Thy Mind

Master the details

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:08:00 +0000

These eight tips will save corporate meeting planners time and money

Corporate meeting planners are continuously mired in details, trying to keep it all together for the next meeting, and already worrying about the ones after that.

You need to learn how to work "smarter", not harder, in mastering details. These eight tips show you how.

1. Do a post-mortem
After every meeting and event, do an "after action analysis". Write down what went right, what went wrong, what you would do differently if you were planning the meeting today, and which vendors made your life easier.

2. It's not always about price
In hiring vendors, do not always go for the lowest price. Whoever you hire affects your image. Reliability and follow-through are more important than a lower bid. Everyone is downsizing and looking for new ways to cut costs, but a vendor at a lower price may not be the answer.

3. Show appreciation
Learn to make other people heroes. Whether dealing with vendors or people in other departments of your own company, if the person works hard and well, write a note of thanks to him and send a copy to his boss.

4. Brief your speaker
Make sure your speaker knows the preferred terms used in your company, for example, your colleagues meet "clients" not "customers".

Also, tell the speaker about his audience. For example, mention that the women in the audience are members, not spouses - especially if yours is an industry that is typically dominated by men. One professional speaker was not warned and spoke "down" to his audience, making them feel bad, and making the meeting planner look bad.

5. Update the speaker
If you do mailings before a meeting or convention, be sure to put the speaker on the mailing list. This way, the speaker knows what else is going on at the meeting, what the various topics are, if the schedule has been revised, and if his speaking time has been changed.

6. Keep track of main players
If you are expecting a speaker to arrive the night before an event, leave them a note asking them to let the meeting planner know they have actually arrived. If you know the speaker has in fact arrived, you will undoubtedly sleep better. Leave an emergency number where you can always be reached.

7. Don't save the best for the last
Often, corporations take their top performers to a fancy resort for meetings that last for several days. They have one important outside speaker and they want to send the employees back to work with a bang.

You will get more value for your money if you schedule the speaker on the first day instead of the last. At the end of the conference, the employees may be tired, hung over or worried about packing and making it to the airport on time.

8. Use e-mail
Get online with networks of meeting planners who can share their experiences. Find a group similar to yours and find out the names of the most successful speakers they have used and which vendors made their lives difficult or easy.

Wisdom from Human Patricia Fripp

Cut them some slack

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:24:00 +0000

Lower your stress levels by accepting that people look at things differently from you

HAVE you read any of the articles in the media about stress at work and how many workdays are lost because of it?

There are many reasons why people get stressed. Dealing with other people is one of the main causes of negative stress. Dealing with customers, your boss, the people who work for you and other colleagues can be extremely stressful.

I continually hear comments like: "Why does he want me to do that?" or "How am I supposed to know what she's thinking?" or "Why do they behave like that?"

We can get extremely stressed when people don't see things the way we do. Well, let me make something really clear - other people don't see things the way you or I do and they might never do.

Every human being is different, but some of us share similar tastes and values and that's why we become friends. However, as you well know, even your closest friends and the person you share your life with, still see the world differently from you.

Your customers, your boss, your staff and your colleagues all see the world and situations differently from you - and they're not necessarily doing or saying something just to annoy you! In any situation, there will always be "the way I see it", "the way you see it" and "the way it is".

If I have to meet someone, I am always on time (the way I see it). Some people who meet me always turn up late (the way they see it). It's up to me to make allowances for this when making an arrangement to meet these people (the way it is).

There is absolutely no point in getting stressed over the fact that these people don't see timekeeping in the same way I see it. Getting stressed is bad for me and it doesn't change the situation.

When you are dealing with other people think to yourself: "Do they decide how I'll behave or do I decide how I'll behave?"

Let me tell you a quick story. Two men used to leave the same office every night and walk to the bus stop. On the way, one of the men would stop and buy a newspaper from a news stand at the side of the road.

The old man who ran the news stand was always grumpy and ill- mannered. However, the man who bought the newspaper was always polite and courteous to the old man. One evening the man's friend said: "I don't understand why you're always so polite and courteous to that guy, he's always so rude."

The other man replied: "I will not allow that man's behaviour to decide mine. I will decide my own behaviour and I'll always treat him with courtesy and respect; how he behaves is up to him."

So don't let your customers or anyone else "stress you out". Just remember, they just see the world in a different way.

As an oft-quoted Sioux Indian saying goes: "Great Spirit, help me never to judge another until I have walked a mile in his moccasins."

Wisdom from Human Alan Fairweather

Total recall

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:10:00 +0000

Impress interviewers by having facts and figures at your command

A good memory is an asset for everyone, but it is essential for job seekers. Have you ever failed to recall key information during an interview, or do you get overwhelmed by a ton of information you have to remember while preparing for one?

There are several memory techniques to help you improve your memory in a very short time. However, before you start your journey of developing a super memory, you need to be aware of and understand certain stumbling blocks in your way.

What are these blocks?

1. Disbelief
Most people, including job seekers, have such a high level of disbelief in their memory capacity that they don't even try to memorise new information.

For a job seeker to do well in an interview, he has to have as much information as possible about the prospective employer's company.

What causes such disbelief in their memory power? The simple answer is "lack of awareness".

The brain is the most amazing machine on the planet. If you train your brain, nothing is impossible.Make sure that you assign your memory its true value.

Many people brag about their memory, but don't do anything to make it good. You just can't wish to improve your memory. You need to act. You have to give your memory a good workout.

The next time you want to memorise anything, just make a committed effort. Believe that you can do it. You will be surprised with the result.

2. Lack of interest
If you have to memorise any information, you have to be interested in it. Trying to memorise information without being interested in it just wastes your precious time.

Try to find ways and means of making the information fun to learn. Try to find an expert on the subject and discuss the topic with him. The expert can explain the same information in a way that makes the subject come alive.

When you are preparing for an interview, it is a good idea to talk to someone in the organisation you want to work in. It's not that difficult to get in touch with some employees if you try. Doing this helps you to better understand the organisation and makes the process more interesting because you can now ask questions and get reliable answers.

Here's a tip: If the information is not interesting enough, it's your duty to make sure it is interesting.

3. Disuse
The fastest way to forget information is to not use it in your day-to-day life. Research indicates that people forget about 80 per cent of the new information they learn in less than 24 hours. So use the information you collect as much as possible.

After putting in some effort to compile as much data as you can about the organisation you want to join, you will have a fair idea about its different aspects.

However, if you don't take proper measures to retain the information, you may forget much of it before the interview. Here are some things you can do to make sure that the information is retained in your brain for a long time:

Explain the infortion to someone else.
Discuss the points with your friends.
Write a summary in your own words.
Write an article about it.
Think about how you can pass on the information to a five-year-old child.

By doing any of the above tasks, you are now making the process of learning and memorising an enjoyable one.

Memory improvement is not possible unless you kick the three stumbling blocks out of your way. If you take action in eliminating these traps, you will not only do better in your interviews, you will also effectively cope with "information overloads" once you are on the job.

Wisdom from Human Nishant Kasibhatla

Vision of success

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:50:00 +0000

Find out what you hunger for before moving towards your goals

Many motivational speakers and self-help books will tell you that you must have goals. I have even advocated goal-setting myself in the past. Write down your goals and detail them for family life, friends, finances, career, recreation, health, learning, education and your spiritual life.

However, I have now come to the conclusion that successful people with strong self-beliefs do not set their goals in this way. Why? Because they are too busy doing what they need to do to get what they want.

Successful people don't spend time writing down what they want out of life - they just get on with it. To be successful at meeting your goals, you need to ask yourself: "What do I really want to achieve? What are my dreams and desires? What do I want to build or create? What sort of person do I want to be?"

You need to identify clearly what you want out of life, what you hunger and thirst for, and what you really want to achieve. If someone held your head under water, you would quickly realise what you want - oxygen. You need to feel like this to be successful. Most of us experience this feeling when we fall in love. We do almost anything to impress and be with the person of our dreams.

This is how people create success. It is how new places were discovered, products were invented, Everest was conquered and man walked on the moon. You may not want to achieve something so dramatic: you may just want to have a successful plumbing business, be an excellent accountant, or even run a marathon.

Whatever it is, once you identify and focus on it, you will find the motivation to make it happen. The success story of swimmer Florence Chadwick is frequently cited. On her first attempt to swim the English Channel, she encountered huge waves and chilling temperatures.

Her trainers were alongside her in a boat. They had greased her body to provide protection from the cold and had given her hot soup from a vacuum flask. She had everything going for her to ensure her success. However, a heavy fog set in and as the fog descended, her vision was limited to only a few feet. The water seemed to get colder, the waves higher and she started suffering from cramp in her arms and legs. She eventually gave up and asked her trainers to take her on board the boat.

What she didn't realise was that she was only a short distance from the shore. When the reporters asked her why she had given up when she was so close to the finish, her answer was simple: "I lost sight of what I wanted to achieve. I'm not sure that I had it firmly in my mind."

