• What can I do to ensure my success in my team and organization?
• How can I keep increasing my contributions to my organization?
• How can I align my efforts and energy to what is really relevant for my organization?
• Is there a systematic way I can plan for my own career growth?
• Why are my promotions delayed though my company is doing well?

The IT services industry is a people based business. In the long run, success and failure are determined by the quality of people in every team and organization. More importantly, how people develop and grow along business, leadership and technology dimensions during the course of their careers is often what determines the growth of the individuals, their respective teams and the organization as a whole. People development is therefore not surprisingly, a key corporate charter in all organizations. However, people development initiatives often face the challenges of scale (in large organizations) or prioritization (in small organizations). An environment that fosters a culture of self-development can play a big role in addressing these challenges. Usually, approaches towards self-development vary across individuals and teams in the organization – with corresponding variations in the results. The need therefore is not only for self-development, but for structured and systematic approaches to the same. 

The Four-Second Rule for Improved Communications

"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." Chances are you've come across this phrase sometime during your life. This piece of advice has been passed down for generations for a good reason--it's excellent advice.

I'm sure if you think about it--okay, think hard now--you can come up with a few instances when you've said things that you wish you could take back. Whether you spoke during a time when you were stressed, angry, disappointed or frustrated, or you offered up a piece of unsolicited advice during a period of relative calm, thinking about what you said still triggers feelings of discomfort and regret.

Okay, I admit it, in the past, like so many others, I've been a victim of the "open mouth/insert foot" syndrome. Upon occasion I've also been self-diagnosed with the "open mouth/insert leg" syndrome. Yes, there are times when, as a communicator, I've wanted to crawl under a big rock.

If you're prone to saying things that you later regret, here's my best advice: STOP! And, to aid you in this effort, I'd like to share with you the "Four-Second Rule" for better communications.

I hit upon the Four-Second Rule when working with individuals at NASA. During one of my communication workshops, a participant shared that astronauts are trained to make critical decisions in four seconds. So, in the same four seconds that the average person thinks, "Hmmm, do I want a Coke or Pepsi," astronauts are trained to make decisions which may affect whether or not they will successfully return to earth.

So what does the Four-Second Rule have to do with communications? Everything. Throughout the day as communicators we make critical decisions: what we say, the tone we use, who we communicate with, and what non-verbal messages we'll use to accompany our communication. Just think of how much better our relationships will be when, before we start to communicate, we take four seconds to consider the impact that our message will have.

Picture yourself in a stressful scenario where you need to communicate your feelings to someone. Now apply the Four-Second Rule:

Second #1- Take a deep breath and consider what it is that you want to say. Determine the point you want to make and what you'd like for the outcome to be. Realize that some words build up relationships and some words tear them down. Choose your words wisely.

Second #2 - Consider the tone of voice that you'll use. A calm and friendly tone certainly beats a tone that is loud, harsh, condescending, or sewn with sarcasm. If you know that you're "not in the mood" to be talking about something, then DON'T. Similarly, don't deliver messages that you know that you'll be apologizing for later, as doing so puts unnecessary strain on relationships.

Second #3- Make sure you're about to communicate your message to the right person. Misplaced anger or frustration is at the core of many communication problems. If you have an issue with a doctor, communicate that directly to him or her. Don't misdirect your communication to others on the unit, as doing so only contaminates the communications climate.

Second #4 - Consider your non-verbal behavior and how it contributes to or distracts from your message. When delivering your message, face the person, make eye contact and have an open stance. Remember, eye contact is one of the biggest indicators of how a relationship is going. Eliminate huffing, puffing, groaning and eye rolling from your non-verbal vocabulary. By doing so, you are guaranteed to increase the likelihood that positive communication will ensue.

Sometimes we need to "take a step back, to take a step forward." By using this Four Second countdown you'll communicate in a way that will keep others from going into orbit around you. And as those at NASA might say, by using the Four- Second Rule you will successfully complete your mission by keeping your communications down to earth.

Employee Communication: The Secret to Business Success

Business surveys consistently show us that poor workplace communication could be a major supply of employee dissatisfaction. The repercussions of this include not just low employee morale. Employee productivity suffers, together with a vary of other business performance indicators.

