Have great Christmas and Awesome 2014

As always at this time of year we now begin to reflect on the past 12 months, what changes have we made, how much did we achieved or didn't achieve and where we might go next year. We'll make New Years Resolutions, 'just so we can start the year on a high! Then a couple of weeks later we'll be convinced it wasn't really important, didn't really matter and get back to REALITY!

NOT THIS CALL SIGN.........as we used to say in the Army. I have had the most Awesome 2013, with significant change and now I'm set on achieving even greater success in my life. I have a plan, focus, I know what I must achieve, better still I know how I'm going to achieve it.

Can you say the same?

Take control of your destiny, make 2014 your most prosperous year with clear focus, drive and motivation towards your dreams and aspirations. Stop self doubting, stop listening to those who support you with the condition of a BUT! Believe in yourself, know what you want to achieve, know where you want to go, what you want to do, what you want to share. Then go and do it.

Have a truly awesome Christmas and your most prosperous New Year EVER!

Critical Non-Essentials - Make difference to your Customers at Christmas

Critical Non-Essentials.  Principles

You need to know your talents – and lack of them.

You have to know your stuff if you want to succeed.   But being technically competent in the core part of your business is not the be-all-and-end-all.   There are other things even more important if you want to build a successful, profitable enterprise.  Your experience and training does not always reward you for the things that are useful in the real business world.   Sometimes it even encourages behaviour that will be detrimental to your future business.

People use the environment to make value judgments about the character and talents of the people in that environment.  For good or bad, we do use the personal appearance of others to make judgments about their character and value.  Do not expect your customers to value the same things that you and your peers value.  The way you appear to do something is often more important than what you do.

Concerning what you do:

·        Logic – what people think is powerful

·        Emotion – what people feel is far more powerful still!!

·        People don’t always value technical excellence…sometimes they just tolerate it.

Introducing the CNE’s

Customers judge your expertise in areas they do not understand by your expertise in areas which they do.

When you pay attention to detail in the very visible, non-technical part of your business, clients will tend to judge your core product or service as also having the same level of quality control.   So these little things that are quite inessential for doing your job (and which don’t impress your peers at all) nevertheless seem to play a great part in persuading customers that you and your people are good at what you do.

So CNE’s are not really non-essentials at all.   In fact they are highly critical to any business.

That said…because they seem to be so unimportant it is often hard to find the time to systemize them…it’s far easier to justify the time to develop systems so that the main areas of your business are taken care of predictably.

Super CNE’s

·        They persuade uninvolved third parties to say nice things about your business.

·        Word of mouth is a powerful, speedy and cost effective way of marketing your business.

·        People value relationships above everything else.

·        I need to understand the power of the CNE’s to effortlessly do ‘good’ in my business.

How To Create CNE’s

Step 1:   Choose an area that will convince customers that you’re good at your core business.

e.g.   an electrician who creates a system for cleaning up after himself so that the work area is absolutely spotless, i.e.

•             A detailed description of the method

•             A checklist

•             A system for reporting

•             A small clean-up box with cloths, cleaning fluids, small vacuum, rubber gloves etc

e.g.   a dentist who has immaculately clean walls, floors and carpets etc doesn’t have to worry about posting impersonal notices about how they sterilize the instruments

e.g.   a dental laboratory that presents caps with care to a dentist will have find that the dentists are far less likely to regard the quality of the cap suspiciously

e.g.   a bank that sends out a statement that’s plain, easy to read and human is far more likely to keep customers happy than one that looks like it’s from an automatic blood-scanning machine & which is full of cold, impersonal words

No matter how good you say you are. It often takes a well-designed CNE to convince people that what you say is true.

Step 2:   Make sure everyone in your work team understands the power of the CNE.

The way to  persuade people to be vigilant and tireless in their creation & maintenance of CNE’s is to educate them to the real importance of the seemingly non-essentials.

You must show your people that it’s in their best interests to impress your customers…and then that CNE’s really WOW customers.

Step 3:   Make a system to ensure that the task is always completed flawlessly.

Design simple, routine systems to do your CNE’s  the same way every time – without a lot of effort or brainpower (which would be silly).

Systems = consistency

Some effort to set them up but once perfected they’ll take little effort or thought.

