Organizational Communication

Ten Things You Can Do To…Influence By Design Not By Chance

orgcomm — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 02:59:08 +0000

1	Influence needs preparation – lucky breaks happen but for something important you can’t leave it to chance. Be clear what your desired end results are for this particular meeting and have a structure or map which ensures you can mentally establish where you are and where you need to go next.
2	Write bullet points around each of the headings listed below. Divide a piece of paper into four with two headings in each section. Preparation and Pleasantries, Position and Problems, Possibilities and Preferences, Proposals and Proactivity. This is your starting point or checklist but not your script. Be ready to rethink…
3	Preparation – Start with the end in mind. Be clear what you want to achieve from the influencing interaction or conversation. Experience shows that it’s better to have one clear objective and focus your attention around that. Prepare exactly what you are going to say to explain your desired end result.
4	Pleasantries – Different people will like differing amounts of non-business talk so be guided by how the other person operates. Make this stage more than just niceties, and establish what you would like to achieve by sharing your desired end result and establishing what they would like out of the meeting.
5	Position – Establishing current reality is as important as the desired end results. You need to establish what the current position (particularly their current position) is in relation to your desired end result. They may know nothing about it or may be violently opposed – you need to know where they are.
6	Problem – What is it about the current position that is a problem for the other person? If problem sounds too negative think “perspective” – how do they perceive the current position – is it good news or not for them? Does what you want create a win or a loss for them?
7	Possibilities – To start moving towards resolution of any differences and a wise outcome means establishing what the possible ways forward might be. This is a joint problem solving stage so it’s about floating ideas for consideration and getting engagement - not about choosing something that seems right at first sight.
8	Preferences – With a range of possibilities on the table it’s useful to consider what preferences there are which would affect the choice. Try to focus on the interests the parties concerned are trying to uphold rather than simply which of the possibilities you prefer – what criteria will help you choose?
9	Proposals – Now is the time to choose…and your job is to obtain a clearly stated proposal that takes into account the possibilities and preferences already discussed and agreed. Either make a proposal yourself (push) or ask them what they would propose (pull) which meets the criteria for a wise outcome
10	Proactivity – This is more than making specific plans with target dates (although that’s a major part). Most organisational influencing requires other people to say “Yes” that aren’t in the room. Check who needs to be consulted or informed and what needs to happen to get their buy in and commitment.

Useful Links

Dr Richard Hale on Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Richard-Hale/e/B000APKOVK

More on the Circle of Influence http://ezinearticles.com/?Personal-Impact-and-Influence—Going-Round-in-Circles-is-Good&id=4592914

The Personal Impact and Influence Questionnaire http://bit.ly/ClearWorthPIIQ

Ten Things You Can Do…To Learn More About People You Meet

orgcomm — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 03:39:04 +0000

1	Practise moving your focus of attention during conversations so that you become almost a detached observer or video camera watching you and the other person talking. This means moving the focus from you and what you’re concerned with to the bigger picture of what’s happening in the space between you.
2	Take notice of how they engage in conversation and whether they tend to initiate things or wait for others to start. You are looking for clues as to where their focus and energy is so notice if they tend to think before speaking (an inward focus) or bounce ideas off others (an external focus)
3	Consider how they describe things and how much detail they give. Do they tend to use short phrases to just give a flavour or do they give lengthy descriptions with lots of specifics about situations? This tells you how they work with data and how they like to gather information.
4	Mentally record whether they tend to talk about things in a logical, objective way or use words and examples about feelings, values and motives. Listen particularly when they are describing a decision or choice they have made and notice whether there were personal issues considered or just logic and rationality.
5	Notice how they seem to think about time and planning. Do they seem to have a structured way of working and organising themselves or do they seem to enjoy a more spontaneous and flexible approach? There are clues in their descriptions and thoughts about future plans, projects and work deadlines
6	Use your information from the previous four areas to form pictures with keywords that describes the person you are studying or reading. Outgoing or Self-Contained? Detail Focus or Summaries? Feelings or Logic? Structured or Flexible? The will help you engage with them in a way that they are comfortable with.
7	Notice when you are talking versus listening and get used to doing much more of the latter. Don’t jump in with a “that reminds me of” personal experience of your own. Become focussed and curious about people and build mental pictures as they speak – then ask questions about the pictures.
8	Ask questions which are about more than facts and basic data. Develop some words which you are comfortable with which ask people about what their thinking is concerning something they’ve just said or how they feel about a particular topic they have raised. Keep building your pictures from their answers.
9	When you have built a basic relationship with them, (you’ll know because they answer your questions about their thinking and feelings) consider asking a “Why” question. These are more personal so don’t be in a hurry. Your purpose here is to start understanding their values and what’s important to them.
10	Keep checking your initial judgments and observations with your mental video camera switched on and notice whether there is evidence for what you guessed or assumed from the earlier conversations. Test your assumptions by asking questions or just listening to them talk to others and noticing how they are speaking.