You need to have a clear mental picture of where you want to go. You need to visualise yourself being successful and work towards it. You then have better chance of achieving your target. And in case you are wondering about Florence Chadwick, she did become the first woman to swim the English Channel on August 8, 1950 in 13 hours 25 minutes.

Wisdom from Human Alanweather

Get enough sleep

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:02:00 +0000

You can't do that if you work late into the night and want a social life too

We spend so many hours at work that when we clock off, we try to squeeze every minute out of what remains of the day, just to feel that we have a life. So we hit the clubs with friends, stay up watching television, or game online into the wee hours.

Sleep early? No way. Who wants to turn his life into a nightmarish cycle of getting home exhausted only to collapse into bed, then rushing off the next morning to reach the workplace on time again?

Yet, our bodies cry out for sleep. The amount needed differs from person to person, but most of us need seven to nine hours, and few can keep going for too long on less than five hours a night.

Research has found that sleep deprivation can result in memory impairment, inefficient thought processes, a suppressed immune system and even depression. More recent studies have also linked the lack of good-quality sleep - for as short a period as three nights in a row - with a higher risk of diabetes and weight gain.

It doesn't take a genius to see that those aren't the most desirable effects to experience on the job. Who can expect to perform well at work (or in private life) if one is frequently ill, can't think straight or remember things, and is depressed and overweight?

Fine. But can we really impress at work, have a life and get enough sleep as well?

Overtime sometimes
We all encounter busy periods, which could mean bearing with a work-sleep-work and "no-life" routine for a short time.

However, if these peak periods get more frequent, or your on-duty hours are expanding, it could be time to change jobs or have a serious talk with your boss about your responsibilities. Better a disrupted career than lifelong bad health, or family and friends you hardly know because you never see them.

Work faster
Are you a procrastinator, constantly daydreaming and goofing off? Cut it out. Go to work with an attitude that you are here to. that's right, work. Get things done promptly so that you can go home instead of staying on for several extra hours in the evening to finish what you should have done in the morning.

If you are done for the day, leave. Forget about looking good to your boss by putting in unpaid overtime. If your manager thinks that only workers who stay late are good workers, make an appointment for a one-to-one meeting where you can list your projects and discuss how efficiently you have been working.

Remember that in some countries, workers who don't leave the office at five on the dot are perceived as incompetent individuals who can't cope with their work.

Live meaningfully
When you get off work at last, don't fritter the time away drinking yourself silly with acquaintances or going glassy-eyed watching television programmes that don't interest you.

Engage in productive acts to bring you closer to your family and true friends, improve your health or give you a genuine sense of satisfaction.

Even if you feel tired, just chatting with the kids for a while or helping the spouse or parents with light chores can help you feel needed, and encourage your nearest and dearest to appreciate you more. Alternatively, get some exercise, make something useful with your hands, or ring up a good friend who needs a listening ear.

That way, when it's time to turn in, you will feel that you have done well with the day you were given, and do deserve that good seven, eight or nine hours' sleep ahead of you.

Wisdom from Human Adele Ong

Keep up the good work

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 08:54:00 +0000

If your job search is not yielding results, here are some ideas to keep you going strong

You are doing all the right things but are not getting the results. Your job applications go unanswered, interviews are unsuccessful and there is no response from the headhunters.

What else needs to be done to land your dream job?

Employers look for candidates who can be trained, are competent, likeable, enthusiastic, smart, show a genuine interest in the job, have a can-do attitude and fit in with the company's values.

If you are currently in between jobs, it is important not to fall into depression and feel overwhelmed by the lack of results.

Most job-seekers start out very enthusiastically, but when results are not forthcoming, they can be easily demoralised and stop their efforts to generate more job opportunities.

Too many job-seekers become desperate and, though they try to hide it, it may surface during the interview. Interviewers and employers are wary of candidates who seem desperate.

Another blunder is to become jaded. After many unsuccessful interviews, the job-seeker becomes worn-out and is irritated at having to repeat the same story many times over. He starts to appear annoyed and his answers sound practised and weary, or worse, cynical.

But as this is the first time the potential interviewer is meeting the job-seeker and hearing his answers, the candidate has effectively sabotaged his chances of securing the job.

Employers want to hire enthusiastic candidates.

Keep a daily to-do list
No matter how demoralised you are feeling, you must do something every day that leads to getting a job.

Such tasks include scanning job advertisements, contacting someone in your network, reviewing trade magazines, writing a cover letter and a tailored resumé, sending thank-you notes, building a database or people file and getting a referral.

Set up a points system and allocate a point to each of these activities. Aim for at least 20 points a week or more.

The points system will help you measure your productive activities that will lead you to fulfilling your goal.

Such systems are frequently used in most organisations to measure the productivity of the staff.

In essence, as a job-seeker, your workweek should not be too different from an employee's workweek. For example, your work schedule should have confirmed meetings and targets for the week.

Improve yourself
Don't take rejections personally. Talk to your mentor or coach to discuss areas for improvement in the interview and job search process.

Ask friends for their feedback on your non-verbal communication cues, idiosyncrasies and grooming style.

You may even want to speak to the employer who rejected you to get feedback.

The transition period is a great time for new learning. Signing up for enrichment courses in your field keeps you updated and allows you to network with your coursemates.

You may also want to consider studying something new, such as an area you were keen on but did not have the time to develop.

Find part-time work
Some companies are unable to offer you a permanent position. It would be good to take on a part-time or contract job anyway, as it will keep you busy.

The part-time job or assignment could lead to something more permanent in the future. The people you currently work with may even refer opportunities to you in the industry.

Be positive
Stay calm and enjoy some personal time. Do the activities that you always wanted to do, but did not have the time for. Curl up with a good book, catch a movie during off-peak hours, take the day off for a hike or reach out to friends whom you have not met for some time.

Dress well. If you look sloppy, you feel sloppy. If you look good, you feel good. It is psychological, so try not to stay in your pyjamas the entire day.

Be thankful for what you have. Each morning is a fresh opportunity to regain your energies and any lost ground. Keep upbeat and positive. Avoid hanging around negative people.

Exercise. It is very important to stay healthy. Eat well, exercise moderately and keep fit. You will have more stamina and will feel good too.

Take every opportunity to expand your network, meet new people and stay positive to keep the job search momentum going.

Wisdom from Human Chee Sze Yen,

Why people cheat at work

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 04:30:00 +0000

Low self-esteem and dissatisfaction with their jobs are among the reasons

Dishonesty in the workplace covers a range of activities and the target can be the employer or people outside the organisation. At the internal level, it may, for example, include petty theft, pilfering or submission of false travel expenses.

At the external level, it can encompass corruption in various forms, such as the taking of bribes or using one's position to exploit clients or customers.

Research suggests that employees are more inclined to take advantage of large corporations because the impact of the loss is spread thinner and feelings of guilt are minimised. The same employees, in most respects, are model citizens who would not dream of cheating another individual on an ordinary day.

Cognitive dissonance
In the 1950s, psychologist Leon Festinger identified the cognitive dissonance syndrome. Cognitive dissonance occurs when there is a fundamental incompatibility between an individual's attitude and their desired behaviour.

In contemplating a dishonest act, most people are likely to experience some feelings of guilt. In other words, there is an incompatibility between their intended actions and their feelings. To resolve this, they justify their behaviour by shifting their focus on the victim. In other words, the victim is blamed for his mishap.

This was demonstrated when a London-based television company hid video cameras and microphones in cars before they were taken for servicing. In many instances, mechanics were found to have deliberately damaged the cars so they could charge the customer for additional repairs.

The mechanics were also more likely to damage the expensive cars. They reduced their levels of dissonance between their consciences and dishonest acts by rationalising that owners of these cars, being affluent, were able to absorb the higher costs of damage.

Feeling frustrated
Employees do not commit acts of dishonesty just for financial gain. The reasons are varied and complex. It can be an expression of dissatisfaction for being underpaid or taken for granted.

Sometimes, employees can resort to dishonesty as a way of getting themselves out of a sticky situation. In 1994, Barings bank trader Nick Leeson resorted to fraudulent accounting procedures to conceal the losses he had incurred.

Dishonesty can also be used to relieve boredom or create a sense of challenge or excitement, particularly in jobs where there is limited stimulation or where employees feel they are being under-utilised.

The other side
In Gerald Mars' book, Cheats At Work, published in 1994, he gave an interesting insight into how various working practices and group norms can cultivate different forms of dishonest behaviour.

Mars cited a minority of London taxi drivers who regularly overcharged their passengers. Many unsuspecting tourists arriving at one of the central London rail terminals were literally "taken for a ride" and charged as much as eight times the standard fare.

Mars observed that their acts tended to be individualistic, random and opportunistic. They were rarely premeditated and partly influenced by the high degree of autonomy taxi drivers enjoy.