Business Impact of Poor Communication

Have you ever stopped to think about how much unsatisfactory communication practices are costing your business? A number of these costs embody: 

? increased employee turnover

? increased absenteeism

? dissatisfied customers from poor customer service

? higher product defect rates

? lack of specialize in business objectives

? stifled innovation

How several of these prices can you recognize in your business? You can flip the situation around. Staff can place in that further "discretionary effort" after they are kept informed brazenly and honestly on aspects of their job and the business and that they feel that they're being listened to with empathy.

Employee Communication Needs

What and how ought to you communicate together with your employees? Communication in your organization should satisfy the three key employee needs before they will be engaged and highly productive. Every and each employee needs to:

1. Apprehend that ...

-included here are facts regarding your organization and their specific job - what business you are in, who your customers are, specific details regarding your product or service, where forms are located, who to determine when there is a downside ...

2. Master that ...

-included here are the sensible skills required to try to to their job well - repairing a machine, filling out an invoice, designing a building, writing a software program ...

3. Feel that ...

-included here are the interactions that provide them a way of belonging and self-price - being listened to, revered, trusted, valued ...

Managers predominantly think about the primary need - grasp that - and pay less attention to the second would like to master skills. The third would like - feel that - is what makes workers distinctly human and what drives them to outstanding achievement in work and outdoors of work. And however it's in this dimension that employee communications are most lacking.

Look closely at the communication happening in your business. Is it satisfying what workers want to be absolutely engaged and operating productively? Contemplate each of the four basic levels of communication in your organization for a solution: 

1. Organization wide communication - involving all staff

2. Departmental communication - specific to 1 department or unit

3. Team communication - within one cohesive team or group

4. Individual communication - specific to one employee at any one time 

Communications may be working effectively at higher levels, with regular and informative newsletters emanating from Head Office. However, the standard and quantity of communications could fail dismally at the a lot of native level. The interpersonal skills of supervisors, team leaders and native managers are particularly important at levels 3 and 4, as these are the individuals that frontline employees develop operating relationships with most personally and closely. Several exit surveys have shown that workers commonly leave an organization as a result of of a poor operating relationship with a right away supervisor. How are the communication skills of the supervisors in your organization?

Just as necessary is that the communication between and at intervals levels. Gone are the days when departments may stand as silos, isolated from the rest of the organization by impenetrable barriers. Intra-national and international competition is currently so fierce that everyone in the organization desires to collaborate closely on solving organizational challenges and on achieving agreed strategic objectives. What are the communication barriers in your organization?

Where is your organization at in its life-cycle? Is it large or growing rapidly? As more folks are added to an organization, communication needs and stresses increase exponentially. Joe, who used to try and do purchasing, inspection and warehousing on his own now needs to speak to 3 other departments yet as the people in his own growing team. What structures, systems and processes has your organization place in place to encourage and facilitate effective communication flow?

Well-designed organizational culture surveys and employee communication surveys can determine how well your communication systems and practices are contributing to your organization's performance - or how abundant they're hindering performance. This data can then help you in devising a good employee communication strategy. No matter else you do, communication practices impact each facet of your business. Wanting closely at communication in your organization is well price your whereas, as a result of even if you do not, your staff are.

Resolving Workplace Conflict: 4 Ways to a Win-Win Solution

The effects of conflict in the workplace are widespread and costly. Its prevalence, as indicated by 3 serious studies, shows that twenty four-sixty% of management time and energy is spent coping with anger. This results in decreased productivity, increased stress among staff, hampered performance, high turnover rate, absenteeism and at its worst, violence and death.

Conflict in the workplace is the result of a selection of factors. Perhaps the most significant cause is when someone feels taken advantage of. This may happen when a perfectionist boss demands the same dedication and commitment from staff as he or she exhibits, however will not compensate them for the late or weekend hours.

Other scenarios embrace the worker having unrealistic expectations of what their job position extremely is, or of being misunderstood in the workplace. Conflict conjointly arises as a result of of values and goal variations in the company. The corporate may not have goals or not adequately specific the goals and values to their employees. Conversely, the employee may have personal goals and values at odds with those of the company.