Useful Links

MBTI Personality Type http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/

Three level Questioning - http://www.compasstraining.com/threelevelquestioningtechnique.htm

Learn more about your own and their preferences with the PIIQ http://www.clearworth.com/piiq

Ten Things You Can Do To…Improve Your Organisational Influencing

orgcomm — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 03:39:02 +0000

1	Write down exactly what your desired end results are for this interaction. What do you want them to do as a result of your influence? Write the end result as a description of what will exist at the end of the interaction not how you are going to tackle it.
2	Clarify how many people have to say “Yes” and what kind of buy-in you need from them. Is it their money or budget or do they have to convince others of the need to commit resources or make changes to accommodate your needs or the changes you want to make.
3	Do some stakeholder analysis and work out, on two axes of a simple two by two graph, marked Power (High/Low) and Interest (High/Low) where the key people currently sit and who your key targets for attention must be. Start with the High Power High Interest as your highest priority.
4	Work out what their “frame of mind” is in relation to your proposals for change. Are they desperate for something to take pain away? Are they shopping around for the best ideas? Are they not bothered one way or the other? Are they fiercely resisting change? All require different approaches.
5	Clarify what would make them look good or feel good – what constitutes a personal win for them. A win is individual, illogical, irrational but hugely important. You can deliver a good organisational result but it won’t stick if they don’t have some kind of win – what’s in it for them?
6	List what you know and what you don’t know. Anything you don’t know or don’t understand is like a warning triangle at the side of the road – hazard ahead. If you don’t know who the budget holder is or what frame of mind they’re in you need to find out
7	Write each of the key players, their frame of mind and their potential wins on a Post-It note and stick them on the stakeholder analysis map. This is your battle plan. You need to work out who you can personally contact and who you are going to need help with.
8	Find someone who can give you insights into people you know less well. The ideal people are those that currently work with them. Find out about their information needs and ways of working – are they a “one sheet of paper” person or do they like lots of facts and data?
9	Practise exactly what you are going to say in 30 seconds or less which explains what you want and what their role in the decision is. Keep taking words out until it says what you want with the least possible words. Try it out on someone neutral and get feedback.
10	Start to make contact with everyone who can indirectly influence the key stakeholders if they are beyond your own sphere of influence. Use coffee, lunch or whatever you can to engage them and float your ideas with them to establish how the proposals might be received. Be ready to rethink.

Useful Links

Stakeholder Map using Power and Interest http://www.stakeholdermap.com/stakeholder-analysis.html

Marwell and Schmitts Influencing Tactics http://www.workingpsychology.com/marwell.html

Learn more about your own and their preferences with the PIIQ http://www.clearworth.com/piiq

Top Low Interest Rate Credit Cards

orgcomm — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 03:22:01 +0000

If you regularly hold a new equilibrium, a low rate of interest credit card may be a very good investment. These cards really don’t have got as numerous great features while others, nevertheless the low rate gives you valuable cost savings. Low interest rate credit cards permit you to manage ones balance with out ponying up hundreds of dollars throughout awareness costs. Here is a glance at 3 to consider.

Funds One particular Platinum Esteem

Submit an application for this kind of card, and you should be given a percentage opening charge for the primary one year. Next, a consistent a low interest rate rate begins. That variety can be varying, significance that it can change as time passes. All the same, you’ll find it is really a lot below what you would receive in most benefits cards, which usually tend to get interest rates which have been a minimum of 2 bottle what you may buy the main town One particular Platinum Esteem choice.

In contrast to a lot of cards, which fee excessive charges and also costs in the event you miss also 1 settlement, the main city 1 Platinum Reputation features a flexible characteristic. When you go over your own credit limit or skip a settlement after, your APR won’t go through the roof. You might be granted 1 slip-up every year using this card. And there’s no yearly charge.

Citibank Gemstone Favored

If you need to have any balance in your card, your Citibank Diamonds Chosen will be another option to take into account. By it, you can developed the whole to get repayments made with an intelligent groundwork. In this way shipping and delivery neglect any repayment, and you may actually be capable of pay off the balance in a smaller time period.

