July 20, 2014 By Joyce Weiss 2 Comments

A Powerful Leadership Secret to Use at Work and Home

Do you want to learn a leadership secret to reduce conflict at work or home? If so, think about the word, expectation. We all use the word expectation many times during the day. My question for you this week is…Are you communicating clearly what your expectations are to others?

The meaning of expectation

A belief that something will happen or is likely to happen.

Challenges from my clients

My clients tell me that they are disappointed when their team does not follow through or deliver expected results. I ask my clients if they were clear on what they wanted their team to do. They tell me, “Joyce, Yes I was very clear.” Many times we find out the missing link after we have a meeting with the team and leaders. The team usually expresses that they did not know specifically what was expected of them while leaders did a bit of “mind reading” thinking that their team already knew what they needed to do. This is a common mistake that I see many leaders do. It is easy to fix.

A great example from a Hospital CEO

I am very clear when I interview each new hire for our hospital. I am the last person on the team who interviews the candidate since I trust my employees to select qualified people. I tell the candidate that “It’s not my job” is never tolerated here. Everyone helps each department out. We all help with patients and wheel them to their cars when they are discharged, if necessary. “It’s not my job” is not tolerated here. I am extremely clear on my expectations and ask them to repeat what I tell them. This way I know that I was heard!

A strategy for you to use at home to insure that your expectations are understood

My daughter, Wendy Edelman wrote the blog post below. She works at a MI based software company, Techsmith. Her message can be used by anyone who wants to get outstanding results from his or her family. Enjoy and let me know what you do at home or work to make your expectations clear.

The Productivity Activity: A Mom’s Take On The 20% Project

POSTED BY WENDY EDELMAN ON JULY 14, 2014

You may be familiar with the 20% project that some teachers are introducing into their classrooms to inspire creativity and student led learning. If you are not familiar, check out this explanation on 20% time in education. I have heard how many students took the 20% project to heart and have come up with amazing project ideas based on their own interests (running a marathon, creating a stop-motion animation movie, organizing a fundraiser, etc.)

My 13 year-old son Dylan is home for the entire summer with no real plans other than a few chores around the house, and playing with friends. Not a bad deal. Luckily, we live in a neighborhood with lots of kids. But I couldn’t help but feel I was letting him down as a working mom and offering him no activity or structure. Then it occurred to me: what if Dylan could do his own version of a 20% project? My husband and I talked it over, and we came up with an idea that takes 20 minutes out of my son’s extremely not-so-busy day. These twenty minutes would be spent doing anything productive and on something that Dylan wanted to explore. We called it the Productivity Activity. Just what every 13-year-old wants!

Here were our rules:

He must do something productive for 20 minutes every day
He can decide what that project will be
We can discuss what he did for the day over dinner or the weekend

Pretty simple, but so far, very effective!

I gave Dylan a few ideas of inspiration and he ran with it. We are into our first month of summer and here is what he did or plans to do:

Research how sushi is made and come up with a plan to make it at home (we bought supplies for was his 8th grade graduation gift)
Learn how to play The Office theme song on his guitar
Write his own song on the guitar
Continue to write chapters in his thriller novel
Master HTML with his dad (they have been using codeacademy)
Learn the fundamentals of hitting a speedbag (Rocky was his inspiration)

I wanted to share this idea with you because Dylan was so receptive from the very beginning and shows no sign of slowing down. If you do try this with your own kids, the key is to let them pick what interests them. I would love to hear your ideas on how to make the most of a very long summer!

AUTHOR

Wendy Edelman

Wendy Edelman is the Education Team Manager at TechSmith.
You can follow her at @wendyedelman

She has been with TechSmith for over a decade!
She loves coffee, red wine, and water..
She has one son, one husband :), and one dog.

Thoughts From Joyce

Wendy’s blog post is perfect to share with your team. Communication issues can be solved once we are all clear about our expectations. This is also an example of how work and home life are not 2 distinct entities. Company’s of choice know how to help their employees do their best to balance both home and work. I will share more ideas on this in future blog posts. Thanks Wendy for doing such a great job with Dylan. I am very proud of my family and I will be including more articles about us. It’s so much fun to learn some great lessons from my kids and grand kids.

Click here to read Powerful Presentation Skills Secrets From a 13 Year Old. Yes it is also about Dylan. Learn key ideas to make your next presentation powerful and successful.

Want to Use this Article in Your Newsletter or on Your Website?

Of course! You are welcome to print this, and any other articles we send, if you use the following byline:
A recognized expert on Resolving Conflict in the Workplace, Joyce Weiss, M.A., CSP is an author, accountability coach, and a Certified Speaking Professional. To book Joyce to speak at your event or company call: 800.713.1926 or email: Joyce@JoyceWeiss.com
Visit her website at www.JoyceWeiss.com to sign up for your own FREE video series and Communicate with Impact Weekly to Resolve Conflict in the Workplace.

Was this helpful?

Please send me any comments that you may have for this article. Hit the link at the end of this post to share your ideas or questions. Loyal readers like you help us find more people who could benefit from these posts to reduce conflict at the workplace and home. There may be someone in your life who is feeling stressed out…who could benefit from the inspiration and knowledge on improving their working condition or home life.

Until next time,

This is Joyce Weiss, Business Conflict Resolution Consultant
I help people become top level leaders who get GREAT results.
How do I do this?
I teach them to tackle the tough conversations with bullies and negative people to build employee engagement, accountability, and rock star performance…
The Result? My clients get a better night’s sleep!

Feel free to call me concerning your own team/executive retreats, workshops, on line professional growth coaching, and keynote speeches.

Remember…You Get What YOU Tolerate!

June 29, 2014 By Joyce Weiss Leave a Comment

Your Employees Won’t Know the Expectations You Don’t Bestow

We all know that communication is the most common challenge that causes much conflict in the workplace. The biggest issue for my clients is when their team seems confused about their expectations. I always ask the leaders if they are sure that they have communicated their expectations in a clear way to their team. The answer is usually, “Of course, Joyce, my team knows what I expect them to do.” This is where it gets extremely interesting! Employees let me know that they are NOT clear about their job functions or responsibilities when I interview them for the training. Where is the disconnect? The answer depends on so many factors.

The main idea in this article is for leaders to ask themselves if they communicate what they want to to team in a detailed and specific way. Mind reading gets all of us in trouble.

Many leaders have these unspoken expectations:

When you disagree with me, let me know.
Don’t wait until the last minute to start a project.
I expect projects done on time, even if it means working late.
I want you to take the initiative and think for yourself.
Give me regular status reports, so I don’t get last minute surprises.

Check out this article on There is not a law against sharing ideas with your team

Want to Use this Article in Your Newsletter or on Your Website?

Was this helpful?

Until next time,

Feel free to call me concerning your own team/executive retreats, workshops, on line professional growth coaching, and keynote speeches.

Remember…You Get What YOU Tolerate!

Check out this article on There is not a law against sharing ideas with your team

June 22, 2014 By Joyce Weiss Leave a Comment

Stir Up Your Team’s Fire and Help Them Agree on Their Desires

Your colleagues have worked hard to develop into a strong team. Here are your next steps to develop even stronger qualities for a successful team:

Get people emotionally involved.

Goals need to be simple, realistic, attainable, and emotionally driven. Perhaps it means becoming a complaint-free company or creating a word-of-mouth marketing plan. It’s the emotion that moves people to action. Send me how you get your team fired up at the comment link below.

Work on team consensus.

Once the team agrees on a goal, that’s it – agreement is final. It means everyone has to take action. If someone doesn’t like the goal, he or she has to bring it up during the meeting and not gossip after the meeting is over.

Click here to check out the article on Creating a Code of Honor to stop gossiping about a change made by the team.

Want to Use this Article in Your Newsletter or on Your Website?

Was this helpful?

Until next time,

Feel free to call me concerning your own team/executive retreats, workshops, on line professional growth coaching, and keynote speeches.

Remember…You Get What YOU Tolerate!

PS Click here to check out the article on Creating a Code of Honor to stop gossiping about a change made by the team.

May 11, 2014 By Joyce Weiss Leave a Comment

Discover The Importance of SILENCE

Can we talk?

I just learned an important lesson about being a great trainer. I was at a dinner party with people who I never met before. There was a guest who took over the conversation. At first I thought that he was charming with his stories and jovial personality. It didn’t take long to read the body language of the other table mates. They were fidgeting in their chairs, coughing a lot, and I realized that I was NOT alone. This was a great opportunity for me to do something different in this situation…listen and not say anything.

I decided NOT to interrupt or change the subject like I usually do when others take over a conversation. I listened and asked myself if I was this kind of communicator. I asked people who knew me (a few days after this party) and they all said the same thing. “Joyce, you are a great listener and at times you do like to fill the silence.”

What did Joyce learn?

This feedback was very helpful to me. Hey, I suggest that others ask for feedback and I better do the same thing. Here is the lesson. I decided to try something new in my next training session to a group of very open and delightful sheriffs. They still heard my stories about Resolving Conflict in the Workplace. BUT, I asked them to discuss their workplace conflict issues longer than I usually do.

Miracle of miracles…the feedback from the session was the best that I ever received in 30 years of training. All I did was stop talking as much as I usually do and give participants longer time to share their suggestions in small groups.

Do you know someone who needs to develop his or her career?

Do know of colleagues or employees who would benefit from working with me on improving their communication? Do you want to grow within your career? Click here to find out what it is costing you NOT communicating with impact. This Master E Course, “Top Level Leader Tune-Up: Communicate with Impact” has a money back guarantee. My clients stay connected with me for 2 months via email to resolve conflict in their workplace. The Results speak for themselves.

How about you?

Do you take over at meetings or let others take over? Pay attention to your own communication style during your next meeting. Do something totally different…either talk more or listen better. Then ask trusted colleagues how you can improve as a communicator. You will probably hear some great suggestions. Of course this is not the time to get defensive. Be open and continue breaking your comfort zone.

