you are speaking to an "Out-to-Luncher," check in with them every now and again and ask if they understood what you were saying. As with the "Preoccupieds," begin with a statement that will catch their attention and be concise and to the point, because their attention span is also short.

3) "Interrupters" - These people are ready to chime in at any given time. They are perched and ready for a break to complete your sentence for you. They are not listening to you. They are focused on trying to guess what you will say and what they want to say.

Tips - If you are an "Interrupter," make a point to apologize every time you catch yourself interrupting. This will make you more conscious of it. If you are speaking to an "Interrupter," when they chime in, stop immediately and let them talk, or they will never listen to you. When they are done, you might say, "As I was saying before..." to bring their interruption to their attention.

4) "Whatevers" - These people remain aloof and show little emotion when listening. They do not seem to care about anything you have to say.

Tips - If you are a "Whatever," concentrate on the full message, not just the verbal message. Make a point to listen with your eyes, ears, and heart. Pay attention to body language and try to understand why this person wants to talk to you about this issue. If you are speaking to a "Whatever," dramatize your ideas and ask your listener questions to maintain their involvement.

5) "Combatives" - These people are armed and ready for war. They enjoy disagreeing and blaming others.

Tips - If you are a "Combative," make an effort to put yourself in the speaker's shoes and understand, accept, and find merit in another's point of view. If you are speaking to a "Combative," when he or she disagrees or points the blame, look forward instead of back. Talk about how you might agree to disagree or about what can be done differently next time.

6) "Analysts" - These people are constantly in the role of counselor or therapist, and they are ready to provide you with unsolicited answers. They think they are great listeners and love to help. They are constantly in an analyze-what-you-are-saying-and-fix-it mode.

Tips - If you are an "Analyst," relax and understand that not everyone is looking for an answer, solution, or advice. Some people just like bouncing ideas off other people because it helps them see the answers more clearly themselves. If you are speaking to an "Analyst," you might begin by saying, "I just need to run something by you. I'm not looking for any advice."

7) "Engagers" - These are the consciously aware listeners. They listen with their eyes, ears, and hearts and try to put themselves in the speaker's shoes. This is listening at the highest level. Their listening skills encourage you to continue talking and give you the opportunity to discover your own solutions and let your ideas unfold.

Tips - If you are an "Engager," keep it up. People truly appreciate this about you. If you are speaking to an "Engager," take the time to acknowledge their attentiveness. Thank them for their interest in you and your topic.

Alex Zaborenko
Dale Carnegie Training of Colorado & Southern Wyoming
www.dalecarnegiecolorado.com

Building Trust Through Conflict

Ironically, you have an opportunity to take a relationship to a higher level of trust after a conflict situation. Think of a time when your car had to be returned to your dealer for repair. You may have felt frustrated and annoyed by the situation, but if your auto dealer handled the situation successfully, you are more likely to choose that dealer over another in the future because you trust that they will come through for you, even if there is an issue. To rise to that level of trust in conflict situations, you must be able to:

Adapt - Nothing is more irritating than being in conflict with another person who is rigidly adhering to their set of rules and who is unwilling to adapt to a particular situation. Be willing to look at the situation objectively and let go of resentment, bias, and inflexible thinking.

Keep the Relationship Warm - Just because you are coming from opposite viewpoints, you don't have to treat each other coldly or rudely. That only deepens the resentment in a conflict situation. Try to continue to connect on a human level with the other person.

Listen to Values - Sometimes a conflict situation gets bogged down in petty details. If you can focus and look for shared values, you can often find a way to resolve the conflict.

Act on What You Hear - If another person has an issue with you and feels strongly enough about it to express it, it is your responsibility as a professional to act on that communication. When you do so, you show your good faith in trying to bring the conflict to a mutually acceptable resolution.

Follow Up - You can't simply walk away from a conflict situation and expect that everything will resolve itself. People need time to cool off and process solutions, but you should always follow up with the other person and check to see that you have moved beyond the conflict in your relationship.

Be Willing to Change Yourself - How can you expect another person to change if you can't change yourself? Someone once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results. To put the conflict behind you permanently, you have to demonstrate that you are doing your best to change.

Alex Zaborenko
Dale Carnegie Training of Colorado & Southern Wyoming
http://www.dalecarnegiecolorado.com/

Improving Existing Processes

Once you clearly understand a process, you can focus on ways to make improvements. Review each step of the process with the following key points in mind to make your problems SCARCE.

