Browse published articles attributed to Susan Cullen, with full-archive search.
Preparing, Delivering and Reinforcing Your Live Virtual Training When conducting a live virtual training course, it is especially important to be organized during each step of the process. Below please find a checklist that may help you. Preparing
People literacy is knowing how to read and understand the behavioral style differences of others. Every Manager has experienced the frustration of not understanding why one management approach that works beautifully with one employee is ineffective with another. That’s because what we think ...
Have you ever wished you had a crystal ball that would tell you BEFORE you hired a candidate if they were actually going to be a good fit? Have you ever scratched your head AFTER you made a bad hiring decision, and wished you never even hired an employee in the first place? Making sure you have the right person, in the right position, at the right time, takes much more than a crystal ball. It takes knowledge of effective interviewing skills, and the ability to implement them. One of the most effective approaches for interviewing is called Behavioral Interviewing.
Let’s face it. Information is coming at us faster than ever before. We are constantly receiving a steady flow of emails, text messages, phone calls and voice mails. The downside of communication technology is that it is making everything URGENT. It takes real discipline to determine the difference between what is really important from what is just urgent. But it’s this difference that gives you the ability to be really productive, as opposed to just really busy. The 5 key steps to gain control and mastery of your time include:
Why do some teams perform well while others struggle? How can you assess how effectively your team is working now, and identify methods for improvement? Research shows that 85% of the reasons that teams of people succeed or struggle has more to do with interpersonal issues, than technical ...
We all want to keep up. With today’s current unemployment rate, you especially want to hold onto your job. However, when so many companies are downsizing, those employees who remain are left to pick up the slack of the ones that are gone. This adds additional stress because the workload consistently gets heavier. All of this can take a very real toll on your self-esteem. You may not have recognized it. You may not have spoken about it. But it can be very real nonetheless. See if you identify with any of the symptoms below:
People can initially be conce ed that live virtual training cannot be as interactive as the traditional face-to-face approach, but this isn’t necessarily true. The key is to design your program well by constantly keeping it moving and keeping participants engaged.
People literacy is knowing how to read and understand the behavioral style differences of others. Every Manager has experienced the frustration of not understanding why one management approach that works beautifully with one employee is ineffective with another. That’s because what we think would be motivating isn’t always motivating to someone else. The same principle applies to client and co-worker relationships. We “click” or connect with some individuals and understand each other. But we also work with individuals who approach things differently.
Let's face it: Our current economy has put more pressure than ever on our managers. Not only do they need to do more with less, they have to keep everyone motivated and engaged at the same time. Managers can feel caught in the middle between what the organization needs, and what their employees need.If you are a manager, struggling with these challenges, your role is critical now. The following 5 key skills, when mastered effectively, can help you succeed even in today's tough economy. - Identify and Align with Key Organizational Priorities.
We're all faced with too much to do these days. But one person's challenge may not be someone else's. In order to really maximize the use of your time, you need to have a good understanding about what YOUR unique time management challenges are. As you review the following 12 time management competencies, ask yourself how well you think you are doing in each of them:
Research shows that we filter out or change the intended message of what we hear in 70% of our communication. That's a lot of the time! If we filter out or change it that often it is REALLY important that we learn how to send and receive messages to make sure we are being heard and are hearing others! The reason we filter out or change the meaning so often is that we just don't get it - no matter how much someone else might want us to!
One of the most difficult conversations most managers ever have is when they need to meet with an employee to discuss a performance problem. Most managers either put this discussion off altogether (just hoping against hope it will go away), or so clearly mismanage the discussion that the employee leaves feeling demoralized and unmotivated. However, the following three strategies can help you the next time you find yourself needing to coach an employee to improve. - Focus on specific performance issues, not personality. You may just know that the performance is
One of the most effective ways to help your staff succeed is to provide regular, consistent coaching throughout the year. A Progress Review is a specific kind of coaching discussion, tied to the employee’s Annual Objectives and Standards. It is an informal discussion in which the manager ...
The importance of developing the fundamental skills of a company’s managers has never been more important. In today’s economy, when organizations are struggling to positively differentiate themselves, an organization’s managers are the key individuals who inspire the workforce to perform at its highest. Research consistently indicates it’s the frontline managers who have the greatest impact on engaging staff and developing their capability to meet today’s challenges.
It seems the world is moving faster and faster these days. You constantly have information streaming to you from people in the office, meetings, email, voice messages, texts. You're trying to keep on top of it all and it can sometimes feel practically impossible. So what do you do? Begin by determining what's really important to get done. Separate what's important from what's just urgent. Don't Get Caught in the "Urgency Trap"
When it comes to maintaining loyal customers, one simple fact never changes: It's all about the relationship you have with them. They already know all about your company's products and services - and they've already become your customer. But in today's day and age, competition for that same customer is increasing. You've got to find a way to keep them for life. Once that relationship is developed, you want to keep it strong. Identify what your client needs and go the extra mile to provide it.