There is no yearly payment, no ask for pertaining to introducing in another cardholder. You’ll be able to choose to have your own photo on the card if you would like. Deal . receive numerous travel expert services along with many different security features. For added in addition, the organization sends anyone an economic record list ones card’s activities at the conclusion of the 12 months.

This should be spotted that this a low interest rate rate to the Citibank Stone Chosen Card emerged to prospects using exceptional credit. For those who have under of which, you are able to still be authorized for that card. Nonetheless, you might get a somewhat increased rate of interest.

Azure through Us Express

With Glowing blue via Us Show, you may obtain both the lowest interest along with an opportunity to be involved in a returns program. You are going to start with absolutely no twelve-monthly charge plus a % APR in buys for the primary twelve months. You can even get over a preexisting harmony pertaining to a minimal charge. Whenever you apply, you’ll get notice of if you’ve been accepted inside of 60 a few moments.

The particular items anyone generate from the system could be redeemed pertaining to reward cards, traveling advantages, and also other items. If you prefer a low interest fee plus a benefits system, Blue from Us Show may well work well to suit your needs. So as to be eligible to your advantage interest, nevertheless, you’ll need to have a very powerful credit rating. People that wont will be given a greater APR with the card.

Regardless of what your financial situation is, if you are planning to transport the harmony usually, getting the minimum rate credit card is a good choice. You will save income that you simply would otherwise stop throughout higher awareness expenses. This kind of can make it a very important tool that could will give you powerful line associated with credit, year in year out.

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Dental Plans And A Prescription Program

orgcomm — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:00:52 +0000

It is relatively crucial for individuals to prepare for your prescription help and dental needs even when there is no present-day need for it. This is the familiar point that a lot of group dental insurance companies have to argue with. Because their dental health isn’t a big concern to a lot of people, they don’t give it much thought. However, this form of insurance is most applicable to families. This can be a big benefit to employees although a lot of employers don’t give it much thought. Overall, not many persons give a lot of thought to their prescription medicine needs and their dental care care. Low cost medicines isn’t easy to obtain.

Help for prescription can be found but you need to be cautious concerning it’s source. If you are an individual this might be of little worry to you but if you are a household with little children then dental insurance is a good idea. You can never tell when a simple toothache or a chipped tooth will happen. Big expenses can be averted if the household will plan in advance and make sure that they are covered. This applies to your prescriptions help too.

There are different forms of group dental insurance programs that will be able to cater to any group’s preferences. Some offer very wide-ranging coverage while others provide for just basic dental care care. Most basic programs will cover exams, x-rays and cleaning. Other wide-ranging policies cover the basic plus more. Some of the really expensive plans even cover braces and dentures. Whatever your prescription medicine needs are, there are plans that pay for them as well!

For your prescription program assistance and dental needs, make sure that you get all of your inquiries answered.

There are several different places you can turn to for assistance. There are lots of companies that specialize in this thing and of course you may usually check into community non profit companies and community services agencies.

Increase Fire Safety Awareness Among Your Staff

orgcomm — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:12:48 +0000

As an employer, you already have your hands full. From meeting with clients to managing your employees to formulating financial or marketing strategies—you surely are one busy person. But this does not give you an excuse to neglect or overlook other equally important matters such as fire safety.

Fire safety in the workplace should be among your top concerns as an employer. You should be able to ensure that the workplace is equipped with state of the art firefighting equipment and protection devices like smoke alarms, extinguishers, and so on. But of course, all these would be to no avail if none of your staff knows how to use these or if none of them knows what to do in case of an actual emergency.

With this said, it is of utmost importance to increase fire safety awareness among your staff. To do this effectively, here are some of the measures that you have to undertake.

1. Gather your staff for a meeting. If you have a large roster of employees, you would want to hold this in small groups so you can have their attention more efficiently. Discuss basic matters such as prevention and safety awareness, and make your employees realize that each one of them plays an important role in protecting the work place and themselves against the hazards of fire.

2. Invite a resource speaker. It may be a fire expert or a firefighter that you can invite to hold an educational seminar or training course to further educate your staff regarding this matter. They will learn the necessary steps to undertake during an actual emergency among many others.

3. Have your employees undergo fire extinguisher training. It is not enough that your employees know the location of extinguisher cabinets. They should also know how to make use of this safety device. Remind them of the code used for extinguisher operations, which is the word, “PASS.” P stands for pull the safety pin. A means aim the nozzle at the base of the flames. The first S refers to squeeze the lever gently while the second S means sweep from side to side. If they remember this correctly and they are trained to operate an extinguisher, they would have better chances of eliminating small incipient fires before they grow big and out of control.