Simplify: Identify steps that can be made easier, done faster, or completed with fewer resources. Look for changes in technology, software, and best practices in the industry. Consider when the number of movements or moving parts can be decreased. Consider the distances to transport people, machines, or raw materials that can be reduced.

Combine: Look for opportunities to combine two or more different operations. Reduce the number of people who interact with the process. Have the same person, function, or department do more so that more value is added to the system at that point. Identify redundancies that create additional steps and rework them.

Add Value: Create added value at new points in the process. Determine what could be done at each step to either add new value or add value that was being created somewhere else in the process. This actually means adding elements to the process, so be certain that the added value is worth the investment. Value is determined by the ultimate customers, so be sure to keep their perspectives in mind. Be careful not to create unnecessary redundancies across departments that could lead to conflicts later.

Re-Arrange: This could involve moving people, equipment, work spaces, raw materials, etc. Look at options to change the sequence of operations or activities. Could something be done earlier or later? By a different person or at a different location? Small changes can make a big difference.

Clarify: Sometimes we discover that a process is correct, but it is not being followed consistently. Be careful of change just for the sake of change. You might discover that people are unaware of processes, need additional training, or have to be convinced why it is important to do the process in the prescribed way. This is where good communication and human relation skills are critical.

Eliminate: This is usually the most effective and easiest approach. Careful examination of long-held processes usually brings to light steps that are no longer necessary. Often there is little or no investment in time or resources required to eliminate these types of steps. Just be careful not to eliminate elements that are essential to downstream operations. Before eliminating something, ask stakeholders in the organization why a step is being done.

Achieving Customer Commitment

Most salespeople have had this experience: you convinced a customer that your solution would logically exceed their expectations, but that individual was still not motivated to make a decision! Especially in today's uncertain market, many companies are delaying their purchase decisions even further. You can help your customer move forward with the decision. Use a Value Summary to summarize the value of your solution, create a sense of urgency, and overcome customer procrastination. How do you create a Value Summary?

Building a Value Summary
Remind yourself of what your buyers want (primary interest) and why they want it (dominant buying motive), then do these three things:

1. Remind your buyers that they are currently missing out on the benefit your solution can provide and get their agreement. Describe how your solution appeals to their dominant buying motive.
2. Remind your buyers that your solution will satisfy that need.
3. Paint a "word picture" of your buyers using your solution, enjoying it, and benefiting from it.
   

Guidelines for Value Summaries

1. Be clear and concise
2. Describe in the present tense
3. Link your solution directly to the buyer's dominant buying motive
4. Be believable and realistic
5. Show examples of the buyer benefiting from your solution
6. Appeal to the buyer's senses - sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell

Asking for Commitment
After you have presented your Value Summary, be ready to ask for a commitment - the "close." Consider the following methods:

Direction Question: Often the best way to gain a buyer's commitment is to ask for it. Ask a direct question that calls for a decision.

• "Are you ready to go ahead with this decision?"

Alternate Choice Method: Ask the buyer to select one of two options.

• "Would you like the K80 with the standard stock, or would you prefer to choose from our specialty line?"

Minor Point Method: Ask the buyer to make a minor decision that indicates that the larger buying decision has already been made.

• "In whose name should this title be drawn?"
  

Next Step Method: Assume that the buyer has already committed and look ahead to the next step.

• "When would you like for me to schedule the installation?"
  

Opportunity Method: Present the buyer with a brief window of opportunity when options are available. This can be an effective method to use with a buyer who is ready to buy, but who is procrastinating the final decision.

• "You know that our prices increase on September 1st. I know that you'd want to take advantage of these lower prices now, right?"

Weighing Method: If the buyer still has second thoughts about making the purchase, show him or her how the return on investment outweighs the cost.

• "Let's do what many people do when making a major decision. Let's weigh the ideas causing you to hesitate and the value you'll realize from going ahead."

Effective Change Engagement

Engaging workplace change can be an unpredictable experience because processes and people evolve in diverse ways as they undergo change. No two individuals will respond in exactly the same way to workplace changes. In the same way, identical changes implemented in multiple areas of an organization can produce distinctly different outcomes.

Here are 7 steps to help you to take a structured approach to organizational change and still maintain flexibility.