One of the most difficult conversations a manager must ever have with an employee is coaching them when a performance problem exists. Many managers put this discussion off altogether, or handle it ineffectively. As a result, the employee never gets the coaching needed, and performance does not improve.
It has never been more important to build an engaged workforce who is passionate about helping your organization succeed in today's changing and challenging business climate. But there may be hidden symptoms of disengagement that can cause employees to "turnoff", just when you need them the most. The individual's immediate supervisor or manager is usually in the best position to create some of these unfortunate circumstances. Luckily, they are also in the best position to turn it around. Jim Haudan, in his book entitled "<a title="The Art of Engagement"
When it comes to effective selling, one simple fact never changes: Selling is a relationship business. You already know all about your company’s products and services – and you’ve learned the fundamental aspects of the sales cycle. But have you ever asked yourself … What helps one salesperson develop immediate rapport with prospects, and not others? What is he or she doing that is leading to long-term client relationships? How can I learn to do the same thing?
Below you will learn more about the four behavioral styles: Dominance, Influencing, Steadiness and Conscientiousness. Learn the goals and fears of each style, what they tend to overuse and how each style can be more effective. DOMINANCE – Focuses on Controlling the Environment Goals - Wants to get results - Likes “do it and do it now” approaches - Wants to be in charge - Likes new opportunities and challenges - Wants opportunity for advancement - Likes initiating change and taking risks Fears/Avoids
A major problem for employers today is attracting the best talent, and then retaining key employees. Research shows that the key ingredient for retention lies within the manager’s ability to understand what employees really want.
If you gather 100 experienced leaders together to share with you their most important secrets for success, you probably wouldn't hear a lot of academic theory or jargon. Instead, this is a good idea of what you’d hear: - Put ethics first. If you make unethical decisions for short-term gain, you will lose in the end. Let your principles guide you in the many decisions you must make regarding business practices and people. You will regret it if you don’t.
This article describes how investments in many types of training programs are usually wasted, and how to implement the best available options for enhancing learner retention and increasing your organization's ROI. The Problem Do any of these challenges sound familiar to you? - We spent quite a bit of money to train our staff, and now 6 months later nobody is using it! - Everybody liked the program, and they were positive when they walked out the door, but nothing seems to have really changed….
In today's tough economy, with more and more people struggling to either find a job, hang on to the one they have, or make their businesses prosper, it's important to recognize everything we can do to help us be more productive. Martin Seligman, Director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote an intriguing book called Learned Optimism. In his book, he offers many simple techniques to break an "I-give-up" habit and develop a more constructive explanatory style during challenging times.
Before you call your next meeting, the FIRST step is to decide if it is really essential. To determine that, ask yourself the following: - Is this meeting essential? - Can we do without it? - Can we accomplish the task without a meeting? - Can it wait another week? - Can we get things done with few meetings? Then, if you have decided a meeting is the best way to accomplish your objective, the following tips can help you conduct more effective meetings:
You've heard it said that "Successful People Do the Things Unsuccessful People Don't Want to Do." There's a great deal of truth in that statement and it demonstrates the value of accomplishing goals by overcoming procrastination. It's important to first understand why you are procrastinating and then take steps to overcome those tendencies. There are 5 important steps to take, as follows:
Have you ever wished your team could all be moving in the same direction? Could a lack of focus and alignment be preventing your team from accomplishing your most important priorities?
Learning how to deal with interruptions at work can be quite a challenge. The average person spends over 2 hours of each day just dealing with interruptions. In fact, the statistics showing how frequently interruptions at work occur is staggering. So how can you better keep them under control? Here are some helpful tips to remember: - First of all, accept that interruptions are a part of life. They are just going to occur. When they do, it is important to not let yourself feel thrown off track.
It seems the world is moving faster and faster these days. You constantly have information streaming to you from people in the office, meetings, email, voice message, texts. You’re trying to keep on top of it all and it can sometimes feel practically impossible. So what do you do? Begin by determining what's really important to get done. Separate what's important from what's just urgent. Don't Get Caught in the "Urgency Trap"
One of the biggest challenges we face is the difficulty of managing individual priorities when working with other team members. Below please find 5 deadly traps that can really zap how effectively team members are able to get their work done. You may want to discuss these with team members during your next meeting. This discussion just might help you each get more done each day! The five deadly traps impacting team time are: