Category Archives: communication

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business community

Business Community Has Changed, Is That Good?

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Has the business community you once knew changed? Have personal or business networks changed? What about the business mixers, opportunities to socialize and the chance to engage with new contacts?

If you ask someone if they believe that the World is changing, there is a very strong possibility that they will indicate that it is. When you ask how or why, you’ll likely get many different reactions. Asking if the change feels positive and appropriate and you’ll likely touch an emotional nerve.

What is different, or why?

Social Influence

In the recent past, many people have recognized the U.S. Super Bowl as having some of the most interesting commercials. Often there are people watching who have never watched an entire game in the current season, yet, they’ll tune-in for the Super Bowl. Ask them why, and you might get a few responses about the commercials.

Has something changed there?

Maybe.

There is more social pressure connected with sports. Kneeling during the playing of the National Anthem is one example.

People who are kneeling are claiming to be making some form of statement, but who is watching? For the Super Bowl broadcast on television, in the most recent decade, the average exceeds 100 million viewers. Amazing.

Consider that 150 years ago there was basically one media channel, a localized newspaper.

Much has changed.

What does any of this have to do with your business community?

Everything.

Business Community

Rules of the game have changed. How people connect, interface, and engage has shifted.

Similar to the newspaper, older ways and methods still exist and have a certain amount of activity, but it certainly is not the only way. And most likely, not the preferred way for cutting edge engagement.

Defining community may also have new challenges. Social etiquette has shifts, challenges, and hurdles. The same with self-expressions, views of discrimination, fairness, and equity.

What about Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, LinkedIn, YouTube, Reddit, and WhatsApp, just to name a few?

This is in addition to hundreds of television channels in most areas, localized radio broadcasts, satellite radio, bloggers, vloggers, and podcasts.

Creating or being in a business community has never been easier. It has also never been more challenging.

Have you found a common platform or group that represents your business values, beliefs, and goals? Is it through a trade association, a social platform, or in-person gatherings?

How do you fit? Do you feel like you belong or are you merely an observer? If it is free, who is the customer and who or what is the product?

Is it authentic? Are the people?

It isn’t that simple anymore.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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positive language

Positive Language is a Different Story

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Are you choosing positive language? If so, has it made a difference? Have you had to change your language to change your outcomes? Did that work?

When you don’t know what else to say, what do you bring up?

Of course, the answer is easy. You bring up the weather.

I’m sick of this rain.

It’s too hot, too humid, and I can’t stand it.

It’s so cold, I can’t wait until spring.

These might all be stories. Perhaps they aren’t made up and perhaps they are only moderately dramatized.

Either way, it is something that you’re telling yourself and probably others.

The language affects mindset and mindset affects what happens next.

Talk at Work

What happens at work?

There is pressure to perform. Pressure from the boss, your colleagues, and perhaps the customer.

Often the concept is, do more, be more efficient, and never ever sacrifice quality.

There are two choices.

The first is, you can tell yourself a story that will signal some relief.

I need to finish this project and get it out of the way.

If I give this to the boss at the end of day, I won’t have to make more changes until tomorrow.

If the customer doesn’t use this feature, they won’t notice.

The other choice is to hunker down. Be resilient, committed, and give yourself feedback (self-talk) that applies more commitment to the future outcomes.

I’m not rushing through this project, it’s too important.

My best work happens when I look at my work with fresh eyes, I’m going to re-read this in the morning before giving it to the boss.

Getting this last feature just right makes it more valuable even though not every customer requires it.

The difference is in the story you tell yourself.

Is your language positive?

Positive Language

What you look for is what you get. The story that you are telling yourself right now is that story that you’ll seek to see unfold.

When there is pressure to perform you can find your way through or grind your way through. Either might work to energize you.

One way may relieve stress, the other may create it. One way or the other, you’ll find the way to get to the next step.

Anger or embarrassment springs one person into action. For others it is an energy zapping confidence reducer.

You see the story in the way you choose to believe, or for the outcome that you want to create.

Using language that connects you with the desired (positive) outcome is good, but it always depends on how the story is told.

