Susan Scott's Blog, page 26

Top 4 Benefits of On-Demand Learning

When I worked for a generic drug manufacturer, one of the questions we would constantly ask employees was, “If we currently do things the same way we did them 5 years ago, how successful do you think we would be?” Many would claim that we wouldn’t even be in business, due to the speed of change in that industry.

Those conversations led us to create J.I.T. or, Just in Time, training materials, to support the speed of change and the need to get this information into the hands of the workers. The term, “Just in Time” quickly morphed into on-demand.

Why on-demand learning

What I have come to realize is that change is affecting almost every industry. New businesses, new ways of doing business, and lots of new terminologies.

The other day I was welcoming a group of learners to the development session I was hosting when I incorrectly welcomed them to Friday. It was Thursday. Or, as one of the attendees said “Blursday” which means “an unspecified day because of lockdown’s disorienting effect on time”.

Please tell me I’m not the only one who struggles with this on an almost daily basis! It got me wondering about just how many different terms or phrases have been created throughout this global pandemic?

A quick internet search revealed an overwhelming number. So many that Merriam-Webster announced it was making an unscheduled update to the dictionary because of the many new words and phrases that have been created.

One of the words, while not considered new, has been gaining in popularity in a variety of circles. That word is “on-demand”. (ok, technically two words, but I’ll go with one due to the dash)

Watch most any commercial for a new TV show and you will notice it ends with “and available on-demand the next day”. The huge spike in subscribers to Hulu, Apple TV, Netflix, and more all focus on the benefits of having everything you want and need to see, “on-demand”. This seems to carry great comfort and importance for us.

So, why should learning be any different? In the end, it isn’t!

Do another quick internet search and you will find a wealth of information talking about the value and need of on-demand learning, especially in our socially distanced (Yes, another new word) world.

In reality, this has been a rather hot topic for a few years now. Josh Bersin, for one, has been talking about it for a long time and came out with a noteworthy article in 2017 talking about the disruption of digital learning.

As someone who spent many years creating and delivering classroom content, I knew all too well the challenges associated with assembling a group of people for a learning event. Depending on the learning culture of the organization, it seemed as though the only way to get everyone there and focused was to hold the event at an off-site location.

Holding it on-site and you raised the possibility of a “quick” phone call, a brief update, a client question, etc. none of which could possibly wait until the session was complete.

Fast forward to mid-2020 where the thought of people gathering in a small room for hours on end seems like ancient history.

Benefits of on-demand learning

And yet, there are still many organizations where on-demand learning is still in its infancy if happening at all. While I am known as someone who has never met a microphone or an audience I didn’t like, I am still puzzled by this. There are so many benefits, for the individuals and the organization.

1. Engagement

This is a topic that comes up a lot in the work-from-home world that we find ourselves in. People crave connection of some sort and on-demand learning allows someone that connection with purpose, knowledge, and new skills. It shows that the organization has an interest in its growth and success.  The bonus for all involved here is that no one has to wrestle with a schedule in order to “fit it all in”.

2. Flexibility

As mentioned above, with on-demand learning, the learner doesn’t have to worry about having the right amount of time required to complete the session. With on-demand, you can start and stop as much as is necessary – to tend to the schoolwork of their children, the pet who HAS to go outside now, lunchtime, whatever might require your instant attention. Having the flexibility of fitting it into your schedule, as opposed to the other way around, is actually a motivator to completing additional modules.

3. Meeting the demands of the job

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, “I don’t need to attend that course, I’m happy in my role and have no desire to move up.” Well, if you weren’t aware of this before COVID-19, I think it’s pretty evident now – businesses need to do things differently in order to simply survive. Think about it – if your business was operating utilizing the exact same systems and processes as 5 years ago, how many of you would be either well behind your competition or out of business altogether? Learning isn’t just for those who want to be the next VP, it’s absolutely essential to survive, to say nothing of growing.

4. Sustainability

With the typical classroom learning environment, you can count on someone forgetting upwards of 90% of what they learned in as little as 3 weeks if there isn’t a good sustainability plan in place. With on-demand learning, you have a number of advantages: You can spread the learning out, creating more review touchpoints. You have the ability to easily reengage with the content whenever you have a question about it. You can also utilize your LMS to have a series of support messages sent out over time to participants once they have completed the course, thereby delaying what many call the “forgetting curve”.