The outcome is…simple systems that make a large impact on the customers and, after initial development, require relatively little effort.

e.g.   Washrooms in a supermarket that are always immaculate

•             Manual for the cleaners

•             Training for the cleaners

•             Card showing when due, cleaned

•             Notices urging customers to report unsatisfactory state

•             Periodic supervisor checks

•             Weekly check of all cards

You & your team will be rewarded each time a CNE impresses a customer…and once the team realise the importance…your standards will rise.

Six Insights Into CNE’s

Well constructed CNE’s take on a life of their own – complex tasks will happen automatically.

They work behind the scenes & s sometimes it’s hard to spot their immediate benefits.

Insight 1:   CNE’s will work with your team

Insight 2:   CNE’s will work with your suppliers. Concentrate on the little things in business & the big things will look after themselves.

Insight 3:   CNE’s are very efficient. They offer a far greater return on your investment of time & effort than most other things in your business. Work today while you have the time & energy in order to make things easier for you in the future when you don’t. Make sure that any effort you expend has an effect beyond the effort involved.

Insight 4:   CNE’s bring out the best in people.  A good CNE has a positive effect on everyone.

Insight 5:   You can create situations where other people’s CNE’s work for you.

e.g.   Paddi’s gardener goes the extra mile to keep his gardens immaculate because he’s allowed him to place a plaque advertising his business on the garden wall, i.e. it’s in his best interests to keep Paddi’s garden looking amazing.

Insight 6:   CNE’s need celebrations.

e.g. including the building cleaner in the bonus scheme & displaying her photo along with he other team members.

The Birth Of The Super CNE’s

Systemize the process of delighting your customers.

Everyone likes to spin a good ditty – so why not create one for your customers to tell about your business?

e.g.   Tea Set & Tea Ceremony vs. the X-Ray Machine.

No-one ever told a story about the excellent X-Ray machine.

Over the years the Tea Sets have returned many times the investment but the X-Ray machine has barely broken even.

e.g.  The 4 Door, V8 Cappuccino Machine.

CNE’s versus Super CNE’s

CNE’s

•             are the little household tasks that give people reasons to believe in your business, particularly the parts they don’t understand.

•             In the background somewhat.

•             Important but not exciting.

•             Stop you getting bad press.

•             Show you’re competent.

Super- CNE’s

•             Are CNE’s taken to a sensational degree so that everyone remembers and talks about them.

•             Get you good press.

•             Provide the WOW that gives people a good ditty to spin.

•             Provide the dazzle.

More About Super-CNE’s

What sets one business apart from another is often more to do with a product’s presentation than its actual quality.

Super-CNE’s get you talked about – Lead Generation.

CNE’s get you the customer - Conversion Rate.

Some CNE’s will also increase Number Of Transactions, Average ££ Sale & Margins.

Understand The Dialogue Between Customers.

A – Tells Super-CNE .

B – Yeah but is he good at his job?

A – Tells CNE stories which have convinced them that you are.

Super- CNE’s Are A PR Boon

How To Create Super-CNE’s

Step 1:   Pick something you’ll enjoy.

Step 2:   Choose something distant (but not too distant) from the core of your business.

Step 3:  Build on CNE’s that are extremely visible.

Step 4:  Pick areas of customer concerns to .

Step 5:  Take your Super-CNE’s to the extreme.

Step 6:  Make sure your Super-CNE’s appear difficult – but really aren’t.

What Would You Do If You Wern't Scared

WOW, I have just read cover to cover 'Who Moved My Cheese' and felt compelled to share my

thoughts with you all. As a cheese lover I love the analogy Dr Spencer Johnson (The Author) uses, so simple, such a great impact regarding the response to and impact of change.

In life whether at home or at work change happens, how do you react to it? Do you resist and procrastinate of it being unfair, not acceptable or that great cry of 'its not broken don't change it'. Do you embrace change and are  aware of your beliefs and fears so as to manage and control them and not let them overwhelm you. Are you a sniff or scurry type who watches for change and reacts to it.

We will all have encountered change, like it or not, to succeed you must be adaptive, all to often we over analyse change rather than reacting to the simple impacts and moving on. In the same context we need to ensure we are always aware and ready should change occur, be prepared, which can be achieved through awareness of the situation. There is no doubt you have to react quickly to change, maintain momentum by not being anchored to the old but released to establish and find the new. ultimately move with change and enjoy the challenge, indeed why not seek out new opportunities, be a change maker, move forward and grow.

