Joyce Weiss

I work with organizations and individuals who want to kick conflict and chaos to the curb - Queen of Conflict Resolution and Communication Coach

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How Effective Communication Affects the Bottom Line

Here’s breaking news –  Even the BEST communicators need to constantly work on their effective communication!   Larry Henry, Owner/Producer of Two Floors Down Productions interviewed me on why I created the patented strategy – Be Direct with Respect®.  This week’s post contains information on why effective communication affects the bottom line.  Please listen to the short podcast below.

      

I developed Be Direct with Respect because many of clients were having a hard time getting their team to speak directly with each other when there was a conflict.  Being honest in a direct way is difficult for some of them.  They were either too direct and didn’t know any other way to communicate.  Or they didn’t tell the truth due to fear of retaliation or getting fired.

It became apparent that effective communication was lacking for both leaders and employees. The biggest reason was that they didn’t know how to be direct.  They never learned this skill in school.  Some of them were told that it was rude to be blunt.

Ignoring conflict will affect the bottom line.  Do you work in a culture where every team member speaks directly yet respectfully to anyone on the team when a customer is treated with disrespect or phone calls are ignored?  Most of the people who I interviewed laughed when I asked them the question about effective communication.  They told me the team is silent during meetings because leaders don’t encourage honest communication. Ouch!

Leaders need to decide how to communicate effectively to their team with both good and bad news especially when there will be budget cuts or certain team members don’t pull their weight.

The next few sentences will be a review for many of you who are loyal readers.  After you read the examples decide if you need a refresher on how to use be direct with respect.  You will find more articles on effective communication by searching past blog posts.

Effective Communication Case Scenario #1 effective communication

Several team members are complaining more than ever.  It doesn’t matter if you are a leader or not.  The main idea is the negativity is starting to get old and becoming the norm.

Here is one possible effective communication strategy:
I am frustrated when I hear all the complaining because this is affecting the entire team.  Let’s reboot and start to look at what the company is doing for us.   

Effective Communication Case Scenario #2 effective communication

Certain team members roll their eyes when others speak at weekly meetings.  This negative behavior goes on way too much in the workplace.

Here’s one possible effective communication strategy:
I am concerned when ideas are discounted because we decided as a team to start accepting each other’s differences.  We need more work in this area.

Let’s Get Real

The two effective communication case scenarios are examples of how productive be direct with respect can be once the skill is mastered.  My clients ask me to coach their team and leaders to improve morale, communication, and even unproductive meetings.  I encourage them to practice these skills with each other during the training and long after our time together is over.  Companies have the best success when they constantly practice being open and honest with each other in a productive way.  Humor sure does help!

I want to hear from you

Please add your comments or send me your questions on what is and what is not working with your company’s communication.
You will receive a response from me because I enjoy connecting with my loyal readers! 🙂

Please share this and any article that speaks to you or your company

Loyal readers like you help us find more people who could benefit from these posts. Help us help them reduce conflict and improve leadership skills and quality of life.

This is Joyce Weiss
Corporate Communication Strategist and Career Coach

Until next time, Remember…”You Get What You Tolerate!”

PS Learn how I can leverage my 30+ years of communication and leadership consulting experience to help your organization experience my customized workshops here.

 

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Why Conflict in The Workplace Research Matters: Part Three

If you are a senior level executive can you relate with any of the questions below?

  • How successfully does your organization resolve conflict in the workplace?
  • Do you have to deal with strong egos from colleagues or upper management?
  • Are your managers empowered to handle conflict in the workplace?
  • Is morale an issue that never seems to improve?

If so, this article (third in the series) contains strategies that may help you solve these challenges.
Don’t worry if you didn’t read the first two articles.  You will find the links towards the end.

Conflict in the Workplace for Senior Level Executives

I asked the following questions to senior level executives:conflict in the workplace

  • What areas can help improve communication and morale?
  • What are the barriers that stop your team from performing well?
  • How can senior level executives support managers and directors?

Here are some of their answers:

  • I’m not sure if we have the right team in place, yet firing is such an issue.
  • We need to train our managers, but we aren’t getting a training budget.
  • We have some big egos in upper management, and this is creating a lack of trust in certain departments.

Solutions to Reduce Conflict in the Workplace for Senior Level Executives conflict in the workplace

1.  I’m not sure if we have the right team in place, yet firing is such an issue.
Ask your managers to dig deep by asking their direct reports what positions would showcase their skills.
This could be an easy fix when employees find departments that are best suited for their needs.
Teach your managers and directors to have those tough conversations with mediocre employees to resolve conflict in the workplace.

2.  We need to train our managers, but we aren’t getting a training budget.
Ask your managers and directors to explore online training programs.
Purchase books about advanced management or technology and conduct book reviews at meetings.