Even when you’re telling it to yourself.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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Communication experiences

Communication Experiences, Doc Holliday Changed Mine

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Everyone has communication experiences. Recognizing how individual experiences affect conversation clarity can make a significant difference in the workplace and in life.

A number of months ago my nephew sent me a text message, “I got a new whip.”

I thought, what the heck? What does he mean a new whip?

Moments later a picture of a new bicycle popped into my message box on my phone.

I laughed.

Then a few days ago I stumbled across a line from a movie. A line that I recognized easily, only now it was different. It was different from what I had understood for more than 25 years.

“I’m your huckleberry.”

Do you know the movie? Tombstone, produced in 1993.

If you saw the movie, you’ll likely remember this line or phrase.

Doc Holiday, (Val Kilmer) said it many times as he was about to draw his pistol in a old west style gun fight.

Only, what I learned was this is not what was being said. Apparently in the mid-1800s the handle on a casket was called a huckle, and someone helping to carry the casket was called a bearer. Today, we often call this a pallbearer. (Example scene 1:15)

Immediately, I went to YouTube and searched, “I’m your huckleberry.”

When I listened differently. I heard it differently.

Communication Experiences

This isn’t where my experience stopped.

It is where it started.

It started here because this movie is more than 25 years old. This means that Generation Z likely knows little about this movie. Certainly, good movies last for decades and decades, but would Gen Z connect with this experience? Would the youngest millennials?

Some of them, perhaps. They may have watched it with their parents or even an older brother or sister. It’s a western theme by genre so some will have skipped it all together.

Communication shapes our experiences. A huckleberry is much different from a huckle bearer. (My spell checker doesn’t even validate huckle.)

A YouTube or Google search follows what the masses of people would search, huckleberry. Some suggest that Val Kilmer was actually saying, huckleberry. It was a mistake with his lines and then they kept using it.

What communication have you misunderstood? What communication have the people all around you misunderstood?

How will you communicate better when the workforce is generationally diverse such that they may not understand what you understand?

It’s really just the edge of a much deeper topic.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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meeting discussion

Meeting Discussion, Listening, and Being Heard

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What does your meeting discussion look like? Better yet, have you considered what your discussion feels like?

Some meetings are informational. Someone speaks, others are expected to listen, take notes, and then to proceed with the prescribed information. It isn’t intended to be interactive. It is more of a press briefing.

In many workplace meetings, there is heavy interaction. Questions raised, statements that sound like questions, and rebuttals.

Most businesses feel that they have room to improve on communication. At one point, or another, they’ve had a breakdown in communication that felt costly.

It might be happening in their internal meetings yet often it isn’t recognized.

Meeting Discussion

Depending on the meeting format and agenda, some people may attend a meeting to be heard. Listening is secondary.

This can be the case when the culture has previously illustrated that meetings are mostly informational, intended to be a meeting leader speaks and everyone else listens.

After all, the meeting leader may have a point to be made. A point or list of points that are intended to change something in the present and for the future.

Changing forward direction may come from a compelling speech. It may come from a good or bad experience. Something shocking, delightful, or that reduces pain.

For everything else, listening may be more important. Listening helps provide clarity, gain understanding, and illustrate values and beliefs.

People don’t jump on board when they lack trust. People who have different values or beliefs struggle with information that feels contradictory to their own personal pathways or agenda.

Suggested change meets a lot of opposition when it is dictated. It gains much more traction when others see it as a pathway that works.

A discussion makes more difference when compared with a command.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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news story

News Story, What Do You Do With It?

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You’ve probably already read, watched, or listened to a news story today. Was the story valuable? Was it truthful, useful, and important?

Not so long ago the news only traveled by word of mouth, or by the written word. The news would take days or longer to reach those persons not in close proximity.

The U.S. cable TV news industry is very big and brings in billions of dollars in revenue each year. Could this be entertainment, or is it only a duty to inform the public?

What about fake news? The fake news buzz phrase gained much popularity in 2020. Everywhere you looked, listened, or moved about it seems that someone was spewing out that phrase.