I found this 10 minute cartoon on You Tube worth the whole family watching, enjoy..........

Stop Blaming Time

How many times have you heard people say "I don't have enough time to do ..." or "If only I could find the time to do ..." Or "I am too busy to do ..." Perhaps the person you heard saying these or similar things is the same person who stares back at you every morning in the bathroom mirror. Well, it is time to stop blaming time! Time is an absolute-there are 24 hours (1440 minutes, 86,400 seconds) in a day and that will never change. We cannot "manage" time. What we can manage is what we do during the next 60 minutes.

How we use time is one of the great determinants of how successful we are both as business owners and as individuals. Everyone from Bill Gates to the small business owner is given the same amount of time each day, 24 hours. Think of it like the auto races where they make all the drivers drive identically built and tuned race cars. The winner is then determined not by who has the fastest car but who can drive that identical car the best. Similarly in life the "winners" are those who learn how to drive their use of time the best.

So how do you take control of your time?

1. Accept that there is no such thing as too much or too little time. There is enough time available for you to be successful-others have been successful and they had no more access to time than you do. Take ownership of your situation. Be accountable for your results and responsible for your actions.
2. Decide what you want to accomplish. What do you want to be "successful" at? To some it may mean making a million dollars, to others it may mean being healthier while others may be looking to have better relationships with their family and friends. This is your goal. You must also understand the benefits to you of achieving the goal -how will it make you feel when you achieve it. Both the goal and your "why" must be written down with a time frame.
3. Once you have decided the goal and your "why", you must now determine the activities that will be necessary for you to accomplish that goal. What do I have to do? What time commitment will I make? What will I need to adjust/sacrifice/reduce/delegate in order to have the time to do the activities identified? Remember if it was easy everyone, including you would have already done it. What separates the successful users of time from the unsuccessful ones is the discipline and determination to obtain their goals no matter what. Winners never give up and they never quit on themselves.
4. Understand that life and business are about choices. You choose how you will spend your time- on what activities and how much on each. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Being successful in many different areas takes effort and time. Success comes from laser-like focus on one or two goals. Once they are accomplished you move on to the next set of goals and focus on those.
5. Prepare your calendar each week by creating "appointments" to do the activities that you have identified. These are defaulted into your calendar before anything else. Treat these as if the appointment was with your most important customer. Would you easily change your Monday 2-3pm "meeting" just because someone asked for that time slot? No, you would negotiate- "I am booked at that time. I can see you at either 1pm or after 3pm, which would work for you?"
6. Be militant about your schedule. If you don't care how your time is being spent, why should anyone else? Learn to say "No". In Stephen Covey's book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" he breaks activities into 4 categories- Not Important/Not Urgent, Urgent/Not Important, Urgent/Important and Not Urgent/Important. The danger for most people is the Urgent/Not Important category. This is when we are responding to other people's urgencies, however the activity does not move us toward OUR goal- by definition it is Not Important. Beware of the time and effort devoted to those tasks. Conduct your own time usage study. Every minute that you can divert from not important categories to the important categories will move you closer to your goal.
7. Review your successes/challenges in meeting your schedule each week and adjust where necessary. Be honest with yourself and continually reinforce your "Why" - what are you trying to accomplish and how important is that to you.
8. Find an accountability partner or mentor to help keep you on track. We can all use help every now and then- it is a strength to admit this, not a weakness.

In summary, stop blaming time, take ownership of your time and commit to the discipline necessary to win the race by being the best "driver" of time you can be.

Why is Planning So Important

In his book, "What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School," Mark McCormak made an interesting discovery about the 1979 graduating MBA class. Within the group, 3% had written goals, 13% had thought of some goals and the balance were just thrilled to be out of school (I am sure you remember those feelings).

The interesting part was what happened ten years later. Here are the results of their success after a decade:

The group that had non-written goals were making TWICE in the field compared to the 84% of those who had no goals leaving Harvard.

The group with written goals was making TEN TIMES what the other 97% were making on average.

I think you would agree that the folks at Harvard have a long history of knowing what they are doing. So if the top 3% were able to make TEN TIMES the money as everyone else by simply writing out their goals, why aren't you doing it?