4. Create an escape plan. As an employer, you are responsible for ensuring that a comprehensive escape route is formulated and posted all over the workplace in locations that can easily be seen by your employees. This way, your staff can escape the burning premises with no difficulty during a fire accident.

5. Hold fire drills. Do not be contended with having escape route plotted all around the building. You should also hold drills to put into practical application everything that your staff has learned.

Increasing awareness among your staff regarding this matter is one of your prime duties as an employer. Do not make an excuse of being too busy and find time to do this right.

For more details about Fire Extinguisher Training & Fire Extinguisher Cabinets, please visit us online.

Rubber Stamps For The Office

orgcomm — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 04:54:01 +0000

We have all seen massive advancements in office technology in recent years. From cumbersome Computer systems to high speed wireless internet connection on hand held smartphones and notepads, faxes to e-mail and mobile phone handsets. But yet a number of necessary parts of our office equipment continue in place and we really would be lost without them. How long could you cope through the day whilst not reaching for the calculator, hole punch or maybe your pencil and the note pad? Rubber stamps aren’t any different and consequently it really is difficult to imagine how technological innovation could replace these kinds of invaluable objects in the near future.

The efficient and effective organization will certainly need a certain supply of rubberized stamps. They are simply crucial if receiving written documents, approving and rejecting blueprints or proposals, post dating the postal mail and more. The reality is, you can find millions of stamps designs designed for a variety of uses plus this one simple representation can certainly convey your message in an official manner very successfully through the entire company.

When considering this you will easily manage to buy a selection of stamps to suit your organization. In the event the particular rubber stamp you need is not for sale you can now design and style and personalize an array of stamps on the internet. This is also a fantastic advantage for those trying to find a creative, artsy stamp or one maybe to be used to customise a wedding invite or perhaps a thank you greeting card.

As well as the stamp you undoubtedly will be needing ink. You will find there’s particular protocol linked with the color of your ink. For example, red ink indicates rejection, so that you have to buy red to be used with stamps like “rejected”, “quarantine” or perhaps “account query”. Conversely, green ink shows agreement, so use with stamps including “authorized”, “paid” and “passed”. Black ink is much more general and it’s popular with stamps showing words and phrases like “delivered” and “processed”. To avoid confusion you have to follow this particular color structure.

Finally, a stamp is a superb technique of incorporating a seal on your outgoing post. Any corerspondence with the logo design stamped over the seal could look very professional. This makes it possible for your company to produce an impact even before your envelope has even been opened up.

So why don’t you look at your stationary drawer today and give your stamps a little bit of a make-over?

Health Care Survey Reveals Interesting Stats

orgcomm — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 04:40:30 +0000

Insights as to how employees and their dependents view health care is discovered in a new survey released by the National Business Group and carried out by Hewitt. In order to plan their company health care plans, it is significant to understand the results of the survey. Help for prescription drugs is high on the list.

Many employees are not doing what they have to do to get healthy even though they know better. Seventy two percent of the employees surveyed feel that receiving regular preventive care will result in good health. Another 84% think that making prudent decisions in their daily life will lead to overall good health. Only half of the workers think they do a great or good job of eating healthy, while less than half (46%) reported doing a great or good job of working out on a regular basis. To assist with the expensive prices of prescription medication, most workers surveyed ranked prescription program assistance pretty high.

Despite the fact that satisfaction is generally high in health programs, participation is low. Participation in many employer provided health programs is not as high as many employers would like to see, even though employees and their dependents report that they know what they need to do to get and stay healthy. The most accepted programs include biometric screenings (61%), followed by online health information tools (53%) and health risk questionnaires (41%). The least popular programs were stress management programs and employee assistance programs. For workers that have dependent coverage, a prescription program was the number one satisfying benefit.

Financial motivation is a strong factor in participation but non financial, internal motivators can be just as effective. Frequently, businesses assume that providing monetary incentives for participating in programs will increase participation. Nearly half would complete a health-risk questionnaire (HRQ) without any incentive because it is “the right thing to do”. Twenty-nine percent would participate in a HRQ for an incentive and almost the same number would complete it if there was a penalty. Further, 44% of employees would participate in a wellness or health improvement program offered by their employer because it is the right thing to do.

Small Business Scheduling Software - Organize Your Office And Improve Productivity

orgcomm — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 08:48:01 +0000

Are you frustrated with your office space? Do you hunt for a pen every time you put one down? Is the lookup for documents a half-day event? Is your paper filed chronologically - finding your way down the pile to ‘one week ago’ and not able to find ‘four months ago’ for fear of a paper flood catastrophe?