Step 1 - Motivation for Change. Change begins at the point where the organization finds a motivation for change. Sometimes external issues drive the change like reorganizations, management changes, relocations, or acquisitions/mergers. Other times, internal forces such as upgraded technology, expansions and growth, or continuous improvement drive the change.

Step 2 - Analyze the Situation. As the organization becomes progressively more motivated to change, leadership undertakes a thorough analysis of the risks and opportunities associated with the proposed change.

• What are the potential gains in undertaking the change?
• What are the costs?
• What are the risks of making the change?
• What are the risks of not making the change?

Step 3 - Plan the Direction. Once an organization determines that opportunities outweigh the risks of making the change, it develops a plan for change implementation. Many organizational change initiatives fail because of lack of careful, thorough planning. In this step, the stage is set for the ultimate success or failure of the change. Key elements of the plan must include:

• Planning for the impact of the change on individuals who will be most affected.
• Planning for the impact of the change on the systems within the organization that will be most affected.
• A step-by-step plan for integrating the change into the organization.
• A review plan to measure the success of the proposed change.
  

Step 4 - Implement the Change. Depending on the type and scope of the change, implementation within the organization may be gradual or abrupt. Changes such as layoffs or acquisitions often are implemented with little prior warning; while staffing, reorganization, or technology changes may be phased in over a period of time. The team's most critical role in this step of the change process is to maintain open, honest lines of communication with each other. We need to ensure that we communicate the following:

• Define individual responsibilities.
• Announce and launch the change.
• Adhere to timetables.
• Promote the anticipated benefits of the change.

Step 5 - Review the Direction. Once the change has been implemented in the organization, you should monitor the outcomes of the new structure and system. As team members in a changing work environment, you can't assume that the change will evolve exactly as planned or that every individual affected by the change will react as anticipated. Your role is to observe review checkpoints that will reveal whether the change is working as anticipated and is producing the desired results.

• Establish ways of measuring results.
• Communicate criteria for successful change outcomes.
• Coordinate the gathering and measuring of change effects.
• Inform key team members consistently during the review process.
  

Step 6 - Adopt. When you have reviewed the change implementation and found it to be succeeding as planned, the organization adopts the change and it becomes part of the new organizational norm. The review process is not terminated, but it transitions to the ongoing monitoring of the changed systems and relationships within the organization.

• How well is the change meeting planned outcomes?
• How well have you adjusted to the new status quo?
• What aspects of the change have not met expectations?
• What is your role in making those aspects more successful?
  

Step 7 - Adjust. If the review process concluded that the change is not working as planned, you should adjust the change implementation. Assuming that the organization executed the change analysis and plan accurately, you should be able to adjust the implementation of the organizational change to achieve your desired results.

• Determine where the outcomes are falling short of your plan.
• Engage key individuals in determining adjustments that need to be made.
• Keep the lines of communication open with everyone involved.
• Make adjustments to the review process and to the change implementation.
  

Business Process Improvement: Project Planning

According to a report from Business Process Trends: The State of Business Process Management 2008, the biggest business drivers causing organizations to focus on business process change are:

1. The need to improve management organization or organizational responsiveness and
2. The need to save money by reducing costs and/or improving productivity.
   

The 2009 market conditions have certainly put even more emphasis on these business drivers, and business process improvement has probably moved up on your organization's priority list. People and organizations today are pressed to examine the business systems in place and answer these questions: Are these the right processes? Do they add value? Could there be a better way of doing things and generating better business results?

The ability to plan projects, both large and small, simple and complicated, is essential in today's business environment. Without the tools to do so, people tend to flounder, "wing it," or wander off course, resulting in delayed success, missed deadlines, or failure. Read on to learn about the steps you can take to plan a successful project.

Step 1: "Should-Be"Clarify the project scope and be sure that the scope is aligned with senior management's initiatives. The "should be" is a picture of what you ultimately want and who and how this result will benefit all involved. Your team and senior management should work together to ensure you agree on objectives. If you have not done a good job of defining scope, it will be nearly impossible to plan the project.

Step 2: "As-Is" This is the reality of the current situation. Where are you today? What factors help and hinder your efforts to carry out the project's scope?

