If You Can't Communicate, You Can't Thrive

When was the last time you took an effective communications course? Seminar? Read a 3.5 paragraph article on how to get your message through? Let me guess... That basic Public Speaking class you slept through in high school? 5? 10? 20 years ago?


Would you like to do better at what you do? In my experience the vast majority of problems people face - at home, at work, with that traffic cop who stopped you for speeding last week - hinge on your ability to send and receive a clear message.


Options? Keep in mind that, in today's seriously bazaar job market, this single facet of your capabilities could easily make or break your career. Invest some time, even a tiny amount, learning how to communicate more effectively. Then, (you KNEW I'd throw in a difficult caveat, didn't you?) actually practice USING what you learned.


I guarantee your life will change!

Customer Service is About Your Attitude Towards Other People

Not long ago, I purchased a "magnetic" bracelet from TGW.com. The product was touted as being of high quality and the price matched the hype. In less than three months the micro-welds on two of the bracelet links broke and I nearly lost the product. (On the advice of a jeweler I eventually used automotive "Lock Nut" to make shaky repairs. But why was I patching this product?)

I sent a very friendly note to TGW.com about what I considered either a defect or poor workmanship. I received no answer so I sent a note to the company that manufactured the bracelet. No answer.

Why is this germane to this blog series? Because neither company apparently gave a "diddly squat" about this particular consumer. It would have taken a single employee less than five minutes to (at the very least) apologize for my problems. Since I received no answer, I can only believe that once the money has changed hands these folks move on to the next buck, the next prospect - leaving a potentially valuable customer hanging.

I can understand how a company can become busy and even possibly miss out on some simple customer issues as this. I am not angry at these companies - They are only doing big company "things." However, they have permanently lost both a customer and a potential repeat buyer.

Is this your idea of quality customer care? How about your idea of simple courtesy? In business, or in life in general, there is no essential difference between these two critical human concepts. You either care about your ethics and attitude - and they apply to personal as well as business relationships - or you don't.

I personally spend countless hours doing my best to provide value to the people who I encounter. It doesn't matter whether they spend money with my company or not - my goal is to do my best to help them solve problems and live a better life. I'm not always successful - in fact, over the years I have had some sheer whoppers of "dumbicity" - but I DO push myself hard to perform. When I screw something up, I bend over backwards to correct the error and do my best not to repeat the mistake. I even go so far as to try and provide others with a recap & lessons learned so they can avoid the same problems - without having to take the lumps.

My company is nowhere near as wealthy or successful as the two mentioned above. Then again, it doesn't need to be. At least I wouldn't want it to be if this is the bottom line reflection of success. Years ago, I built up a pretty good freelance photography business. I did fine but an acquaintance built the same style business in about 1/4 the time and became extremely successful. His secret - the more negative attitude he threw at his customers, the more money they threw at him. Are we (the theoretical "we") doing something a bit backward here or is this a realistic business practice? Sometimes I honestly wonder... (I mean - seriously. This is one of the issues that literally keep me up at night.)

How do you treat others? How do your co-workers treat other businesses? Do you care? Do you take the time to look at where the customer or other individual is really coming from? Do you honestly to try and relate to their needs? Which attitude will help you become more successful? Do your personal ethics end where the corporate door begins? Which do you choose?

Only you can decide...

Want to Learn Something New?

Free Online Knowledge Briefing - April 22nd, 2010

For over ten years, I have commented that we lose way too many of our technology dollars to essentially empty IT spending. Industry studies have consistently backed up my perspectives, with some actually placing losses at more than $10 for every $1 spent. There a plenty of purported solutions to this waste. Unfortunately, very few of them are designed to produce positive ROI without serious additional spending.

On April 22nd, 2010 I'll deliver the first of an online Knowledge Briefing Series covering a wide range of methods any company can use to minimize risks while putting the brakes on wasteful IT spending - without negative impact on your budget or operations.

Tired of the unnecessarily high costs & risks of business technologies? This is your chance to identify the life cycle technology asset management issues that create those problems and to walk through the simple, common sense, and cost effective procedures that you can use to begin saving serious IT dollars.

Each registered participant receives a customized Session Workbook to use in documenting delivered content. We'll add to the Workbook with each new online session we deliver.

Let's conduct a quick cost-benefit analysis...

The Costs?

• It's free...
• The methods are proven,
  
• I'm not selling you anything and,
  
• It's only a single hour out of your day...
  

The Benefits?
Your company could easily begin converting those all-too-frequently negative technology investments to gaining $5 (or more) in value for every $1 you spend.

You have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Series intro URL: Minimizing Technology Costs & Risks, April 22.

Session One: Minimizing Exposure to Punitive Software Non Compliance Audits

As an employee, are you disposable?

It's human nature to put a lot of effort into a new job (or other new experience) and then, after we're established, back off. We all tend to coast in certain areas of work & life. However, especially in this economy, those who coast are beginning to discover that their job security is at serious risk.

Are you coasting? If so, you are most likely at risk of becoming disposable. (As in the next to be unemployed.) That being the case, how can you go from disposable to indispensable? (And, before we go any further, keep in mind that merely being good at what you do does NOT prevent management from tossing you into the dumpster with everyone else.)

Want to up your odds of surviving the next purge? Try this. Make a list of all the skills and abilities you bring to your job. Once you complete that list, make a second column showing the number of those skills your employer has tapped into. Now, create a third list of the skills your employer - or future employer - genuinely values. The difference between what you know and what they value is your new target of opportunity (or maybe your target of survival).