Dishonesty comes in many guises. Some time ago, I attended a promotional seminar in South-east Asia conducted by a foreign university professor. Various misrepresentations and omissions were made by the professor as he related the standing of his institution in the country to the audience.

To me, this is a severe transgression as his dishonesty was facilitated by his professional status. Most of us are inclined to place greater trust in representations made by a university professor than a chance encounter with a London taxi driver.

Preventive measures
Dishonesty is closely linked to self-perception and self-esteem. Hence, employers are recognising the increasing importance of paying attention to factors such as job design and empowerment.

More organisations are also investing in new high-tech surveillance methods to curb dishonesty. Although preventive measures are often necessary, organisations also need to foster a sense of involvement and mutual trust in their employees.

Wisdom from Human Paul FitzPatrick

When only the best will do

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:34:00 +0000

An executive search firm focuses on finding the right candidate for a position, not employment for a job-seeker

ASIA'S dynamic job market has seen an increasing number of recruitment companies operating in the same space.

To take advantage of the opportunities available, it is important for job seekers and hiring organisations to understand the differences between recruitment agencies and executive search consultancies. Understanding how recruiters work is the key to leveraging on the relationship for your own benefit.

The difference
Essentially, a recruitment agency operates on behalf of an individual who is looking for new employment. It usually amasses curriculum vitaes and then aggressively markets them to many companies at the same time.

This usually takes place alongside other agencies attempting to persuade the same company into taking their potential candidate. The agency that is successful in placing a person with an organisation will get a fee. Agencies are most successful when handling junior placements as their knowledge of a client company need not be so comprehensive.

The client concerned may consider that for such a position, the agency need not have an exclusive, detailed relationship encompassing its culture, organisational structure and other pertinent issues.

When recruiting senior positions that demand multi-faceted executive skills coupled with strong managerial ability, the agency is clearly at a disadvantage.

Its understanding of the client company and the individual whose skills it is marketing tends to be superficial.
A search consultancy, on the other hand, will know the client company very well as it works on behalf of clients, not individuals looking for work.

This requires the search consultancy to gain an intimate understanding, not just of the client's organisational structure, but also of the key individuals within the organisation.
The search consultancy will also need to gain a firm understanding of the company ethos and culture, and a "blueprint" of the type of individual the client is looking for.

Keep an open mind
Although you might be satisfied with your present job, if you are approached by a search consultancy, try to keep an open mind and listen to the opportunity being offered to you.

Search consultancies often work on filling positions that are not in general circulation. Moreover, they are used to working confidentially, so this is your opportunity to explore what is happening in your sector to gauge if it is the best time to consider a move.

A search consultancy can assist you with the interview process and manage the process of negotiation should you be the selected candidate.

What the consultancy cannot do is:

Get you the job. You still have to be to the primary force in getting that position.

Act as "miracle workers", and therefore, grant you an interview opportunity that you are not qualified for or help you change careers when the economy does not permit it.

Securing the job requires tangible and intangible factors. The tangibles are domain knowledge and hands-on experience. The intangibles are a sense of personal worth and where you are heading. It is important that you understand your strengths and weaknesses.

Working out a career map is essential to achieve professional success. It is a strategic plan in progress - adaptable, flexible, and reflective of what your situation is at any moment in your career.

By knowing yourself, your ideals and wants, you will best be able to present yourself to both the executive search consultant and the client.

Take the lead
Being proactive in your career management can also make it easier for the headhunter to find you for the next right opportunity.

Think about it this way: nobody buys a product unless they can find it. Here are a few tips to boost your visibility in the marketplace:

Manage your web presence and online identity. Google yourself and do it often so that you can see what others see if they search for your name.

Create and post your profile on business networking sites.

Join professional associations in your field and attend professional conferences and industry functions.

Demonstrate your expertise by writing thought-provoking articles on relevant industry topics in your field for professional association newsletters.

Build your credibility, visibility and goodwill in the community by serving on community and civic boards.

Finally, to be recruited as the best possible candidate, it is essential to build a relationship with a recruiter long before you actively start looking for a job.

Think of it as a networking relationship in which you can be in a position to help a recruiter through candidate referrals and vice versa in your next job hunt.

Wisdom from Human Nico Ekendahl,

Fine-tune your telephone skills

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:22:00 +0000

A customer judges your company by the way you answer his calls

A friend of mine, a best-selling author, refers to anyone who answers an organisation's phone as the "director of first impressions". He is so right. How a phone is answered communicates much information to the caller.

Professionals who are charged with the responsibility of answering the phone, even if just temporarily, can take pride in their work. Here are 10 tips on how to put your best voice forward and shine every time you answer the phone at work:

1. Remember you are the voice of your organisation. How you answer sets the tone for the caller's impression of the whole company. If the caller is a potential customer, he is deciding if he wants to do business with your company - and your interaction is part of that decision.

2. Answer the phone every time with focus. If you are distracted by a conversation with a colleague or are finishing an e-mail message, stop what you are doing and focus on the call. Your listener can hear your focus - or your distraction.

3. Ensure your voice is upbeat and friendly. Do this even if you have to fake it. If you are having a bad day, there is no need for callers to know that. A professionally pleasant tone is always appreciated.

4. Enunciate your words. Use "yes," not "yeah." Don't use slang, even if the caller does.

5. Respond pleasantly but briefly. If the caller asks how you are doing, simply say, "I'm doing great. How can I help you today?" He doesn't really want to know the details of your vacation or love life. If you have a busy call centre, you don't have the time to chat.

6. Use hold and mute appropriately. If you must make a comment to a passing colleague, put yourself on mute so the caller doesn't hear you. If you need to check something that will take more than a few seconds, ask the caller if you may place him on hold. He will appreciate not having to hear you type or breathe while he waits for your response.

7. Don't make the caller repeat his story. When a caller tells you details of why he is calling, determine who the best resource is and tell the customer that person's name and extension. When you get the right person on the phone, recap the issues to the recipient so the caller will not have to repeat himself.

8. Stay on the line when transferring a call. This is to make sure the customer gets connected rather than dumped into voicemail. If the call is answered by voicemail, ask the customer if he wants to leave a message or wants you to try someone else.

9. Repeat the caller's name while taking a message. Ask him to spell it if necessary, and get his contact number. Include any pertinent information, such as his account number, available times for a call back or the details of the message. Don't promise that the recipient will call him back today - you have no idea what that person's schedule is.

10. End the call politely and professionally. "Thank you for calling XYZ Corporation. Have a great day."

This send-off cements the good impression you have made for your company. Most people think they are good at answering the phone. But I recently called a customer service department and was greeted with "Hello". Not "Hello, customer service, Kathy speaking. How may I help you?"

So don't assume that just because you have read the above tips, you will not make mistakes. Have someone "mystery shop" you periodically, even if it is a friend or colleague, to tell you how you are doing. Then be open to the feedback. It is the best way to ensure that you are professional at all times.

Wisdom from Human Rebecca L.Morgan

Have an owner's mindset

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 05:22:00 +0000

That way, you will be motivated to do your best

The most important thing your work can offer you is a chance to feel good about yourself. Do you see yourself as a productive, contributing member of your company? Do you know why your company exists?

When you realise what your company offers to society, you will be able to understand what part you play. Work with the attitude that you own the company that employs you. You earn your money from your employer by doing more than you are paid to do.

According to the "law of sow and reap", you will get noticed for being an exceptional worker, so never worry about giving your employers "something for nothing". More importantly, you will feel good about yourself because you will be a productive person with a part in your company's future. Reaping the rewards of self-satisfaction, no matter what you are paid, is the true measure of the work you do - whether in love, your career or your life.

The best maxim for achieving success in your job, your relationships and every other aspect of your life is the universal parable about sowing and reaping. The successes you reap in life are the results of the positive energy and hard work that you have sown in the past - a past that you can begin forming immediately.

Reality rarely lives up to expectations. The late, great sales trainer Alan Cimberg said he heard much the same complaints from the different companies he had worked with, whether they were making computers or selling building supplies:

* Our territories are too large (or too small).
* We need more help; we don't get enough support.

No company is perfect. As long as you are accepting a paycheck, you should keep your gripes to yourself and concentrate on some of the positive aspects of your company.

Ms Bobbie Gee, a corporate image consultant from Southern California, was flying home from Chicago and everything went wrong. There were many delays, and the flight was three hours behind schedule. One of the cargo doors was frozen, and there was no food in first class. The man sitting next to her complained all the way to Southern California about how that airline could do absolutely nothing right. Who was he? A pilot for the same airline!

People who constantly complain about their jobs, their companies and their colleagues, who goof off or don't give their best, are really robbing themselves of the most exciting and rewarding opportunity in life: the chance to feel great about themselves!

Don't cheat. Do everything as if you owned the company!

Wisdom from Human Patricia Fripp

Get it right the first time

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:55:00 +0000

Use technology to help your business build stronger relationships with customers

Contact centres have always played a significant role in business with their ability to influence the relationship between an enterprise and its customers. Today, the ability of the customer service officer to resolve a problem or offer a satisfactory solution when a customer calls for the first time (known as resolution at first contact) is essential in maintaining service excellence.

