Management Matters

Each edition Jackie Astbury, our Training Manager, will look at the ‘managerial side of life’ and focus on management development, providing guidance, tips, techniques and practical advice on an assortment of topics including performance management, conflict management, time management and many more.

Over the last four editions we have looked at communication, specifically listening, written and verbal communication. We will look at communications with your team and individuals in later editions but this series focussed on your individual forays (ooo look at me with my word of the day calendar!) in the wonderful land of communications.

In this edition we will review the last four articles in, ‘Effective Communication – The Flashback Edition’

Happy New Year to you all!

It’s January and so of course yesterday I saw some Easter eggs for sale!

So obviously January is a time to look forward but it is also a good time to review and so, in my best ‘TV voice over man’ voice….“Previously on Effective Communication.”

So let’s go back, right back, okay not that far, back to the first edition of Management Matters where we looked at active listening, a huge part of effective communication.

Here are the main headlines from that article:

• We spend very little time actively listening as our brain loves to multi task, so when we should be listening we are thinking about other things, like what we are going to say next or what sandwich to get at lunch. Trouble is we may well miss information and if you get caught out not listening, well I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes (unless they are a size 5 and very expensive!)
• As well as making an effort to understand the message being conveyed active listening also helps to build rapport, understanding and trust. Eye contact is important as are verbal cues such as ‘mmm’ and ‘yes’.
• Paraphrasing and asking open questions are a great way to clarify information as well as showing that you are genuinely listening.
• Push away thoughts of the 64 emails you have to respond to or whatever else is zipping around your head and focus on ‘what is this person trying to say or convey?’

To read the full article with all the bells and whistles click here

Edition two of Management Matters dealt with written communication with a special focus on emails – the place where sometimes, written communication goes to die a horrible death.

Here were my top rants, I mean suggestions:

• Let’s have a little courtesy in emails shall we?  New emails should have a subject, a greeting and a sign off. Clear and concise communications is the order of the day my friends, so get to the point and make the information relevant.
• Please, please, please, please (continue this until bored) proof read emails before you send them. Wrong names, spelling mistakes, no punctuation, sentences that make no sense at all, I had them all. I am not the email police (but I’d like to be as that sounds cool) but attention to detail people please, it matters.
• Don’t reply to emails when you are angry or upset or if you have read an email and thought, ‘how dare they say that about me/my work/my mum/my hamster.’ Wait, as your emotions may well influence your message. You may have completely misinterpreted that email as all you have are the words on the screen and nothing else.

Essentially the email is a written representation of you and your firm, so treat it with the respect it deserves!

To read the article in full click on this lovely link

In edition three and four of the series on Effective Communication we moved onto verbal communication and I looked at networking and public speaking.

We started with networking or as I prefer ‘having a chat with some people’. Many people are hesitant when it comes to going to events and meeting new people so here are the top tips from the article:

• Arrive early before groups form.
• If you approach someone on their own they will be eternally grateful as they may be as nervous as you.
• Look at how people are stood. I don’t mean is that guy slouching, look at the groups and look for the open stance, in other words is there an opening for you to join. If so you are good to go.
• If the group is closed off then they are happy in their little clique group and may well be planning warfare tactics or going in for a group hug, so avoid.
  If you want to see visual examples of group formations, as demonstrated by some very obliging Lego people, click on the link to the article below.
• As to what to say ‘Hi my name is Jackie, can I join you?’ is always a good one. NB please replace ‘Jackie’ for your name, unless you fancy an identity change.
• ‘Why are you here today?’ is always a good opener if it is a general networking event. Even better ‘who are you hoping to meet today?’ and then end the conversation with ‘if I meet any … I’ll would you like me to introduce you?’
• It’s all about building relationships so don’t waffle on about you and the wonderful strategic logistics solution matrix flux capacitor that your company offers (although I just put random words together I bet as we speak someone is doing a PowerPoint presentation on strategic logistics solution etc.)

Read all about it here

Which brings me neatly onto public speaking (see what I did there, seamless, like pants that don’t have seams)

The 3 P’s, which are planning, preparation and practice, are your best friends when it comes to public speaking, regardless of whether you are giving a pitch to 3 people or are on stage at the O2 in London.

Planning involves looking at the logistics, the what, why, where, when etc. and looking at what you need to do.

Preparation is where you pull all the information together to structure your talk. It is also where you decide how you will present your information. Remember you are the presentation, you will not engage your audience if you spend the whole time reading from your notes or reading a slide full of words.

If you do use PowerPoint here are a few basic pointers:

• Don’t fill your slide with the equivalent of Act 1 Scene 3 of Hamlet, break up text with pictures and don’t overdo the slides, no one wants to sit through 124 slides, even your mum would object.
• We take in information in a number of ways so the visual element of PowerPoint is good, as it reaffirms your verbal message, so the slide should summarise what you are saying.
• Practice involves, well practicing. It is an important part of the process as you get a good idea of what fits and what doesn’t, timings and the flow of the talk. Practice also helps with nerves.
• Nerves are normal (I may have a badge made of that!) and in fact Adrenaline makes us more alert and keeps us ‘in the zone’. To help control your nerves, so that they don’t overspill into you being a blubbering mess, before you begin take some deep slow breaths as it helps with the potential quivering voice and tricks the brain into a ‘calm feeling’. Try to slow down your speech if you can, again it calms you as you tend to talk fast when you are nervous.

Want more? Get clicky with it here

Next month we will begin a new series in Management Matters where we look at Time management in ‘Time flies but you are the pilot’.

Over the series we will look at delegation, effective meetings and other aspects of making the most out of your time.

For more information about management training for your business or for a friendly chat on guidance on training and development of staff contact Jackie Astbury on jackieastbury@chadlaw.co.uk or telephone 0113 2523452.