Copyright 2015 Dave Hill Speaks LLC Dallas TX Web: Phone: (972)

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1 Copyright 2015 Dave Hill Speaks LLC Dallas TX Web: Phone: (972)

2 Copyright 2015 Dave Hill Speaks LLC. Page 1 Web:

3 KEY #1 WHAT ARE SOME OF THE FORUMS IN YOUR WORKPLACE WHERE COMMUNICATIONS WASTE TIME AND $$$$? Visualize a management meeting where about 50 people have flown in from all over North America to discuss and gain consensus on a major change going on in the company. The conference room is full and absorbs the sound. There is no microphone. The average age of attendees is between 50 and 60, and a few people have hearing aids. Some presenters mutter and others are simply unable to project their voices to the back of the room. Frustration levels build. Attendees at the front of the room ask questions that people behind them cannot hear. Presenters do not repeat the questions to the audience so they can understand what is being said. Impact on the company s bottom line: This meeting may have cost as much as $250,000, not to mention the loss of productivity due to attendees being away from their normal work. Copyright 2015 Dave Hill Speaks LLC. Page 2 Web:

4 KEY #2 USE A LIGHTHEARTED APPROACH TO BUILD RAPPORT, REDUCE TENSION, AND CONNECT WITH PEOPLE. Before the meeting started, the president of the research company had an unusual request of the 50 or so attendees: Introduce yourself and tell what your first-ever job was. People chuckled about being dishwashers in restaurants, farm hands and landscapers. (Among the Irish, there was a notable trend of having worked in pubs before college.) This simple icebreaker, which identified common ground and humble beginnings, caused the attendees to relax a bit prior to negotiations. HOW TO DO IT Think about the things you can do to relax the atmosphere and encourage cordial interaction among participants. 1. What icebreaker activities would be appropriate for your audience? 2. Could you open the meeting with an amusing story that relates to the content of the meeting and that the audience can relate to? 3. Can you poke fun at yourself or a situation? Copyright 2015 Dave Hill Speaks LLC. Page 3 Web:

5 KEY #3 DEAL WITH PERSONALITY CONFLICTS RATHER THAN LETTING THEM FESTER Ten Ways Exceptional Workplaces Handle Worker Conflict 1. Train people at all levels of the organization in conflict management, negotiation skills, and listening skills 2. Deal with conflict right away rather than having it fester in the background 3. Hire people with exceptional communication skills and impeccable ethics 4. Embrace respect and trust 5. Address unresolved conflict efficiently and effectively through workplace resources 6. Energize and empower employees. In turn, they will do anything to help each other and advance the company 7. Create an aura of balanced lightheartedness that helps derail conflict 8. Discuss where conflict exists and brainstorm how to reduce it. Copyright 2015 Dave Hill Speaks LLC. Page 4 Web:

6 KEY #4 DEVELOP A CULTURE OF CANDOR WHERE PEOPLE ARE MORE INCLINED TO SPEAK UP Jack Welch, the former CEO of GE, is one of the most quoted leaders on candor in the workplace. In his book Winning, he writes: I have always been a huge proponent of candor. In fact, I talked it up to GE audiences for more than twenty years. But since retiring from GE, I have come to realize that I underestimated its rarity. In fact, I would call lack of candor the biggest dirty little secret in business. What a huge problem it is. Lack of candor basically blocks smart ideas, fast action, and good people contributing all the stuff they ve got. It s a killer. When you ve got candor -- and you ll never completely get it, mind you -- everything just operates faster and better. How can we create a workplace environment where candor is encouraged and grows? 1. A workplace that has a strong culture of respect, trust and camaraderie will find it easier to increase the level of candor. 2. Create a culture where speaking up is rewarded. Consider the following scenario: You speak up at a meeting and the information you provide changes the outcome of the decisions being made. A manager in the room thanks you in front of your peers for bringing a controversial perspective and steering the group toward a more appropriate resolution. 3. Hire exceptional communicators, employees and leaders who actively listen, people who ask good questions, individuals who are ethical, people who do not manipulate others to get their way. Provide communication-skills training to your workforce. 4. Build rapport. Why not turn up at meetings early and endulge in casual conversations to build your likeability and to get people comfortable talking with each other. 5. Use techniques to reveal the potentially negative aspects (or better solutions) to a decision: a. Learn body language. If it appears there are raised eyebrows, shaking heads, fixed gazes or visual signs of withheld information, you should ask the person for their thoughts. b. Ask everyone at the meeting to provide at least one potential negative outcome and one alternative no matter how absurd it may seem c. Breakout into sub-groups, brainstorm for a defined period of time, and provide feedback to the whole assembly. Copyright 2015 Dave Hill Speaks LLC. Page 5 Web:

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