Every office deals with an excessive of paper and whether large or small, your business is suffering when you aren’t functioning in an organized room.
So, how do you clear the mess and gain management?

Space IS Essential

The biggest issue with staying organized in an workplace is that individuals set up a program and do not give themselves sufficient room to grow.

Should you have spent the better part of a day cleaning out a drawer and replacing the products in organized, labeled files, but you can’t squeeze a single additional sheet of paper, you’ve wasted your time and also the unfiled papers will grow again.

Be certain to have at least a quarter to a third (more if feasible) of growing room when implementing a system. You may need to change over at some point, but having some additional space will encourage you to keep up with the organizing.

Set aside time to purge unnecessary documents. Not only will this provide more space but will save you time that would otherwise be wasted looking via worthless paperwork.

Simple FILING System

Don’t make your program too complicated or it will probably be difficult to follow through. Color coding can be the easiest if you do not have too many categories. This is efficient for systems which only require ‘Income’, ‘Expense’, ‘Projects’, ‘Correspondence’ or something similar.
For filing of large groups of clients, projects or invoices, use a single drawer for each group of related files. A tall filing cabinet can even be divided into alphabetical or chronological systems.

MAINTENANCE

A filing system is only as good as the upkeep. You may discover it easier to have a small system of files located on or near your desk and daily or weekly transfer the products into their permanent home.

STYLE OF FILING

Consider how you can realistically maintain a filing program. Perhaps labeled boxes would suit you better (especially should you tend to pile papers). The key would be to discover something you’ll feel comfortable maintaining. If papers are sorted and occasionally purged, your system will work.

Every thing NEEDS A Home

Every thing Should be assigned a house. By giving every item a place you will not loose pens, cellphones, glasses and so on. Don’t crowd the items or you’ll get frustrated. Recognize that all of your efforts will assist you run your company more efficiently, and thus productively. Reward yourself for keeping the program functioning!

Scheduleview has an Small Business Scheduling Software that replaces them all with efficiency, convenience, and reliability.

Discover how to use this tool for your convenience and how your business or your office can save time by using it.

-Go here: Small Business Scheduling Software

Service Scheduling Software - 5 Simple Steps To Get Orderly And Get Energized

orgcomm — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 08:48:01 +0000

“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all confusing.” A. A. Milne

In individual development, changes happens much more easily when we create room to grow. In order to enjoy living further than the limits in business or personal lives. We must rid ourselves of the chaos and clutter that holds us clogged up. To change life and company start by obtaining organized.

1- Know Your Top Priority Zones~ Focus on 3 to five. Top priority zones are one of the most valuable areas of one’s existence. Think about the roles you play throughout the day. What means the most to you, long-term? Examples are spirituality, self-care, family, company, career, house, education, hobbies, volunteer work, etc. To make the greatest time management decisions, know your focus. You will probably be challenged by a fresh occasion. Does it honor your priorities? If not, say ‘no’ for now.

2- Schedule Blocks of Time~ Blocks of time for your numerous priority zones give you time and a clear focus on the priorities in each area. Consider how much time you need and how a lot you can commit to each priority. When may be the greatest time of day to schedule it to ensure that you follow through? Customize your routine to fit your energy level and personality so your time is used efficiently.

3- Now you can create your “to do” list or “toleration” list- What are you putting up with that needs to be handled. Get it out of your head and into a program such as a list, daytimer, palm pilot, blackberry, computer, etc. Plan to do it, delegate it, or dump it. What can you let go of? Give yourself permission to let go so you can focus on what will make the greatest difference.

4- Systematize- Create systems that save you time and make life simpler. If there is an area not working for you chances are it is in need of a basic system. How often are you running to the store and what can you do to make one trip? Whenever you buy something new, get rid of some thing old so your closets never get packed. How can you spend less time waiting in lines, managing e-mail, and handling paperwork? What marketing program can you put in place so you know exactly what to complete each day.

5- Set Your self Up for Peak Performance- Take regular breaks to rejuvenate. In the book the Power of Full Engagement: Managing Power, Not Time is the Key to High Overall performance and Personal Renewal, the authors Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz suggest taking 10 minute breaks each and every 90 minutes. Get plenty of sleep and select healthy power sources vs. adrenaline for endurance.

Scheduleview has an Service Scheduling Software that replaces them all with efficiency, convenience, and reliability.

Discover how to use this tool for your convenience and how your business or your office can save time by using it.

-Go here: Service Scheduling Software