Archive for the ‘P's Performance Pearls’ Category

Part Two – The Conversational Wizard…

Happy Thursday everyone…ONLY ONE DAY LEFT!!!  Last week we started off our three part series about communication and we discussed how important communication was to your business.  We also discussed how important it is to understand the person or people you are talking to and asking basic clarifying questions.  We are going to expand a little more on those today as well as the nuts and bolts of your conversation and turning you into the conversational wizard that you want to be.   

To become that conversational wizard you first have to be able to assess your communication style and understand your strengths and weaknesses.  Be honest with yourself!  First, how do you communicate?  Are you bold and outgoing?  Are you okay speaking to anyone at anytime and are very self assured.  Or, are you soft in your communication and a little intraverted?  Are you reserved about speaking to people one-on-one or infront of groups? 

Both of these communication styles have their sweaknesses.  If you are the bold and self-assured you can often be perceived as being pushy, straight to the point, not caring about other peoples emotions as much as getting the job done.  You can also be perceived as putting people down and coming on too hard.  If you are soft in your communication you may be perceived as uneasy, that you do not have confidence in the information, that you are holdng up progress or that you are not taking the task at hand seriously.  This may sound harsh but remember, you need to be honest with yourself.  The biggest point that I want to make in this blog is that PERCEPTION IS EVERYTHING.  I can not stress that point enough.

Understanding what your particular weaknesses are will help you break down the communication barriers that currently hampers your communication.  You also need to understand the weaknesses of the person you are communicating with so that you can take over the communication wheel at that point in time to keep the communication going.  When you are communicating ensure that you listen to how you are communicating, listen to the tone of your voice, look at the reactions of the people you are communicating with and remember, be honest with yourself.

Next week we will discuss the strengths of each communication type.  You have some more homework this week…I know you are excited!  I would like you to figure out which type of communicator you are…and remember…be HONEST with yourself.  Neither communication type is better or worse than the other…just different.  However, for you to be successful you need to know which type you are.   

Remember that you have a great asset with Patrice Say.  She is a trained mediator and our very own Conversational Wizard.  She can help in any communication situations that are needed.  As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to send us an email at info@aspirepartner.com. 

Thanks – Team AP

Part One – “They” always say………

That communication is the key.  Well, we are here to tell you that “they” are correct.  We will get into a little more detail below but in a nutshell…communication is everything in your workplace and it is what will make or break your business as well as personal relationships.  We are going to do a short three part series on this very important topic that is vital to your success. Now that you have had forewarning that I have on my psychologist pants today, we will proceed.

You can obviously tell that our resident financial and tax expert is not the one writing this today or he would tell you that MONEY is the key to your business!  And you may very well be sitting there thinking, MONEY, CASH FLOW and YOUR BOTTOM LINE are key (and they are so don’t take this the wrong way) but I have one simple question for you; how do you make your money?  If you are not able to communicate that with your people, your customers or potential investors, how are you going to make any of this…what was it again…oh yes, MONEY?!

So lets start with basic communication 101.  The definition of Communication, according to Merriam-Webster is; a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs or behaviors.  Sounds simple right?  The SBA says that small business have a 50/50 chance at staying alive after five years and Business Know-How suggests that the top seven reasons businesses fail are; 1 – starting a business for the wrong reason, 2- poor management, 3 – insufficient capital, 4 – location, 5 – lack of planning, 6 – over expansion and 7 – no website.  I think that all of you reading this would agree with me that in everyone of these categories, communication is involved in making decisions.

So how do you go about properly communicating?  There are different people out there that will tell you many different things, break it down psychologically, give you a class, teach you how to talk and I could go on for days.  I, however, think it is simple. The one thing to always understand is who you are talking to.  It does not matter how good you can sell, talk or BS, if you do not understand how the person or people across from you communicate then there will be no communication.  So before you start talking, LISTEN.  Get to know the other person as a communicator, do they like to do the talking or are they uncomfortable and need a little bit of a helping hand to get things going.  Look for little signs such as these and cater to the other persons weakness.  Also, basic clarifying during communication can be a large part of your success.  Ask the other person: “What do you think?” “How do you feel about what just happened?” “Does that make sense to you?” “Do you have any other ideas?” Too often people start heading down the path of problem solving before they understand what the other person wants to achieve. Understanding the other person is the key to your communication being a success or a failure.

I know you got a lot of information for your first session so we will cut it off there.  Your homework assignment this week is to get to know one person before engaging in a conversation with them and watch how much farther is gets you.  Remember to listen and engage them in the conversation and play off them.

ASPIRE has some great resources under our Human Resources and People segment that is headed by Patrice Say.  Patrice has many years of experience with issues of this nature and would love to help you and your team out.  She is a trained mediator and as mediator and a natural facilitator, she helps with those emotionally charged and sensitive communication issues that can disrupt the positive value of business communication.  Contact us when you need a partner for  straight forward communication and better results.