We are already through the hardest part of the 'recession' and yet people and businesses are still worried that our economic situation is dire. Resolutions made back at the beginning of the year, to get in better shape, to be a better golfer, to give more to charity, to be the best parent or spouse or partner that you could be may be starting to fade if they haven't already. But who says making and keeping resolutions is just for the beginning of a year. Why wait?

Make sure that one of the resolutions you set and keep right now is to make a strong plan for yourself and your business; ones with enough detail that you can actually make progress against them on a consistent basis.

Write down ALL your goals you have for the next year. Then, find someone to share them with and have them check up on you monthly (quarterly at a minimum) to see if you are making progress. Have them hold you accountable with winnings and loosing for completion.

ActionTIP: Make milestones and chip away at each goal a little everyday so the overall picture doesn't seem so overwhelming.

If you do this, then it won't be long before you are making TEN TIMES more than your competition.


 

5 Ways to Massive Profit

Hello everyone.

You will have read my blogs on networking and the power of such events. Here I am pictured with the global expert in business networking, the founder of BNI, Ivan Misner. Probably the farther of business networking as we know it. The notion of 'givers gain' is one which underpins my approach to business, creating synergy within business and business types.

To that end I would like to share with you all my most recent presentation from my last networking event; Sandy Parks (Exeter Chiefs Rugby Ground) first B2B Exhibition. I gave a presentation on 5 WAYS TO MASSIVE PROFIT. It is made up of two 10 minute presentations which will help focus your efforts on increasing your profit.

'You'll need to get into action once you have watched them'.

Enjoy.

Ten Principles of Leadership

ActionCOACH Founder and Chairman Brad Sugars believes, when people decide to respect you as a leader, they observe what you do so they can know who you really are.

People then use this observation to tell if you are an honourable and trusted leader, or a self-serving person who misuses authority. A good leader has an honourable character that selflessly serves his/her organization. In your employees' eyes, your leadership is everything. Your activities affect the organization's objectives and their well-being. According to Brad Sugars, a respected leader concentrates on three key areas:

• Be - what he/she is (beliefs and values)
• Know - what he/she knows (job, tasks, human nature)
• Do - what he/she does (implement, motivate, and provide direction).

For more on Brad Sugars' "Be, Do Have," take a sneak peek at his YouTube Video below. What makes a person want to follow a leader? People want to be guided by people they respect and who have a clear sense of direction. To gain respect, they must be ethical. A sense of direction is achieved by conveying a strong vision of the future.

The Three Most Important Keys of Leadership:

Studies have shown that trust and confidence in top leadership is the single most reliable predictor of employee satisfaction in an organization. Effective communication by leadership in three critical areas is the key to winning organizational trust and confidence, and involves:

1. Helping employees understand the company's overall business strategy.
2. Helping employees understand how they contribute to achieving key business objectives.
3. Sharing information with employees on both how the company is doing and how an employee's own division or department is doing - relative to strategic business objectives.

So basically, you must be trustworthy and you have to be able to communicate a vision of where you are going.

Brad Sugars' 10 Principles of Leadership:

1. Know yourself and seek self-improvement. In order to know yourself, you have to understand your "be", "know", and "do" attributes. This is possible by continually strengthening your attributes by reading and self-study.
2. Be technically proficient. As a leader, you must know your job and have a solid familiarity with your employees' jobs.
3. Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions. Search for ways to guide your organization to new heights. And when things go wrong, do not blame others.
4. Make sound and timely decisions. Use good problem solving, decision-making, and planning tools.
5. Set the example. Be a good role model for you employees. They will believe what they see - not what they hear.
6. Know your people and look out for their well-being. Know human nature and the importance of sincerely caring for your workers.
7. Keep your people informed. Know how to communicate with your people, seniors, and other key people within the organization.
8. Develop a sense of accountability, ownership and responsibility in your people. These traits will help them carry out their professional responsibilities.
9. Ensure tasks are understood, supervised, and accomplished. Communication is the key to this responsibility.
10. Train your people as a team. By developing team spirit, you will be able to employ your organization, department, section, etc. to its fullest capabilities.