Industry benchmark research studies have found that 92 per cent of consumers form an opinion about a company's image through their interaction with the contact centre, and 62 percent would stop using a company's goods or services if they had a bad experience.

Contact centres have continuously evolved and adapted to meet the changing needs of the customer. Today, they are no longer driven just by efficiency. They are more about delivering effective customer service, and there is a significant difference between the two. While efficiency focuses on metrics such as the length of time on calls, abandon rates and agent rest breaks, effectiveness measures key business metrics such as customer loyalty, retention, service levels and even staff retention rates.

Industry research has found that 77 per cent of businesses believe their contact centre is critical to the overall success of their business, and that there is a very high correlation between customer satisfaction levels and resolution at first contact. This in turn translates into benefits in the form of cost savings to the enterprise as less time is spent on customer support.

Resolution at first contact is essential for contact centres to maintain as well as increase customer loyalty, especially as the customer base becomes more tech-savvy, knowledgeable, and increasingly expects speedy yet well-informed service, anytime, anywhere. As communication technologies such as the telephone, the Internet, e-mail and SMS become more prevalent, contact centres need to be able to leverage on these technologies to best serve their customers.

With unified communications, agents will be able to receive queries from these usually separate media contact points and have them presented in an integrated format on their computer screen. This way, all enquiries of a specific nature can be routed to specialised agents with the appropriate multimedia tools and knowledge, reducing response times, increasing resolution at first contact and increasing agent productivity as well.

Instant messaging is a popular form of communication that analyst house Gartner has predicted will be in use by most companies by the end of the decade as a common business-to-business tool.

It is undoubtedly already a popular social tool for the younger generation. Although instant messaging is not yet a common feature deployed by contact centres, it is another example of a contact media that all contact centres should look to using as a customer access point in the near future.

In addition to multimedia communication, contact centres are also turning their focus towards outbound calls. Inbound-based contact centres are increasingly embracing cross-sell and up-sell activities, and many service agents now carry sales quotas, so the rate of outbound calls made by traditionally customer service oriented contact centres is steadily approaching that of inbound calls.

Virtualisation of contact centres is yet another evolutionary trend that is shaping the development and operations of customer service operations.

As long as staff have access to an Internet connection, they can work whenever and wherever they wish. The flexibility this brings to contact centre staff and their work-life balance is unprecedented.

Contact centre managers are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain good staff, particularly in cities where competition for skilled staff is high.

The ability to offer flexible options to mature workers returning to the labour market can give a contact centre an edge over its competitors.

A customer service agent with a good work-life balance and flexible employment options would tend to be more satisfied with his job - and this in turn motivates him to deliver better customer service.

Changes in technology have brought around changes in customer behaviours and expectations, as well as how contact centres operate.

As newer devices and multimedia channels are used, customers' expectations regarding access, connectivity and customer service will continue to increase.

In the near future, more contact centres are likely to be upgraded with new technology solutions aimed at delivering effective customer service and driving loyalty.

In addition, the role of the traditional contact centre will evolve to incorporate more sales opportunities while pursuing resolution at first contact as a key priority.

Wisdom from Human Darren Leffler

Have a listening ear

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 08:23:00 +0000

Learning to listen to co-workers, customers and family members is crucial to build successful relationships with them

MR JOHN Scully, the former chief executive officer of Apple Computer, was asked by a reporter: "If you could change your title from chief executive officer, what would you change it to?" He replied: "Chief listener."

Management guru Tom Peters says: "The highest compliment you can pay a customer is to listen." Someone once told me: "Most of us are compulsive talkers and selective listeners. We need to be compulsive listeners and selective talkers." We all know that listening is important. But if we know it is so important, why don't we listen better?

Often, we take others in our life for granted. We think we know what they are going to say. For example, consider the people you live with - your partner, your parents or your children. How well do you listen to them? Now remember when you were first dating that special person in your life.

I recall when I first dated my husband, I hung on his every word. He was fascinating. He was so intelligent. He knew so much. He was enthralling. Do you remember such a time? Do you listen the same way now?

I work on it every day so I won't take him for granted and tune him out. Listening well means showing people you are listening. In fact, you can tell when someone is listening.

Remember what your parents always said: "Look at me when I'm talking to you." Your body language shows your listening level. However, some people are good at masking their lack of interest. They make eye contact, nod and say "uh huh" even though they are not really listening.

Another reason people don't listen well is because of biases and prejudices. I am not proud to admit that I have allowed biases to get in the way of listening at times. I became acutely aware of this one day, when my then 15-year-old stepson, Alex, came home with an orange Mohawk haircut.

When he spoke, I worked hard to focus on his face and ignore the distraction of the orange spikes on his head. I brought my attention back to his face, tried to listen, and was distracted again by his skeleton earring. I realised that I had an opinion about young men who have punk haircuts living in my house.

It didn't bother me that his friends had green, purple and bright red hair. It didn't even bother me that his girlfriend had a matching haircut! But it did bother me that this young man, living in my house, did. I saw a prejudice that I hadn't seen before.

We all have prejudices. We may not like someone's clothes, make up, speech patterns or haircut. Yet we need to strive to listen to them fully. Listening is a critical skill for success. It is not an easy skill to acquire but we can all try to listen better. I hope you see the value in becoming the chief listener in your life.

Wisdom from Human Rebecca Morgan

Step into someone's shoes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 08:22:00 +0000

Treat employees the way they expect to be treated and you will motivate them better

WHEN you have to deal with one of your team who is complaining to you, don't allow negative feelings to dominate your responses. Instead, try to see the situation from your team member's point of view. You don't necessarily have to agree with him but perhaps you will be able to empathise with his situation.

The successful manager thinks about the people he has to deal with, is sensitive to how they see things and knows that they might think differently than he does. Let me give you an example. I have always been scrupulous about good timekeeping; it's something that's been programmed into my brain. If you agree to meet me at 8.30 in the morning, I'll be there at 8.20; I will always do my utmost to be on time.

Naturally, I used to get angry when a member of my team would show up late for a meeting or an appointment with me. When I got angry, I would get stressed and end up saying something that I regretted later. Therefore, I learned to start thinking about the situation and tried to see it from my colleague's point of view. I decided not to let my programming run my brain.

That does not mean to say I ignored the lateness or did nothing about it. I thought very carefully about what I wanted to say and spoke to the team member about how we would resolve this situation.

The point I want to make is that I am not prepared to allow that team member's behaviour to dominate my mind. Getting angry and stressed is not good for your health and it isn't a productive way to motivate your team. We all see the world in a different way, based on our culture and how we were brought up. It is very important to understand this, particularly when you give your people feedback, be it good or bad.

Last year, I spent several weeks in a particular hotel running seminars and I started to get to know some of the staff. One day, I noticed that Carol the conference manager had been named employee of the month and her photograph was displayed in the reception area. When I congratulated her on this honour, I was a bit surprised at her reaction. "I hate it, I'm so embarrassed," she complained.

Carol didn't like the attention she was getting, and as a result, this recognition by her manager didn't motivate her. Another member of her team could possibly react completely differently and regard it as a great honor.

If you have good rapport with your team members, then you become sensitive to how they see things. The successful business person understands each member of his team and doesn't reward everyone in the same way. I have often heard managers say, "I treat people the way I expect to be treated". The successful manager says: "I treat people the way they expect to be treated."

Wisdom from Human Alan Fairweather

Getting to know people

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:34:00 +0000

Talking to strangers is easier than you think

If you are like most people, you probably feel uncomfortable meeting other people and networking with them. Your mind fills with questions like, "Where do I begin?", "What do I say?" and "Who will notice me in this crowd?" But once you discover the "Holy Grail" of networking, you will be schmoozing with the best of them.

Greet the person with a smile, a warm handshake and a prepared introduction. Make the first move. Don't wait for him to come to you. Chances are he is as nervous as you are, and will be greatly relieved when you approach him. After all, everyone appreciates acknowledgement and likes to feel important. Decide whom to approach and go for it.

Use a firm and friendly handshake. Let him know you are happy to meet him. Exude warmth and sincerity. Make eye contact and smile. Have an opening ready. Your opening may take the form of a five- to 10-second introduction about yourself. It should include your name and some fact or interesting pitch relevant to the occasion.

Never just give your job title - so many other people do that. You don't want to be like everyone else, you want to stand out. For example, instead of saying, "I'm an insurance agent", say: "I provide peace of mind so people can sleep at night" or "I help people take care of their families when they can't do it themselves." Make the other person curious, amuse him and put him at ease. In other words, make him interested in talking to you.

Rapport means making a connection. The essence of rapport is harmony and similarity. Build rapport through eye contact, body language and a suitable topic of conversation. Be polite, friendly and welcoming.

