Joyce Weiss, Author at Joyce Weiss

April 11, 2011 By Joyce Weiss Leave a Comment

The New Normal: Doing More with Less to Decrease Conflict in the Workplace

I had the pleasure of being a presenter at a conference sponsored by the MI Society of Government Meeting Planners in Grand Rapids MI. The topic was The New Normal: Doing More with Less. The main idea was to reduce conflict in the workplace by improving communication skills. Thanks to Andy Silver, The Director of Training for MI Department of Community Health, who helped me understand the needs of the audience which helped me customize the program to their needs.

The following is a list of 3 questions for you to ask yourself and share with your team to discover how you can improve your working c0ndition and decrease conflict in the workplace:
1. What systems do you use to identify what is important to whom and when?
2. How do you weed out or stop things that are not working and recharge with new program alignment?
3. What barriers are hindering you from creating a positive work environment?

The answers to these questions are a good way for you to improve your working condition and reduce conflict in the workplace. Your team can improve communication skills by coming up with new ideas on how to do more with less.

Please share your answers with me and I will respond because I enjoy connecting with my loyal readers!

Below are 2 short video testimonials that describe how Doris Sims from the Greater Lansing CVB and Mona Murphy from Flint Area CVB enjoyed the session.

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Until the next time…Joyce Weiss

March 18, 2011 By Joyce Weiss Leave a Comment

Do You Have a Successful Team? Do You See Bullying in the Workplace?

My clients have seen some negative behaviors that are making it hard for them to create a successful team. They are experiencing more bullying in the workplace.

Make sure to confront the bullies by using be direct with respect®.
Check out this past blog post with ideas on how to do this successfully.

Communication tips: bullying in the workplace

Check out how your team works together. Are they working in harmony to make a great team?
Do the following statements apply to them? If not, how can you make them true? Do they…

1. Trust each other?

2. Engage in unfiltered conflict around ideas?

3. Commit to decisions and plans of action?

4. Hold one another accountable for delivering against those plans?

5. Focus on the achievement of collective results?

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Let us hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Feel free to share these tips with your team – just be sure to give Joyce credit when you share or publish.

Listen to the podcast below with Joyce on conflict resolution.

Conflict in the Workplace Podcast

March 17, 2011 By Joyce Weiss Leave a Comment

Leadership Consulting: Great Leaders Make NO Excuses

Have you ever attended a meeting when complaining prevailed?

Did you wish that the leader stopped the negativity in order to move forward?

This blog post describes how a strong leader took a negative situation and turned it into a very productive meeting.

I recently attended the School of Education and Human Services board meeting at Oakland University in Rochester MI. Our fearless leader Dean Louis Gallien told us how Oakland University may lose 23% of its state allocation if state legislators accept our governor’s budget plan for higher education.

Dean Gallien told us that our governor needs to fix our state budget and make tough decisions. He led us into discussions on how to move forward and figure out what we must do to continue making Oakland University vital and growing.

The board of directors did not waste time feeling like victims or blame the government.
“No excuses” became our mantra for the rest of this productive meeting.

I wish all leaders stopped constant complaining during meetings. This kind of behavior only breeds negativity which stops problem solving and creativity.

Think about your own situation for a moment – especially if your budget was cut or if you experienced a reduction in staff or benefits.

How much time was wasted in conversations on what was taken away?

We need to spend more time on the positive things that the company is doing.
We need to spend the rest of our time discussing ideas for streamlining, cost cutting, and restructuring.
Many of us are experiencing the “new work reality” about reduction of budgets.

Do your best to use the following tips to keep creative ideas flowing:

Look towards the future
Search for a second right answer
Find opportunity from change
Do your best to stay positive during challenges
Accept responsibility and don’t blame others
Don’t walk away from negative people – run!

These are not easy to do BUT they are necessary in order to move forward and succeed.
Let our competition complain and stay stuck in their status quo while we find answers to our challenges.

Remember – You Get What You Tolerate!

Until the next time.
What is your most pressing question about your own meetings?

Was this helpful?
Feel free to share these tips with your team – Just be sure to give Joyce credit when you share or publish.
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For more information, articles, and podcasts on conflict resolution, visit https://www.joyceweiss.com

February 25, 2011 By Joyce Weiss Leave a Comment

So…You Want To Keep Your Members Coming Back?

I just presented a Be Direct with Respect® program (Communicate with Impact!) at the MI Business and Professional Association (MBPA) on a snowy day at Davenport University in Livonia, MI. You may be familiar with the 101 Best & Brightest Top Companies to Work For event…MBPA is the association that is responsible for this amazing meeting every year. It is my personal favorite. The attendees hear from the winning companies (employees nominate their company to be part of the contest) on the creative programs that keep their employees motivated and productive.

The employees of MBPA know how to treat their members.
I know first hand since I’ve been a loyal member for years.
MBPA surveys their members on how they can continuously improve their services.

Alicia Wilson and Leah Schroeder (MBPA star employees) were in charge of this highly successful this meeting.
They both made every guest and member feel welcome.
Another star MBPA team member -Taryn Misajlovski, Director of Events was responsible for bringing to the meeting.

There was a power networking exercise right after my program. Members and guests did some serious networking and I was impressed at how they really listened to each other. I heard people ask questions about each other and it was not only a one way communication. Look for a future blog post about advanced networking.

So…if you want to keep your members coming back remember to really listen to what they need and refer business to them. They will remain loyal and tell others to join.

Watch the video testimonial from Alicia Wilson, Associate Director of Events at MBPA.

Photo of Leah Schroeder, Sales Assciate at MBPA and Joyce Weiss at the meeting

Was this helpful?
Let us hear your thoughts in the comments below.
Feel free to share these tips with your team – Just be sure to give Joyce credit when you share or publish.
Sign up at the RSS feed on the blog site to be included in future blog posts from Joyce on this subject.

For more information, articles and podcasts, visit https://www.joyceweiss.com

Until the next time,
Joyce Weiss

February 22, 2011 By Joyce Weiss Leave a Comment

So…You Want to Be a GREAT Listener?

Many of my clients ask me to include ideas in my training programs on how we can become great listeners.

Effective listening skills will help improve our relationships and sales. The next time you are in a conflict make sure and use this technique because it will help you gain control and concentrate on what is really being said.

We have to ask ourselves if it is more important to be right or to resolve a conflict.

Enjoy this 2 minute video and let me know what your most pressing communication challenge is in your own life.

The rest of this blog post contains the words included in the video.

Has anyone ever told you that you’re just not listening?
Do you ask a question and the other person tells you that you already asked the same question?

If so – not to worry. We are all so busy doing the things that we do and at times our mind is on over load!
Here are a few reasons why people aren’t great listeners:

They are thinking of what they are going to say while the other person is talking
They tune out the person’s message because they don’t like what the other person is saying
They are thinking about what’s for lunch

Here’s the bold solutions tip for today:

Really focus on the person who is talking
Slow down your pace and concentrate only on what you are being told
Turn off all internal dialogue
Repeat what the other person just told you (parroting technique)

This one simple technique can help you become a GREAT listener. You will see how others appreciate your concentration. You will also see how others will listen better to you. It may take a while to change your listening habits, but it will be worth the work since you will see how your relationships and sales will improve.

For more information on Joyce’s accountability coaching and speaking please visit: https://www.joyceweiss.com

The New Normal: Doing More with Less to Decrease Conflict in the Workplace

Do You Have a Successful Team? Do You See Bullying in the Workplace?

Leadership Consulting: Great Leaders Make NO Excuses

So…You Want To Keep Your Members Coming Back?

So…You Want to Be a GREAT Listener?

Contact Joyce

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