What catches your attention in the news? Is it the drama, is it fear? Does it make you angry?

News Story

Today’s news story won’t be exactly the same as it was yesterday. It might carry a theme for a few days or weeks but it won’t be exactly the same.

People tend to believe the news that they agree with and express that it is untrue, fake, or fraudulent when they disagree.

It usually attracts a lot of attention. People are curious and many enjoy the drama. Advertisers and marketers seize the opportunity and often play off observers’ emotions. In television or online broadcasts, the segments are always serving as a form of clickbait and are often being shared.

Is the value of news ever overridden by the negative energy or emotions?

It may all circle back to the intent.

People often suggest that when public actions seem ridiculous or unusual that the easy way to figure out the authenticity is to follow the money.

You might count on the news to provide you with information. Be very cautious of how you use it.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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ultimate meeting question

Ultimate Meeting Question, Have You Asked It?

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Have you asked the ultimate meeting question? Of course this question may take on various forms.

Does this meeting make sense?

Is the length of this meeting appropriate?

Are the right people at this meeting?

One common fallacy of the workplace meeting is that it was created when the belief was that the communication hasn’t been clear.

In other words, we haven’t been communicating well enough so let’s have a meeting.

From my experiences most organizations believe that they have room to improve when it comes to communication effectiveness. They often don’t know exactly how to pursue improvement, but they believe that they would benefit from it.

If you have one dozen people in your organization, you can probably call for a staff meeting without significant disruption. Sure, you may have to pause the operation, but wrangling up a dozen people is different from fifty people or five thousand.

Ultimate Meeting Question

The evolution of meetings is often interesting. They start with good intentions. They always seem to make sense in the beginning, yet, across time things shift.

The original purpose of the meeting may change. People come and go, often excuses for absenteeism develops, and conversations often stray off subject.

The Zoom meeting has experienced exponential growth in the past 12 to 15 months. Has communication improved? Has it declined? Have new meetings been created? Are they both efficient and effective?

Are the meetings you attend stressful? Why, or why not?

Are the meetings you attend mandatory?

What is your ultimate meeting question? Have you asked it? Will you?

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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voice matters

Voice Matters And It Counts, Use It Wisely

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Do you believe your voice matters? Have you ever thought that your communication is not heard or understood?

You’re certainly not alone.

It often feels best to be reflective of positive communication and positive interactions.

Have a great day.

Beautiful weather we’re having.

Great job in the meeting yesterday.

That is the type of communication most people are grateful for, they appreciate it, and welcome more of it.

Sometimes there are other forms of communication. Harsh, curt, or condescending.

And still, there are other forms, including aggressive, passive aggressive, or sarcasm.

Do all of these communications matter or only some of them?

Voice Matters

Your voice, what you say, what you do, how you act, it all becomes part of the organizational culture.

It is common that many businesses or organizations believe that their culture is only representative of what they want it to be. In other words, what they believe that are working towards is how it actually is.

This is often a root cause for why large-scale change efforts fail. When management believes that the culture, environment, and climate are representative of only what they say, and not what everyone does, it could spell trouble.

It is an easy trap to fall into.

Ask an organization leader how good their customer service is and they’ll probably tell you about a lot of success stories. Are they the best person to ask? Not really, the customers are the best people to ask.

Every organization is made up of both good and bad. While a focus on the good is favorable over a focus on the bad, pretending that the bad doesn’t exist often doesn’t make it go away.

Does your voice matter?

It matters either way.

You have a choice to make a positive and constructive impact or to become part of the problem.

You might think your voice doesn’t matter, yet every time your contributions are heard, that means someone was listening.

What happens next is conditioned by the people.

Good or bad.

Be the good voice.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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conversation clarity

Conversation Clarity Might Be About Facts

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Have you ever wondered about conversation clarity? What makes your conversations clearer with more appropriate meaning?

When someone suggests that they have the best cell phone, they had dinner at the best restaurant, or the best place to vacation is at the beach, are they facts?

