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

Reducing conflict in the workplace can add productive hours to your day.

“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 these statistics: International Communications Research in New York surveyed over 1,000 people on how many minutes per day they are interrupted by things that they don’t want to do (not including email).  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

Surprising, isn’t it?  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:

Be Direct with Respect Strategy #1 to Reduce Conflict in the Workplace conflict in the workplace

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;  we can talk then.” You are still engaging the person, but you’re doing it on your terms and your timeline, not theirs.

Be Direct with Respect Strategy #2 to Reduce Conflict in the Workplace conflict in the workplace

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.  After all, you don’t want to be rude.

A better response is, “I’d love to hear more about your grandkids (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.). Let’s talk about this later today when I’m available.” Again, it’s just a matter of redirecting the person to your timeline.

Be Direct with Respect Strategy #3 to Reduce Conflict in the Workplace

What can you do when you are in a planned one-hour meeting with someone, the hour is almost up, and the other person shows no intention of leaving or ending the conversation? Do you let the meeting run over, and disrupt your 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 sum up all the key points. Then if additional time is needed,  you’re doing it according to your schedule.

Take Back Your Time to Reduce Conflict in the Workplace

Being Direct with Respect is a skill that enables you to stop interruptions at work or home to accomplish necessary tasks.  It’s an art to tell others that you can’t take care of their needs immediately 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.

By developing these three Direct with Respect strategies, you can add 26 days to your year!

Read More to discover how to reduce conflict in the workplace.  We can work together to help YOU become a master communicator.

I want to hear from you

Add a comment to my blog on what is and what is not working when you attempt to set boundaries with others.  You will receive a response from me because I enjoy connecting with my readers! 🙂  You are always welcome to send me a private email with concerns that you are experiencing at work.

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 in the workplace, improve leadership skills and enhance their quality of life.

Learn how I can leverage my 30+ years of communication, leadership consulting and coaching experience to help your organization reduce 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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Powerful Quote on Confronting Problems

Joyce Weiss | Communication Strategist | Career Coach | Favorite Quote

#favoritequote
#WilliamHalsey’sQuote

I live by the sentiments of this quote.  Life is actually easier when we get things off our chest.  I also know that many people find it hard to have those tough conversations at home or work.  Share if you agree.

Joyce Weiss | Communication Strategist | Career Coach | assessment

I’m here for my loyal readers to share easy strategies for resolving conflicts in their life.  Find out how your communication skills impact your work by taking the FREE Communication Skills Assessment.

You will receive immediate feedback from me.  You can send the link to as many people as you want.

Until next time,
Joyce Weiss

 

 

 

 

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Hiring Strategies to Improve Communication in the Workplace

How to improve communication is always a topic that my clients want me to cover in training or coaching projects.
Here are 3 questions to get us started:

  1.  Have you ever hired a loser?
  2. What did you learn from this experience?
  3. What are your favorite interview questions?

The answers to the questions above were discussed in my last group coaching training with Department Managers and Leaders.  This article will cover all 3 questions.  I look forward to hearing about your own best practices that work for your company.

Hiring Strategies to Improve Communication #1:  Know the Cost of a Bad Hire improve communication

  • Interview time
  • Reference checking time
  • Manager training time
  • Potential customer problems

The important thing is to realize the cost of a bad hire.  This happens to all of us at times.  We were caught off guard because the person came so highly recommended or you may have needed a body immediately because of a timely project and the person in charge just quit.

Hiring Strategies to Improve Communication #2:  Learn From the Experience improve communication

Participants in the training shared the following mistakes and what they learned:

  • To evaluate the candidate even if he or she is a close friend
  • To put your ego aside and don’t hire a candidate just because he or she is like you
  • To look at both the personality and skill set of the candidate
  • To make sure that the hiring manager has enough information about the job

I can see many of you shake your heads right now, because you may have made the same mistakes.

An HR Professional told us that he hired someone because he was so impressed with the resume and missed obvious flaws in the candidate’s personality.  We can teach skills, it’s a challenge to show someone how to be a good team player.

Hiring Strategies to Improve Communication #3:  Use Creative Interview Questions

  • Describe a typical workday at your previous/current job.
    This is the time when you can hear if there’s a lot of blame or negativity.
  • Tell me about the best boss that you ever had.
    You can see if there’s leadership potential.
  • How would your coworkers describe you?
    Go deep here.  Ask the candidate for specific examples when he or she tells you about the positive qualities.
  • Did you ever have to deal with a coworker who didn’t pull his or her weight?
    This question may uncover how the candidate handles conflict.

Share these 3 hiring strategies to improve communication with your team to discuss new ways to make the hiring process as productive as possible.  Stay tuned for future articles that contain information about interviewing strategies, orientation options, and performance appraisals.

I want to hear from you!
Send me your biggest mistake in hiring or interviewing candidates.  Let us know your best hiring practices. You can respond directly to the blog or send me an email HERE.  

 

This is Joyce Weiss
Corporate Communication Strategist and Career Coach

 

Remember…You Get What You Tolerate!

P.S.  Read more articles and listen to podcasts at our Team Building Strategies Knowledge Base

 

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A Motivational Quote: Advice From the Sea

I was snorkeling with my family over the holidays and saw the motivational quote below on a tree near the beach.  Those of you who know me or my work will see that the last statement is the one that caught my attention-Make Waves!

motivational quote| Joyce Weiss|Communication Strategist | Coach

This motivational quote is very powerful.  We make waves when we feel confident and use strategies to have tough conversations will almost anyone.  It takes courage and it’s always a risk to tell others what they need to hear and not necessarily want to hear.  🙂

Start making your conversation safe by using – I don’t want/I do want.  For example:  “I don’t want to cause stress between us.  I do want to discuss the importance of boundaries in our relationship.”  This sets the stage and hopefully, the conversation will be productive.  This is a great way to start off many of our difficult conversations.

Read more motivational quotes and articles on effective communication.

I want to hear from you

Send me your questions or comments on what is and what is not working when you have tough conversations.
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.

 

This is Joyce Weiss
Corporate Communication Strategist and Career Coach

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

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Exclusive Communication Skills at Work™ #4-Use Certain Words to Help You Be Direct with Respect®

 

https://youtu.be/tHh36NP93w0

Hi there and thanks for joining me again to read my latest blog post!

As you may know, I created a premier program called Communication Skills at Work™ that is designed for anyone on the corporate ladder for career advancement or resolving conflict in their workplace.

Below you will find links to the last three blogs, I shared about powerful content clients will learn from Communication Skills at Work:

Week One:  The Importance of Be Direct with Respect® in the Work Place

Week Two: Use Constructive Feedback to Get Necessary Results

Week Three:  Protecting Yourself when Others Push Your Hot Buttons.

This week I’ll preview the fourth chapter of the program: Use Certain Words to Help You Be Direct with Respect®.

In addition to the program manual and self-study guide, I offer full phone coaching depending on your budget and time frame. Read here for all the details.

Now, let’s dive in and talk about why it’s so important to Use Certain words to Help You Be Direct with Respect®.

Learner Objectives for Week Four

  • How to ask for what you need, build self-esteem, and Analyze childhood messagesCommunication Skills at Work
  • How to change a negative self-image to use Be Direct with Respect
  • Questions to ask to Be Direct with Respect
  • Build trust to use Be Direct with Respect

My favorite quote about communication is one from Martin Luther King Jr.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

The following guidelines will help you strengthen your communication:

  • Remove but and replace it with and.
  • Use I statements as often as possible and forget about using YOU statements.  I promise not to turn you into a narcissist using this strategy!  Using the word you tends to make the other person defensive.
  • Don’t get sidetracked. Here is an example showing you why Be Direct with Respect is so powerful:

     The Aggressive Approach:
“You embarrassed me in front of our department when you told them about my speeding ticket.”

     The Be Direct with Respect Approach:
“I was embarrassed when the group heard about my speeding ticket because I told you that in confidence.”

Be Direct with Respect helps participants feel more confident because the technique is easy to learn and the results are long-lasting.  People use this strategy to build trust and earn respect from anyone on the corporate ladder.

Week Four consists of several activities to help you discover your communication strengths and areas of improvement.

Week Four ends with a Final Project that we plan together

Communication Skills at Work

This is where we take all of the skills learned in the course and put them into practice.  We explore a tough situation that needs to be resolved and design a realistic course of action.

Participants who take the course use their own case scenarios and we practice together until they feel confident to use this valuable strategy on their own.  I am here 24/7 via email.  This coach is dedicated to each client’s success! 😊

Thanks again for taking the time to read my blog. I love receiving questions and comments, so please feel free to contact me or leave a comment!

Until next time,
Joyce Weiss
Corporate Communication Strategist and Career Coach

And again, if Communication Skills at Work sounds like something that could help you or your company, check out this link for more information or contact me here.

I look forward to assisting you in your Communication Skills at Work learning experience and watching how you grow your new skills to create the positive changes in your life you deserve!

Reducing conflict is like riding a bike:  Shift gears to successfully navigate life’s potholes, ruts, and obstacles.

 

 

 

 

Contact Joyce

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