Better Social Networking Communications

Social Networking is a big topic, but just saying things will not bring you the objectives you are after.  On the contrary - you may damage your realtionships - not grow them.. Here are some tips:

©  Talk with people, not at them. -        As a first step to encourage response, form a picture of your listener (or imagine them if you know them) and use this to remove the feeling of talking to a disembodied voice.

©  Remember to listen. -  Don't talk all the time.  You cannot talk and listen simultaneously.

©  Clarify as you proceed.  Ask questions, check back as you go along -it may appear impolite to ask later.

©  Maintain a two-way flow. -  Do not interrupt, let them finish each point - but make sure, if -they are talking at some length, that they know you are listening.  Say 'Yes' or 'That's right' to show you are still there.

©  Concentrate. - Shut out distractions, interruptions and 'noises off'.  It may be apparent to your listener if you are not concentrating on him - it will appear as lack of interest.

©  Do not over react. - It is easy to jump to conclusions or make assumptions about a person you cannot see - resist this temptation.

©  'Read between the lines.'  - Do not just listen to what is said, but also what is meant.  Make sure you catch any nuance, observe every reaction to what you are saying.

Better Telephone Communication

Any telephone conversation is simply two-way communication.  It is surely not difficult, after all some people talk on the phone for hours and hours. 

On the other hand, like any communication, there may be a good deal hanging on it.  Any problem will dilute the chances of success.  And the problems of 'voice-only' communication are considerable, and in some cases prohibitive.  Try describing to someone how to tie a necktie for example - without any gestures or demonstration.  It pays, therefore, to consider all the factors that can make vocal communication successful, and not underrate it as ,simply a telephone call.

Such factors are perhaps best reviewed in terms of how you use the telephone itself, your voice and manner, obtaining and using feedback, and planning.  The telephone distorts the voice, exaggerating the rate of speech and heightening the tone.  You must talk into the mouthpiece in a clear, normal voice (if you are a woman, it can help to pitch your voice lower.) It is surprising how many things can interfere with the simple process of talking directly into the mouthpiece: smoking; eating; trying to write; holding a file or book open at the correct page and holding the phone; sorting through the correct change in a call box; allowing others in the room to interrupt; or allowing a bad-quality line to disrupt communication (it is better to phone back).  This is all so obvious, yet so easy to get a little wrong, thus reducing the effectiveness of communication.

  

Voice and Manner

Remember that on the phone you have to rely on your voice and manner in making an impression.  None of the other factors of personality are perceptible.  Here are some suggestions to help you.

Speak at a slightly slower rate than usual.

Speaking too rapidly makes it easier to be misunderstood and also mistrusted, although speaking too slowly can make the listener impatient or irritated.

Smile.  Use a warm tone of voice.

Though a smile cannot be seen, it does change the tone of your voice.  Make sure you sound pleasant, efficient and perhaps most important, interested and enthusiastic about the conversation.  Enthusiasm is contagious.

Get the emphasis right.

Make sure that you emphasise the parts of the communication that are important to the listener, or for clarity.  You only have your voice to give the emphasis you want.

Ensure clarity.

Make sure you are heard, especially with names, numbers etc.  It is easy to confuse Ss and Fs for instance, or find 15 per cent taken to mean 50 per cent.

Be positive.

Have the courage of your convictions.  Do not say: 'possible', 'maybe', 'I think', or 'that could be' (watch this one, professionals are apt to be far too circumspect)

Be concise.

Ensure a continuous flow of information, but in short sentences, a logical sequence and one thing at a time.  Watch for and avoid the wordiness that creeps in when we need time to think, e.g. 'at this moment in time' (now), ,along the lines of' (like).

Avoid jargon.

Whether jargon is of the organisation (e.g. abbreviated description of a department name), the specialisation (e.g. technical descriptions of tax regulations or legal procedures for instance), or general (e.g. phrases like 'I'll see to that immediately' - in five minutes or five hours?  'Give me a moment' -literally?).  At least check that the other person understands they may not risk losing face by admitting you are being too technical for them, and a puzzled look will not be visible.  Jargon can too easily become a prop to self-confidence.

Be descriptive.

Anything that conjures up images in the mind of the listener will stimulate additional response from someone restricted to the single stimulus of voice.

Use gestures.

Your style will come across differently depending on your position.  For example, there may even be certain kinds of call that you can make better standing up rather than sitting down, such as debt collecting or laying down the law perhaps. (Really!  Try it, it works.)

Get the right tone.

Be friendly without being flippant.  Be efficient, courteous, whatever is called for.

Be natural.

Be yourself.  Avoid adopting a separate, contrived, telephone 'persona'.  Consider the impression you want to give: Mature?  Expert?  Authoritative?  In command of the detail?  Try and project just that.

Your intention is to prompt the other person into action.  You should speak naturally in a way that is absolutely clear.  Here are some useful additional rules.

©  Be courteous.

            Always be courteous.

©  Be efficient.

            Project the right image.

©  Be personal.

            Use 'I' - say what you will do.

©  Be appreciative.

            'Thank you' is a good phrase (but not gushing).

Good Communication Principles

Practise The Following Communication Principles:

1)         Develop trust, it must be earned.

2)         Openly communicate more than you have to or need to.

3)         Be as specific as possible in the words or phrases you use.

4)         Supply whatever background information people need.

5)         Be absolutely honest with all team members.

6)         Actively share information and feelings.

7)         Talk to employees as one adult to another.

8)         Always select employee ideas, suggestions and reactions,

9)         Follow through.

10)       Recognise that the job of the manager is to remove road blocks, irritants and frustrations, not to put them there.

The Top Sins of Communication

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Here are the top ten "Sins" of communication.

1) Commanding: Ordering people around tends to produce resentment and rage.

2) Threatening: Statements like .. "If you don't .. you had better .. or else.." encourage rebellion and attempts to beat the system.

3) Giving Unsolicited Advice: The only advice that's valued is advice that's asked for.

4)  Vague language: "We need to come up with a better system" .. produces confusion.  Is the Manager going to do it, is the employee getting the assignment .... what?

5)  Withholding information: "That's management and confidential".  This engenders the response   'my manager doesn't care about me, I'll get my information from people who do.'

6)  Name calling: "You are careless" .. "You are getting lazy"  .. creates the reaction, 'who do you think you are?'

7)  Patronising: Even a compliment may be taken the wrong way,

8)  Playing Psychologist: "Your problem is .." creates the response, 'you don't really know .. take care of your own organisation.'

9)  Avoiding Issues: "Let me check it out and I'll get back to YOU."   This causes people to think .. 'here we go again.'

10)  Sarcastic comments: "I'm glad to see you finally made it on time! "

Strategic Marketing Planning

The Key Factors of Strategic Planning

There are a number of key factors to consider with any planning. The areas are as follows:
Focus refers to concentrating limited resources in the areas that will reap the most rewards.
Goals are what we are aiming to achieve from our efforts and investment. All too often that is simply equated with money and does not consider other, more important factors.
Competitive Advantage refers to the fact that we are operating in a competitive environment. If we are not aware of the fact that there are other players competing with us for the same client’s money, then we are likely to lose.
Superior Performance. What is important for the organisation, is to plan a position which takes into account all of the players.  Firstly the strategist must achieve superior performance to the competitor.  At the same time the strategy must be in line with the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation and must also meet the needs of the market.   A successful strategy is one which gives a stronger matching of organisational strengths with market needs than that provided by the competition.
Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA), which suggests that there are many possible good ideas, but which one will remain yours (that the competitors cannot take away) and work for the longest time?
Creativity and Innovation.  What gives a strategy its competitive impact is the creative element and the will of the mind that conceived it to make it work.
Flexibility - The best strategies are flexible and allow for innovation.  They are based on information, which gives us a series of probabilities to work with.  Strategy is vulnerable to reality.  One cannot totally predict the future.  All business decisions are probabilistic.  There is always a chance of the plan failing.
Basic Conceptual Simplicity - Complicated, long range plans rarely work and require constant adaptation and change - usually into another detailed long range plan.  We must remember that any strategic plan is based partly on historic information and partly on future prediction.  Once written it also becomes part of history.
The Ability to be Implemented.  A wonderfully conceived and crafted strategy is meaningless unless it can be implemented to achieve the Mission and Goals of the organisation

Managing Change

'Managing Change' is a popular theme for managers.   Organisations have been struck externally by waves of turbulence - rapid competitive change, by deregulation and re-regulation, by economic boom and recession, and through international turbulence.  

