A client recently asked me if I had a tool that would help her track and collect measurement data during the course of a project. “Have you got a tool for that?”
It made me realize that when it comes to measurement we really harp on the planning skills. Which is crucial. But the collection, tracking, analysis and reporting are equally important. How many of us have planned our measurement, but never carried through?
So, here are some tips that will get your measurement skills up to speed across the entire measurement lifeline.
- Planning
- Target metrics that connect to business goals and prove communication success
- Find out what the organization is already collecting
- Determine the frequency of collection, approach of collection (e.g., survey, interview, electronic) and owner for each metric
- Collection and tracking
- Identify due dates for all the collection activity
- Determine all the collection logistics in advance so you don’t miss anything
- Automate what you can (e.g., invitations, reminders, electronic data reports)
- For longer-term efforts with multiple measurement points, document key data points and findings as they come in
- Analysis
- Identify the three most relevant findings
- Identify the most surprising finding
- Identify the findings that require additional follow up
- Categorize, count and analyze open-ended comments
- Consider the benefits of cross-tabulating some of your quantitative data
- Assess what worked well in the data collection process and what did not
- Reporting
- Understand the expectations and interests of the stakeholders to whom you are reporting
- Break out recommendations by short-term and long-term timing
- Identify those findings that best connect to goals
- Be realistic about how much you can present in the given time
- Determine which visuals and which words will be most useful to incorporate
- Identify the final call to action
- Anticipate questions and prepare a response
If you approach items two through four with the same diligence communicators typically approach item one, you’ll be more apt to follow through. And follow through means having more and better data, and more and better data means proving our value.
Proving our value through great measurement is one ingredient in the recipe for becoming a trusted advisor. Thinking strategically throughout the measurement lifeline is another. And, yes, we have tools for every step of the way.
Stacy Wilson, ABC, is president of Eloquor Consulting, Inc., in Lakewood, Colorado
The value of this Business Plan process is the thinking that it forces you to do about your business, your products and services, your goals and the actions you’ll take to achieve your goals. Even if no one but you ever sees the plan, you will have given purposeful and logical thought to the purpose and direction of your business. This process helps ensure that the many activities you squeeze into your limited hours are time well spent – focused on moving your business forward in an aggressive yet realistic way.
Part 1: Analysis
Core Services
- List the core services (or products) you offer
- Be as specific as possible, but put similar items in a group (e.g., “Editorial Services” includes writing, editing, etc.)
Target Markets
- List the market segments you serve
- Be realistic; if you realistically cannot serve large corporations, for example, then don’t include them
- Be as specific as possible, but put similar items in a group unless there is a compelling reason to list them separately (e.g., “School Groups” could include secondary schools and colleges, but these segments might have different needs)
Competition Analysis
- List your competitors and a brief description of them
- Unless a specific competitor presents unique challenges to your business, it is OK to list them in groups (e.g., “Independent Practitioners” or “Small Agencies”)
- The purpose is to provide yourself a picture of what your business is up against as you market your core service
Vision and Mission Statements
- It is useful to have Vision and Mission statements that keep you focused on what is important to you
- Vision Statement should describe the “ideal state” of your business; it should be achievable, but also something to strive for
- Mission Statement succinctly states what your business is about, its purpose, the role it plays in the market
Part 2: Assumptions
Business Principles
- It is useful to develop a set of Business Principles that guide how you will conduct your business
- These principles have a direct bearing on your relationships with customers and clients
- The reason to include it under “Assumptions” is because your Business Principles are conditions under which your business operates; as you will see further in this section, you will list other conditions under which your business operates as well
Economic Assumptions
- List things you know about the economy (local, state, regional, national, international – whatever you believe affects your business)
- Include relevant historical facts (e.g., “the U.S. economy fell into recession in 2001”) and how they affect your ability to do business
- Note the impact of past, current, or anticipated economic conditions on your business and the products/services you provide
Financial Assumptions
- List things you know about your personal and/or business financial situation that affect your ability to do business and to grow your business
- Include things like cash flow issues, savings programs, the financial picture as a result of actions or conditions (a recession, recent investments, loan approvals, etc.)
- Reflect financial “realities” about your business (e.g., the need to control expenses, taxes owed, upcoming capital expenditures, expanding payroll, etc.)
Technological Assumptions
- Since so many businesses – large and small – depend on technology (web, e-mail, phone, etc.) today, it is useful to think about how these issues affect your business’s ability to succeed
- Think about upgrades of hardware and software, the impact of growth and expansion on your technological needs, training that will be necessary, etc.
Part 3: Strategic Summary
SWOT Analysis
- List all the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats about your business
- Be honest with yourself; don’t hold anything back or ignore realities
Key Success Factors
- Out of your SWOT Analysis, what are the key factors that will affect the ability of your business to succeed?
- Examples: strong reputation, broad client base, repeat business, unique provider, etc.
Competitive Advantages / Disadvantages
- Create lists of your competitive advantages and disadvantages based on your analysis of everything else up to this point
- What unique advantages does your business have in the marketplace?
- What distinct disadvantages does your business have?