It is true for technology recommendations as well as just about anything you do. People often tend to talk about their opinions while they are being very compelling and stating them as though they are facts.

When you are trying to help someone consider options or find the best restaurant are your opinions useful?

Conversation Clarity

Certainly, to some degree opinions carry some value. When many people have the same opinion, it may start to illustrate a trend that this is getting close to the facts.

Yet, every day someone will jump on board with an idea just because it is popular. Untested or unproven they often don’t want to be wrong so they’ll follow the popularity trail.

This can become a problem in the workplace.

John is always late for the meeting.

Samantha never gets here on time.

Robert always takes Jennifer’s side on important decisions.

Always and never? Are these facts or just opinionated speech?

There is a sharp contrast between, the pizza shop around the corner has the best pizza, and, Thomas never arrives on time.

In some cases, people are trying to be helpful. They are attempting to provide useful information. In other cases, the information may be manipulative, deceptive, and defamatory.

Providing more clarity in conversations may be mostly about removing opinions.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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workplace explanations

Workplace Explanations Guide The Conversation

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Is that the intent, or is it for clarity? When you give workplace explanations what are you truly trying to express?

When the work comes up short and the effort is in question, someone will likely attempt to give an explanation.

The explanation doesn’t contain all of the detail. It’s a nugget, a piece of the story, not the entire version because that would seem unproductive.

Instead, a truncated version is offered. It attempts to direct the listener to a better understanding.

I purchased a rather expensive new laptop recently. It came with one tiny slip of paper in the box. There was no instruction manual or a booklet. Just a website link or two. An explanation of how to seek help if you need it.

There is an assumption though. The assumption is that you already have another method to locate additional information. If you can’t access the web, you’re somewhat stuck.

What if you need a deeper explanation?

Workplace Explanations

A trouble spot with explanations are the assumptions.

It may often be an attempt to guide the feature outcomes. You tell the story as you want it perceived for understanding.

It won’t be finished today; we received the wrong part.

The customer changed her mind so we had to start over.

No one mentioned that they wanted that shade of green.

The story may omit certain details. Details of the evolution of the project, a passage of blame, or request for empathy.

More information is sometimes required, yet it may be left out of the discussion.

In some cases, it is an intentional steering or shaping of the project and its outcomes.

It may be perceived as a time saver. You don’t need to know the details; you just need to know that it is so. Taken to the extreme it may represent a do as I say, not as I do.

People tell stories. Their story may leave out some details. Those details shape the impressions of the listeners and ultimately the outcome of future endeavors.

When in doubt ask more questions. The explanation is nearly always only a part of the complete story.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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work promises

Work Promises, Are You Keeping Them?

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Are you in the habit of handing out work promises? Promising to do this, or do that? Are some of the promise’s expectations?

Work promises are always happening.

I’ll get this done before the next meeting.

This won’t take long, I’ll do it before Noon.

I’ll call the customer.

Promises are an offer to contribute. They set an expectation and are often evidence of teamwork and commitment.

Sometimes promises start the meeting. They illustrate the agenda, set the expectations, and confirm a timeline.

Sometimes promises end the meeting. They confirm the to-do list, establish the next meeting date, and congratulate positive outcomes.

When expectations are set, people are counting on you. A promise is intended to quell worry, provide a solution, and most of all, be reliable.

What work promises are you giving?

Work Promises

Does your workplace have trust? Do you trust someone that they will get the project finished on time and with good quality? Have you ever been let down?

Workplace trust, or lack of it, is a leading cause of dysfunctional teams.

Employees often underestimate the commitment or expectation of a promise made. There is sometimes a good intention, the offer of help, and a gesture of kindness. If unfulfilled other promises and commitments get trampled and are broken.

In examples of poor leadership, the leader goes only to people he or she can trust. Meanwhile the best performers get stuck with doing more while poorer performers are allowed to go unchecked.

Managers and supervisors who are unable or unwilling to address problem performers cause more dysfunction.

Promises are sometimes made and other times they are assumed.

Either way a promise is both a commitment and an obligation.

Teams that are both functional and reliable will have stronger results.

I promise.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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