Since it seems like it will be a while before things get “back to normal”, whatever that might mean, it makes sense that organizations embrace and dive deeper into the world of on-demand learning.

Provide employees with the flexibility to learn in between all of the other duties that 2020 has thrust upon them. Continue to engage them with a variety of learning options, both enhancing their current skillset and learning new things that are essential to remaining competitive in this new work environment we all find ourselves in, and all at their own pace.

In addition, putting the right support pieces in place so that, at the click of a button on any given “Blursday”, they can reengage with these newly learned skills.






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Is it Worth it? How to Achieve ROI of Leadership Training

I’ve been in the field of leadership development my entire 20-year career. And while the landscape of leadership learning has changed tremendously in that time (virtual, on-demand, simulations, gaming), the need to measure its impact has not.

I learned very early on that the most difficult part of my job was the moment a leader asked me to “show them the return”. They wanted to know will this program benefit the company. And if so, how? Usually, the first thing running through my head after this interaction was “do you not trust my judgment? Do you not trust my expertise? Why do you need proof? I’ve told you this is the right training – it will work!”

I’m not unlike many other L&D or HR professionals in the sense that measuring training programs can seem confusing, overwhelming, and even downright impossible at times. I mean let’s face it, we aren’t measuring how much shrink is being produced, or the percentage of call volume. We are talking about measuring trust in leadership or building managerial courage. These can seem like impossibly intangible things.

And yet, it doesn’t have to be rocket science. To successfully realize the value of leadership development and training organizations must expand their focus and consider both the Smart + Heart of measurement. ROI, the “smart” part of this equation is critical.

For instance, Jane went through the coaching workshop and is saving more than 4 hours a week because she is no longer in the “advice-giving” business. That’s 208 hours a year of additional capacity for Jane! Based on Jane’s salary, that time is equal to $7,000 annually. That is a significant result. So yes, ROI is one piece of the evaluation puzzle.

The other piece, in addition to ROI, is what we call the “heart” or for our purposes today, the ROE (Return on Expectations) This includes compelling stories and anecdotes when the numbers don’t explain the results as well as we’d like.

To take the previous example further “Retention has been an issue on Jane’s team in the past. In the months following the coaching workshop, retention has improved by nearly 33%. When her team was asked what they enjoy about their relationship with their manager, 75% mentioned the newly instituted coaching conversations and they feel their opinions matter and their job expectations are clearer.”

When faced with the challenges of measuring behavior change, ROE is a major idea being explored in today’s world of business. While ROI is still acknowledged as crucial, as Kirkpatrick says, “ROE is now being appreciated for what it is; a relevant, focused, big picture look at results”.

Understanding the ROE of L&D

ROE is not limited to just the monetary numbers. ROE encompasses much more. It can be measured in simpler terms and can even measure intangibles such as employee morale or loyalty.”

Is ROI a sound financial measure? Absolutely. Is it the ONLY measure? No. Consider this, what is the cost to our organizations/our teams when we focus so heavily on a pre-determined formula and exclude the big picture? It’s like implementing cost-cutting measures without considering the impact on employee productivity or customer experience. It’s a very narrow view that could be limiting your returns. In addition to ROI, the smarts of measurement, we need to be considering ROE, the heart of measurement.

Measurable ROI and ROE for leadership development rely on one foundational element: Having Skillful Conversations. Leadership development is not an “event”. It’s not a “one-day, two-day, three-day workshop” or “transaction between trainer and participant.”

We can’t go into training thinking “I’m going to deliver this event and then SUDDENLY everyone will change their behavior and we’ll be good.”  Instead, what if you approached training as a development initiative, a continuous conversation to discuss the who, what, where, when, and why of training with leaders, stakeholders, and participants, that begins before the event even takes place and continues long after the event is over?

How to Ensure ROI of Employee Training

Not all of us sit at the level of the strategic conversation. However, all of us play a part in helping our organizations realize better returns on leadership development initiatives. THAT is a conversation we can all add value to. So what can you do to ensure success? I’ll give you 4 tips.

1. Interrogate Reality

Reality is a moving target, which makes it especially challenging to identify clear expectations for leadership development and training. Not only are there differing perspectives of “what is important” based on what functional area you sit in, each person’s individual perspective isn’t necessarily shared by others, even if they are a part of the same conversation. So how can you set clear expectations for training in advance?