- Be honest and don’t hold back because you will develop strategies based largely on this informatio
Strategic Goals
- Develop two or three broad Strategic Goals for your business in the next year or the next 3-5 years, depending on the scope of your plan
- Strategic Goals should be “big picture” goals, but they should also be specific enough that you can measure them
- Under each goal, list one to three specific, measurable components
- Example of a Strategic Goal: “Grow Client Base”
- Example of specific, measurable component: “Add at least X new clients by X date”
- Make your goals SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-driven
Tactical Actions
- Out of your Strategic Goals, list specific actions you will take that will help you achieve them
- Examples: Meet with two new prospective clients per month; Join a professional association to expand my network
- Create a calendar that plots when each tactical activity will occur so you don’t forget to do them
Every once in a while consultants are challenged to put their ideas into practice. Such was my experience this week. Colleague Shel Holtz, ABC and a co-host Neville Hobson, ABC, host a podcast “For Immediate Release” twice a week. This week, Shel invited me to join another measurement guru, Angela Sinickas, ABC as the featured guests on their regular podcast.
For the past year, I have been advocating that communication and management leaders need to include blogs, wikis and podcasts in their arsenal of communication channels. Blogs have been a relatively easy sell. They have increased in visibility, value and usage. Wikis are still a bit of a mystery but there is a small awakening there. Podcasts, on the other hand, are still in the incubator. The innovators and the early adopters of new ideas are just beginning to warm up to the concept.
Podcasting evolved with the birth of Apple’s iPod and the ability to publish audio files on the internet. A podcast is simply and audio blog. The audio files can be accessed on the internet and aspiring broadcasters can self-publish or ‘broadcast’ radio style programming using the internet as the distribution channel. Unlike regular radio, the podcasts can be accessed, downloaded and played by anyone, anytime, anywhere.
Podcasting began in the fall of 2003 and really became a growth phenomenon in late 2004. Shel and Neville launched “For Immediate Release”(FIR) in January 2005. Their listening audience has been growing in leaps and bounds. Their focus is on issues and innovations in communication and public relations. Shel brings a North American perspective from California and Neville from Amsterdam.
Each podcast is accompanied by a detailed guide to the content of the podcast – about one hour in length. Each topic has a time code so that you can select pieces of the broadcast rather than listening to it all in one sitting. Every person, topic and organization mentioned in the podcast is listed in the notes with links to relevant web sites. “For Immediate Release” is a model for others considering getting into the field.
It will only be a short time before enlightened organizations start using this new channel for communicating with customers, suppliers and employees. It has huge potential with its advantages of immediacy, convenience and consumability. It is the ultimate commuter’s communication channel as you sit in the bus, train or traffic jam listening to a podcast that you have downloaded in to your iPod before leaving home or the office.
So how did Angela and I do on our podcast? Well hear for yourself. The podcast was published in the June 22, 2005 edition of “For Immediate Release”. You can find the podcast at http://www.forimmediaterelease.biz with the detailed podcast notes. So you can listen to it all, select the parts that interest you or just see what this new communication channel is all about.
There is a link for comments at the end of the notes just like a blog. Give us your feedback and let us know what you thought of the issues we discussed.
Tudor Williams
Throwing chairs, tossing zingers and misusing the English language are probably not the best tactics to ensure your message is heard
If you want people to hear what you have to say, give them something worth listening to.
Sounds simple, right? If that’s the case, why does effectively communicating a viewpoint seem to be such a lost art these days?
We are living in the age of Jerry Springer, the TV talk-show host who delights in chair-throwing, bleep-inducing confrontations between people who need serious sedation and anger-management training. Not surprisingly, this kind of in-your-face entertainment has spilled over to more “serious” news programs on formerly respectable networks.
Look at what’s happening. There’s the weird rant of Tom Cruise in a “Today” show interview (which really wasn’t news except that Cruise apparently invented a new meaning for the word “glib”). There’s the printed gripe session in my hometown newspaper in which the same five people seem to be bickering endlessly. There are town-hall meetings – both in the public arena and in company auditoriums all over America – in which the greatest applause is reserved for the person who tosses the best zinger. And now there are blogs, online journals where freedom of expression is pushed to the extreme (I can’t wait for the inevitable tests of this freedom in future court cases).
As someone who makes a living out of trying to help people communicate effectively, all of this is frequently disheartening. As the volume increases, it is more difficult to hear what people are really trying to say.
Listening to different viewpoints is fun. I learn a lot from hearing people talk about what is important to them. Businesses can learn and grow, too, by listening to employees, customers, suppliers and other important groups. But good information gets lost when it’s wrapped in anything that detracts from the message.
Here are some ways to make sure your message isn’t lost:
Know how to use the language. For some people, all the rules of grammar and spelling are enough to cause hyperventilation. (I feel the same way about math.) But let’s face it: communication depends on knowing how to use the tools correctly. If you’re writing a letter to the editor, committing a grammatical error like “your an idiot” will detract from your message. There is little excuse for poor grammar and misspelling in these days of dictionaries and computerized spell-check.
Don’t let pure emotion take over. It is OK to be emotional when speaking on a subject about which you feel strongly. But when emotion is so strong that it overpowers the message, your audience will remember the outburst and forget what brought it on.
Keep your message simple. Whether you are speaking or writing, the person on the other end will remember only so much. (Think about how much information overload you have in your own life.) Rather than drift off into a half-dozen tangents, stick to the central message you want your audience to remember.
Keep your sense of humor. Humor is a wonderful weapon for defusing tense situations. Use it carefully, however, and aim it mostly toward yourself. Be willing to recognize when someone else is attempting to use humor and don’t take yourself so seriously.
Kill them with kindness. You can attract more bees with honey than you can with vinegar. My career has included a fair amount of communicating strong opinions, but I learned long ago that you can be opinionated and kind at the same time.
The second most frequently asked question I receive is “Where can I find good humorous material?” (The most frequent question I’m asked is “May I please see your driver’s license, sir?”)