There are four specific steps managers can take to cut back workplace conflict. The first is for managers to seem at communication skills, both in terms of how they convey and the way theyre teaching their staff to communicate with each other. This, after all, includes using I statements instead of you language. Owning your own feelings and your own communication may be a much additional effective approach to communicate and even additional, teaching your staff to speak that method with others, goes a long method toward reducing conflict.

The second part of communication is for managers to beef up listening skills. Active listening involves things like truly trying to perceive what the other person is saying, and then communicating to the other person that you are doing indeed perceive what theyre saying.

The second method to decrease workplace conflict is to establish healthy boundaries. Without boundaries, there will be conflict and squabbles, power struggles and all types of circumstances that make for messy situations.

You'll be skilled and be empathetic and compassionate toward your staff, while not crossing the line of changing into their friend. This is often especially important when theres a power distinction between 2 individuals in an employment situation.

The third factor to reducing conflict may be a skill referred to as emotional intelligence. There are many aspects and sides however it primarily means that developing skills to be more effective by teaching people to mix both intelligence and emotions in the workplace.

Seeing and dealing with workers as citizenry with real lives is typically overlooked within the busy workplace. People with high emotional intelligence can do this in a very skilled manner, and maintain acceptable boundaries. Another side of EQ is knowing and being sensitive to how employees are experiencing you as a manager. Half of EQ is teaching managers to be sensitive to how theyre returning across to others.

The fourth facet of reducing workplace conflict is putting in place behavioral consequences to be used with really uncooperative employees who are unwilling to change. Despite using of these recommendations, there can be a few workers that simply wont change as a result of theyre unwilling or unable. Meaning a manager should make a case for a consequence, which is an action or sanction that states to the worker the seemingly outcome of continuous problematic behavior. It will take skills from the 3 previous points to do this in a very non-threatening way.

Is there ever a place for anger in the workplace? Yes. When people can say, Wait a minute. Im not pleased with this; I dont like whats going on, and that they turn that anger into a positive action, then the anger can be seen as a quite motivator. Generally when were during a position where we acknowledge that we are upset about one thing, and we have a tendency to use that to our advantage, we have a tendency to can build that employment for us, and in the long run, really work for the company.

As staff, the additional we have a tendency to will learn to speak up, to be ready to mention what our desires and our needs are in a healthy way, and not let it fester to the point of rage or explosion, we tend to can use our anger as a motivator to assist us take action.

Employees will additionally modification their attitude toward their job whereas putting up with the unpleasant aspects of it. One method to reduce conflict and to be happier is to seek out a method to shift our perspective and our vision of why were there.

Id like to shut with a story thats going around concerning the janitor at Carnegie Hall who had been there for 20 years. Hes 45 years old. He was cleaning up the restroom, and a man during a business suit went up to him and said, You appear to be an intelligent fellow. For 20 years youve been cleaning the toilets. Why dont you do one thing together with your life and find another job?

And also the janitor said, What? And leave show business?

Its all in how we view the situation and understand what were doing that determines our satisfaction and success on the job.

Why Leaders Always Follow Their Instincts

What separates a rich person from an ordinary person? The answer to that question is attitude. If one believes that the individual is capable of succeeding, it will happen. All it takes is some hard work and patience for everything to fall into place for that dream to become a reality.

This all starts on how an individual is brought up. This is nurtured from childhood in the forms of ideas and beliefs that one has learned through experience and has been taught by parents, peers and society. This develops later on in college until the person has already found work. It is a continuous process where one evolves and when the time is right, it will just come out and unleash its brilliance to everyone.

Industry leaders at times make strategic decisions that are not normal. These people sometimes take a gamble and hope that it works. Nobody thought that building a city in the middle of the desert will work. Years later, it is thriving with business which is known today as Las Vegas. 

The main reason why leaders sometimes follow ones instincts is because something is calling on the person to do it. This is the similar to people who survived a plane crash and will do whatever it takes to make it out alive and be rescued. These people donít look at the short term but look at the potential of what it can become 5 to 10 years onwards. By sharing that vision with other people, it becomes a common goal which everyone will work hard to achieve.

