Communication Skills

It’s very tempting as a manager to try to prove your expertise and knowledge in a conversation. Your status as ‘boss’ often makes you believe you have to have an answer for every problem team members bring your way, and you may feel you have…

Not so long ago, the era of broadcast media was when information was pushed on us. We had little choice on what we saw or experienced when we were watching training videos…whatever was on the film or in the book, we had little input or…

Strategy advisor and author Peter Bregman recently wrote about a better way to handle email in the Harvard Business Review.  Instead of keeping Outlook open and sending, reading, and responding to mail continuously, he recommends scheduling several specific email sessions — each one a particular…

Is it really necessary to highlight the differences between Negative & Positive Language? You wouldn’t think so. And does it really matter anyway? Does it make a difference if we speak with negative undertones rather than sharing the PollyAnna world of Positive Thinking. Isn’t Positive Thinking…

Some managers were given the task of measuring the height of a flagpole. They looked at the task and discussed how it should be done. Ladders were purloined and tape measures  employed. Managers tried to climb the ladders, without success. The tape was dropped and…

Meeting and talking with others is an excellent way of honing your thinking skills and becoming a person that others seek out for advice and information. So here are some ideas when we want to improve our hit rate when conversing with someone. (more…)

Most of our communication is habitual. That means, we don’t have to think (and so don’t!) when we converse with another person. The conversation just flows and is often forgotten the moment we move away. (more…)

  You know the feeling; a comment from another person makes your eyebrows rise, your mouth open wide and a sharp intake of breath taken in. They’ve made a comment that can only be described as being in ‘poor taste’. (more…)

It’s often said these days that we have never had as much information as we have today, and never communicated less than we do today. There’s some element of truth in that. How many times do you find yourself immersed in information, yet unable to…

Would you consider yourself intelligent? Of course! How would you get a management position if you weren’t? But scientists today have recognised that there are different ‘types’ or levels of intelligence, and it’s necessary to know what they are in order to ensure you are…

It’s strange how we remember things that are important to us and forget things that are not. Or is it sometimes the other way round for you? When you forget something, actually the memory hasn’t left you; you simply are unable to retrieve it because…

The most dynamic communicators I have ever come across don’t say very much. Instead of trying to talk more and blind people with the level of their so-called intellect, charismatic managers grab attention by treating their words as precious resources. They only speak when they…