Anyway, my answer used to be a list of books, magazines and newspapers. It was a long list that required a trip to the library unless you wanted to spend a fortune on subscriptions to a lot of publications. Then the Internet came along and almost changed the situation. Instead of recommending a long list of periodicals, I started recommending a longer list of web sites.
The problem was that if you liked a site, then you’d bookmark it. And that was the kiss of death. Because how often have you gone back to view the sites in your bookmarks? Be honest now. Not too often, right? In fact, if you’re like most web surfers, you’ve got a bookmark full of sites that you’ve never looked at since book-marking them. Let’s face it. Book-marking a website has become the high-tech version of taping something on your VCR. (But I really am going to watch that tape of the C-SPAN special on the history of politics some day. Uh-huh.)
Here’s the good news. As an old motivational guru once said, “When faced with a problem, make it into problemonade.” So here’s what I’ve done. As a special service to anyone interested in using humor in oral or written communication, I’ve created a super site. (Not the polluted kind!) It’s a web site packed with thousands of links to incredibly great sources of funny material. Here’s a guided tour.
Start by surfing to http://www.museumofhumor.com. That’s the homepage. Along the bottom of the page you’ll see a button labeled “For Clergy.” This section of the museum contains over 700 links to sermons about laughter, joy, humor and happiness, as well as links to humorous material appropriate for use in sermons. If you’re worried about finding material that’s in good taste, it doesn’t get more appropriate than this. Click on some of the sermons to see how clergy have used quips and jokes to make various points. You may be able to adapt them for your own purposes.
Now go back to the homepage. Along the left side of the page, you’ll find a button labeled “Resources.” Click on that and you’ll come to a page divided into three sections: News, Tools and Material. Under “News” you’ll find links to offbeat news stories. These can provide fabulous topical material, especially if you look at them on the day that you’re scheduled to give a speech. They’re great for developing a humorous opening to your presentation.
The “Tools” section provides links to variety of web sites that can provide material for your presentation or help you write it. For example, “Today In History” and “Those Were The Days” give you lists of events, birthdays and other things that occurred on the day that you’re speaking. The “Lexical Freenet” is a great word association tool for brainstorming ideas and phrases to use in your presentation.
The “Material” section is what you want to see especially if you can’t tell a joke. Instead of dividing material by subject-matter (the traditional way), it groups material by type of humor. Categories include “Anecdotes & Jokes,” “Carnac,” “Definitions,” “Goofups,” “Insults & Comebacks,” “Laws & Lists,” “One Liners,” “Quotes,” and “Topical Humor.” Click on the type of humor that you feel comfortable using. You’ll be transported to a page with lots of links to your desired humor type.
Below the “Material” section is a section labeled “Cartoons.” Cartoons are a fantastic and yet overlooked form of oral humor. Why? Because even if you can’t tell a joke, you can probably describe a cartoon. (I’ve never met anyone who couldn’t.) That means you can make a point by describing a cartoon, just as you would make a point by telling a joke. The links provided will allow you to peruse thousands of cartoons until you find one that makes your point. (Tip: look for one that’s easy for your audience to visualize as you say it.)
OK, let’s go back to the homepage. On the left you’ll see a button labeled “Library.” Clicking it takes you to – here’s a big surprise – the library. You will be most interested in the middle section labeled “How To.” It includes links to a wide variety of how to articles ranging from “How to Make Meetings Fun” to “How to Write a Humorous Speech.”
Let’s return to the homepage one more time. On the left you’ll see a button for “Exhibits.” Click on it. Then click on “Talk Culture” and then click on “Talk Wine (New Style).” What you’ll find is a funny analogy generator. Although I’ve set it up to generate analogies for wine, you can use the analogies to describe anything. For example, I just clicked the button and got: This wine is like “watching Gilligan’s Island for the first time, not quite humbling but close.” Well, that’s a good analogy for lots of other things you might be writing or speaking about. Just keep hitting the button on the analogy generator until you get something you can use. They’re not prewritten. The computer combines phrases to keep generating new ones.
Want to help support the museum? Visit the gift shop and buy someone a present. Or become a museum member.
And that’s no joke!
###
Malcolm Kushner, “America’s Favorite Humor Consultant,” is an internationally acclaimed expert on humor and communication. A co-creator of the humor exhibit at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Kushner is the author of several books including Public Speaking For Dummies which has sold over 100,000 copies. He has been profiled in Time Magazine, USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post and numerous other publications. His television and radio appearances include CNN, National Public Radio, CNBC, “Voice of America” and “The Larry King Show.” Prior to becoming a humor consultant, he practiced law with a major San Francisco law firm. A popular speaker at corporate and association meetings, Kushner is based in Santa Cruz, California. For more information, and lots of humor you can use in your next presentation, check out http://www.museumofhumor.com.
Can’t tell a joke? No problem. Use simple types of humor that don’t require any special comic ability. There are lots of them available – analogies, quotes, definitions, one-liners. They’re so short that they don’t require comic delivery. Anyone can use them successfully.
As always, the key to success is analogizing your humor to a point. Funny analogies are perfect because they’re automatically relevant. (Otherwise they wouldn’t be analogies). And they’re so short, they don’t require comic delivery. They’re easy to deliver and highly effective.
For example, let’s say you want to make the point that some proposed course of action is illogical. You might say that the proposal doesn’t make sense. It’s like the fellow who heard that 90% of accidents occur within ten miles of home so he moved twenty miles away.
