Communication

Get everyone reading

March 1, 2010
Get in the spirit of Read Across America Day.

Pose one-sentence questions

March 1, 2010
How to be a good listener and effectively communicate with your staff.

Withstand a withering boss

February 1, 2010
If you work for a hothead who screams and curses, do you yell back? As satisfying as it may feel at the time, ratcheting up your fury won’t solve the problem.

Stick to the facts

February 1, 2010
When you address a roomful of VIPs, watch your nerves. Don’t fight the jitters by trying too hard. That can cause you to butter up bigwigs insincerely and praise them repeatedly.

Using humor to score points

February 1, 2010
Using humor in your business presentation is not for you to fancy yourself as a comedy club headliner. The goals of humor are to engage your audience and reinforce your point.

Earn trust by requesting feedback

January 1, 2010
One of the most endearing traits of a good manager is a willingness to ask for feedback from peers and employees.

Gain buy-in with ‘idea grafting’

January 1, 2010
If you tell team members that you welcome their great ideas but never incorporate them, you crush morale. But if you heed group input, you can make everyone feel like winners.

How to cope with an explosive hothead for a boss

January 1, 2010
You like to avoid confrontation. But you work for someone who thrives on it. Try saying, “I can perform at an even higher level if we make a few changes in how we communicate.”

Good input pays

January 1, 2010
Gus, a director at a natural gas utility firm in the Northeast, discusses his attempt to preserve morale amid the latest in a series of companywide reorganizations.

The danger of extreme emotion

December 1, 2009
As a manager, your job is to set the right emotional tone for your employees. If you show extreme emotion and visibly react to cycles of victory and despair with uncontrolled passion, you can exhaust the very people you want to motivate.