Inventors create new things because these people see a need. If cable was not invented, there wouldnít be telephones and satellite communications to this very day. If everyone just sat back and relaxed, changes will not occur. 

Sometimes a certain product has already been made. By looking around and checking if it can further be improved, one can refine it and be known as the person who did it. 

The reason why leaders are always on the go is because these people have the passion for it. This love is not just to make more money but to make a mark that will be recognized by society for the contributions one has given to improve the way of life. By learning from the mistakes of others and knowing what to avoid, one can do better than how it was done before. 

Becoming a good leader is learning from the success of other people. This can be conducted in trainings and seminars that the company or outside consultancies provide and case studies a person can study in school. This all helps prepare the person to ask the question of; what would one do given a situation? 

There are many possible answers but there is only one answer that is correct. Sometimes that answer may seem illogical but it pays off. Some people call it a sixth sense and regard such people as visionaries. These special individuals who are here now are people way ahead of the times.

Everyone has the potential of doing something great. It doesnít have to be building a city out of nothing. It just means that sometimes one should rely on gut feel and given a situation think outside the box. It is this factor that makes one business one step ahead of the competition. 

Opportunities donít happen very often. If one has a business and sees that acquiring this will make the company stronger, one should take it. The same thing goes in life. When a situation presents itself, someone should step up and express interest in it because if someone gets to it first, the person will just regret not taking it instead of being happy.

Everyone has instinct. One should just know how to use it and take the gamble. There is a saying that goes, no one will know unless it is tried. That is true because no matter what the outcome may be, at least the individual did the best that anyone in the position would do. 

Should that endeavor be successful, one can proudly say it is done. On the other hand if it doesnít work out, one should not lose hope. Other oppurtunities will come which are much bigger and better than the latter.

10 Steps To Think Like A CEO

By: Tony Jacowski

Golda Meir, the Russian born Israeli politician once said, “I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.” How very true. This is the perfect example for how a businessman must think. The lesson that this quote teaches is to think differently while still being within the limits of reason. It emphasizes the importance of time and time management. What are some other traits of successful businessmen and what are the steps one must take in order to cultivate your business aptitude? Here are a few pointers to help you develop your business thinking.

Step by Step Guide to Think like a Businessman

From the beginning, you must accept that there is no shortcut to success and hard work has no substitute.

1. Only worker bees don’t need to have cross-business knowledge: Gone are the days when businesses were insulated from global economic changes. At times when almost all the businesses are globally connected at some level, it is wise to gain cross business knowledge. For example, as an investment consultant, you can’t restrict your clients to investing locally just because you lack international knowledge.

2. Don’t daydream but do dream big: Achieving your dreams is possible unless you are daydreaming. It is OK to dream big; this is the way that goals get accomplished. Just don’t get caught up in trying to achieve the impossible. In other words, start out with smaller, attainable goals, and then work your way up to the bigger ones!

3. Each success or failure is your responsibility: Don’t cry over spilled milk. You are responsible for every success or failure in your business irrespective of whether or not your staff contributed.

4. Strike a Balance: Exhaustion will eventually wear you down physically and mentally. You need to find a way to balance your work and personal lives. You can’t allow one to thrive at the expense of the other.

5. Defy the nature: This is not exactly defying the truth but the general misconception. By the way, working against time is defying the nature.

6. Plan Strategically Like a Military Chief: Military chiefs plan every move meticulously without leaving anything to chance. You should do the same. You can expect to fail without a plan. Don’t let this happen to you. Failure to plan is the same thing as planning to fail.

7. Be courageous: Anticipate extremely complex situations that, of course, need bold actions. Accept that nothing great gets accomplished without risk. Be willing to put yourself out there and take some risk.

8. Accept challenges: When growth is the objective, challenges, both known and unforeseen, are inevitable. Face them, and as you move forward you will grow in confidence to face more of them.

9. Be patient: This is one greatest character a CEO possesses. Patience always pays off in the long run. Losing your cool at any stage, especially at the threshold of victory, will see your years of effort going right down the drain.

10.Sense Victory: Sensing victory beforehand is crucially essential. The awareness that you have come close to victory will often decide whether you make it or not. Without being able to sense victory, you may not notice the last step you probably have to take. This is what they call ‘pulling it off.’