Anyone can deliver that line. It’s not hysterical, but it’s not supposed to be. It’s mildly amusing and it highlights a point. Remember, the goal is simply to communicate the fact that you have a sense of humor.
Funny quotes also provide a simple way to add humor to a presentation. They are easy to find. They gain immediate attention. And, if selected with panache, they make you sound quite erudite.
For example, let’s work with a quote from one of America’s most famous astronauts:
I believe it was Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, who was asked if he had been nervous before he went into space. He said, “Of course, who wouldn’t be? There I was sitting on top of 9,999 parts and bits — each of which had been made by the lowest bidder.”
This is excellent for client presentations explaining the justification for premium pricing — the old you get what you pay for argument. You could also use it to make points about quality, government spending, pessimism and bravery. But that list just scratches the surface. You can analogize the Armstrong quote to almost any point if you think about it long enough. Most important, anyone can use the quote — it doesn’t require comic delivery.
Here are a few more examples.
Let’s say a rival is bragging that his just completed report is a classic. You might add: “Well as Mark Twain once said ‘A classic is something that everyone wants to have read and nobody wants to read.'”
Or your opponent, the windbag, has finally finished a long, flowery argument during a company meeting. You can say: “Will Rogers must have been thinking of that when he said ‘In some states they no longer hang murderers. They kill them by elocution.'”
Or some miscreant has the audacity to ask what you do for exercise. You affect your best
withering stare and say: “In the words of Fred Allen, ‘I like long walks — especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.'”
But you don’t have to wait for specific situations to arise. Many quotes can be easily dropped into casual conversations — particularly if you want to wax philosophic. Here are a few of my favorites:
Martin Buxbaum: “If you think you have someone eating out of your hand, it’s a good idea to count your fingers.”
Fulton J Sheen: “The big print giveth and the fine print taketh away.”
Woody Allen: “I think crime pays. The hours are good, you travel a lot.”
Lily Tomlin: “If truth is beauty, how come no one has their hair done in a library?”
Lucille Ball: “The secret to staying young is living honestly, eating slowly and lying about your age.”
Where can you find appropriate humorous quotes? Just go to http://www.museumofhumor.com and click on “Resources”. Under a heading titled “Material” you’ll find a list of simple types of humor including quotes, definitions and one-liners. Click on the type of material that you want and you’ll be taken to a goldmine of links. And that’s no joke!
Malcolm Kushner, “America’s Favorite Humor Consultant,” is an internationally acclaimed expert on humor and communication. A co-creator of the humor exhibit at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Kushner is the author of several books including Public Speaking For Dummies which has sold over 100,000 copies. He has been profiled in Time Magazine, USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post and numerous other publications. His television and radio appearances include CNN, National Public Radio, CNBC, “Voice of America” and “The Larry King Show.” Prior to becoming a humor consultant, he practiced law with a major San Francisco law firm. A popular speaker at corporate and association meetings, Kushner is based in Santa Cruz, California. For more information, and lots of humor you can use in your next presentation, check out http://www.museumofhumor.com.
Instead of checking email continuously and from multiple devices, schedule specific email time during the day while you are at your computer. All other time is email vacation time.
We are most efficient when we answer email in bulk at our computers. We move faster, can access files when we need them, and link more quickly and easily to other programs like our calendars. Also, when we sit down for the express purpose of doing emails, we have our email heads on. We are more focused, more driven, wasting no time in transition from one activity to another.
I bulk process my email three times a day in 30-minute increments, once in the morning, once mid-day, and once before shutting down my computer for the day. I use a timer and when it beeps, I close my email program.
Outside my designated email times I don’t access my email — from any device — until my next scheduled email session. I no longer use my phone for email unless I’m away from my computer all day.
When the urge to check arises — and it arises often — I take a deep breath and feel whatever feelings come up. And then I focus on whatever I’m doing, even if what I’m doing is waiting. I let my mind relax.
Here’s what I’ve found: I don’t miss a thing.
In fact, it’s the opposite. I gain presence throughout my day. I am focused on what’s around me in the moment, without distraction. I listen more attentively, notice people’s subtle reactions I would otherwise overlook, and come up with more ideas as my mind wanders. I’m more productive, more sensitive, more creative, and happier.
Humor is a powerful communication tool. It can gain attention, create rapport, and make ideas more memorable. It can also relieve tension and put things in perspective. In today’s ultra-competitive, high-pressure workplace, a sense of humor is an indispensable tool for success.
Scoring Points With Humor
Your first step in harnessing the power of humor is to use it for a purpose. Irrelevant humor is usually perceived as a distraction and time-waster. Whether you’re speaking to one person or one hundred, humor is more effective if it makes a point.
A good example comes from Robert Clarke, a former U.S. comptroller of the currency. Speaking to the National Council of Savings Institutions, he discussed how regulatory tools could be used to promote a sound banking system.
A friend of mine, an honors graduate of Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University, an “aggie,” spent the first half of the 1980s lusting for a car phone. Finally, he convinced himself that it was a necessity, not a luxury, so he bought one. The day he bought it, he called me from his car to tell me the news. And I didn’t hear from him again for about a month. Finally I saw him on the street and he seemed really down in the dumps. I asked him what was wrong and he said it was the car phone. “What do you mean?” I asked, “You wanted that phone more than anything you ever did.” And he said: “Yeah, but it’s wearing me down having to run to the garage every time it rings.”
Regulations — like telephones — are instruments. They can be used effectively. They can be used adequately. Or they can be misused….