The Process of Great Leadership:

1. Inspire a shared vision - Next, share you vision in words that can be understood by your followers.
2. Challenge the process - First, find a process you believe needs to be improved the most.
3. Enable others to act - Give them the tools, authority and methods to solve problems themselves.
4. Model the way - When the process gets tough, get your hands dirty. A boss tells others what to do; a leader shows it can be done.

Encourage the heart - Share the glory with your followers' heart, keep the pains in your heart - Human Relations:

• The six most important words: "I admit I made a mistake."
• The five most important words: "You did a good job."
• The four most important words: "What is your opinion?"
• The three most important words: "If you please."
• The two most important words: "Thank you,"
• The one most important word: "We"
• The least important word: "I"

WHY DO I NEED A BUSINESS COACH

Why Should You Have a Business Coach?

 

 

A Business Coach is just like a sporting coach. A sporting coach pushes an athlete to achieve optimum performance, provides support when they are exhausted and teaches the athlete to execute plays that their competition does not anticipate.

A sporting coach will make you run more laps than you feel like. A sporting coach will tell it like it is. And a sporting coach will listen.

The role of the Business Coach is to coach business owners to improve their business through guidance, support and encouragement. They help the owners of small and medium sized businesses with their sales, marketing, management, team building and so much more. Just like a sporting coach, your Business Coach will make you focus on the game.

The owners of small to medium sized businesses find it hard enough to keep pace with all the changes and innovations going on in today's modern world, let alone to find the time to devote to sales, marketing, systems, planning and team management, and then to run their businesses as well!

As the world of business moves faster and becomes more competitive, having a Business Coach is no longer a luxury; it has become a necessity.  Your Business Coach at ActionCOACH Northwest Houston is trained to not only show you how to increase your business revenues and profits but also how to develop your business so that you as the owner can work less and relax more.

Your Business Coach will become your marketing manager, your sales director, your training coordinator; your confidant, your mentor. Your ActionCOACH will help you make your dreams come true ...

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/007146672X/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=007146672X&linkCode=as2&tag=visisuppandch-21

Networking - A Powerful Communication Tool

Professionals are constantly networking to grow themselves and their businesses. It really works. Some people, however, resist networking for whatever reason, be it that they are too busy or impatient or that they aren't confident enough to put themselves out there. Still others are trying, but may not be networking in the best way. The following tips will help you and your business gain an edge through effective networking. Prepare.

Before any networking interaction, prepare as well as possible by learning as much as possible about the potential connections you will be interacting with. By doing this, you can target questions and tailor the conversation in a manner by which you will be better able to relate to people and see how you could work together. In addition establish what you aim to achieve from networking and what you are looking to gain and offer. 

Don't look at it as work. If networking feels like a chore, you won't be getting anything out of it. Go in with a positive attitude and really get into conversations in which you're talking to and learning from each other. Organic conversations will follow and you will make a better impression. Be genuinely interested in the other networkers, not to keen to talk about you and your needs and wants.

Team up. By working with somebody else in your networking efforts, you might find yourself being more successful. One way of going about this is to an event and talk up the other person and their ideas. Spreading positive views will, whether or not they realize it, make people more inclined to feel the same way. Essentially, it is extremely valuable to have someone there to look out for and promote you. Another route is to establish a strategic relationship with someone who is already reaching and interacting with your target. 

Add value. Networking is a give and take process, and you should focus on the give. You will have to give before you get. If you do something helpful for someone or provide some form of valuable service or insight, you will make a much better impression on these people that are likely asked for favors and advice all the time. Relationships will develop, and you will be better off in the long run. Join the right group. Don't waste your time and energy being part of a group that isn't valuable. The people in the group should provide resources, knowledge, and a willingness to share, and they should be influential. Communication should be consistent, respectful, and professional, and the network should offer support in overcoming challenges and frustrations.

Don't go into a networking interaction with a sales pitch. By conversing openly and informally, you will find that people are more inclined to do business with you. Suggest topics that are not difficult to discuss and really pay attention. Listen well to the other person and stay involved in the conversation. Be engaging and enthusiastic, mind your manners, and smile. Interact with the right people. When you go to networking events, the amount of people that are there for you to reach out to can be overwhelming.  Find the right ones. Talk to the organizers and influencers who understand the inner workings and have a lot of connections.