As a leader: Have the “What’s in it for me” conversation with your team members who are participating in the training program.

Research has shown us that for sustainable change to occur, insights must be generated from within. Developing a competency or skill just because someone else wants you to do it will never be enough motivation for the change to become lasting. Instead, the more personal the commitment to the learning goals, the more likely the success – If you want to make the learning “stick”, individual ownership is necessary.

As an organization: Before the training is even defined, have the conversations with stakeholders about what skills are required.

A McKinsey & Company report said, “Too many training initiatives we come across rest on the assumption that one size fits all and that the same group of skills or style of leadership is appropriate regardless of strategy, organizational culture or CEO mandate.”

Senior leaders must determine the specific leadership skills and behaviors needed to successfully execute the company’s strategy. Whether your organization is planning a merger, entering new global markets, ramping up sales operations, or creating a flatter corporate structure, it’s important to first think about what skills are needed to successfully execute the initiative.

2. Provoke Learning

As a leader: Provoke your own learning. As a, are you taking an active approach in the learning process, or are you hanging out on the sidelines? If you want to direct an orchestra, you have to learn at least the basics of every kind of instrument. You can’t tell the string musicians how to make a sound you want if you don’t have a firm understanding of how that instrument works. You won’t build trust that way, in fact, you’ll likely get booted off the stage by your own musicians. It’s the same in business. Are you willing to learn the same skills you are asking others to build?

As an organization: Ask yourself, have we created the optimal learning environment? In an inciting HBR article, “Why leadership training fails” when researchers looked at a corporate training program aimed at improving problem solving and communication between managers and subordinates, they discovered that success varied across the company. Improvements were greater in units that had already developed a “psychologically safe” climate in which subordinates felt free to speak up and practice new skills. 

3. Tackle Tough Challenges

As a leader: Focus on the doing rather than the learning.

So often, leaders will follow up on the learning experience with participants by asking “what did you learn?” Being asked the question “what have you learned?” is very difficult for even the individual to answer in an actionable/tangible way. I heard someone say the other day,

“If we consider that learning is a process that we go through to be able to do something new, different or better, shouldn’t we be focusing on measuring the ‘doing’ rather than the ‘learning’?” Brilliant! And YES!!

As a leader you can help support behavior change by actively participating in the doing vs passively asking about the learning. How do you do that? Give Feedback – even when it’s difficult to hear. Building a feedback-rich culture supports behavior change and improved performance.

As an organization: Steer clear of “flavor of the month training”. “Flavor of the month” is what happens when we just keep throwing new training solutions at our perceived skill gaps but nothing sticks – the behaviors never change. Instead of pausing and asking ourselves and the learners, what is happening? Have we missed the real need? What is getting in our way? We just keep finding new training solutions to throw at the problem. The result? There is none. It is the very definition of insanity, keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results.

To avoid the flavor of the month, keep the conversation open by asking questions. Explore this initiative from every angle – How often will you survey participants? How will you gather the data? What will success look like?

4. Enrich Relationships

Often forgotten or overlooked, this is where respect and engagement truly occur as a result of more authentic and transparent conversations.

As a leader:  Reinforce behavior– consistently. Consider this: how important has it been in your career to receive praise/positive feedback on your behavior? A recent Gallup poll found that 65% of US workers receive no praise at all in a given year. A similar survey of 4 million people found that people who received regular praise increased productivity and engagement.  Reinforcing behavior is an essential ingredient to high levels of performance and behavior change.

As an organization: Tie learning to the business and invite the conversation. When it comes to leadership development, it only makes sense that senior leaders and the department responsible for creating and executing training programs come together to determine what is the real skill that is needed for employees to succeed.

To do that successfully you must determine what the need of the business is first. And that requires conversation. Yet so often that conversation doesn’t take place. The lack of real, authentic conversation between L&D and senior leaders is having a direct impact on the value of L&D and the quality of the learning that is produced. I am certain this is not the result that the organization is looking for. If you know a conversation needs to take place, it is you who must invite it.

Bottom line? Skillful conversation is the only way to successfully measure the impact of training on the business and improve the learning culture in your organization. So invite the conversation, with your team, your learners, your leaders, your learning professionals. Consider the benefits when you do.