The story is effective because it illustrates a key point — that regulations are merely tools. But note that the story could illustrate other ideas. It would be equally effective for making points about office automation, productivity and training. In fact, the story can be used to illustrate any point to which you can analogize it. The process is only limited by your imagination.
Is it worth taking a few minutes to analogize your humor to a point? Absolutely. The biggest cause of “bombing” is starting a presentation with a joke that has nothing to do with anything.
Here’s why: Relevance reduces resistance. A basic tenet of audience psychology holds that people resist humor if they think you’re trying to be humorous. They put a comedy chip on their shoulders. Think of the last time you saw a comedian stride up to a microphone. Your first thought was probably “You think you’re funny — prove it!”
When humor is used to make a point our reactions are quite different. We recognize that the speaker is using humor primarily to make a point and only secondarily to be funny. We’re more open to accepting the humor. Most important, even if we don’t think it’s funny, the humor still makes a point and moves the presentation forward. The speaker isn’t left in the embarrassing limbo called “bombing.”
Create a Positive Image
Managers, executives and professionals who use humor in presentations with clients and colleagues come across as more approachable. Numerous social science studies verify this effect — a little humor can increase your likeability a lot. And it’s easier to maintain morale and enthusiasm by showing you have a good sense of humor.
This is particularly true of self-effacing humor. Staff workers, as well as clients, are delighted when executives poke fun at themselves. They’re also astounded because it’s such a rare occurrence. That’s why it’s so effective. In a world of big egos, posturing, pompousness and arrogance, poking a little fun at yourself is a competitive advantage. It reflects confidence and security. It also creates rapport with your audience who enjoy learning that you’re not a stuffed shirt.
We would all do well to imitate the example set by the late Fred Hoar. A veteran Silicon Valley advertising and public relations executive, Hoar knows that his name has an unfortunate connotation — particularly when linked with his profession. In order to counter the negative meaning and show his sense of humor, he made fun of the situation. He begins his presentations by saying, “My name is Fred Hoar. That’s spelled F, R, E, D.” His audience was instantly won over.
One caveat: Don’t go overboard with self-effacing humor. If you use it too often or make it too personal, then you will appear neurotic. No one wants to hear you barrage yourself with putdowns about your weight or other physical traits. Your quips should be designed to put people at ease, not to make them uncomfortable.
Anyone Can Use Humor
What if you can’t tell a joke? What if you’re not “naturally” funny? Are you sentenced to life imprisonment in the lawyer stereotype — cold, gray and heartless. Not at all. In fact, you can parole yourself at any time.
You don’t have to be a professional comedian to use humor successfully. If you can’t tell a joke, you can still slip a light remark into a speech or conversation. Fred Hoar’s line about his name is a perfect example. It’s not a joke per se. So it doesn’t require comic delivery. Anyone could deliver that line effectively. (OK, anyone who’s name is Hoar.)
My point is that there’s a big difference between being funny and communicating a sense of humor. No one expects you to be hilarious. And it’s not professionally desirable to emulate Bozo the Clown. Your goal should simply be to show that you possess a sense of humor. It’s a trait that is universally admired.
Start Today
There’s an old joke about a managing partner who hated procrastination. So he hung up a sign that said: “Do It Now.” Within 24 hours, his paralegal quit, his secretary took a vacation, and his junior partner stole the firm’s biggest client.
Despite these risks, I’m going to advise you to “do it now” — start communicating your sense of humor today. Hang a cartoon on your office wall. Tell a joke that makes a point. Start looking for opportunities to institutionalize humor in your workplace.
Make humor a habit. It will make you a more effective professional. And that’s no joke!
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Malcolm Kushner, “America’s Favorite Humor Consultant,” is an internationally acclaimed expert on humor and communication. A co-creator of the humor exhibit at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Kushner is the author of several books including Public Speaking For Dummies which has sold over 100,000 copies. He has been profiled in Time Magazine, USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post and numerous other publications. His television and radio appearances include CNN, National Public Radio, CNBC, “Voice of America” and “The Larry King Show.” Prior to becoming a humor consultant, he practiced law with a major San Francisco law firm. A popular speaker at corporate and association meetings, Kushner is based in Santa Cruz, California. For more information, and lots of humor you can use in your next presentation, check out http://www.museumofhumor.com.
How are you gathering data and intelligence from your employees, peers and bosses to make smart decisions?
In other words, how well do you listen?
It’s a skill all of us can work on. Once you’ve mastered the fundamentals, there are a number ways to raise the bar. Follow these steps to become a better listener:
- Approach each dialogue with the goal to learn something. Think, “This person can teach me something.”
- Stop talking and focus closely on the speaker. Suppress the urge to multitask or think about what you are going to say next.
- Open and guide the conversation with broad, open-ended questions such as “How do you envision…” or “Help me understand how you’re thinking about this.”
- Then, drill down to the details, where needed, by asking direct, specific questions that focus the conversation, such as “Tell me more about…,” “How would this work?” or “What challenges might we face?”
AT WORK:
Send concise, work related emails; call if matter is urgent, needs discussion/input with a quick resolution; or if best way to reach someone.
NEVER send long, unnecessarily wordy emails;
NEVER send chain emails.
And you DON’T always need to copy everyone on every email – use your judgement.
PERSONAL:
Call if matter is urgent and recipient may not see it in time; if matter needs discussion/input with a quick decision; and again, if it’s the preferred communication channel.
Don’t send chain emails and jokes unless recipient confirms they like them;
DON’T facebook or email messages of condolence, congratulations, birthday and other special greetings UNLESS you supplement them with a call. Your family, friends, and relatives deserve that much!!
