Planning for Employee Satisfaction Surveys Many organisations feel the need to "survey their people" and put some questions together and hope for something useful. Unfortunatly this is where it often goes wrong - not with the intent, but the implementation.Asking questions is easy, asking the right question and interpreting the results is quite another. In this short series of articles we continue our exploration of what it takes to run a successful employee survey.The following outlines … [Read more...] about How to Run a Successful Staff Survey
10 steps to building relationships for effective change management
In this article, I will share my 10 steps to building relationships for effective change management. 10 Tips for building lasting business relationships and making change management more effective.Go back 10 years and change management was more about conformance, tracking technical changes and processes. Thank goodness that has changed.Today Change Management is more about preparing the people in the organisation for the change. Working with the psychology of change and … [Read more...] about 10 steps to building relationships for effective change management
IM in business – performance enhancement or distractor?
Have you been pinged? Instant Messagingn (IM) inside business has ballooned at an ever increasing rate - but does this enable or disable performance?IM or Instant Messaging used to be the domain of MSN , Yahoo and other internet based messaging systems, but increasingly organizations are installing systems internally. What is Instant messaging? IM is a person to person message system - you can see if a person is on line or not and send a message live to their desk "PING!" The flashing … [Read more...] about IM in business – performance enhancement or distractor?
twitter yammer tips for effective use
Twitter and other micro-blogs are an increasingly useful communication tool. However like any tool there should be an agreed etiquette. One of the best I have discovered is by Margaret Mason and in the style of a RT (Retweet) on Twitter here I republish this important list:Whether you’re a broadcaster, responder, or newbie, if you’d like to be a better citizen on Twitter, here are a few guidelines to help you navigate: 1. Watch your ratio.If only a few people follow you, but you follow … [Read more...] about twitter yammer tips for effective use
Have you just wasted your entire learning or training budget on a learning Library?
One of the great ways to develop your staff is to have a learning portal, or learning academy site. A resource which contains lots of information and self-development activities for leaders, coaches and change agents in business. These learning libraries or virtual academies can be expensive to compile and maintain, so many organisations choose to buy these services for their employees. It can be a cost effective strategy for the provision of learning materials. Are Learning Library's all they … [Read more...] about Have you just wasted your entire learning or training budget on a learning Library?
To blog or not to blog – Internal or corporate blogs
A Blog (short for web log) is a public communication that enables interactions between the author and their readers. Whilst not all bloggers in the public arena allow comments and dialogue, the vast majority do, indeed it is this interaction (or the possibility of the interaction) that makes the blog different from other communication tools. The difference that often makes the difference.Recently I have been reading some internal blogs by senior leaders in an organization, and it is obvious … [Read more...] about To blog or not to blog – Internal or corporate blogs
Business Instant Message tools – increased or decreased productivity?
Many of us remember when Microsoft introduced MSN Messenger, I certainly remember some 12 years ago catching my daughter using it with school colleagues at the age of 11 swapping homework tips!Of course since it was first introduced in 1999 it changed several times, adding functionality on a regular basis, and along the way changing its name through “windows Live” until its integration with what is now known as Skype.It was the success of this simple instant messaging tools, that spurned … [Read more...] about Business Instant Message tools – increased or decreased productivity?
Good Weather For Ducks – losing the art of communications due to social media
Watching a piece on the news this morning, was a piece that claimed social media was in fact anti social. This is true, many of us would prefer to look at our mobiles than strike up a conversation.In years gone past we would have used phrases about the weather as an icebreaker to talk to strangers. Simple phrases like "good weather for ducks" or "it's wet again" or "wow its hot.. do you think it will last?". These are simple ice breakers that people have used for years, they are simple … [Read more...] about Good Weather For Ducks – losing the art of communications due to social media
Blogging for Leaders
Recently I have been involved in a number of discussions about blogging in the context of leaders and managers, and what it is and is not. This got me thinking on how many people should be blogging (internally or externally) but are not. I will start by saying that there are as many forms of blogs are there are bloggers (people that write blogs)… so there is no right or wrong. What is important is for each writer to be authentic and honest to themselves and their readers. Write from the … [Read more...] about Blogging for Leaders
They’ll Eat Out of Your Hand – Book Review #Leadership
They'll Eat Out of Your Hand If You Know What to Feed Them, is a new book by Dr. Laura Hills This book looks at what the author says are the "30 Essential Communication Skills that Give Highly Successful Career Professionals Their Edge". Split in to six parts, following a 6 point communications mode, Hills provides a well documented journey for developing professionals. Taking a holistic approach Hills takes the reader on a journey through not just one area of communications skills, but and … [Read more...] about They’ll Eat Out of Your Hand – Book Review #Leadership
Social Media and Social Business – what do we mean?
As we move into a world where "social" is put on every HR and marketing strategy, much like "i" has been put on technology, are we at a risk of over complicating and confusing people.We are in the early hours of a new revolution, and I fear that many people are using what they consider to be "cool" or "sexy" titles rather than describing what is happeningSocial - It's not the emperors new clothesThere really is a sea change happening in the way we communicate - and this tide cannot … [Read more...] about Social Media and Social Business – what do we mean?
Twitter was down… where are your communication eggs?
Its been a difficult few days for Twitter the social not-working siteOver the last few days it has now been down for several hours each day and the BBC and other are reporting that it is due to the site being spammed and causing a denial of service - this means that a co=ordinated attack has taken place to take the site 'off the air'.In addition, Twitter has had to take their API service down - this means that when Twitter is 'up' it is only available to a limited number of services, and … [Read more...] about Twitter was down… where are your communication eggs?