Use body language to create a feeling of similarity. If you are talking to someone who is seated, pull up a chair and sit next to him, do not stand over him. If your conversation partner uses certain buzzwords, you should use them too. People like people who are like themselves, so you want to be like the person you are with.

Ask questions to sustain the conversation and let the other person shine. Short, relevant questions are useful for eliciting information, keeping the conversation on track, confirming understanding and maintaining rapport. There is no point in taking the initiative to make contact only to have the conversation die after you exchange names. Ask questions to keep the conversation alive.

The questions you ask at this point need not be insightful, witty or profound. They can be simple and obvious. You are not trying to be clever. You just want to make the other person feel comfortable with you and sustain a conversation for five minutes.

Keep a few stock questions in mind, as well as a few based on current events. If you prepare some questions before you arrive at a networking event, you will not feel pressured to come up with some good questions on the spot.

Interest. Show interest in the other person. Put the spotlight on him. Make him feel good about himself - and you. Exude energy and enthusiasm. People are more interested in enthusiastic types - they are more fun to be with!

Make small talk. Keep up with current events and have a stock of discussion topics ready. In a pinch, you can always make a comment about the occasion or the surroundings. Be positive. Most people prefer to keep a positive outlook, and critics can alienate others without realising it.

A story is told of a woman who dined on consecutive evenings with legendary British leaders William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli. She was asked what impressions these men had made upon her.

She replied: "When I left the dining room after sitting next to Mr Gladstone, I thought he was the cleverest man in England. But after sitting next to Mr Disraeli, I thought I was the cleverest woman in England."

Listen attentively. Good listening skills are critical for establishing and maintaining rapport. In a room full of people intent on talking about themselves, lining up business or filling their social calendars, a good listener can make quite an impression. Make eye contact, smile, nod your head and show interest. Be the person other people want to talk to.

Wisdom from Human David Goldwich

Get it right the first time

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:44:00 +0000

Use technology to help your business build stronger relationships with customers

Contact centres have always played a significant role in business with their ability to influence the relationship between an enterprise and its customers.

Today, the ability of the customer service officer to resolve a problem or offer a satisfactory solution when a customer calls for the first time (known as resolution at first contact) is essential in maintaining service excellence.

Industry benchmark research studies have found that 92 per cent of consumers form an opinion about a company's image through their interaction with the contact centre, and 62 percent would stop using a company's goods or services if they had a bad experience. Contact centres have continuously evolved and adapted to meet the changing needs of the customer. Today, they are no longer driven just by efficiency. They are more about delivering effective customer service, and there is a significant difference between the two.

While efficiency focuses on metrics such as the length of time on calls, abandon rates and agent rest breaks, effectiveness measures key business metrics such as customer loyalty, retention, service levels and even staff retention rates.

Industry research has found that 77 per cent of businesses believe their contact centre is critical to the overall success of their business, and that there is a very high correlation between customer satisfaction levels and resolution at first contact. This in turn translates into benefits in the form of cost savings to the enterprise as less time is spent on customer support.

Resolution at first contact is essential for contact centres to maintain as well as increase customer loyalty, especially as the customer base becomes more tech-savvy, knowledgeable, and increasingly expects speedy yet well-informed service, anytime, anywhere. As communication technologies such as the telephone, the Internet, e-mail and SMS become more prevalent, contact centres need to be able to leverage on these technologies to best serve their customers.

With unified communications, agents will be able to receive queries from these usually separate media contact points and have them presented in an integrated format on their computer screen.

This way, all enquiries of a specific nature can be routed to specialised agents with the appropriate multimedia tools and knowledge, reducing response times, increasing resolution at first contact and increasing agent productivity as well. Instant messaging is a popular form of communication that analyst house Gartner has predicted will be in use by most companies by the end of the decade as a common business-to-business tool.

It is undoubtedly already a popular social tool for the younger generation. Although instant messaging is not yet a common feature deployed by contact centres, it is another example of a contact media that all contact centres should look to using as a customer access point in the near future.

In addition to multimedia communication, contact centres are also turning their focus towards outbound calls. Inbound-based contact centres are increasingly embracing cross-sell and up-sell activities, and many service agents now carry sales quotas, so the rate of outbound calls made by traditionally customer service oriented contact centres is steadily approaching that of inbound calls.

Virtualisation of contact centres is yet another evolutionary trend that is shaping the development and operations of customer service operations. As long as staff have access to an Internet connection, they can work whenever and wherever they wish. The flexibility this brings to contact centre staff and their work-life balance is unprecedented.

Contact centre managers are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain good staff, particularly in cities where competition for skilled staff is high. The ability to offer flexible options to mature workers returning to the labour market can give a contact centre an edge over its competitors.

A customer service agent with a good work-life balance and flexible employment options would tend to be more satisfied with his job - and this in turn motivates him to deliver better customer service. Changes in technology have brought around changes in customer behaviours and expectations, as well as how contact centres operate. As newer devices and multimedia channels are used, customers' expectations regarding access, connectivity and customer service will continue to increase.

In the near future, more contact centres are likely to be upgraded with new technology solutions aimed at delivering effective customer service and driving loyalty. In addition, the role of the traditional contact centre will evolve to incorporate more sales opportunities while pursuing resolution at first contact as a key priority.

Wisdom from Human Darren Leffler

Playing Santa in the office

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:36:00 +0000

It always happens before you know it. Suddenly, it's the end of the year and Christmas is just a blink away. And if your company or department has a culture of exchanging gifts, it's a potential headache thinking of what to get everyone - or whether you should even do so in the first place.

It's a scary moment if it's your first Christmas in an organisation. Unless your boss announces plans for the office Christmas party and gift exchange guidelines, you probably have to discreetly make enquiries as to how your department celebrates the year-end festivities.

Making a list and checking it twice
If the exchange of presents is practised, scout around for gift ideas that won't burn too big a hole in your pocket.

If you're working in a relatively small department where you know every one well, it's easier to choose items that suit your colleagues' preferences, personalities or hobbies. It is nice to include colleagues who don't celebrate Christmas in your shopping list, and you could use the occasion to thank them for their help during the year.

But if the gift exchange operates on a "secret pal" system, you may not know the person whose name you pulled out of the bag. In this case, go for a generally "safe" gift.

Avoid joke gifts like farting cushions unless you are certain the recipient will not be offended. Also stay away from lingerie and jewellery unless that colleague is your wife!

And for all mankind
When you don't intend to bestow gifts on every one, don't make it so obvious who your recipients are and aren't. You could arrange to pass gifts to your favourite pals outside the office in a personal capacity. If it has to be done in the office, you could get something small so that it appears that you are not singling anyone out for special treatment or leaving anyone else out.

Be careful what you buy for your boss, as you don't want to be seen as an apple polisher. If there is a dollar limit for each gift, stick to the same limit for your boss. Don't buy that expensive crystal vase, unless the entire department pools money to buy it.

Spread the love
If you belong to the camp which thinks that gift exchanging goes against the true spirit of Christmas, try something more meaningful to reciprocate your other colleagues' well-meaning gestures.

You could treat everyone to lunch, cater a tea break or buy a big log cake or other Christmas goodies as your way of celebrating the festivities. Alternatively, you could make a donation to your favourite charity in your colleagues' names. Choose a "neutral" cause like the environment, animals or underprivileged so that no one gets offended by the cause.

You could also make it known that you intend to donate daily necessities to a charity home and encourage your colleagues to choose items that the home can use as Christmas presents.

Wisdom from Human Goh Mei Yi

Who's whom?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Make your correspondence more effective by customizing it for your specific audience

You have done the necessary research, formulated a sensible proposal and even rewritten the final draft for your presentation at tomorrow's staff meeting. The only factor you failed to consider is one of the most important components of the communication process: knowing the "who" in "to whom it may concern".

How many countless documents have crossed your desk that left you scratching your head with their redundant remarks, incomplete ideas or unclear instructions? I call these "so-what" messages because your likely response to them is, "So what?"

Are you to write a report, hold a meeting, propose a solution or file the information for later use? Whether it is a presentation to your peers, a memo to your staff or an e-mail message to an associate, it is not always what you say but how you connect to your audience that will determine the success of your messages.

Know your audience

Who is your audience?
Are you communicating to an entire client organization, an average-sized department or a few colleagues?
Are they decision makers, managers or those with veto power?
Is their relationship to you that of a supervisor, a peer or a subordinate?

More often than not, your reports, letters and memos will go through several people either for approval or general information. When writing to a mixed audience, first rank readers in importance.

After you have pinpointed and ranked each reader or group of readers, give the most important readers their information first. Knowing your audience will help you streamline your research, shape your key message, select the most appropriate details and adapt your words more appropriately.

Know their concerns
What are your readers' interests?

Part of knowing "to whom it may concern" involves knowing their concerns, biases and backgrounds. Vocabularies, areas of expertise and even mindsets differ as you move across company hierarchies, as well as up and down them.

What is of little concern to a chief executive officer may hold greater interest to a sales manager and be of extreme importance to a marketing director. Management will most likely be concerned with issues regarding profit projections, a project's overall significance to the company, corporate image concerns and necessary steps in planning.

General professionals will be more concerned with the day-to-day issues, such as why a project is undertaken, how the research is carried out, how the policy will be re-evaluated and what specific part they play. Specialists will be more interested in information required to do a specific job such as statistics, forms, flow charts, maps, formulas and other things generally included in the "fine print".

Make your readers' interests a priority, and you will grab and keep their attention.

How much do they already know about the subject?

Instead of reiterating the obvious, be sure you do not overload others with meaningless or repetitive details. But give enough background on the problem so they fully understand the situation. While your primary audience may understand all the concepts and terms, your secondary readers may need more details because of their smaller degree of involvement.

Avoid using jargon for those readers outside your narrow field. You are only courting misunderstanding. How much your readers know dictates what and how much extra information to include in which sections of your document.

Structure your message
So what is the answer to the dilemma when communicating with multiple readers who have varied interests, backgrounds and technical expertise?

Structure.

Put your most important information to your most important reader up front. Lesser-ranking readers will need to read further to get the details they want.

How will they use your information?

Delivering a specific point in your document is your responsibility. Do you expect your readers to consider, discuss, act on, research or instruct others? The answer to this question will help you decide whether to write, phone or meet face to face.

If your oral presentation or document is meant to keep them informed on new advances in their field, give a broad scope of the discovery and zero in on its significance for other projects and decisions. If they are to use your information as the basis for a decision, present your case persuasively to win their cooperation.

Identify the "to whom it may concern" of your documents and oral presentations and customise your intentions and details accordingly. Clear intentions result in effective results.

Wisdom from Human Dianna Booher

A foreign education

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 27 May 2008 12:38:00 +0000

What students gain or miss out on when they stay home to take courses from overseas universities

As more universities go global and set up campuses or run programs on foreign soil, students have greater opportunities to take overseas courses without actually having to go overseas.

Abroad, At Home
Unlike distance learning courses of the past, when students corresponded from home with tutors based in other countries, courses from foreign providers are now conducted either on the premises of a suitable local education partner, or from an off-shore campus of the home university.

Students can thus experience both the courses and culture of the overseas university, minus the considerable expense of travelling and living abroad, and the numerous personal adjustments required to study and reside in a strange land.

Such programmes also give students the easily accessible alternative of choosing courses and teaching or learning styles that may not be available through local institutions.

Universities benefit too from reaching out to a global student base, far wider than the traditional target prospects of locally based students or those able and willing to relocate to a new country for a number of years. The institution can also give students from its home campus the option of continuing their studies in another country and culture, almost seamlessly, without having to switch education paths or schools.

Losing Traditions?
It is however, a pity that students of overseas courses in their home country miss out on the immediacy of the university's traditional campus environment that surrounds students enrolled in courses delivered on the home campus. Especially in universities with a long history, on-campus students feel part of an tradition, seeing and using daily the physical rooms and routes through which generations of students have trooped.

Foreign students who attend an overseas university are also immersed in the culture of the country they have come to, broadening their life experience and their understanding of themselves and others.

While an offshore campus may attempt to recreate the atmosphere of the home university, the faculty and staff themselves may not have come from the main campus, and may not have come from the main campus, and may have been hired specifically for the new one. They will not have the grounding of the university's particular culture to impart it to students or to newer faculty members or administrators.

Not that Different
Then again, universities with exclusive grounds of their own, and a campus laid out around a main building, are becoming very rare. Many well established universities in their home countries consist only of scattered buildings spread out across a city, with students moving through the streets and even taking buses and trains to get from class to class. So why should an offshore campus or programs delivered through a local partner be so very different, as long as the fundamental mission of the university is retained.

In any case, any university worth its salt these days faculty from all over the world, visiting lectures and an international community of students. Even on a traditional campus where every lecture hall, administrative office, tutor's room and university club is situated on one massive plot of land , an individual student is only as immersed and involved as he chooses to be.

Every kind of set-up faces its own special challenges. And with just about every organization on the planet now reaching out to a global audience through the Internet and overseas representatives, why should a university do otherwise?

Wisdom from Human Adele Ong

Talk your way to the top

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 25 May 2008 10:37:00 +0000

Don't be scared of talking in public - here are some tips to help you become a confident speaker

The number one fear in the world is speaking in public. Dying is number 6. That's right - people would rather die than speak in public! Often, the reason why someone doesn't get a job or is not promoted is not that they don't have the qualifications, it is simply that they can't express themselves. Don't be the world's best-kept secret. Learn to speak your way to success.

As a full-time professional speaker, trainer, facilitator and consultant, I've made my living with my mouth for over 25 years. If here is one thing I've learned how to do, it's how to speak in public. While there is no substitute for years of experience, here are a few simple tips for you to practise your speaking skills to get you on the road to success.

Join Toastmasters International (TMI)
There are Toastmasters clubs all over Singapore. At every meeting, you will either be given a chance to speak impromptu for two minutes, evaluate another speaker, lead the meeting or evaluate a speaker.

With weekly or bi-monthly exposure to the lessons taught by toastmasters, you cannot help but improve. Check your local community centre or country club to see if they have a group you can join.

Relax and pause
An old Pepsi soft drink advert used to go:"The pause that refreshes." That mantra can do some good for anyone who wants to be a better speaker. If you are afraid or nervous or just uncomfortable with speaking in a group, first capture the attention of the group with a gesture or comment and then pause while you collect your thoughts.

For example, say, "Excuse me" or "Just one moment, please." Then pause while you collect your thoughts and then say what you wanted to say. You'll generally have their attention and your comment will carry more weight.

Discard outdated tips
Forget ridiculous notions like, "Imagine the audience in their underwear" or "Look over their heads and not into their eyes so you won't get nervous." Instead, look at an individual in the audience and speak just to that one person for a time. Then look for another friendly face and talk to that person.

Public speaking is sharing with people, not talking at people. Also, you are much more likely to relax if you think of it as only speaking to one person at a time as opposed to speaking to a group of 10, 100, or 1000.

Breathe correctly
A short, choppy breath pattern can add to your nervousness and make your words come out in stutters and spurts. Practise slow, rhythmic breathing. Take a deep breath with your pauses and speak up with confidence. This will also lower your heart rate and calm your entire being.

Smile
Unless your subject matter is someone's death, smile and show you are enjoying the experience. A smile reduces your tension, helps you think by releasing endorphins into the brain and relaxes your audience as well. Even if you are dealing with a difference and lighten the mood.

Keep it simple
This is a simple model that will never let you down. Tell your audience what you are going to tell them. This simple formula gives you a framework for public speaking and helps people remember your point(s). Telling them the outline or key topics you will cover prepares them mentally to absorb the information and may prevent them from interrupting you.

Then sharing the information in a simple and straightforward manner is easier after you have already laid out your plan of attack. The review at the end adds emphasis and helps to remind them of your most salient points.

Open with pizzazz and close with punch
Make sure you memorise your opening and closing to ensure your success. Knowing your opening and closing verbatim lets you relax as you know exactly how you will start and gives you the confidence that at least you'll end it right.

If you can't memorise the start and end of the talk because it is impromptu, then make sure you capture your audience's attention with a quip, quote, comment or joke at the beginning. Master speaker Dottie Walters always says: "Open with a laugh and close with a tear." An alternative is to finish with a call to action, a quote, a dramatic gesture like having them stand and pledge to do something or even finish with a gimmick.

Talk the walk you walk
Talk about what you know. Share your ideas based not only on your opinions, but about what you've researched or lived through. Don't tell other people's stories, tell your own. Be the original article when you speak and you will have not only people's attention, but their respect when you're finished.

Wisdom from Human Michael A. Podolinsky

Always in Fashion

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 24 May 2008 12:23:00 +0000

The business card has survived because it offers high impact at a low cost

Technology has changed the business world, but the day of the business card is far from over. Card readers and scanners, and electronic versions of business cards stored on mobile phones have not done away with the simple impact that a well executed business card can deliver.

Just as we judge one another by the quality of the clothes we wear, a business card too provides cues as to how wealthy, successful and professional we are. These cues form what branding consultants call the "first impression".

In fact, business cards are so powerful, branding consultants describe them as mini billboards - mini because they are small and cost a fraction of the price of the larger ones. First impressions are so important in everybody's private and professional lives that many people engage a branding firm to help create the right look for their card.

Whether you are a job applicant talking to prospective employers, or a business trying to make every contact with a new customer count, you will benefit from a card that creates a good impression.

Smart Card

Make it memorable. A lawyer's business card may mimic a get-out-of-goal free card; a painter, a swatch of colour. Be creative, Think of the last time someone gave you a business card, and you simply tossed it in the bin without a thought. You don't want the same thing to happen to your card.

Check you competitors. You shouldn't copy them, but instead measure the quality and design you are competing against in your industry. Decide on what you need to do to make your business card stand out.

Avoid cheap. Like a suit, a custom-made one looks better and increases your confidence during a meeting. You may have only one chance to make an impression, so make the most of it. If it means you have to spend a dollar per card to make the right impression, consider it money well spent.

Include a picture of yourself. If you plan to leave your card in various places, with little personal presence, a photo of yourself and a bullet-point explanation of your business are useful. But be warned. Poorly taken photos will create a negative impression.

Build credentials. For start-up companies, mentioning one's doctrines or degrees can make a difference. Including business accolades and alliance logos is a good idea if they are relevant.

Keep the business card simple. The more uncluttered, the easier to read and remember. Use both sides. One side for the brand, the second for details. This also gives scope to advertise the services and products you offer.

Examine different finishes. After looking at a card, a recipient next experiences it by felling it. Cards which provide an experience through touch are recalled up to four times more than business cards without one.

Make it bold. Color creates the most impact for dollar. Examine the impact your card makes up close in your hand, or on a desk a few metres away. Orange, purple and green are good colors because they are unusual. But always try to stick with color of your brand.

Think about the business card holder. Irrespective of how well the card is designed, the recipient will often see the holder first, so make sure you are comfortable with the quality. Select a holder that is durable and capable of withstanding scratches.

After you have created the perfect card, think about how to give it. Always allow your clients to hand their business card first. When it is your turn, hand the card so that it faces the recipient so he can read it.

Card etiquette

Accept and give cards with two hands. This is especially practised in Asia, and is important when dealing with older business people. I remember being in a meeting once where a supplier flung his card at me from across the table. I didn't have to be Asian to feel disrespected.

Read names and titles carefully. If you are unable to pronounce the name of the person who gave you his card, now is the time to ask. Observe the card for anything that may spark a conversation. By demonstrating interest in your contact, he becomes interested in you.

During a discussion, keep your contacts' business cards at arm's length on the surface of the table. This not only demonstrates respect but helps you address them by their correct names and titles.

Have a plentiful supply of cards. At a business function or social gatherings, some people take offence if they give you their card and do not receive yours.

Considering how many business introductions are made through personal networking and referrals, it is surprising how little consideration and money is spent on business cards. When you calculate the cost of meeting a new customer from the time it took to identify him, call to make an appointment, drive to meet him, and then buy him coffee, can you afford not to make a positive impression?

Wisdom from Human Anthony Coundouris

Shadow play to get your way

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 24 May 2008 01:30:00 +0000

When you feel cornered, remember two key words - moves and turns

Have you ever encountered moments in negotiation when you felt your position of authority suddenly take a dive? Consider the following scenarios.

Your contract renewal with a valued client has come up and your client advises you that your rates are not justified for the quality of work you have been delivering and he may have to search for another provider.
As a female manager, you responsibly remind a male peer to close a project as it is past due. He tells you that you are overreacting and to calm down.
You are in a meeting with your boss to negotiate your annual raise and bonuses based on your part played in the increased annual turnover. Your boss tells you that in this economic downturn you are lucky to have a job. He asks you not to raise salary concerns at this time and adds that you can be counted on to do him this flavour.

These are all scenarios where the other party has put you in a weaker position with what may appear like little room for negotiation. So how do you turn the tables and benefit from the negotiation? It's all about performing the right moves and turns in the art of "shadow negotiation" - the juggling for position that goes on while two parties debate the issue at hand.

This positioning determines how you can manage others' perceptions of you, how you assert power and how you maintain credibility. Let's look at the weapons you have at hand, categorised as moves and turns.

Moves
You use a move to strategically position yourself in the negotiation to enhance your standing and put yourself at the best advantage. Your move will challenge the other party;s position and put him on the defensive. Common moves are:

Challenging expertise
As in scenario 1, you can tell someone their fees are out of line with their competence.
Demeaning ideas
Attacking someone's ideas can be a surprise tactic and difficult to argue with when faced with comments like: "You can't be serious...!"
Criticising style
Telling someone not to get emotional or upset, as in scenario 2, implies they are unprofessional and irrational. This can be challenging to the other party if they consider themselves calm, professional and easy to work with.
Threatening
This forces the other party to make a choice ("It's all or nothing") but it makes it risky to propose another solution. You have to stick to your guns here and be willing to risk the failure of the deal.
Appealing for sympathy
It is difficult to reject someone who says: "I know you won't let me down on this." Just like in scenario 3, this move is made to silence the other party and get his cooperation.

How do you counter such moves in the field of battle? You do it with turns.

Turns
There are two types of turns - restorative - which put you back on an even keel with the other party or in a position of advantage; or participative - which opens up the way for negotiation. Here are some turns you can make:

Interrupting
Interrupting disrupts the move the other party is making so they are not quite in the same position.
Naming
Tell the other party you recognize what they are doing. This is your way to reject positioning, In scenario 1, you can counter the threat to find another service provider by saying: "We both know that will create more work for you, and a new provider won't understand you business like I do for a while."
Questioning
Questioning a move tells the other party you are rejecting it because you don't understand the reason behind it.
Correcting
Correcting the turn goes further than rejecting the move. It repositions you at the advantage. Tone of voice is important here. The use of sarcasm, irony or humour can help you correct a move.
~ In scenario 1, you can correct the move by showing the client fee schedules of other firms to show him that he is getting a fair deal.
~ In scenario 2, the female manager can correct her peer by saying: "This is serious. We are both responsible for this."
Diverting
Shirting the focus away from the move to the problem, effectively ignores the move.
~ In scenario 3, you can make a participative turn to open up the negotiation by diverting the conversation: "I know things are tight but I want to explore some new ideas with you."

You can see that through the appropriate use of moves and turns, negotiations that once fell flat can now be used to your advantage. Training will give you confidence in your own ability to make moves and to turn them. This is a skill that can be learned to enhance your effectiveness in negotiation.

Wisdom from Human Aslam Sardar

What followers want

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:15:00 +0000

Employees seek leaders who have qualities that inspire exceptional performance

Over the past 30 years, there has been increasing data to suggest that leadership has a lot more to do with inspiration and vision, rather than straightforward technical competence. Leadership is now recognized as a transferable skill that can be developed by continued learning and development.

By contrast, the Great Man theories of leadership and cults of personality are now seen as largely irrelevant. Research carried out by the Department of Trade and industry in the United Kingdom confirms that today's workforce is more diverse, informed and sophisticated then ever before.

Ultimately, people are still looking for something different and better in organization leadership. Managers demand inspirational and visionary leaders who win not only results, but also the trust and respect of their teams. Followers will respond to leaders who tell them that what they do is important and that it makes a difference.

There exists, unfortunately, an inspirational gap. Research suggests that over half of managers are working for organizations which have apparently not yet fully evolved to meet the needs of today's high performing work places.

Too many experience excess bureaucracy and command and control behaviors, which have a tendency to inhibit, rather than improve, individual and organizational performance.

Inspiring others
For Singapore to maintain its competitiveness, there is a growing need for companies to adopt strategies that will enable a greater level of innovation and deliver higher value goods and services.

Significant changes in what is required of good leaders have been observed over recent years. High-performance, innovative organizations require "inspirational leadership" more than ever before if they are to survive and prosper in a world where the only certainty is uncertainty.

Inspirational leadership requires six essential elements. Such leaders:
Genuinely care about their people
Involve everybody
Shows lots of appreciation
Ensure work is fun
Show real trust
Listen a lot

To discover how these elements can be better realised in practice, a comprehensive research project was designed to look in more detail at the qualities of inspirational leaders. A series of in-depth qualitative interviews with leaders who had been selected by peers for achieving exceptional results revealed common themes in terms of their most prevalent leadership characteristics.

They identified their own strengths as:

Strong communication - Storytelling and listening
Passion for learning and intense curiosity
Focus on developing people
Having fun and very energized
Strong self-belief, coupled with humanity and humility
Committed to giving something back and to making a significant difference
Clarity of vision and ability to share it with their people
Dogged determination, often "relentless"
Very strong focus on priorities
Not afraid to show some vulnerability
Regular use of reflective periods
Almost universal dislike of jargon
Passion for and pride in what they do

Desirable traits
Not surprisingly, many of the leadership qualities desired by the followers surveyed also reflected the views of both exceptional leaders and the findings from best practice case studies.

They valued leaders who showed:

Genuine shared vision
Real confidence and trust in their teams
Respect for employees and customers
Commitment to developing people
Clear standards of ethics and integrity
Willingness to take risks

Managers confirmed that individuals and teams who were inspired and enthused would operate at a different level from the competition. Around one-third of followers admitted that they had never worked for, or been motivated by, an exceptional leader in their lives. Over 60 per cent of followers reported that their leaders were out of touch with how people were feeling. This remoteness and distance had a negative impact on morale and motivation levels.