Follow up. After any interaction, you probably promised some sort of follow-up, like a phone call or sending some information. You must actually do it. Following up with the people with whom you made connections will demonstrate interest and availability and increase the likelihood that a mutually profitable relationship will blossom. Business networking can help you make connections, close deals, grow your business, and increase your likelihood of employment, but only if done correctly. Put these tips into practice in order to gain success in your networking endeavours.


The full article

This You Tube Video highlights all the salient points

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY-PEvX4ySs

Communication - Attention = No Results

Reading a great book at the moment, which really links into my effective listening posts; James Borg, Persuasion, The Art of Influencing People. Really got me thinking about just how effective we communicate and is summed up with an equation .......Communication minus attention equals 'no results'. Quite simply we might be hearing but are we actually listening?

How often he you been in a conversation seemingly listening, then part way through you find yourself wondering, maybe picked up on a piece of detail and gone off on a tangent in your mind. Suddenly realised, by which time you missed the point of the conversation. The problem here is a lack of awareness regarding the speed our brains can consume and process information; much faster than the typical person can speak. We generally pick up on key words, or elements within a conversation which spike our interest, process and think about that and conversely miss the point. A great example from the book, which you will all undoubtedly associate with:

What did you do this weekend?

Drove down to the coast with the kids, to Brighton, and stayed over night.

Oh Brighton. I haven't been there for years. Did you take the train?

No, I drove.

Did you go on your own?

How many of you have been giving a pitch and this scenario runs its course; after the pleasantries the other parties mobile rings. Excuse me whilst I take this call!  Then your disturbed by the secretary, another mobile call and so on; your message is lost the attention is lost. Or have you been the one with the lack of attention? Which ever the case the point is the same, the message is lost.......No results.

So what? This short blog is to raise awareness in maintaining and being attentive, keeping the interest levels on track be they your own or the other party. Next time you find yourself in a conversation be fully engaged and attentive, watch for those distractions, becoming distracted, listen for the detail and don't allow yourself to be distracted. You'll be amazed what you have missed in the past, the opportunities, understanding


and you'll see greater results in life and business.

Communication - Giving Feedback

How to give feedback

Before giving feedback make sure you remind yourself why you are doing it. The purpose for giving feedback is to improve the situation or performance of your colleague or employee.

You won't accomplish that by being harsh, critical, or offensive. So focus on the change you want to see rather than the problems you don't want to see.

Prepare your comments - you don't always need a script but you do need to be clear about what you are going to say. This helps you stay on track and stick to the issues.

The AEIOU model

This model can be used with groups, between two people, at any level of your team, group or organisation. ie project manager to team member; team member to team member, manager to manager. Focusing on collaboration or Win/Win outcome, the key to this approach is a concept known as Positive Intentionality (sounds complex but it's really simple).

Positive Intentionality assumes the other person means well and is not trying to cause a conflict. For example: Your Manager has delegated the coordination of a specific task to you because of your background and experience, and then constantly checks with you 'just to see how it's going'. You find this aggravating and you're beginning to feel that you're not trusted. If you approach your Manager to discuss this and begin with a question such as "Why are you constantly looking over my shoulder when you assign me to a task?" you come across as accusatory, automatically putting your Manager on the defense. With Positive Intentionality, you attempt to identify a positive reason in your Manager's mind for his or her action. Perhaps he or she simply wants to make sure everything is going right, or that you aren't overloaded.

After you've identified a positive intention, you can then use it to open the issue without putting your Manager the defensive. Start with "I know you're concerned about getting this workshop organised " you are identifying with your manager's concern rather than accusing his or her action.

Steps in AEIOU model........

A: Assume the other person means well. If you assume the other person is trying to cause conflict, the chances for effectively managing the situation are greatly reduced. However, if you attempt to identify a positive intention and state it to the other person, you substantially increase the possibility of resolving the differences.

E: Express your feelings. After you've indicated to the person what you perceive to be a positive intention, you then respond by affirming that position and expressing your own specific concern.

I: Identify what you would like to happen.In this step you non-defensively propose the changes you would like to see occur. Although you need to be firm in your approach, the language you choose is very important. Saying "I want" is extremely different from saying "I would like"

O: Outcome expected. Indicate the positive and the negative potential outcomes, but emphasise the positive expectations for both of you , Whats in it for me? (WIIFM?)