3.  We have some big egos in upper management, and this creates a lack of trust in certain departments.
This comes up during many of my coaching sessions.  I always tell my clients that this is a tough one to solve at times.  It all depends on how open upper management is to constructive feedback.

Here is an example of a successful communication from a very daring client of mine, Sue.  She was upset that her ideas were discounted at a management meeting.  These are her actual words:
“I was embarrassed when I shared my ideas at the team meeting because they were strongly rejected without any explanation.  I understand that all ideas can’t be accepted by top leadership.  There is silence in many of our meetings because the team doesn’t feel listened to by leadership.”

After this strong and important comment was made, Sue was taken very seriously and she received the respect she deserved.
   

Let’s Get Real About Conflict in the Workplace

The comments above are typical of many of my clients.  All levels of an organization share their frustration and they want to resolve this conflict in the workplace.  The challenge arises when there is no trust or employees attempt to convey ideas to their leaders and nothing changes. Senior level executives need to make sure that their managers and directors communicate in a way where their direct reports feel heard.  Do a search on my blog for numerous articles on these topics.

Read the first article in the series, “Why Conflict in the Workplace Research Matters:  Part One.”

Read the second article in the series,“Why Conflict in the Workplace Research Matters:  Part Two.”

I want to hear from you

Send me an Email with your questions or comments on your frustrations and conflict in the workplace. You will receive a response from me because I enjoy connecting with my loyal readers!  🙂

Please share this and any article that speaks to you or your company.
Loyal readers like you help us find more people who could benefit from these posts.  Help us help them reduce conflict and improve leadership skills and quality of life.

Read more articles and listen to podcasts at our Knowledge Base Page, Conflict in the Workplace, here.

This is Joyce Weiss, Corporate Communication Strategist and Career Coach

Until next time, Remember…“You Get What You Tolerate!”

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Why Conflict in the Workplace Research Matters: Part Two

If you are a manager or director, do you compare your conflict in the workplace with other managers or directors?
Would you like to find out what issues other managers experience?
Do you want to learn strategies how you can resolve some of your conflicts?

If so, the next two articles are for you.  They contain information I gathered from recent workshops on Resolving Conflict in the Workplace.  Let me know your specific stress so I can write about topics that fit your needs.

Read the first article in the series “Why Conflict in the Workplace Research Matters: Part One.”

Conflict in the Workplace for Managers and Directorsconflict in the workplace

I asked the following questions to managers and directors:

  • Where do you need support from senior level executives?
  • How would you rate the productivity of your meetings?
  • What do you need from upper management to help you achieve company goals?
  • What conflict in the workplace issues do you experience?

Here are some of their answers:

  • I need more staff because my team and I are all stretched to the max.  They tell us that they can’t afford to hire, but we’re all frustrated and the customers are starting to complain.
  • Star employees are leaving because we are not addressing their training issues.
  • Many of our leaders don’t know how to conduct a meeting; consequently, many meetings are a waste of time.
  • How can we reach company goals if I have to continually put out fires for my team?

Solutions to Resolve Conflict in the Workplace for Managers and Directors

  1. I need more staff because my team and I are all stretched to the max.  They tell us that they can’t afford to hire, but we’re all frustrated and the customers are starting to complain
  • Upper management needs to know about customer complaints.
  • Meet with other managers and directors.
  • Find solid evidence on how much the company is losing by not hiring qualified employees.

      2.  Star employees are leaving because we’re not addressing their training issues.

  • Ask them to find online courses that interest them if training and continuous improvement are on their list.
  • Proact and meet with star employees to discover what the company needs to keep them motivated.

   3.  Many of our leaders don’t know how to conduct a meeting and so many meetings are waste of time.conflict in the workplace

  • Amazon has are numerous books on How to Conduct Productive Meetings.
  • Purchase a few copies and conduct book reviews.
  • Each team leader will share what new strategies they learned and discuss these gems.
  • Ask employees how leaders can improve meetings.  This constructive feedback will be very helpful if it’s done with the right intent-positive feedback and not sarcasm!

4.  How can we reach company goals if I have to continually put out fires for my team?

  • Delegate to your team leaders.
  • Train them to resolve the conflict between employees or with customers.
  • This will allow you to work on company goals and free up your time to do what you need to do.

Let’s Get Real About Conflict in the Workplace

The comments above are typical of many of my clients who are managers and directors.  All levels of an organization share their frustration and they want to resolve this conflict in the workplace.  I suggest that you conduct your own research with your employees.  Take the ideas from the articles in this series as a starting point for your own issues to discuss.

I want to hear from you

Send me an Email with your questions or comments on your frustrations and conflict in the workplace. You will receive a response from me because I enjoy connecting with my loyal readers!  🙂

Please share this and any article that speaks to you or your company.  Loyal readers like you help us find more people who could benefit from these posts.  Help us help them reduce conflict and improve leadership skills and quality of life.

Read the first article in the series “Why Conflict in the Workplace Research Matters: Part One.”

This is Joyce Weiss, Corporate Communication Strategist and Career Coach

Learn how I can leverage my 30+ years of communication and leadership consulting and coaching experience to help your organization address career skills here.

Until next time, Remember…”You Get What You Tolerate!”

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Powerful Leadership Skills to Build Trust at Work

Effective CommunicationDo you want to improve your leadership skills and communication?

Is your team disengaged?

Do employees push back?

Are you rescuing employees instead of having them take care of their own conflict at work?

The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them –
Ernest Hemingway

This article covers frustrations that my clients experience at work. I interview clients before each coaching program or workshop and specific patterns are apparent.

What are Some Leadership Frustrations?


Top level leaders are exhausted because they are taking over the responsibility from their directors or managers who are not having tough conversations with their team.

The same communication issues occur and nothing seems to get resolved.

Why Does This Happen?

As you know many managers/directors are not trained sufficiently on how to deal with tough conversations. The untrained managers know their job responsibilities. Employee push-back, gossip or any conflict are all issues that they want their boss to resolve.

How Can Top Managers Improve their Leadership Skills?

Top level leaders must have that tough conversation even if their senior staff pushes back and says, “I’m too busy to have productive conversations with employees.” Everyone is busy. It’s the responsibility of upper management to empower the entire team so they feel safe and to solve their own “drama” with bullies, narcissists, or low productive employees. At times leaders need to help managers or team members if a resolution is not found.

Specifically, What Can You DO to Change?

Stop rescuing your team by taking over their job responsibilities especially if your communication skills are excellent. This is your time to train managers and directors to do this on their own. You may think that I’m sounding like MRS. Tough Gal. I’m not. I hear complaints daily about employee morale and some leaders are in a rut and continue this same pattern.

Whose Responsibility is it Anyway?

Everyone’s – not just top leaders, the entire team. It will take you longer to resolve this conflict in the workplace if there’s no trust or lack of training programs. But it’s solvable. Recognize that there is a conflict with communication in your organization and do something immediately.

What Resources Do You Have for Us to Improve Our Leadership Skills?

I want to hear from you

Send me an E-mail describing the frustrations and stress that you experience at work with colleagues or leaders?

Please share this and any article that speaks to you or your company.

Loyal readers like you help us find more people who could benefit from these posts to reduce conflict and improve leadership skills.

This is Joyce Weiss, Executive and Career Coach

Please visit our FAQ page to discover how our services can help your improve your organization’s communication?

Until next time, Remember…“You Get What You Tolerate!”

PS. Read my article on How to Set Boundaries at Work

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Shattering the Myth About Career and Executive Coaching

Do you think that Executive Coaching is for people who are

  • Troublemakers?
  • Reserved for the hardest cases?
  • Headed towards termination?

If so, this article will shed some light on the myths of Executive Coaching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sqNxAKE7uY

The Reality of Executive Coaching

  • It’s a strong retention tool
  • It supports professional development
  • It helps grow leadership and employee engagement

Who are Good Candidates for Executive Coaching?

  • Executive Coach | Joyce WeissLeaders who need to learn how to stop micromanaging direct reports
  • Top performers who are ready for a promotion yet need to improve their communication skills with the executive staff
  • Employees who have excellent technical skills yet need to become more assertive at meetings
  • Workaholics who don’t know how to balance their home life and career
  • Anyone who want to receive a promotion

The Executive Coaching Process

  • Executive Coaching |Joyce WeissAnalyze the fit of client and coach
  • Understand the client’s challenges, strengths, and needs
  • Determine shared goals with the client and client’s supervisor
  • Check in with each other between sessions to ensure goals are reached
  • Discuss progress with the client’s supervisor
  • Schedule periodic check-ins to keep client on track and accountable

Let’s Get Real about Executive Coaching

My experience with Executive Coaching has been very rewarding because clients have worked very hard to achieve their goals either to develop their career or resolve conflict in their workplace.

The biggest mistake for new Executive Coaches is when they begin working with clients and have not decided if they are good coaching candidates.  You heard me right.  We need to interview clients to make sure they are ready for candid feedback and are willing to check in with the coach to show that they are accountable to make the necessary changes.

READ HERE to discover 3 important Executive Coaching Questions to Ask Yourself.
They are powerful and may help generate some positive change for your career growth.

I want to hear from you

Send me your questions or comments on your experience with Executive Coaching.

Read more articles and listen to podcasts at our Career Coach Strategies Knowledge Base

This is Joyce Weiss, Communications Strategist and Executive Coach

Until next time, Remember…”You Get What You Tolerate!”

Contact Joyce

Email: joyce@joyceweiss.com
Phone: 248-681-5831