Have a great week and if you have any questions in the mean time, please feel free to contact via email at info@aspirepartner.com.  You can also check out the corresponding video blog that will be up on 02/22.

Thanks,

Team AP

Small business optimism is at a three year high!!!

Happy Sunday all!  We wanted to give you a good note to start your week off.

According to the National Federation of Independent Business, small business optimism hit a three year high since the beginning of the recession.  Slowly but surely people have a better outlook that their business is improving.

Even though hiring is not growing as rapidly as some would like, sales forecasts are looking much better this year than they have the past few.  With business owners feeling better about sales the hiring will start to come back as well.  Another part of the hiring piece is that a lot of businesses realized they were a little “fat” when it came to staffing.  There is a fine line to walk between being properly staffed and inefficient.  When the recession hit, many businesses had to lay off staff.  In some ways this allowed businesses to streamline operations by using less people to get the tasks completed.  There is also the lurking question of another dip in the economy.  Business owners will be less likely to hire until they actually see the business come on board. Because of this feeling, ASPIRE is able to help in a number of ways including be staff for interm hire until your are positive that you need the extra person.  We also provide recruiting services to help you find the right person to fill the position.

With all of this being said, it is great to see a positive outlook for 2011 in the small business segment.  We have gone through some very tough times over the last three years and we have all learned a lot from the recession.  We all know that it can be hard to see the positive some days but as leaders, we need to constantly be focused on the future.  The challenges that we face are stepping stones to a long and prosperous future if we handle them correctly.

We will have a corresponding video blog at www.youtube.com/ASPIREpartners tomorrow afternoon.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email us at info@aspirepartner.com or leave a comment on the video.

Thanks and have a great week!

Team AP

Making SMART decisions with SMART phones.

Happy Tuesday all!  I hope you all enjoyed a great weekend with your family and loved ones.

Our topic today is an issue that has been on the rise for a little while now; smart phones.

BlackBerry’s, iPhone, Droids, Windows Mobile, they all have one thing in common; making it easier to work away from the office and with the technology improving daily, making it easier to do a lot more away from the office.

First of all, with this being said, it is extremely important to set policies and procedures that clearly outline what the devices are to be used for and when they will be used, especially when it comes to hourly or non-exempt employees.

For instance, there is a lawsuit right now against the Chicago Police Department because an officer who was issued a BlackBerry was requesting to be paid overtime because he was answering emails after work hours.

You could make the argument that the laws are not up with the current times but at the end of the day, they are laws that we as business owners need to abide by.

If you are going to issue your employees smart phones, ensure to implement policies and procedures that clearly outline what they are used for and when they are to be used.

For more information on this subject, check out our corresponding vlog at www.youtube.com/aspirepartners later today.  You can also reach us at info@aspirepartner.com if you have any questions.

Team AP

Communication Breakdown

Guess what, they’re most likely tired of being dragged too!  One of the most common occurrences we find in business today is a communication disconnect between management and their team of employees.  Management wishes their staff would perform better (without having to be told what to do every 30 minutes)… and employees truly want to be part of the overall success.  I honestly don’t know of anyone who wakes up in the morning and says “Yippee! Today I am going to go to work and fail”.

Mixed Messages…

The reality is that this scenario often comes as a result of well intended, but often very rapid, and confusing communications across an organization.  The result is “mixed messages” and disappointment on both sides.  These inconsistent messages lead to a tendency for the participants to play it safe, stay under the radar or coast.  These behaviors lead to more disappointments, a breakdown in trust and this begins the erosion of the employer / employee relationship…and the erosion of building a strong clientele.

Limited Planning, Information Overload

The failure often comes as a result of trying to react to various pressures. There is often limited planning, preparation, and setting-up of expectations at the beginning.  After a while, both parties’ give-up (literally from exhaustion) and often both sides just settle – getting by and trying to survive the day.

More than ever, our days are long and non-stop.  We have become a society of “extreme multi-taskers”.  Did you know our brains are actually processing 400 billion bits of information every second?  It’s no wonder there are constant communication breakdowns!

Receiving these enormous amounts of information and performing our duties each day requires a lot of energy. To succeed we need to step back, identify the key goals and priorities. Next, as leaders we must provide consistent communication with clear guidance and support, as well as realistic expectations.

Step back and Analyze!

As humans, we know to solve puzzles by stepping back and analyzing the environment and data available.  Once we do so, we can increase the awareness of the various inputs and dynamics.   We can apply proven tactics to reduce the frustration of our puzzled, daily work lives too.   Join me as we discuss ways your team can be more productive with greater profits and improved morale – a benefit to be enjoyed by all!

What I’m seeing in today’s business climate is that leaders tend to go for what they perceive as the quick fix solution vs. use of more “performance results”, bigger picture, and strategic level thinking. For example, redesign of the employees’ jobs to include aspects that drive revenue, and use of incentives to reward top performance. Implementing these types of change is comparable to getting 10-20+ more miles per gallon from the existing “clunkers” – with a lot less collateral damage ending up at the scrap yard. Peace, – P