Let me give a simple example. One of the absolute key elements of some jobs is the ability to dispassionately create and communicate a cost-benefit analysis (CBA). Unfortunately, few people can effectively create a CBA - and even fewer can communicate the resultant information to their business environment. Could you do this? If not, here's a very easy add-on to your personal-professional toolkit.

How about increasing your employment possibilities? Are there other simple skills (such as a CBA) that you could add to your toolkit that would help you become more valuable to your employer? Make a list and go after them. Also, understand that there may be no need to attend a costly course or training program. Many of these basic skills can be self-taught.

Wait... Self-taught? Isn't that something like taking control of your own professional growth? Or maybe taking the initiative? Could those two skills also be listed in among the needs of modern businesses?

Try this - It's easy! I just gave you three options for improving your employment capacities. How many more can you locate? Keep in mind that sometimes "merely" keeping a job isn't going to suffice. Sometimes you need to take control over your own options and (even though you "feel" secure) ensure that you are prepared for the worst.

Still coasting? On the other hand, you could just kick back in the recliner and wait for the next big surprise. Then you can stumble back onto the unemployment line with no advance preparation...

Nah! You're smarter than that. How can we help you improve? That's what we do.

Obama invites the CEOs of major corporations to the White House for advice!

These folks are seen as the potential vehicles for reducing tech-related costs of big government. Hopefully we'll gain a few new answers on how to enhance services and efficiencies, too. Here's the article I'm referring to on the Washington Post site.

OK... This makes a certain amount of (non)sense: Invite the top corporate CEOs in for advice on how to reduce costs. Granted, their companies have grown and they ARE successful. But, were these executives the ones who brought the original intellectual property, or the knowledge, or the capabilities to the table? Were they the ones actually managing the projects that built the enterprise? Doubtful. Instead, perhaps many of these folks were hired for their 'pretty' factor, or their abilities to connect the enterprise with other major corporations. (Or maybe to connect with political figures?)

However, if this government is serious about reducing costs I think it's time to start asking the small- to mid-sized business owners how they execute effective and rapid change. These are the business people who survive or fail based on their abilities to streamline costs while continuing to deliver value to their customers. There is no multi-billion dollar infrastructure for these folks to rely on as a parachute. There is no bailout in their future business forecasts.

Wait just a second: I could be wrong but weren't the enterprises we recently had to bailout once ranked among these "major" corporations?

The individual people on the front lines of America made this country what it is. They sweat and bled to build this dream. Maybe we should listen to some of their common sense ideas for stepping up to the productivity plate and stepping back from the “me first” buffet? Maybe the core message we're searching for isn't so much how we can go about patching the ship of state. Maybe, instead, we should be asking, “In what ways can we get serious results?”

Perhaps we need to look to Einstein's definition of insanity: “Doing things the same way every time and expecting different results.”

Need Work? Check Out This Great Article in Money Magazine

Those of us who are no longer young--or within a couple decades of being so--sometimes need to develop more sophisticated methods of job hunting. Today I read a very interesting article by Paul Keegan in the July 2009 issue of Money Magazine Special Report.

Go from fired, or retired, to hired. (Paul Keegan) Page 62

If you can find this article, it's worth a look. Essentially six experts helped "make over" several candidates to give them a more sporting chance in the job market. There were a lot of very good tips--many of which most of us never consider.

So, check it out. (And, if you can find an online link, let us know so others can benefit...) If I manage to find it again, I'll modify this post.

Now, of course the magazine wasn't mine. Naturally, I read it while waiting for my turn under the barber's scissors. And, naturally, I jotted down the details on my smart phone. Then, of course, when I want on line I couldn't locate the article so...

Intellectual property rights my.... (assets)!

I am constantly astounded at the number of enterprises that actually expect their employees to simply hand over their intellectual property rights. There is a time and a place for that "work for hire" contract, but I think corporations are way too greedy to understand the concept.

You really need to keep an eye on these rights or they will be taken away from you...

Are you a new graduate? Fully employed knowledge worker? Just a "plain old normal" person? Watch your prospective employer very carefully. In these days of virtually no corporate loyalty to employees, quiet little work for hire clauses manage to slip their slimy tentacles into even the most common sense employment or mutual benefit agreement. Sorry to point out the obvious but, your rights to your creations have been thoroughly subsumed by the corporate legal mentality (What's LEGAL takes precedence over what's RIGHT or what's ETHICAL. This is also reflected in the "If you want the job, sign this onerous agreement," mentality.)

The result? Anything you create--in some cases even if it isn't at work--can easily become the sole property of the company. Don't expect to get a cut of the millions in profits leveraged from your creative juices--those belong to the company... (Here's your hat and cheap imitation gold watch---now, beat it.)

Why am I pursuing this rant? Because companies are constantly whining that their employees are no longer "innovative." Is our collective leadership so disconnected from reality that they actually believe today's knowledge workers do not recognize the pattern? When your longevity with a specific employer is measured by the clueless whims of the latest executive butt in the corner office, why would you be willing to take one for the team?

Folks, this is common sense stuff. If our employees cannot expect honest and fair treatment of their ideas and dreams from executive management, where does management get off expecting them to give it all away? And don't use the empty cliche about their paycheck being their reward... A good knowledge worker doesn't need you anywhere near as much as YOU need THEM.