U: Understanding on a mutual basis. In this final stage, the aim is to get the other person to agree to your proposal. A good way to do this is to ask "Could we agree to this for a while and see if it works out for both of us?"

Of course there are always two sides to the story so you need to be ready to consider a compromise or alternative options in this step. So give some thought about the 'conflicts' that you are involved with or may be involved with in the future. Could the AEIOU process be a useful tool in managing it? What questions will you ask?

This Slide show also gives further insight to feedback:

Giving feedback from Power Hour Training

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Give-Feedback-to-Peers-or-Employees&id=7854842


http://www.slideshare.net/PowerHour/giving-feedback-24049007?from_search=1

The Art of Communication - Effective Listening

Well in tune with communication this week I have entered into a new medium of communication, the video and ‘You Tube’. Seems the right thing to do after all! So without further ado why not watch what I have to say regarding effective listening………

The Art of Communication - Styles

There are undoubtedly many different ways we might consider when communicating, in this log we are going to focus on 4 styles that people typically employ in order to achieve an outcome: tell, sell, discuss and empower.

TELL

Tell is the style that often comes most naturally to people, liking the sound of their own voices!.  Throughout life, most people will themselves have been told what to do by others in authority, whether by parents, teachers, or more senior people within the workplace, so it not surprising that they naturally take on this style themselves.  Tell is a one-way style of communication used to convey information related to what to do and, if required, how to do it.   

In this way, tell is useful in those situations where people don’t know what to do or how to do it and therefore have to be told.  It is also useful in those situations when we want to maintain control or authority, or when we have limited time, there is a sense of urgency, and we need to do things quickly.  However, tell has its limitations too.  On the one hand, tell doesn’t require a person to think for themselves, only to do what they’re told, and does nothing for their ability to do so.  On the other hand, people don’t generally like being told what to do, particularly if they believe they already know what to do and how to do it.  And tell conveys little ownership to the person being told such that, by retaining control, the teller ultimately remains responsible.

SELL

Sell is the style adopted by many people as they become more experienced at communicating.  Traditionally sell is a one-way style of communication based upon tell, but one in which an explanation of the reasons why to do something, typically in the form of benefits and consequences, are introduced. 

In this way, sell is useful in those situations where a person needs to “buy into”, be convinced or be motivated in order to take action.  However, whilst sell does involve an explanation of the reasons for doing things, these reasons are most often those of the seller, such that their motives might not necessarily motivate the person being sold.  Consequently, any motivation that is derived runs the risk of being externally rather than intrinsically driven, whilst the style itself can often appear manipulative.  In these situations, the seller typically has to work quite hard in order to convince people and, if this doesn’t work, the person ends up being told. 

DISCUSS

Discuss is a two-way style of communication in which another person is invited to participate and share points of view before a decision is arrived at together. 

In this way, discuss is useful in those situations where two minds are better than one, where the knowledge, skills and experiences of another person can assist the creative-thinking and problem-solving processes by which joint decisions are made.  It is also a useful style with which to make people feel valued and that their own opinions and experiences count.  In doing so, it is a style that conveys joint ownership and responsibility.  However, by its very nature, discuss is a style that requires at least one other person, whilst differing opinions without prior agreement as to how final decisions will be arrived at can often lead to conflict.  The very nature of discussion, meanwhile, often means that it can take a lot of time, whilst extended discussions without clear guidelines and agenda run the very real risk of being “all talk, no action”.

EMPOWER

Empower can be considered both a one and two-way style of communication.  As a one-way style, it is fundamentally linked to the concept of delegation, whereby one person tells another person to do things for and by themselves.  As a two-way style, meanwhile, it involves an empowered person having a discussion with themselves. 

In this way, empower is useful in those situations where we want to make

people wholly responsible, enable them to do what they do best, and give them ownership.  It is also useful in those situations when there is no one else, such that the person has to be able to do things for and by themselves.  At the same time, it frees up the time of the person delegating to focus on other things.  However, true empowerment requires that a person has both the knowledge and skills to do the job combined with the confidence and motivation to make their own decisions.  At the same time, the person delegating needs to have confidence in the person they are empowering in order to be able to delegate.  And whilst time might be something the person delegating may well want to gain, control and authority are often things they don’t want to lose.

 

 

and when it all gets a little confusing: