Increase morale, confidence, productivity and profit ...
by changing how you communicate


Marion's Communication Tips

Marion Grobb Finkelstein offers practical, proven and powerful communication tips you can put to use in the workplace. She'll help you increase morale, confidence and productivity by changing the way you communicate. You'll have communication tools to connect with colleagues, clients, employees and bosses... fast!

  • Low-Cost, No-Cost Ways to Reward Employees

    by Marion Grobb Finkelstein, 0 Comments

    What do you do to acknowledge the performance of your employees? What sort of rewards or incentives does your organization use? ...more

  • How to Build Trust and Engage Employees

    by Marion Grobb Finkelstein, 0 Comments

    How to Build Trust and Engage Employees  ...more

  • Communicating Trust

    by Marion Grobb Finkelstein, 3 Comments

    This past weekend, I broke down and bought one of those "Roombas". If you're not familiar with this techno tool, allow me to explain. It's absolute magic for anyone who can't stand housework.  It's a round gadget, about a foot in diametre, that has little wheels and travels around a room automatically vacuuming everything in its path. It's absolutely great. Today, I vacuumed while I wasn't even home!

    As I watched this machine go to work, it was pretty obvious that it knew what it was doing. I soon felt comfortable enough to leave it on its own. A half hour later, the machine beeped that it had completed the room. At that point, I got up, checked the job, cleaned out the machine, then repeated it all over again in another room. Then it struck me and I chuckled at the parallels between this Roomba and how people communicate trust.

    Do you manage employees? Supervise volunteers? Delegate to others? Then you know how important trust is. It's the foundation of relationships. Without trust, there is doubt, uncertainty, and untold stress. If you trust people, let them know it. But how? Here's some suggestions:

    DELEGATE, DON'T MICRO-MANAGE . All professionals take pride in their work. That's why, whether you delegate or not, you want the end product to be of excellent quality. Sometimes, when we micro-manage, it's because we are coming from a place of fear. The temptation to control every minute detail is immense, because we care. The recipient of this micro-managing reads this behavior as mistrust. In addition, it's discouraging and demotivating to be under the thumb of someone. It allows no room to grow. It's much more productive that you delegate and then, let go.

    COMMUNICATE PARAMETRES. If you're working with other people and counting on them to pull their load, make sure you clearly communicate what you need and when... then leave the "how" up to the people implementing. That doesn't mean they have carte blanche -- it means they can use their creativity and expertise toward common goals.

    KEEP ON COMMUNICATING. Build in milestones and checkpoints where you will be advised of the status. If possible, face to face updates are great. They can be formal or informal, depending on the complexity of the project and what you delegated. These milestone touch-points will assure your comfort level that the task assigned is on track. Trusting someone doesn't mean that you relieve yourself from responsibility. Quite to the contrary. You're still responsible, so staying connected makes sense. Be connected, not crushing.

    SUPPORT FROM AFAR. Once you've delegated, let the person know that you're accessible and then, make sure you're available when they need you. Support may come in various forms such as providing training, assuring adequate funding, and being available to provide guidance, approval and decisions. Assuming a hands-off approach doesn't mean abdicating your role as the lead; it means giving enough space for others to do their jobs without being suffocated. The space communicates trust. Being accessible communicates support.

    If you want harmonious relationships, trusting -- and communicating that trust -- is essential. Assign the task, then let them go to work and do what they do best. If they "beep" and need your help, check on them and give them the support they need to get them going in the right direction. I'll remember these lessons every time I speak to a client on the subject of delegation ... and every time I use my Roomba. I hope these tips (including the one about the Roomba) help you too.

    I'd love to hear your thoughts on how delegating effectively communicates trust. Just post your comments below:       ...more

  • Celebrate Successful Steps

    by Marion Grobb Finkelstein, 0 Comments

    When was the last time you stopped the world, stepped out of the race and paused long enough to celebrate a success?
     
    I don't mean a world-shattering achievement, I mean a small step that took some doing, that nudged you toward a goal. Baby steps are worth celebrating -- just ask any new parent watching their infant take his or her first shaky step and they'll tell you. It's a special moment.
     
    I had a moment like that recently. I'd been responding to requests for speaking proposals through an organization for the past year. I'd spent hours preparing my bids only to hear nothing. Nada, zilch, zip. There were times throughout the year when I got discouraged and even a couple requests I didn't bother responding to, thinking, "why bother? I'm only going to be refused".
     
    Then last week, it happened. I was advised that I was on the short list for an engagement. Whoohoo! Time to celebrate. Now some may say, "Marion, what do you mean 'celebrate'? Celebrate what? You haven't been booked and may not be". Well, that may be true, and that's why I'm not celebrating being booked (I'll celebrate again at that time, if and when it happens!).  I'm celebrating getting shortlisted. More importantly, I'm celebrating that I learned enough along the way to get myself on the short list. I've grown, I'm wiser and I took a baby step in the right direction.
     
    What baby step have you taken recently? Maybe it's attacking a task you've been procrastinating in doing, contacting a client you've been meaning to call, or landing a job interview. Or perhaps yours is a personal achievement like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, cooking a meal rather than ordering in, or starting the novel you've always wanted to write. The step may be shaky, it may be uncertain. It doesn't matter. It's in the direction you want to go, and that's something worth celebrating. 
     
    Sometimes we don't even recognize that we have something to celebrate. Refraining from doing something is often "celebration worthy" too. Holding your tongue when you would normally snap out a retort, asking an employee, "what happened" instead of losing your cool, or not making a decision before you have some critical information -- those are all worth celebrating too.
     
    When we take the time to acknowledge and celebrate our own successes, we are essentially telling ourselves that we are winners and achievers. In doing so, we show the world how to communicate with us too. 
     
    How you celebrate your success is up to you. It can be anything from taking a coffee break, to treating yourself to a game of golf, or taking a vacation. Try making the celebration proportionate to the sense of accomplishment.
     
    Knowing that we all celebrate successes differently is key to connecting with others. As important as it is to celebrate our own baby step accomplishments, so too is it important to acknowledge the achievements of our colleagues, our teams and yes ... even our bosses (TIP: bosses are people too and appreciate "atta girl/boys" more than you may realize). The trick to celebrating someone else's accomplishment is to do it in a way that resonates with them, not necessarily with you. This means if your employees love bowling and you don't, if you're celebrating your employees, go bowling. It'll win you all a few points.
     
    Take a moment right now and think about an accomplishment over the past week you would like to acknowledge. It might be yours or someone else's. It could be a big achievement, like pulling off a brilliant thousand-person conference for information professionals, or it might be small, like making the time to call a sick friend. It might not be a completed project, just a baby step toward completion. Acknowledge it. You're on your way.
     
    That step, as shaky and uncertain as it may be, is worth celebrating. It's the journey, not just the destination, that you will remember, so enjoy the trip. 
     
    PS: Come visit me on my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MarionSpeaks We can chat in between e-newsletters.
     
    Until next time,
    Better communication, better business, better life,
    Marion Grobb Finkelstein
    Keynote Speaker / Corporate Trainer / Author
     

    Recipient of APEX "Award for Leadership in Service Innovation"

    Marion@MarionSpeaks.com

    www.MarionSpeaks.com

    • Marion is a contributing author to "Award-Winning Finalist USA BOOK NEWS Non-Fiction: Anthologies" book, "The Power of the Platform: Speakers on Success", featuring 21 authors including Jack Canfield, Brian Tracy and Tana Goertz.
     ...more

  • Engage Employees with "CERBB Appeal"

    by Marion Grobb Finkelstein, 0 Comments

    When you hear the word "engaged", you might think of exchanging promises, looking toward a future, and being betrothed, committed, and valued. Employee engagement is all that and more. It's a good place to be! 
     
    Research confirms many things we seem to know intuitively -- having engaged employees helps morale, retention and the bottom line. There is even research suggesting a correlation between employees being engaged and customer loyalty. If you supervise employees, are an employee yourself, or work with clients who have employees, knowing how to engage them will benefit you, the employees, and the organization. But how?
     
    After poring through the scads of research, adding in my 30 years of work experience and topping off with anecdotal feedback and insights from clients and colleagues, I've come up with five strategies to engage employees. I call it having "CERBB Appeal". Truth is, these principles apply to engaging not just employees, but volunteers and many elements can also enhance your personal communications too. Here it is, in a nutshell:
    1. C - communicate
    2. E - empower
    3. R - respect
    4. B - build trust
    5. B - build teams
    The foundation of all the strategies is "communication". Consistently throughout the years, when I've spoken to people about employee engagement, the main challenge was communication. It's no surprise that communication is the principal strategy and touches each of the remaining four strategies.
     
    If you want to engage your employees more, enhance the way you receive and give information.
    • Offer options for input. Having a gamut of ways your employees can use to offer input and comments will enhance their engagement. This could range from an informal coffee with a boss to a formal suggestion program. I suggest offering many input mechanisms because we're all different and what works for one employee won't for another. Increasing the options for input increases the input... and the engagement.
    • Share proactively. Three of the most important things for leadership and colleagues to share with employees are:
    1) vision and goals;
    2) information required to make decisions; 
    3) feedback.
    There are many more ways and things to share, however, these three seem to be common to most organizations I have known. They are the universal pieces of communication that need to be provided routinely and proactively to create a foundation for employee engagement.
    How your organization puts each of the "CERBB" strategies into practice will be unique to your corporate culture. Each of the strategies will manifest itself differentlly to fit your organization and resonate with your employees.
     
    Try having some "CERBB appeal" and let me know how it goes. Here's to engaging your employees. Let the courtship begin! 
    PS: If you think your organization, association or group would benefit from a session on this subject, I invite you to get in touch with me. I am passionate about helping people get connected and engaged through communication because I really believe that better communication leads to better business and better life. 
     
    PPS: JOIN ME ON FACEBOOK. I posted this article on Facebook and I'd love to hear your comments. Just click here www.facebook.com/MarionSpeaks and select "like". It's a great way for you to get to know other people in the MarionSpeaks community!  
    Until next time,
    Better communication, better business, better life,
    Marion Grobb Finkelstein
    Keynote Speaker / Corporate Trainer / Author
     

    Recipient of APEX "Award for Leadership in Service Innovation"

    Marion@MarionSpeaks.com

    www.MarionSpeaks.com

    • ·Marion is a contributing author to "Award-Winning Finalist USA BOOK NEWS Non-Fiction: Anthologies" book, "The Power of the Platform: Speakers on Success", featuring 21 authors including Jack Canfield, Brian Tracy and Tana Goertz. See http://www.marionspeaks.com/bk-popsuccess_70.html   
     ...more

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