Read full article via Fast Company
The first step to listening better is to recognize the fact that you don’t. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you really hearing what others are saying? Or are you only passively listening?
- Are you focused on their words? Or are you thinking about what you will say next?
- Are you putting yourself in the shoes of the other person? Or are you only interested in meeting your own objectives?
- Do you ask a lot of questions? Or are you doing all of the talking?
- Are you hearing what they are really saying? Or are you too colored by your own perceptions, judgments and filters?
This last question is critical. If you are honest, you will most likely begin to see that your filters are getting in the way of communication. By recognizing that you even possess these filters, you can become more aware when they begin to color your interpretations. This allows you the choice to set them aside so you can create an effective opening to listen.
I was flying from the Midwest to Seattle. She was my seatmate. And she was clearly in meltdown mode.
“I’m a recruiter,” she said, naming a well-known technology company. “And I spend my life dealing with email. I shouldn’t even take the time to talk with you.” She seemed like a nice person – but frazzled to the max.
She spent most of our four-hour flight doing two things – typing with furious abandon on her laptop, and pouring out her heart to me. She told me the flow of email was relentless. “On a quiet afternoon,” more than 200 messages dropped into her in-box. For her, there was no escape – not even at 31,000 feet.
At age 39, she was seriously thinking of fleeing her job in order to preserve her sanity.
“I’m usually a positive person,” she said. “I don’t like what this job has done to me. It’s a job I wanted, but I may need to leave it so I can get back to who I am.”
I wanted to share some “best practices.” I wanted to give her five easy steps to making things OK. But the fact is, we’re still catching up when it comes to how to use email.
Microsoft – whose software is used to send and receive more emails than anyone else’s – has come up with some useful technical tools. The latest version of Outlook, with its vertical message pane and colorful flags – is an improvement on what’s come before.
Microsoft Marketeer John Porcaro recently posted a colorful look at the company’s email culture, along with his favorite email tips. Microsoft itself has some well-intended advice on better emailing – but it’s on the simplistic side, and way too difficult to find and access.
And when I called Microsoft’s “Crabby Office Lady” (whose columns are actually pretty good) to ask about best practices . . . let’s just say she lived up to her name.
David Allen – author of the best-selling “Getting Things Done” – has come up with an Outlook “add-in” that allows you to delegate a message, create a task for yourself, hit the “snooze” button (the email will reappear after a certain number of days), and several other options. Business author Chuck Martin has weighed in with “Seven Tips for Getting Control of Email.”
All these are somewhat helpful – yet all are woefully incomplete. Where is the team of psychologists, anthropologists, information designers and technologists who can assemble a comprehensive approach to email that will truly help individual and corporate productivity?
There’s a golden opportunity here for the folks in Redmond to take the lead on this. They could contribute to crafting some holistic – not just technological – solutions to the problems their technology has helped create. Not only would it earn them the gratitude of companies worldwide, it would advance Microsoft’s cause of “Trustworthy Computing” – and they could probably monetize it.
And, on a future airplane flight, my seatmate might be able to open a John Grisham novel instead of her laptop.
I’ve always considered myself a public relations professional by trade. Even when the general perception of PR isn’t all that good, I still try to advocate for stronger ethics, better measures and more honorable tactics than those that give the industry an iffy reputation. But despite the last several years of trying to help many of my colleagues better understand that blasting and lists and impersonal communications is not only generally not effective but under certain conditions illegal, too many still don’t get it.
So let’s review … and this time pay attention:
- If you email a blogger, media member or otherwise individual with a pulse and they do not know you and didn’t ask you to email them, you are — at most — introducing yourself. If you do anything more than that, you are spamming them.
- If you email anyone for a commercial purpose — and outreach on behalf of a company or organization is for a commercial purpose — your email and company or firm is subject to the CAN-SPAM act. As such, among other things, your email has to have a “clear and conspicuous” explanation of how to to opt-out of your emails. By the way, you also have to clearly identify the communication as advertising. And if you think PR isn’t advertising in this case, roll the dice. I’m sure a judge won’t agree with your COM 204 professor’s definition. And PRSA is understandably nut-less, all but endorsing email spam, when it comes to their official reaction to this notion. (Thank you for prodding them, Josh.)
- Media database companies cannot possibly update tens of thousands of media member’s contact information or preferences to the extent you can rely on them to not get you in trouble with a blogger who agrees with the first two points. Automation, even using companies claiming to have awesome data to drive it, is not cool.
- Yes, this makes scaling your media outreach next to impossible. But that’s a good thing. Your “list” is supposed to be a list of personal contact information for people you know and have some sort of professional relationship or contact with. They should be glad to open your emails. Any list that is more than that is one that should comply to No. 2.
Yeah, I know it sucks. I used to think PR was easy, too. I’d download my list of 400 outlets that qualified under my target parameters, copy and paste my press release and hope like hell for some pick up. I’d follow up and call about 15 key media outlets and develop the relationship part, maybe get 5-6 of them to bite on the story, along with the 2-3 dozen small town newspapers that were so starved for content they copy-pasted my release, and made my clients or bosses happy.
You’re in the communications business. Communications wasn’t meant to be one to many. It’s unnatural.
Ask any journalist and they can tell you about the 5 Ws and an H. Any solid news story covers those six basic ingredients. The same is true for communicating with others.
Want to ensure you don’t forget a critical detail in your communications? Think 5 Ws and an H to ensure you’re not missing an important detail, sharing the all-important context, and making it relevant for your audience.