Turbulence is the apparently random and unpredictable way in which change occurs both externally and internally. (This apparent or real chaos is due to the often perverse interaction of internal and external change systems of the business and its environment.)

It is evident that managers now face a qualitatively different challenge to that faced in the 1990s and early 00s. This is because the changes being managed now are not only more awe-inspiring and widespread, but also because managers are becoming more receptive to recognising change as a strategic process.  Indeed, if we are concerned about managing strategic change in management, this would appear to require a strategic rather than a primarily tactical approach.

Despite the considerable amount of thinking which has gone on in strategic planning and in strategic management generally, few writers have sought to apply strategic thinking to practical issues in the management of change.  Indeed, it has been said that 'Implementing Strategic Change' is regarded in many  circles of strategic management as a 'mucky and murky area'.  Yet, it is so often in the implementation of change that strategic planning traditionally runs to ground.

Strategic planning can be defined as the creation of a sense of long-term direction in order to anticipate and shape the future environment, to allocate resources for competitive advantage and to steer change.

Where strategic thinkers have entered this territory, they appear to be frightened of prescribing management approaches.  This may be because one-time excellent companies are now sinking into competitive distress and oblivion.  It may also be because of a negative reaction to the plethora of 'how to' management books that clutter bookshops.

Strategic thinking is surely an essential tool in helping implement strategic change.  

Many managers perceive 'change' as a homogeneous body and a journey  largely in an un-mapped or partly  mapped state.  'Other managers describe change as being primarily the enemy of stability.  It is possible, however, to separate out a number of characteristic types of change.  These varieties of change' are broad generalisations which can be used to help managers reflect on the relative severity of change which they face, rather than being empirically tested models.

First, managers may experience smooth incremental change.  This is a characteristic of business environments which have been evolving slowly and in a systematic and predictable way.  Although few managers would characterise their change environment as having a smooth incremental' profile nowadays.  Not all change contexts are turbulent or chaotic by any means.

Second, we may have a situation of  bumpy incremental change. This characterised by periods of relative tranquillity punctuated by acceleration in the pace of change, which is then frequently perceived as 'overload.  These periods of overload are often associated with periodic reorganisation.  Bumpy incremental change is, thus, akin to movement of continental land masses where the 'fault' enables periodic readjustment to occur without cataclysmic effect (although sometimes there might be an earthquake).These triggers of change can be defined as follows:

Triggers of change are the factors which may conspire to initiate change both internally and externally regardless of whether these are seen as needs, opportunities or threats.

The third variety of change is one of discontinuous change.  Although sometimes associated with 'bumpy incremental change' - where an extremal shock generates major change - it is more typically associated with a break in the patten of 'smooth incremental change'.

Discontinuous change can be defined as change which is marked by rapid shifts in either strategy, structure or culture, or in all three.

This discontinuity can occur either because internal change has not kept up with external change, or where change in markets or regulation has propelled an organisation into a radically new way of operating.  

Strategy is the deliberate or emergent pattern of decisions which shape an organisation's future and its fit within its environment.  These 'decisions' may involve changing the future scope and shape of activities or major areas of internal change aimed at protecting or enhancing capability.

Structure is the formal reporting relationships, roles and clusters of activity within an organisation.

Culture is the set of values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours which are the unique hallmark of an Organisation.

The three key elements of managing strategic change - strategy, structure and culture - need to be skilfully and consciously coordinated. 

The idea that leadership is a key link between strategy and structure comes from the observation that - because of a lack of appropriate leadership - having a clear 'strategy' may not necessarily produce effective implementation.  Leadership plays a pivotal role in managing strategic change because without it 'the strategy' will not galvanise staff into appropriate action.  However appropriate 'organisational structure' (or culture) is in fitting the strategy, it will not, of itself, prevent drift. 

Leadership is vitally important therefore, not merely as a part of the change management process  but also because of its symbolic role in reinforcing strategy and structure.  It also plays an indirect but important role in shaping the 'paradigm' or guidance system of an organisation.