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What is Microlearning: What You Need to Know & Why You Need to Be Using It

In today’s competitive world, performance is everything. But how do you ensure that performance will continue to trend upwards with time?

Sure, you can hire the brightest minds with the slickest resumes to bring into your organization. But only focusing on hiring will only get you so far. Plus, it’s extremely costly. Instead, the most innovative companies are finding success placing more emphasis on their existing employees through leading-edge methods of employee learning.

Enter microlearning.

If you’re already thinking “boring training videos” and about to close this window, know that the eLearning world has undergone some major shifts in the past few years.

Those boring videos aren’t the norm anymore. And the new norm is exciting. With the rapid shift to remote work that we’ve seen this year, microlearning has emerged as one of the most effective ways to improve your teams’ learning and development program at scale and across many locations.

What to know about microlearning

So what is microlearning exactly? And why should you care about it? In short, microlearning is all about time. Long, exhaustive training methods are outdated for a reason. To get an entire organization into the same room for even an hour is just not feasible anymore. Plus, with everyone on the go and working across platforms, it just doesn’t make sense.

Microlearning solves this problem by distributing training via short bursts that can be fit in just before a lunch break or in the morning before diving into emails.

The great thing about integrating microlearning into your organization is that we’re all already doing it. Think of how you find the information you need to know, and when you need to know it. You look up the answer directly on a computer, laptop, or mobile device and then consume a very short article or video related to that specific content.

The professional microlearning concept is very much the same idea. And it works.

An article in ATD recently brought up George Miller’s theory that “most adult learners can store between five and nine items of information at once in their short-term memory.” Harvard Business Review further supports this idea of playing to our strengths, arguing that the microlearning approach makes learning part of everyday work instead of a once-yearly mandatory event that’s forgotten as soon as it’s over.

Learning that actually sticks with participants? That’s huge for employee and company growth.

Why microlearning is so effective

Microlearning is not just for the employee level either. It’s also shown to be incredibly effective for leadership development and a strong learning strategy. You can imagine why. If there is anyone struggling to find the time to sit through a long training session, its leaders doing their best to manage time in-between meetings.

And when it comes to securing your company’s future, leadership development is just as important as employee development. Effective management and communication are not skills we’re innately born with, but they’re critical to business success.

And while microlearning is not a new idea, the approach to distributing and growing this type of learning is. The performance numbers further support this claim that microlearning is the new way to learn and by extension, to work.

Forbes recently reported that “microlearning has been found to result in a 17% improvement in learners’ performance and a whopping 50% enhancement in learning engagement.” Those are numbers you simply can’t afford to ignore — and you shouldn’t.

More engaged learners are more likely to problem solve on their own instead of going straight to a manager with a question. And leaders with proper learning and development training are much more likely to approach issues with a full toolkit of solutions.

While it may not fully replace all other learning and development programs, microlearning is definitely worth putting into your consideration set.

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How to Talk About Politics With Your Family and Friends

 

Talking about politics, especially these days, can be very stressful and not to mention daunting. Add family and friends into the mix, and you may find yourself just avoiding the topic altogether. With these tips, you will not only be able to talk about challenging political topics with your loved ones, but you’ll also find yourself strengthening and maybe even healing those relationships for the better.

After you watch the video, if you’re curious to learn even more about how you can improve your conversations with friends and family, then download our free eBook, 5 Conversations You Need to Start Having Today.

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What Every Manager Needs to Know About Accountability

Does this story sound familiar?

Daniel, a young manager that I coached, frequently found himself frustrated that his team was not delivering projects on a deadline. He didn’t know how to fix it and often used a repertoire of different tactics to try to combat it.

It took a while to uncover what was happening. However, it became apparent after digging into multiple examples that every time one of his team members came to him with a setback, Daniel validated the individual’s reasoning.

When I asked about his approach, Daniel felt he was being empathetic – a key trait for successful leaders. It wasn’t that long ago that Daniel was standing in their shoes.

When Daniel listened to his team members, he understood the reasoning behind their comments. There’s truth to the excuses. He found himself saying things like, “Oh, I know the budget isn’t where it should be.” Or “Oh, I understand we do have a lot of projects on the table.”

His frustration lies in the fact that while the excuses keep coming, the results stay the same.

Things aren’t getting done on time. Accountability is missing.

