Biz-commPulse

Are you an emotionally intelligent leader? Photo credit: Photobin . Are you an emotionally intelligent leader who manages your emotions and also recognizes and manages the emotions of your employees?  Or do you merely act on your feelings and regret it afterwards? Do you constantly have to apologize to your employees for being insensitive? Today having the ability to effectively communicate your emotions and to perceive and manage the emotions of your employees  is a highly desired leadership skill, a skill that can very much enhance communication in your business.  Emotionally intelligent leaders have great self awareness, can manage themselves well, possess good social skills and can also manage employee relationships.  By being aware of who they are and what their strengths and weaknesses are, unsettling emotions are controlled  before they can harm the business communication culture.   These leaders are also generally very optimistic...

Do you want to know what true diversity will mean for your business' performance? Diversity in a business is generally accepted as acknowledging, accepting and also understanding all the differences among employees.  Diversity is most evident in terms of employees' age, gender, religion and race. Photocredit: Photobin. Lately managing diversity is not only perceived in terms of accommodating differences in a business, but also as actual thoughts about what true diversity really means.  With other words, diversity is also about the actual thought-process of the responsible managers, especially when it comes to the advantages of having a diverse group of employees.  Just think about it for a moment:  diversity in a business could result in better problem-solving and customer service because of the diverse backgrounds of employees similar to the customers.  Similarly employees' unique creativity and innovation based on shared differences could only benefit t...

Source: Freedigitalphotos.net Team work has become increasingly important in a business, especially since numerous studies confirm that not only are employees more productive when working in a group, but many excellent and innovative ideas had their origin in a group setting to the long-term benefit of the business. Why is team work good  for a business? In a group setting employees have different skills, talents and working styles which can complement each other while striving towards achieving the same business goals.   Employees have to collaborate while different ideas are shared and tested with peers.  It often happens that employees are encouraged to do their best in a group setting because they trust and respect each other.  However, the opposite is also true if the team consists of different personalities who do not agree which could  result in conflict. To really succeed with a team approach in a business, the culture of the business nee...

Another key area for seamless integration of business communication is having access to  the right technology or infrastructure.  Many business owners therefore are looking for the right software with which to integrate all messages to or from employees.  I recently discovered Google Enterprise which is a very cost effective way of managing communication in the business.  Google has been widely criticised especially since they seem to almost have a monopoly when it comes to search engines, but I am fascinated by the many possibilities for any business.  So why am I impressed and what can Google Enterprise do to enhance integration? Source: Google Enterprise. Google has many applications which business owners can use to communicate with employees.  Employees are always connected via email while the communication can be better managed with added productivity applications.  Examples of such applications are: A calendar where all calendars are...

Any change management process requires good communication skills as many employees are naturally resistant to change.  If changes in the business are also not congruent with some employees' self-seeking interests, the challenge for managers is even greater.  Employees also have unique personalities and may react to change differently (also read my post why employees might be resistant to change ). Employees need to prepared for the change in the business and all changes need be reinforced.  What role does communication play in the change management process? Source: Soshable.com Before the changes are implemented, the manager first needs to motivate employees to appreciate the need for the change.   Many employees feel too comfortable in the current status quo and need to see how the changes could benefit them in the long term.   The manager could, for example, communicate current problems in the business and explain how the changes would solve the...

Effective cross cultural communication is increasingly becoming more important in a business. Employees usually consist of diverse cultures with different backgrounds.  Although all employees need to adhere to the corporate culture in a business (the way things are usually done), a manager needs to have good cross cultural communication skills when it comes to dealing with employees with different cultural backgrounds.  Many managers want to achieve better cultural communication, but still face many barriers.  The following are the most common cross cultural communication barriers  many managers still have to overcome in their attempt to communicate better with diverse employees: Values and attitudes : The manager may have different values than his or her employees or the employees may even have different values and attitudes. At the end of the day it is the task that has to be completed and having different values and attitudes can be overcome if all employ...

Why does effective business communication influence customer service? The reason is straightforward. Customer service includes all instances where a customer comes into direct contact with a business and gets an impression of its service.  This impression can be good or bad. Remember that contact with a business can also include its products, services, value, and after-sales service and even how a product is delivered. Managers often forget about those “behind the scenes activities” which all form part of its customer service, for example processing of claims or capturing of customer data.  Employees all play a role in how a business is perceived (its corporate image) since they are the people who have contact with customers.  Managers could also set an example of good customer service by going that extra mile for the customers as well as employees. The important task of the manager is to clearly communicate the mission and vision of the business to its employees i...

I came across this video on breaking down barriers to effective communication on Youtube.  It has some useful information on how some barriers to effective communication can be overcome.  Sometimes just a change in behavior can make all the difference. Biz-commPulse homepage

Effective business communication should be part of a strategic plan and revised on an annual basis. A manager needs to constantly communicate with employees to inform them about their roles in the business and what their duties are.  Good business communication provides clear direction to employees on how their duties can contribute towards the success of the business.  A manager should never neglect to communicate with employees and assume that they know what their roles in the business are. But what should this strategic communication plan entail? Each business is different and has its own policies and structures.  Similarly the size, culture, mission and vision as well as managerial style of a business vary. Depending on the above, the strategic communication plan should indicate all communication activities in the business and who should be responsible for these activities.  Clear communication channels should be identified to convey specific me...