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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2 Tips on Diffusing Defensive Responses

 

Have you ever dealt with someone who became defensive with you?
 How you react will influence your future behavior.

 Here’s today’s tips:

1.  When someone responds defensively to you, ask yourself,
“What did I just do to cause that defensive reaction?”

2.  Whenever someone says or does something that causes you to become defensive;
ask yourself, “What did that person do to cause that reaction from me?”

These 2 tips can help you gain control with your team communications.

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Check out this short video on how to deal with negativity

 

Let us hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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For more information, articles and podcasts, visit Joyce’s website

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Improve Your Meetings from Boring to Creative!

cartoon concensus boring meeting

Does this cartoon look familiar?  If so, you are NOT alone!
If you want to reduce conflict in the workplace and improve morale please read this blog post. 🙂

Many of my clients tell me that their meetings are long and unproductive.  We conduct a Code of Honor to make rules to change meetings from boring to creative.  I will cover more details on The Code of Honor in a future blog.

Here are 3 Brainstorming Stages to Improve Team Creativity

What are productive steps for a useful brainstorming session?
How can you accomplish what you really want to get done?
Try the following steps:

1. Blue area = IDEAS

  • The sky’s the limit
  • Ideas fall out of the blue
  • Look at the possibilities
  • What’s good about it?
  • Challenge your assumptions

2. Red Area = SELECTION

  • Discuss hurdles
  • How can we make it better?
  • Go back to the blue area

3. Green Area = ACTION PLAN

Was this helpful?
Let us hear your thoughts in the comment section 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 Joyce’s Website

Until Next Time…This is Joyce Weiss
and Remember…YOU GET WHAT YOU TOLERATE!

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Fast Help for a Tense Workplace

20actionstepsposterEver wish you knew just the right thing to say or do in a sticky situation at work?
Here’s a cheat-sheet of best conflict reduction ideas all on a poster that you can hang on your wall of your office or cube!

These 20 action steps are the key for you to become a master communicator at work and home.

To expand on each idea, watch my FREE video series, “20 Tips to Reduce Conflict in the Workplace.”

You’ll get a full size download of the poster when you subscribe to the video series here: https://www.joyceweiss.com

The poster and videos work great together to help you improve morale and open up communication on your team, so be sure to share!

Here are a couple of my favorite tips:

 “Ask a positive question to the negative person.
‘What is something good that happened to you today?’

This will force the negative person to say a positive response.” (It is fun to see this develop! ?)

“Set up a mentor program where all generations help each other using their unique talents, skills and perspectives.”

P.S.

Need more help with communication at work? Learn how to protect your time and bring harmony to your workplace with my On-Demand eCourse, “Communicate with Impact.” Go here to learn more:
https://joyceweiss.com/wp/communicate-with-impact-4-week-video-course

Until next time,

This is Joyce Weiss

And Remember…”You Get What You Tolerate”

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Add 26 Days to Your Year: Reduce Conflict in the Workplace

“If only I had more hours in the day.” How many times have you uttered those words?
If you’re like most people, you either think it or say it daily.
The good news is that we all have more time accessible to us.
The bad news is that we often let others steal it from us.

Consider this: International Communications Research in New York surveyed over 1,000 people on how many minutes per day
they are interrupted with things that they don’t want to do.
Over 42 percent of those surveyed admit that they spend 100 minutes or more every day on interruptions.

This breaks down to the following:

100 minutes (1-2/3 hours) per day
11-2/3 hours per week
26 days per year
5 weeks of vacation

While you can’t make up for lost time, you can have more time to do what you want to do – starting today!
The secret is to use Be Direct with Respect® principles.

Here’s how.

  •  When someone asks, “Can I have five minutes of your time?” the natural response is to say,
    “Sure,” even though you really don’t have  five minutes…and you know those five minutes will grow into 15, 20, or even 30 minutes. A better response is, “Sure, I’d love to help you.   Let me call you when I’m done with this project and we can talk then.”
    Now you’re still engaging the person, but you’re doing it on your terms and your timeline, not theirs.
  •  When someone tries to start a friendly conversation with you or engage in small talk and you don’t have the time,
    the usual response is to stop what you’re doing and talk to the person. After all, you don’t want to be rude.
    A better response is, “I’d love to hear more about your grand kids (or your new project, the new clients, etc.),
    Right now I have a meeting (or a deadline to meet, a report to finish, a doctor’s appointment, etc.).
    So let’s talk about this later today when I’m available.”
    Again, it’s just a matter of redirecting the person to your timeline.
  •   When you have a planned one hour meeting with someone and the hour is almost up but the other person shows no intention of leaving or ending the conversation, most people would let the meeting run over, which then disrupts their entire day’s schedule.
    A better approach is, “Our time is just about up. Why don’t we use the remaining few minutes to decide when we’ll meet again to complete this discussion.”
    At that point the person may suddenly be able to sum up all the key points. And if additional time is needed, now you’re doing it according to your schedule.

Take Back Your Time

Being Direct with Respect® is a skill that enables you to stop interruptions at work and home in order to do the necessary tasks.
It is an art to tell others that you can’t take care of their needs without sounding like a selfish person.
When you’re direct with respect, you can do what you need and want to do and get the respect from others at the same time.

Check out our new Communicate with Impact: Be Direct with Respect ON DEMAND Course.

Click here to Discover how WE can work together to help YOU become a master communicator so that you can add 26 days to your year!

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We want to hear from you!
Please send me your questions or comments in the comment box below… it’s all about connecting with my clients and loyal readers. 🙂
Feel free to share this article with others…just be sure to give credit to Joyce Weiss, Conflict Resolution Consultant (www.JoyceWeiss.com).

Until next time,
This is Joyce Weiss
and remember…YOU GET WHAT YOU TOLERATE!

 

 

 

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Do You Want to Hear a Podcast With Tips on How to Reduce Stress and Conflict in the Workplace?

My loyal readers have asked me to inform them when I’m interviewed on the radio especially on
the topic of reducing stress and conflict in the workplace.

I was honored to be a guest on the Catalyst Business Talk Radio Show.
I thank David Pace from  Business Speakers Bureau for the introduction.

Do you want to hear my latest podcast on how to Reduce Conflict in the Workplace?
If you answered, “yes”, you’re at the right place.

Check out the entertaining and informative interview that Catalyst Business Talk Radio Show Public Radio produced on
Secrets to Reduce Conflict in the Workplace.

      Click here for the podcast
Click Here  For more great business podcasts from Catalyst Business Talk Radio Show

Was this helpful?
Let us hear your thoughts after you listen to the interview.
Feel free to share this blog with others – just 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.

Until next time,
This is Joyce Weiss
and Remember…You Get What You Tolerate!

PS If you haven’t signed up for the Free Video Series on “Reducing Conflict in the Workplace”… you can do this right now
Click here to register for the Free Video Series

 

Contact Joyce

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