Even if this story doesn’t feel familiar, your organization may still lack true accountability if it’s struggling with these common symptoms:

Low employee morale
Unclear priorities
Declining engagement
Ineffective execution
Trust erosion
Higher turnover

Creating accountability is difficult. And it is a leader’s job. It is the leader’s responsibility to embrace the mindset: GIVEN my current reality what DO I need to do to create the results, the career, the life that I want.

When the managers have that mentality, it trickles down and is spread throughout the team.

Common Accountability Pitfalls

Below are three common pitfalls we often witness with leaders and teams to create ACCOUNTABILITY and manager best practices to overcome them:

1. Managers aren’t trained to have the conversations. 

Many people leaders are not properly trained to respond to their direct reports’ excuses or lack of accountability. Because you can’t mandate accountability, leaders must know how to create an environment where people choose accountability, where they choose to come to a problem with solutions rather than excuses.

Now, imagine if Daniel started to have conversations with his team members that were skilled and structured. One critical tool used in Fierce Accountability is to reframe the excuse.

Instead of saying, “OK.” Daniel asked, “Given that the budget isn’t where it should be or given that we do have a lot going on, what can you do?” Instead of acquiescing to excuses, and saying “well, okay, I hear you,” the manager needs to say “I hear you AND what can you do about it?”

The manager must be able to hold the space and have the skillful conversation to move the person to action. This comes with practice and feedback. Daniel started to have different conversations, and the results did change.

2. Managers want to be liked.

Does your culture frequently recognize the “most liked” individuals? Or does your culture recognize the “biggest driver of results”? We often work with organizations that have “terminal niceness,” something we frequently call a Culture of Nice.

There is so much fear around stepping on someone’s toes or holding others to specific standards, that all of the conversations become superficial. How balanced are those two spectrums?

Take a long look at your performance management process. Evaluate how you are rewarding behaviors.

If managers who get the most gold stars on dimensions that can be tied to “popularity” instead of driving results, you may need to adjust some of your goals and processes. Be intentional with what you expect and reward.

3. Managers underestimate their role in building accountability.

We find that managers, especially young managers, are quick to build a process or want to implement a system of working before addressing the root cause issues of why accountability doesn’t exist. Although it may be nice to set up a system or methodology and then coast for a while, the harsh reality is that this is not the case.

Managers play a key role in the ongoing conversation. They can not just point to systems and processes to solve this challenge. Continuing with direct one-to-ones and making sure that you are addressing anything that arises is key.

Lack of accountability quickly becomes a slippery slope. Think about many of the disasters in this past decade from the financial crisis to auto and cellular phone recalls.

Once knowledge of what has really happened gets to the press, employees come from all facets of the organization sharing how the behavior, fraud, whatever it may be, was known by some. Or that the top person didn’t do anything about it. You may be inclined in these situations to point fingers at one person in particular.

However, if your leaders’ inclination is to say that they can’t have accountability because your culture does not have it, or your top leaders don’t have it, then stop them right there.

Share this BLOG. And remind them: Culture doesn’t live outside of you. That’s not how it works. You are the culture. You choose what it looks like every day. You choose it in the conversations you have. And even more so if you lead people, you model and reinforce those choices each time you interact with others.

If accountability is an issue in your organization, do not just wait for something to shift. Daniel started to have different conversations with his team, and in turn, there were different results. His team members came with more solutions and ownership over time.

These changes do not happen overnight. You must create a plan to equip people with the skills and practice they need to really believe and move the mission forward.

And watch out for those common pitfalls – some are easier to see than others.

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National Boss’ Day: 4 Truths That Will Make You a Better Boss

Tomorrow is National Boss’ Day, and what a day to celebrate!  At Fierce, we know that when looking at what makes a great leader, you’ll find they love to learn and they’re constantly thinking of how to improve their leadership.

While we hope you feel appreciated on this day dedicated to hard-working bosses such as yourself, we hope you also make time to reflect on where you can improve your management and better your relationships with colleagues and your team.

With that in mind, as you reflect today, I want you to remember this:

The heart of any business is not about revenue. It’s not about deadlines. And it’s not about goals and whether we achieve them.

Although all of these aspects are important in business, the only reason they’re important is because of the people they impact.

Why You Should Care About Being a Great Leader

I recall a specific incident in a previous position that woke me up, so to speak, to what really matters. One day I was blasting through an extended list of tasks, which included sending out emails to a long list of clients.

My boss was copied on the emails, and he gave me some great feedback: “It might be nice to add something in that’s more personal. Wish them a good day or something. You know, create some warm fuzzies. Clients like warm fuzzies.”

And it’s true! Adding warmth to our “business interactions” strengthens relationships and brightens our experience of the moment. In my mind that day, all I was thinking about was checking tasks off my to-do list, but my boss’s feedback made me remember the real reason behind why these tasks are so valuable.

In Start with Why, Simon Sinek writes, “Happy employees ensure happy customers. And happy customers ensure happy shareholders — in that order.”

How do we create a foundation for happier employees? The key is emotional capital — the ability to connect on a human level. We are happiest when we’ve established a sense of trust and mutual respect with those around us.

The relationships that exist between everyone involved in the business, both with our coworkers and our clients, are indeed the heart of business.

As Susan Scott wrote in FIERCE CONVERSATIONS, “Our most valuable currency is not money. Nor is it intelligence, attractiveness, fluency in three-letter acronyms, or the ability to write code or analyze a P&O statement. Our most valuable currency is relationship.”

Relationships are the seed from which everything else grows, including success.

Here’s another way to look at this idea:

When we focus on relationships as the center of our efforts, we break into higher levels of MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS. The grind is all about surviving physiologically.

We pay the bills when we get stuff done. Focusing on relationships, however, moves us into the higher levels of belonging, esteem, and even self-actualization. It becomes about more than just surviving — we’re able to thrive and help others thrive in the process.

Everything we do each day, whether we consider it small or large, creates a ripple effect that impacts others.

Every single one of us is endowed with an empowering level of freedom to make a positive impact and grow relationships, both inside and outside our organizations. And whether we succeed at doing so impacts the bottom line on which we so often place our focus.

Stats from MARKETING WIZDOM reveal the average business loses around 20% of its customers annually by failing to attend to customer relationships.

It’s eye-opening to consider what we’re doing for the people we work with — and how our choices and interactions with them are changing their life for the better (or worse, depending on the intent behind our approach).

Tips to Become a Better Boss

Here are the four truths to remember, reflect on and actively practice that will strengthen your relationships with your colleagues, direct reports and clients:

Truth #1: The conversation is the relationship.

Relationship building cannot occur without conversation.

Now, some of these conversations can be challenging, like when they involve FEEDBACK or CONFRONTATION, and others are simpler and sentimental.

Regardless, all conversations have the potential to strengthen connections by granting us permission to explore the thoughts and feelings of another person. The state of the relationship is defined by the quality of these exchanges.

Truth #2: There’s always time.

Saying “I don’t have time to strengthen my relationships” is like saying “I don’t have time for what’s most important.”

If you feel pulled in different directions at any given moment, prioritize according to what is most pertinent to the relationships you have with those around you. Take a moment—commit to finding ways to connect with others.

Small acts of appreciation will go a long way.

Truth #3: Connect with “Why.”

Individually and organization-wide, reconnect with “why.”

What is your company’s mission statement? Who are you serving, and why are you serving them? It’s important to stay connected to a sense of purpose in order to connect to our work on a level that places relationships at the heart of your day-to-day.

Truth #4: Diving deeper will bring you closer.

There’s nothing wrong with talking about the weather or the breakroom snacks, but these types of conversations will only get you so far in strengthening connections.

To deepen connections, ask questions.

If an opportunity arises, ask about the other person’s likes and dislikes, why they like or dislike these things, what their dreams are, how they feel about certain topics, and what matters to them. Listen actively, and be prepared to be nowhere else but here.

In our daily routines, we might find ourselves getting lost at times in what is often referred to as “the grind.” Wake up. Go to work. Work hard. Achieve. In the process of doing what we do, we may have moments where we lose sight of why we’re doing it. If you feel lost in the grind, you have to check yourself.

Right here, right now, check yourself. Connect with the people who offer a why behind what you do. There’s no better time to start than right now.

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Top 10 Powerful Ways to Have Better Communication

The art of having a great conversation seems to be lacking today. Blame it on technology, blame it on divisive politics, blame on the rain if you’re a Milli Vanilli fan and that makes you feel better. But much like chivalry which I don’t believe it’s dead, I just think it’s gone into hibernation; it could use a little prompting to come back into full force. 

Let’s face it, communication has always had its challenges from cave drawings to grunts, you know there was always someone on the other end to misinterpret the original meaning. I’m sure Ugh’s buffalo wall painting was mistaken for a mammoth and a heated debate ensued. 

Miscommunication has been a constant through-line since the beginning of mankind. Take the #1 bestselling book in the world, the Bible. It has been translated over and over again for centuries, from its original Aramaic into Greek and Latin and then into dozens upon dozens of other languages. Let’s not forget the additional influence of scholars, clergy, and kings who had the authority to make changes as they saw fit making the Bible essentially the longest-running game of “Telephone” ever!

Fast-forward to today where even in the 21st century with all the multiple modern ways we have to communicate it is easy to misinterpret someone’s email or text because without hearing the other person’s tone or inflection; even a missed comma all meaning can go to hell in a handbasket. And I’d be remiss to discount how the use of CAPS can tarnish a relationship.

So, you’d think we could easily correct this giant margin of error with face-to-face interaction but that has become a challenge in and of itself for multiple reasons. To list a few, we’re: distracted, anxious, fearful, arrogant, harried, scared, impatient, or D- All of the Above. Can you remember the last time you turned on any “news channel” to see people simply sharing, instead of shouting their opinions and ideas at one another as if the louder they are the more the person will understand them? 

Sometimes it’s like watching my Aunt Suzy Belle, bless her heart, speak louder when I introduced her to my seeing-impaired friend. It is fascinating and comical how people honestly think being loud and repetitive is how they will sway the opinions of others. The irony of course is they are barely listening to the other person and forget about the poor moderator if there is one. 

The Best Ways to Have Better Communication

Everyone wants to be heard more than they seem to want to listen. And this isn’t just the case on TV, it’s happening at work, in our families, with our friends and certainly on social media. 

This is why I want to share 10 ways to help you get GREAT CONVERSATION back into your life (‘cause I know you miss it.)

1. Take a Step Back

Or in laymen’s terms, chill for a second. Put yourself in a self-imposed mental timeout for a few moments to calm down and reflect on what is really happening in the conversation. The benefits will be far outweighing any discomfort having to pause will cause you. Have you ever been in a heated argument with someone only to realize at the conclusion you were both saying the same thing? (By the way, this is a regular thing in marriage) Well, taking a step back allows you to get to that place without having exerted all that unnecessary energy. 

2. Be Present

Actually pay attention to what the other person is saying. It’s easy to daydream and or think ahead. Don’t cheat yourself or them. RIGHT NOW is a gift that’s why they call it the present. If you don’t know how to connect to the present, try going zen for a moment or think about yoga. A quick exercise is to take a few deep breaths…in and out; and your breath will refocus you on the here and now.

3. Look the Other Person in the Eyes. 

Many ancient cultures say the eyes are the window to the soul for a reason. You can see more and understand more from looking into people’s eyes and watching their facial expressions than from their words sometimes. What’s really cool is there is actual science behind it as well.

4. Put Away Your Devices  

Have you ever been out to lunch or dinner with a friend, colleague, or significant other and they are constantly checking their phone? How infuriating is that?! Put your technology away (not face down on the table- actually away in a pocket or bag) and pretend it’s 1990 and have a face to face conversation with no other distractions.

5. Don’t Listen to Respond, Listen to Hear

This is called Active Listening and it is crucial to having a great conversation. If you are having issues because you think more about what you are going to respond with instead of what the person is trying to say, you are NOT an active listener. One great way to participate in active listening is to repeat back what was just said. Try it and see how much a) the person appreciates feeling heard and b) how much better your exchange will be. A fun little FYI – the same letters that make up the word LISTEN also spell SILENT. Deep, right?!

6. Ask Questions 

Enhance the conversation and get more out of the dialogue with some good questions. Don’t ask a question that will be met with a one-word answer, turn the questions into a conversation about the topic at hand.

7. Remember What it Feels Like to be Ignored 

Whether it happened to you as a child, in a group of friends, or at a brainstorming meeting last week. It doesn’t feel good. So, remember to give the courtesy of giving your time and attention to the person who is speaking to you. That’s really more manners than anything else.