Let me know what you learn about yourself. The next time that you are at a party, sit back and read others who are either bored or tuned out when a strong talker takes over. Have fun and ask yourself some important questions to evaluate your own communication. Be a super model for your team and show others how to listen better, ask questions, or participate. OK, it’s your turn. I’m listening and want to hear what you learned about yourself.

“The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.”
Zen Saying

Want to Use this Article in Your Newsletter or on Your Website?

Visit her website at www.JoyceWeiss.com to sign up for your own FREE video series on Resolving Conflict in the Workplace.

Was this helpful?

Until next time,

This is Joyce Weiss, Conflict Resolution Consultant

I help people become top level leaders who get GREAT results.
How do I do this?
I teach them to tackle the tough conversations with bullies and negative people to build employee engagement, accountability, and rock star performance…

The Result? My clients get a better night’s sleep!

Remember…You Get What YOU Tolerate!

P.S. Do know of colleagues or employees who would benefit from working with me on improving their communication? Do you want to grow within your career? Click here to find out what it is costing you NOT communicating with impact. This Master E Course, “Top Level Leader Tune-Up: Communicate with Impact” has a money back guarantee. My clients stay connected with me for 2 months via email to resolve conflict in their workplace. The Results speak for themselves.

May 4, 2014 By Joyce Weiss Leave a Comment

Creating a Better Work Place for Innovative Employees

This blog post is an interesting article written by the innovative people at IncFile.com Incfile.com began with the goal of helping individuals and businesses meet their incorporation needs. Their mission is to deliver the best incorporation value, online or offline, and to provide service that is fast, friendly, and efficient. Let me know how you enjoy the article. Thanks to IncFile for writing this post just for Communicate with Impact Weekly.

When it comes to owning a corporation, it is extremely important to create an environment where employees can be creative and innovative.

Having creative and innovative employees is a huge plus for any business: such workers not only offer great new ideas, but they also become increasingly more invested in the business as they begin to generate ideas in and for the place they work. So whether you are starting up a new corporation, or simply looking for ways to improve your current business, it is always beneficial to create a workplace geared towards innovative employees. Here are some ways that you can do exactly that:

Break down walls

People are far less creative and innovative when they feel as though they are locked behind bars. High walls separating cubicles is a way to positively shun creativity. Instead, remind people that they are in a fun office space – not a prison – and their brains will run with ideas.

You can even go a step further by adding an atrium or a few fountains to create an atmosphere and ambiance that produces creativity in all of your employees.

Open up the space and create common areas

People also become far more creative when they have open spaces where they can interact with fellow creative minds. Apple’s innovative founder and CEO Steve Jobs was famous for designing a company campus where employees had to interact throughout the day, because he felt that it led to great thinking, and the churning of excellent new ideas.

That building utilized features such as a common room and lunch room in the middle of multiple areas, so that employees from different sections of the company would all meet together and start talking. He also placed bathrooms far away from many workers, so that they would have to walk past other employees constantly.

All this new found discussion in the workplace may look like simple water cooler banter, but in reality it’s great ideas and innovations blossoming before your very eyes.

Have a boss accessible

Many creative minds shut off their innovations while at the workplace because they feel that their ideas will not be heard, or that it’s too much trouble to have their ideas heard. This can all be solved by having an easily accessible boss.

If a boss has an office placed right among his or her employees, with an open door, then workers are far more likely to feel creative, because they believe that their ideas are growing in a workplace where they can be heard.

Weekly innovation meetings

Employees are the most innovative when they are encouraged. Weekly innovation meetings can do exactly that.

Consider starting (or ending) the week with a meeting where employees can suggest ideas, or bounce thoughts off of one another; make sure to also use this time to check in on past innovations, to see if employees are following through with their work.
With these ideas, you can create a workplace that is ideal for innovative employees.

About the Author: IncFile provides incorporation services specifically to entrepreneurs and can help create a low business entity to register with your secretary of state and start a new company immediately. You can follow them on google+, twitter or facebook.

Want to Use this Article in Your Newsletter or on Your Website?

Was this helpful?

Please send me any comments that you may have for this article. Hit the link at the end of this post to share your ideas or questions. Loyal readers like you help us find more people who could benefit from these posts to reduce conflict at the workplace and home. There may be someone in your life who is feeling stressed out…who could benefit from the inspiration and knowledge on improving their working condition or home life.

Until next time,

This is Joyce Weiss, Conflict Resolution Consultant
I help people become top level leaders who get GREAT results.
How do I do this?
I teach them to tackle the tough conversations with bullies and negative people to build employee engagement, accountability, and rock star performance…
The Result? My clients get a better night’s sleep!

Remember…You Get What YOU Tolerate!

A Powerful Leadership Secret to Use at Work and Home

The Productivity Activity: A Mom’s Take On The 20% Project

Your Employees Won’t Know the Expectations You Don’t Bestow

Stir Up Your Team’s Fire and Help Them Agree on Their Desires

Discover The Importance of SILENCE

Creating a Better Work Place for Innovative Employees

Contact Joyce

Legal Terms & Conditions