Webinar Tips

Dick Cavett, author and host of an intellectual talk show of the 60’s and 70’s gives some tips for politicians on the campaign trail.

These tips are also good things to remember when conducting a webinar:

• Change all “I wills” and “I shalls” from the speech to “I’ll’; Also, “I haves” and “I ams” to “I’ve” and “I’m,” etc. You’d be surprised how much this cuts down on the oratory tone.
  
• Pretend you are speaking to one person. One single person. Because that’s what everybody is. No one in the audience is an “all of you” or an “everyone” or a “those of you” or a “Hi, everybody,” and no one is a “ladies and gentlemen.” You, out there, are a “you.” So, speaker, think of yourself as being [listened] by only two [ears]. (Presumably on the same person.) The most magical word you can use, short of a person’s name, is “you.”
  
  http://cavett.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/28/candidate-improve-your-appearance/

Feedback in Coaching: The Good and The Bad

Feedback is the process of giving data to someone about the impact the person makes through her attitudes, actions, and words. There is good and bad feedback, however.

The Bad:
Evaluative feedback

• Preconceived as being negative (dreaded)
• Represents yesterday, not today

The Good:
Developmental feedback

• Looks forward as to what “we” can do to improve
• Once a person experiences positive, developmental feedback, they will want more!

Clarifying Your Commitments

A critical element of time management is Clarifying Your Commitments:

In order to effectively make progress with any project, you must clarify what your commitment is and decide what you have to do to make progress toward fulfilling it:

1. Do you have a Clarity of Purpose?
2. Do you know what the Desired Outcome is?
3. What Action Needs to be Taken Next?

The third point is particularly important. If you know what needs to be done next, you have control of your project and your time.

Brainstorming Tips

Most people in the workplace tend to be quite practical which, at times, can be somewhat unfortunate. Being practical is fine when you're implementing a solution, but not so cool when you are trying to come up with new and creative ideas. As found in The Six Sigma Way (Pande, Nueman, and Cavanaugh, 2000), here are some of the basics of effective idea generation and ways to help you get the most out of your next brainstorming meeting:

Keys to Brainstorming Success

1. Clarify the objective of your brainstorming
2. Listen to and build on the ideas of others
3. Don't judge, criticize, or comment on ideas
4. Avoid self-censorship
5. Abandon assumptions and be wild

Let yourself go in the next brainstorming meeting; you may be surprised at what great ideas you create!

Coaching in the Workplace

According to some studies, most second-graders get more helpful heedback (Gold Stars / Report Cards) than the average employee in a company in America. What a shocking thought!

The First Rule of Effective, Positive Coaching:

The Employee Should Talk First

• Ask the Employee to Self-Assess (before giving your own viewpoint)
• By so Doing, the Coach Gains Insight into Employee’s
1. Judgment
2. Knowledge
3. Common ground with Supervisor

It may take some patience and discipline on your part, (we all tend to want to give our own view right away), but give it a try. Make sure the employee talks first.

Our Future Workforce

I was shocked by an NPR story yesterday about the abysmal state of our national high school dropout rate. Reportedly, our rate of high school students who do not finish their studies now stands at over 40% for our nation's 50 largest cities. This is an astonishing figure!

The focus of this blog is business education. As we are faced with the challenge of remaining the world's leader in R&D, we need to put more money and effort into our public schools.

It is, after all, the age of the knowledge worker. How will we keep up with the rest of the planet?

Thoughts on Time Management

Time Management is an important topic for every business professional. "If I only had a bit more time", we all say. What we are really concerned about, however, is Productivity!

Five Things That Get in the Way of Being Productive

1.People Keep Stuff in Their Head
2.They Don’t Decide What They Need to Do About the Stuff They Know They Need to Do Something About
3.They Don’t Organize Action Reminders and Support Materials in Functional Categories
4.They Don’t Maintain and Review a Complete Inventory of Their Commitments
5.They Waste Energy and Burn Out, Allowing Their Busyness to be Driven by What is Latest and Loudest

Productivity - That's what it is all about...