Step 3: Goals Define and set realistic goals to successfully carry out the scope of the project. Without such goals, you and your team will drift. Goals can be immediate, intermediate, and long-range. Achieving day-to-day goals (immediate goals) contributes to the achievement of intermediate and long-range goals. Develop SMART goals:

S Specific processes and resources

M Measurable by objective data

A Attainable

R Relevant to your vision

T Time-specific deadline

Step 4: Action Steps To achieve your goals, you must establish specific priorities so that you can develop specific action steps. To achieve your goals, your action steps should include:

• Job requirements
• Who will do the job
• Methods to be used
• How the different parts tie together and fit into the big picture
• How the results will be communicated (report, PowerPoint, etc.)
  

Step 5: Cost Another aspect to planning is determining the budget for and cost of each action step. Costs include:

• Personnel
• Materials
• Time
• Opportunity cost (what must be given up to pursue a given action)
  

Step 6: Timetables Set and communicate deadlines so there is a clear understanding and so that immediate, intermediate, and long-term targets can be met. When establishing timetables, be realistic. Work backwards to determine when each phase should be completed, and put the schedule in writing to avoid misunderstandings.

Step 7: Implementation An important, yet overlooked, part of implementing a plan is making sure that all involved understand their role in achieving the established goals. Obtain the team's commitment to agreed-upon results. As you monitor the implementation, you may need to modify the scope of the plan and reevaluate your goals.

Step 8: Follow Up/Measurement A critical part of the planning process is to keep accurate records, analyze why deviations have occurred, and take action to correct any challenges. Concentrate on those factors critical to reaching the goal.

Motivation

Leaders respect and value the differences in others. In times of uncertainty, you accept that your available human resources are your only sustainable competitive advantage. When the people you lead don't perform at acceptable levels, you must sometimes exert your influence. Sometimes you don't have authority to make them perform better. In those situations, you must often accept whatever they give you or try to find ways to influence or inspire them to improve their performance. There are five primary reasons people underperform. Understanding the reasons behind nonperformance is the first step to using your abilities to influence others effectively and without resorting to manipulation.

Reason: I don't know what to do...

Solution: Educate — If people don't know what to do, you can get them what they need to get past this obstacle. Show people what they need to do by building a strong foundation for their performance during new employee orientation and the on-boarding process or later during education and development opportunities. Unless people clearly understand what they need to do, they will make mistakes or allocate their time to the tasks inappropriately.

Reason:I don't know how to do it...

Solution: Train — When they don't know how, you can get them the practice and skills they need to begin to perform better. Training is the answer. Take people through the step-by-step process of performing tasks and explain how the correct execution of those steps creates success for them and the organization.

Reason:I don't believe I can...

Solution: Coach — This area reflects your confidence in their ability to perform. It is important to show them that the job can be done and that they can do it. Coaching is not just a matter of cheering your employees on, but of helping them see why they have been selected to perform the task or why they have been appointed to the team. Instill in them a belief in themselves and the confidence to use past successes as a stepping-stone to future opportunities.

Reason:I don't know why...

Solution: Vision — When other people don't see the reason behind your directions, you need to get their support to move forward. This is often a trust issue. A senior leader's vision for the organization is a good start, but employees also need to know how they fit into that vision and why their organizational processes are critical to accomplishing the vision.

Reason:I don't want to...

Solution: Motivate — This is the most challenging reason people underperform — when people know what to do and how to do it, but they are not motivated enough to do it or they feel they have a better way. Sometimes people even try to sabotage the process to slow down changes. In this situation, you must use your influence to get results. Motivation is the key. If people know what to do, how to do it, believe they can do it, and know why they should do it, non-performance must be due to some other barrier that may not be immediately discernable. Look at how the organization is inspiring its employees. Are they being kept busy without knowing how their activities relate to the organization's mission or vision? Inspired employees have the internal desire to achieve the vision.

Engaging Employees during Times of Uncertainty

As a manager, turbulent times can be unsettling. Employees want to be upbeat, positive, and encouraged about the future, but news about the economy, conversations with some customers, and input from others in the organization can often leave them feeling uncomfortable and unsure. So how do you balance these conflicting ideas, maintain a positive environment, and keep employees focused on a positive future?

Focus on Vision and Mission
While it is important for you to clarify your organization's overriding vision and mission during times of uncertainty, it is also vitally important that you consider how your team contributes to that overall vision and mission. An economic downturn is an opportune time for you to explain to your team how vital their role is in the department. As a manager, you must create an exciting picture of the future look of the department and team and share this vision with the team by explaining how each team member contributes to making the vision a reality. Employees will feel more engaged when they understand their vital roles in the organization, in their department, and in their team.

Develop Connections
The key role of any leader is to develop supportive, loyal, and talented employees. Leaders cannot accomplish this task from a distance. In times of turbulence and change, you must be increasingly visible and approachable. Employees want a manager who knows them (personally and professionally), who is willing to listen to them, and who is caring enough to take time to address their individual concerns. This is a critical time to walk around the office, make extra phone calls to off-site employees, and keep current with email. Employees who feel connected to you are more likely to feel engaged in the organization. Be sure to schedule time to foster connections with employees.

Create Ongoing Dialogue
Maintain open communication with all employees to build followership. You can do this with general conversation, by sharing organization level communications, and by spending time focusing employees on the work at hand. It is important that you spend time discussing expectations, the value of an employee's role, and key measurements of success within each employee's role. This will help employees stay on task (an important way to keep uncertainty from becoming a distraction) and open up meaningful discussion about how employee roles may change as new plans unfold. Employees who are excited about what the future may hold or about how their role may change and evolve in the future are more likely to stay engaged during this period of uncertainty.

Encourage Empowerment
Employees typically like to believe that their efforts contribute to something bigger than themselves. To help employees feel like empowered, contributing members of the team, take time to help them focus on results that support mission achievement, grow their skills and abilities so they can continue to contribute in the future, and challenge them to find innovative ways of performing their role. This process will help them be productive today, plan for ways to continue being productive in the future, and help the organization find ways to improve effectiveness and efficiency and stay competitive.

While there are rarely easy answers to the unique issues that arise during times of turbulence, managers cannot retreat to the office and hope the situation will simply cure itself. Difficult times call for consistent leadership. Helping your team stay focused on the organization's direction and their individual role in achieving that direction and encouraging them to develop new approaches for helping the organization succeed in these difficult times are just a couple of ways that managers can help create an environment that continues to engage employees in uncertain times.

Building Your Networking Skills - 8 Quick Tips

Networking events can seem very intimidating, but they can be a resource that will help propel your career to new heights. It is always important to go into a networking event with enthusiasm and a set goal in mind. Use these ideas to help make your next networking experience a successful one.

Network online - According to recent research by The Institute For Corporate Productivity, 64% of business professionals network online. In today's Web 2.0 environment, you cannot afford to ignore this networking opportunity and potential leads you could generate via social networking sites.

Start with LinkedIn.com, the leading business networking - Membership is free, and you can pro-actively search for and connect with customers and prospects. Also, Linkedin.com users can post questions to the "Answers" section on the site. Make an effort to answer questions relevant to your area of expertise. Not only will you add value to your connections, but you will also get additional exposure and attract prospective customers who will seek you out! I have over 3000 connections on LinkedIn and add more each week.

Arrive early - Treat the event like an important appointment. By arriving early, you get comfortable in a more intimate setting with the other early arrivals. It can be intimidating to walk into a room filled with people, so go early and let the room fill up around you.

Show confidence - Speak confidently, decisively, and with authority. If you are confident in your conversations and support your ideas with evidence, people will take notice and respect that you know what you are talking about and that you mean business. The Dale Carnegie Course has helped many people increase their confidence when networking.

Circulate - Don't just talk to the people that you know. Get out there and go network! I recently attended an open house for a new hotel in Rock Springs, WY. Everybody else was there to check out the hotel and get some free food. I focused on meeting as many people as possible.

Meet with VIPs or speakers - If there are VIPs or speakers at the event, prepare ahead of time. Do some research on the individual(s) so that you are informed when you talk with them. Compliment them on their speech or talk to them about how the topic of their speech or their field relates to what you do.

Stay late - When you stay late, the smaller crowd also gives you the opportunity to circulate in a more intimate setting. It also provides you with an opportunity to connect with the event's coordinator. Thank him or her for hosting the event. The event coordinator can give you some additional insight about who attended the event and who might be at the next event. It's never too early to prepare for the next event.

Have a robust profile on the networking site - Put in as much relevant information as you can that demonstrates the value you bring to your customers. Put in all the keywords you think prospective customers may use to search for a service provider in your field. Remember, on a social networking site, you want to make it easy for people to find you!