What
What’s the decision? What does it mean? What should I know? What’s in it for me?
Why
Why is it the right decision? Why now? Why is it important?
Where
Where is this decision coming from? Where/what locations will it affect? Where can I get more information?
When
When is this happening?
Thy landing page shalt have but one goal, and the number of the goals shall be one. Not two, not zero, but one.
If thy landing page hath zero goals, it is a “branding” page, and such vanities shall bear no fruit.
If thy landing page hath more than one goal, thou shalt confuse thy visitor, who shall leave thy site in disgust and anger.
Thy copy shalt not be divided amongst more than one goal, for such shall surely drive thy visitor to lamentation and thy copywriter to madness.
There are many wonderful people living the Gospel of the One-Pager that we can all learn from. A few examples:Strategy to Performance Dashboard Downloadable, this SlideShare tool from BlueOcean gives you 9 pages of templates to fill in.One Page Business Plan from lifehacker.comOne Page Job Proposal for getting a new job
Build a One Page WebsiteTo find more on your own, simply Google “one page (fill in the blank)” for whatever you’re seeking. Somebody out there has created a one-pager for just about everything!Don’t Just Copy the Templates: Develop a One-Pager Skillset
To truly live the Gospel of the One-Pager, don’t just search for specific one-pagers. Look across all that you find for patterns:• What do all these one-pagers have in common?• How do the get to the crucial stuff while editing out the noise?• How are they packaged?• etc.Among other things, you’re likely to find:
• They all have one key point, and no more!
• Everything else is compelling storytelling to support that key point
• They target the audience’s head (thinking), heart (feelings), and hands (action)Once you begin to practice what most one-pagers have in common, you will have forever harnessed the Power of the One-Pager. And that’s a superpower that will serve you well, everywhere!
Why are we putty in a storyteller’s hands? The psychologists Melanie Green and Tim Brock argue that entering fictional worlds “radically alters the way information is processed.” Green and Brock’s studies shows that the more absorbed readers are in a story, the more the story changes them. Highly absorbed readers also detected significantly fewer “false notes” in stories–inaccuracies, missteps–than less transported readers. Importantly, it is not just that highly absorbed readers detected the false notes and didn’t care about them (as when we watch a pleasurably idiotic action film). They were unable to detect the false notes in the first place.
And, in this, there is an important lesson about the molding power of story. When we read dry, factual arguments, we read with our dukes up. We are critical and skeptical. But when we are absorbed in a story we drop our intellectual guard. We are moved emotionally and this seems to leave us defenseless.
Is busyness bad for business?
The answer isn’t a simple “yes” or “no”. While Kreider argues that we need bout of idleness to get inspired and work more effectively, there is evidence that workers benefit from busyness. Take one experiment conducted in 2010 by professor Christopher Hsee at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Hsee’s team found that people who kept themselves occupied rather than waiting idly after a test felt happier. Interestingly, participants in the study were not likely to busy themselves unless they could justify the activity; they weren’t interested in what Hsee and his colleagues call “futile busyness”. But the results showed that even futile busyness is better than idleness.
In my organization’s own recent research with a global firm, we discovered that a common characteristic among the company’s great leaders was their recognition of the importance of busyness. They knew idle employees would suffer, and so pushed to instead create a stimulating work environment. For example, one leader responded to a downturn in work by encouraging team members to look for novel projects that interested them and might generate opportunities. Not only did this keep the group engaged, but some of the projects also eventually bore fruit. This wasn’t futile busyness, of course. “Creative busyness” might be more appropriate.
Indeed, busyness seems to be most productive when the tasks we busy ourselves with are also meaningful. In a 2008 MIT study, researchers investigated meaning by asking participants to build Lego models. Finished models were either kept, or they were disassembled in front of the participant and handed back for rebuilding. (This was called the “Sisyphus condition”, after the mythical figure condemned to repeatedly push a boulder up a mountain only to watch it roll back down again). Even though the two conditions involved exactly the same type of work, participants in the “meaningful” condition were willing to produce more models (and built them more efficiently, for a lower median wage) than those who mimicked Sisyphus. Surely Michael, who attends one meeting only to have another scheduled, and completes one spreadsheet only to be presented with new figures, is starting to feel like he’s pushing that boulder.
Perhaps we are not so much caught in a “busy trap”, as a “meaning trap”. A meaningful life involves pursuing what we truly value, a sense of contribution in our work, as well as time outside of work to relax, enjoy hobbies, and spend time with loved ones. It’s perhaps no surprise that the great leaders in our study were also expert at modeling work-life integration; they valued not only busyness but also meaning. How did their emphasis on both impact the bottom line? Positively. Their teams were more engaged, their revenues were higher and their turnover was lower than other groups’.
In this interview, Paul talks about how to use storytelling as a leadership tool, ways that storytelling can make leaders more effective, why storytelling it important, and more.
How do companies make storytelling part of their leadership practices?
Some of the most successful companies in the world use storytelling very intentionally as a leadership tool. Organizations like Microsoft, Motorola, Berkshire Hathaway, Saatchi & Saatchi, Procter & Gamble, NASA, and the World Bank are among them. They do this in several ways.
Some have a high level corporate storyteller who’s job it is to capture and share their most important stories. At Nike, in fact, all the senior executives are designated corporate storytellers.
