Improving your communication skills will enable you to establish better working relationships. Poor workplace communication skills will have negative effects on your business relationships and may result in decreased productivity. These 7 keys will help you unlock the door to successful communication not only at work, but also in all your relationships. Personal contact is important. People relate to one another better when they can meet in person and read each other’s body language, so they can feel the energy the connection creates. If personal contact is not possible, the next best way to connect is by talking on the telephone. Develop a network. No one achieves success alone. Make an effort to become friends with people in different departments within your company, meet new people in your community, and look for experiences or interests you have in common. Always be courteous in your communications with others. Courtesy lets people know that you care. The words “Thank You” show that you appreciate a person’s efforts. Try saying, “would you please...” instead of just, “Please...” You will sound less dogmatic. Be consistent and clear in your workplace communications. Consistency builds trust. Asking, “Did I explain this clearly?” will assure that people understood what you said. Compromise decreases the tension associated with conflict. Ask, “What is best for the company?” so that co-workers will not take the conflict personally. You cannot hold a person’s interest if you have nothing interesting to say. Here are some of ways you can learn to be an interesting communicator. Read your hometown paper daily. Read industry literature so you can know what is going on in your industry. Rehearse telling a few short personal stories about your interesting experiences. Listen to what others are saying and show interest in the conversation. Listening demonstrates respect and admiration. Make your conversation like a game of tennis and keep the ball going back and forth.

Print Appraising Employee Performance Evaluation Systems How to Determine If an Overhaul Is Needed By Thomas S. Clausen, Keith T. Jones, and Jay S. Rich FEBRUARY 2008 - Performance appraisals are a reality in organizations of all sizes and types. The process may take considerable time on the part of supervisors and may require subordinates to gather reams of information and prepare descriptions of their own performance. Some take the process very seriously, while others simply see it as a burden. Supervisors must be careful how they deliver the results, and subordinates must be careful how they respond. Relationships and trust may become permanently strained due to misunderstanding and miscommunication.

Performance evaluations are important tools to help employers gauge whether employees are performing at expected levels. They can help organizations spot talent and leadership potential, while identifying areas where employees need extra training and support. Evaluations also can protect employers from frivolous lawsuits filed by employees who claim theyve been demoted, fired or otherwise unfairly treated when the real reason was poor performance ...

Some entrepreneurs never conduct employee reviews. That's a mistake. Conducting employee reviews can have a very positive impact on your business bottomline.

How to Evaluate Employee Performance in 15 Easy Steps. How do I fairly evaluate an employee? When evaluating an employee for a periodic review, a raise, or a promotion, you need to have a checklist of measurable performance criteria that can be...

Managers can improve workplace morale and employee motivation while reducing stress by initiating a positive, problem solving attitude.

The way to improve Morale (translation: Make people more eager to come to work and do a good job) is to ask your staff what they need in order to work more effectively.

Training Orientation and Conflict Theory: Transforming Our Understanding of Conflict by Kristine Paranica, J.D., & Thomas Fuchs, M.Ed This article was written in preparation for a presentation at the NCPCR Conference in Fairfax, VA. (June, 2001) June 2001 -Print -Email -Comment -Subscribe  (free) -Forum If training conflict theory requires adoption of a new set of beliefs and the giving up of current beliefs, is it realistic to believe that adult learners have the capacity or desire to do so? Training and education for adults should respect their need to make choices about the integration of new information with their own life experiences. As educators, we must be mindful of our audience in terms of who they are as well as how they will relate to the subject matter we teach. Conflict management education requires teaching of new skills and new theories, but also requires application of these skills to the life of the participant. As adult learners, we try things on and choose whether or not new theories and skills fit our experience. Some buy-in quickly, others slowly over time, and still others not at all. The more we try to use our expertise and experience to convince them without giving them a choice, the more likely they are to reject our ideas. It is our belief and experience that conflict management must be taught from the perspective of the learner: elicitive in nature, respecting the wisdom that each learner brings; experiential, allowing the learner to try it on; with some proscriptive teaching, serving as a flexible model and offering a necessary level of expertise. Conflict management education must be considered from the earliest intervention point possible, rather than after participants are enmeshed in conflict. It should be viewed as the equivalent of boosting the immune system before illness sets in. Conflict management training is most effective when provided pre-conflict to increase one’s own competencies for managing conflict. What can help is education that gives people an understa

Make New Employee Orientation A Success By Jean Barbazette New employee orientation is a planned welcome to the organization that usually is shared by the human resources (or training) department and the new employee's supervisor. There are twelve key factors that can contribute to the successful orientation of new employees. (FEATURED PRODUCT: The Orientation Game) The Training Clinic of Seal Beach, California, surveyed over 300 United States companies (in 1985, 1988 and 1990, 1993) who were conducting successful orientation programs. Here are the 12 factors. 1. All effective programs view orientation as an ongoing process, not just a one-day program. The process usually begins with the hiring decision and continues well into the first year of employment. New employee orientation (NEO) becomes the umbrella program for other programs that include performance reviews and training. 2. Because orientation is an ongoing process, information is given to the new employee closest to the time it is needed. For example, if the employee's health benefits vest 30 days from the start date, a benefits orientation is not needed during the first day or first week of employment. Many companies separated benefits from other orientation information. A separate meeting, if held in the evening, allows spouses to attend and participate in the selection of a specific health plan. 3. The benefits of orientation are clear and visible to both the new employee and the organization. The organization could identify such factors as reduced turnover or improved productivity as a few of the benefits of a systematic orientation. The employee felt valued and was able to "fit in" to the new job more easily and quickly. Fewer mistakes were made by the new employee who was more relaxed. 4. Successful orientation programs shared their "corporate culture" (philosophy, how to get along, how business is done, etc.). New employees need to be told the organization's norms, customs and traditions. If a new employee knows informality is expecte

When recruiting, selecting, staffing and hiring, pick the smartest person you can find. Retention of your best employees starts with your recruiting, staffing and hiring strategies, policies and procedures. Recruiting, testing, selection and staffing are the focus of these resources.

Finding the best possible people who can fit within your culture and contribute within your organization is a challenge and an opportunity. Keeping the best people, once you find them, is easy if you do the right things right. These specific actions will help you with recruiting and retaining all the talent you need. Here's more about recruiting employees.