Giving people space and responsibility, and recognizing and believing in their abilities, remain the most effective and powerful ways to motivate followers. Participative, rather than command and control cultures, tend to encourage these behaviors.

This finding is probably linked with another: that followers do not, on the whole, see their leaders creating a feeling of energy, fun and excitement in the organization. About 93 percent identified this as a key leadership attribute, yet only 32 per cent experienced it.

Wisdom from Human Chris Fenney

Choose to be happy

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:44:00 +0000

The philosophy of Being Happy can influence to embrace change rather than resist it

What makes people happy?

First, having a purpose - which means doing something in your life that has meaning for you, whether it is building a better company, raising happy children or helping to make the world a better place. Second, having hope - which means you have something to look forward to. Even if your current circumstances are difficult, if you have hope that your effort will be rewarded and that things will improve, you can find happiness.

Happy people accept themselves as the are, so they have peace of mind. And yes, last but not least, having someone to love.

It is your decision
Happiness is no accident - it is something we choose, says Mr Andrew Matthews, international speaker and author of motivation and personal development classics, Being Happy! and Follow Your Heart.

He says: "Happy people make a decision to be happy in spite of their problems. They concentrate on what they have - not on what is missing. They count their blessings. They take maximum responsibility for their life and for their mistakes. They don't blame others."

Most importantly, he points out, happy people are flexible. "They are able to say, 'If my plane is early, I'm happy. If my plane is late, I'm Happy.' Their state of mind is determined by their own thoughts, not by outside circumstances."

Sounds Utopian? Not if you can relate this philosophy to the corporate environment. And human resource (HR) departments can help in cultivating a happy people culture. Says Mr Matthews: "Encourage employees to develop life skills, not just work skills. Encourage healthy working relationships. Encourage honesty in the workplace, and encourage workers to speak openly. Make employees feel appreciated."

HR can help to build a culture of happy people by introducing principles based on the Being Happy philosophy, he says. "This can include helping staff to understand how their beliefs affect their experience, how attitudes impact relationships and how communication within an organization improves as a result of improving how we see things."

Being happy is infectious
Often, employers wonder if the Being Happy philosophy works in the corporate environment and what its effects are. Mr Matthews highlights the benefits: "Employees feel more fulfilled. They set personal and professional goals. They realise that they do their best not to please their boss, but to make themselves happier They take responsibility and blame others less. Companies retain their employees."

It works by providing employees, managers and executives with the choice and skills to experience work in a happier way, he adds. However, he admits that though it sounds fairly simple and practical, there are challenges that employers have to deal with.

He says: "One challenge HR may face while introducing the Being Happy culture within an organization is 'pushback' from those who don't understand the philosophy or value it. People tend to resist change. They say, 'I'm OK. It's my boss who needs to change.' Some say, 'There's nothing wrong with my attitude.' Many people postpone happiness. For example, they say, 'I'll be happy when I get a pay rise' or 'I'll be happy when that stupid secretary is transferred to another department.' Pushback can be resistance simply to the unknown."

If a HR practitioner experiences this when implementing the Being Happy philosophy, asking better questions will help identify the aspects of the process that are causing concern. "Being Happy is not focused on fixing a short-term problem or issue. Being Happy is about living life and being excited about the life that we experience."

Attitude counts
It is all in the attitude, says Mr Matthews. "I'll give you an example. Two women turn 50. Mary says, 'My life is over!' Julie says, 'My life has just begun.' Who will be happier? Who will be more successful?"

The laws of happiness and success are like the laws of gravity. They are the same for everyone. If you continue to see yourself as successful and keep on producing quality work, you will succeed, he concludes.

"See yourself as happy, look for good things in life and the people around you, and you will become happier."

Wisdom from Human Andrew Matthews

Oops, shouldn't have said that!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 May 2008 06:12:00 +0000

What you should never say at an interview

If you have the tendency to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, this article is for you. Every single word you utter during an interview gives your potential employer an insight to your character and your thoughts, so choose your words carefully.

"I left my last job because my boss was an idiot"
Bad-mouthing your previous employer is probably the stupidest thing you can do in an interview. No matter how much you detest your boss, give a more positive.

Suggestion: Say you left to look for a job with more responsibilty, greater opportunity for advancement, or because it was time for a change. Keep your opinions about your ex-boss to yourself.

"I'll take whatever you can pay"
Don't say it if you don't mean it. The interview is a chance for you to dind out what salary the company is willing to pay and for the interviewers to decide how much you're worth and what amount you're asking for.

Suggestion: If you're not sure, give a wide range. Do research about what similar jobs pay nefore the interview.

"I can't wait to use the staff benefits"
If you think this is a witty way to end an interview, think again! You'll look as if you're joining the company for the free perks and not because you want the job.

Suggestion: Why not mention that you can't wait to try out your ideas instead? It sounds more professional and gives them more reason to hire you.

"I was given a 12-month bonus"
If you didn't get it, don't say it. Someday, somewhere, someone will find out that you were lying and you'll live to regret it. Interviewers expect a little exaggeration about your accomplishments during the interview, but not blatant lies.

Suggestion: Always tell the truth. You can keep up a charade for only so long and employers have a way of finding out things.

"My short-term goal is to clear my credit card debt"
While it may be true, your would-be employers don't need to know. When asked about your five-year goal, they want an ansewer that relates to the company. Even if you don't plan to stay so long, say something that reflects a commitment to the job and the company.

Suggestion: I see myself in a position at least two levels higher than this job I'm applying for.

"My dog died and I can't get over it"
Even if your interviewer brings up his personal life to lighten the mood, don't take it as a green light to pour out your woes. You may think you're bonding with your interviewer, but it just comes across as unprofessional.

Suggestion: If you interviewer asks about your pet, just say your beloved pooch passed away at a ripe old age and leave it at that. Keep the conversation businesslike and professional.

Wisdom from Human Goh Mei Yi

Going the Distance

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 May 2008 19:48:00 +0000

Employers can take steps to retain their best people

There are two types of employee turn over: unavoidable and avoidable. Unavoidable turnover results from life decisions that extend beyond an emplyer's control, such as an employee's decision to move to a new area or a job transfer for a spouse. The majority of employee resignations, however, can be avoided if organizations have carefully planned retention strategies in place.

1) Hire the right person
In many situations, employee turn-over is due to issues of "chemistry" or "fit" within an organization. Employers are now adopting the strategy of "hire for traits, train for skill." By undertaking a thorough analysis of the core competencies required for a position, you will be better prepared to conduct a behavioral-based interview process.

2) Integrate for success
The first few weeks of emplyment are the most critical time to lay the groundwork for longterm employee commitment. Implementing a thorough, well excutied orientation program can cut turnover dramatically, as it fosters trust and commitment from the employee.

3) Phase in training
Rather than throw new employees into several weeks of job-specific training right away, provide them with basic training at the outset. As they build experience and tenure with the company, you can then offer further training in recognition of their growth and commitment.

4) Provide growth opportunities
The irony in retaining good people is that the more they feel they are able to grow and become more marketable, the more likely they are to stay. Employees are taking ownership of their careers and recognise the need to continuosly refine and upgrade their skills. The more frequent and relevant training you can offer, the greater the likelihood that your employees will stay.

5) Align competencies with contributions
Try to match the skills and interests of your employees with their work assignments. Make adjustments to ensure that employees are effectively aligned with what the company needs them to do and what they are best at and enjoy doing. This will need to be reviewed regularly, as an employee's interests as well as competencies will change over time.

6) Motivate the troops
Assess the underlying motivators for work beyond the pay cheque. High tech employees are often motivated when recognised for their unique skill sets, whereas a service organization is more likely to have emplyees excited about helping others. Checkk your assumptions, then design strategies to reinforcce what matters most.

7) Make rewards count
Rewards should be immediate, appropriate and personal. You may want to survey employees on desired forms of recognition, and then use the findings when the time comes to reward them. And remember: a personal note means more than a generic company award.

8) Enlist problem-solvers
Invite employers to help solve company problems where possible. Rather than stating the problem from a corporate perspective and implementing a solution, discuss with employees the consequences of the problem and enlist their aid in helping to solve it. This shared approach creates deep ownership for employees in the company's success.

9) Practise what you preach
People do not necessarily commit to an organization; they commit to the employees and culture that drive it. Employees are the most content when they are able to become an integral part of their work community. Establish your corporate values, then make sure you walk the talk.

10) Always conduct an exit interview
Knowing why employees leave is fundamental in understanding turnowver rates. Ensure that the interviewer is someone the exiting employee trusts, to capture the most honest feedback. Tracking reasons for departure may uncover patterns that, when addressed, will help stem a further loss of good employees.

Seeing the big picture
Employees must be able to make a direct connection between their work and the organization's mission. If they can understand where they fit into the organization's "big picture", they will have a sense of pride and ownership in their work. Individuals who cannot see what value they are adding through their work are very likely to feel unwanted, and will be more inclined to look at other employment options.

Wisdom from Human Dr Sattar Bawany