Communication

Give advice that counts

September 17, 2015
You have the knowledge. Your employees can benefit from it. Now comes the tricky task of communicating so that your advice makes a difference.

Start using these awful business buzzwords before someone else steals your thunder

September 15, 2015
For those craving a buzzword fix because it’s been more than two weeks since a new one shimmered into being on a PowerPoint slide, help yourself to these emergency rations.

Praise: It’s all in the timing

September 14, 2015
Deep down, you know you should praise your employees more often. Rather than fret about the frequency of praise, consider your timing. You may compliment when you’re in a good mood, to grease the skids before you criticize, or when you happen to think of it. Those are not necessarily the best times. Consider these factors.

Beware the lure of exclamation points!

September 10, 2015
Hold it right there!! Don’t stop reading this, because every line is important! Why?!

The many deep issues sparked by a simple ‘Achoo!’

September 8, 2015
At work, the post-sneeze moment can be a strangely telling one. As if you didn’t already have enough on your plate, now’s the perfect time to become hyperaware of its ramifications …

Train a mumbler to enunciate

September 2, 2015
Q. I’ve got a great employee with one flaw. She mumbles on the phone. Because much of her job requires phone negotiation (she’s an insurance claim adjuster), she runs into problems when people have trouble understanding her. How can I help her? — Jay, Ohio

Office civility: Can that please be a thing again?

August 31, 2015
The three criteria for polite communication that we probably learned as kids haven’t changed one iota since then—so why have so many on the staff never been able to internalize them?

How to share really urgent information

August 22, 2015
When you have extremely urgent information to share, ensure that your listeners understand your message and can respond accordingly. Use these tips to convey a clear message when it matters most.

Put an end to these 4 phrases

July 27, 2015
We’re all striving to be better communicators, or at least we should be. With that in mind, let’s eliminate the following phrases from our spoken and written communication.

Unsure how you come across when you lead a meeting?

July 25, 2015
It’s time to invite a friend to grade you.