Other companies teach storytelling skills to their executives (because they certainly aren’t learning it in business school). Kimberly-Clark, for example, provides two-day seminars to teach its 13-step program for crafting stories and giving presentations with them. 3M banned bullet points and replaced them with a process of writing “strategic narratives.” P&G has hired Hollywood movie directors to teach its senior executives how to lead better with storytelling. And some of the storytellers at Motorola belong to outside improvisational or theater groups to hone their story skills.
In what ways can storytelling help leaders be more effective?
The short answer is that storytelling is useful in far more situations than most leaders realize. The five most commonly used are probably these: inspiring the organization, setting a vision, teaching important lessons, defining culture and values, and explaining who you are and what you believe.
But there are so many more. In my research for the book, I interviewed over 75 CEOs and executives at dozens of companies around the world and found them using stories in a much wider range of leadership challenges than I ever expected. For example, storytelling is useful when heavy influence is required like leading change, or making recommendations to the boss. But it’s also good for delicate issues like managing diversity and inclusion, or giving people coaching and feedback in a way that will be received as a welcome gift. It can help bring out more of people’s creativity, or help them rekindle the passion for their work. In all, I identified 21 common leadership challenges where storytelling can help.
So you don’t think I’m naïve or overzealous about the topic, I’m not suggesting storytelling should be used in every situation. For example, if you’re trying to decide what your five-year strategy should be, what you need is a good strategist. Or if you’re trying to decide how much money to pay to acquire your biggest competitor, what you need is a good financial advisor.
But once you’ve decided what your five-year strategy is going to be, and you need the 15,000 people that work at your company to line up behind it and deliver it, now you need a good story. Or once you’ve acquired your biggest competitor, and you need the 5,000 people that work there to stay, and not quit, now you need a good story. In short, storytelling isn’t always the right tool to help you manage things; but it’s exceptional at helping you lead people.
You can complain “I don’t have any leverage; I can’t change the cubicles, I can’t rewrite the reward system. And the answer is “No you can’t; don’t even try.” But simply through your own thinking, and getting other people to think differently as well, you can have enormous impact without changing any of that stuff even if you are not a member of the board.
The simple fact is “smart is smart,” and we’re talking about you offering up an additional way of viewing problems. You’ll never get in real trouble for doing that, especially if you do it gently by saying “can we think about this in another way?”
With that throat clearing complete, here are seven proven steps you can take in introducing new ideas in your, or any, organization:
1. Link what you want to do to a business imperative. This is just about always fatal if it is overlooked—and it generally is. That’s a shame since it is so easily addressed. Yes, of course, the idea of the rocket backpack that will allow us to fly to work is exciting, but if you work for a company that makes ball bearings it is hard to see the fit. You want to begin the conversation by being able to say something like, “you know, the organization has the business goals of A, B, and C. (You can talk about organizational goals—such as improving team work—as well, but odds are you will find a more receptive audience if you start with business goals.) I’ve got an idea that I think will fit perfectly.”
2. Produce obvious, “local” business results. Don’t focus on organizational or cultural change. Prove the efficacy of your idea in the vocabulary and currency of your organization. Sure, it would be nice if you could change your organization into “the next Google” overnight, a firm that is willing to go wherever the market takes it. But if your boss’ goal is to have the highest performing region in the company, that (a la point number 1) is the place to focus your attention.
3. Make sure there is sufficient autonomy. The unit(s) or individuals working on the new idea must have enough freedom to be different and protected from the “restorative forces” the organization will impose (even in spite of itself.) What this means for you and your project is this. Don’t worry about getting everyone committed. You don’t need to! There are four postures people can adopt: keep it from happening, let it happen, help it happen and make it happen. Obviously, you don’t want anyone in the “keep it from happening mode” if you can avoid it. But most people simply have to “let it happen.” You and (and maybe a few others) have to “make it happen.” Your boss (and maybe a few others) have to “help it happen” and create a buffer around you. So, rather than asking “how do I get everybody committed to my idea” keep asking yourself: “What is the least amount of commitment I need to move forward.”
Whether you’re writing creatively, for academia, or blogs, one of the most important aspects of writing is often overlooked: the ability to give and receive constructive criticism.
If you know providing such constructive feedback isn’t your forte, you’re not sure if you’re doing it well, or you just want a refresher, you’re in luck! I have some tips and examples for you.
Giving Constructive Criticism
- Please never just say “it’s good” or “I liked it.” Okay, I’m glad… but what made it good? Why did you like it? I need a little bit more feedback. And that includes what you didn’t like. In fact…
- What you don’t like is probably the most valuable information. What is it about this piece that you don’t like? For example, “the voice didn’t seem very authentic,” or “I just don’t feel like this part fits in with the rest of the post.” Help me see where I can improve. That’s important, so let me say it again.
- Help the writer see where he or she can improve. There is no such thing as a perfect first draft. Even thoroughly edited final drafts are often not without their faults. Speak up and let the writer know what you think.
Receiving Constructive Criticism
- Remember that you are not your work. Just because I don’t like your outfit or your taste in music doesn’t mean that I don’t like you as a person. Likewise, just because someone doesn’t like something you’ve written, it doesn’t mean they don’t like you.
- Prompt the critic. When you ask for someone’s opinion, they might not always know how to give constructive criticism. If they say something like, “that’s good,” ask them why they liked it. Ask them where they think you can improve or what they found confusing. The more you prompt them, the more likely you’ll get the information you need (and the more likely they are to provide this information to you up front in the future since they know what you’re looking for).
- Remember that you are the author. In the end, it’s your work. You need to be happy with it. So while you can consider all of the feedback and constructive criticism you receive, you’re ultimately the one who decides whether or not to accept it.