8. Check Your Watch and Environment

Make sure you have time for a conversation, this is more than a tweet or post; it’s live and in-person so you need at least 5-10 minutes. If you don’t have the time, reschedule for when you do. Also, look around at your environment, is this an ideal place to speak? Steer clear of the loud places where you can barely hear or be heard. Source out a conducive place to converse. Think coffee shop off the beaten path or even an outdoor space is ideal, maybe sign up for a conference room just to ensure that quality time is quality. It will be worth it in the long run and the conversation will go over much smoother with a few extra minutes being in the right place.

9. Find a Common Ground

If you should find yourself in a conflict or with seriously contrasting views, what is it that you can both/all agree on? Connect with your shared values and touch on those for a bit.

10. Smile

This may sound so silly and simple, but it works. Smiles are inviting. When done sincerely and genuinely a smile will immediately put people on the receiving end of at ease. Smiling also sends subliminal messages to your own brain that “You’ve GOT this!”. It’s truly one of the easiest things to do to get people to open up and share.

 

This post was written by Fierce guest writer, Karith Foster. For nearly two decades, author, speaker, and humorist Karith Foster has taken her passion for entertaining and critical thinking nationwide — from the airwaves to organizations, from universities to corporations, creating a seismic shift in mindsets and revolutionizing the way we address issues of diversity and leadership.






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4 Essential Customer Service Skills You Need to Have

How would you rate your customer service skills?

If you were raised in the US or have lived here long enough, you’re probably familiar with the saying from childhood about what happens when we assume. It goes something like this: “If you assume, you make an a** out of you and me.”

I’m reminded of this every time a server at a restaurant assumes my wishes without enquiring. Now, I can’t get upset because I know their intention is usually good. However, the result of simply assuming what the customer wants (usually based on trends and popularity) is an unhappy customer.

To deliver excellent customer service, (dare I say, exceed customer expectations?) one must get curious and ask what they prefer, what they want.

I’ll share two stories with you that highlight this point.

Why Customer Satisfaction Matters

Last year I was in Chicago delivering a Fierce Conversation workshop. By the time I arrived and checked into my hotel, it was 10 p.m., and the only nearby restaurant still open was a pizza place in an old brick building with flashing neon lights. After a moment of hesitation, I thought to myself, “OK, I’m hungry. Let’s just do it.”

I told the friendly server that I wanted the veggie pizza. Of course, she asked if I wanted a salad and drink, but when I say “get curious” I don’t mean that. Those are standard questions for restaurants, right?

When the food arrived, my expectations were not met: it was a deep-dish pizza. I don’t like deep-dish pizza. I prefer thin crust. When I asked the waitress why I had thick crust when I didn’t ask for it, she replied, “Oh, I thought I’d let you try our deep-dish pizza. It’s what most people come here for and it’s really good. I think you’ll like it. If you want, I can re-order the thin crust pizza for you now.”

I declined and decided to just go with the flow because it was late, and I had to be fresh in the morning. I survived the ordeal, but I left the restaurant feeling strange because other than being disappointed about the pizza, the service was otherwise commendable, it was friendly, helpful, and genuine. I knew her intention was to please the customer and get a good tip. I left a bit displeased after obligingly tipping her 20 percent.

On another business trip around the same time, I checked into the Marriott where I had just gained Titanium Elite status. I knew that I would probably get an upgrade of some sort when checking in. While I normally would welcome the complimentary upgrade to a suite, during business travel, a suite is too large for me and I tend to misplace things and leave them behind. Seriously! On business trips, I prefer a standard room.

So, upon checking in with my newly attained status, the front desk attendant kindly asked me if I would like an upgrade to a suite, to which I replied, “No thank you. I prefer the standard room with a King size bed.” She then told me that she would make a note on my profile for future business trips.

She thanked me for sharing my preference. And then she told me that while most guests appreciate an upgrade, many guests don’t, and that staff is trained to ask guest preferences first. She then began to explain which rooms were available for me, and enquired as to my preference: Courtyard view? Facing outward? Ground floor? Did I still want a feather-free room?

In both examples, neither associate was rude or off-putting, and in fact, both were efficient and friendly. What was the difference in my satisfaction results as a customer? One of them leaned on her own context (all customers love our deep-dish pizza) and assumed mine would be the same.

By not interrogating my reality or being curious, I departed unsatisfied and somewhat miffed.

How to Improve Your Customer Service Skills

In Fierce Conversations, we drill deep by asking questions like, “What else?” And we repeat what we’ve heard to make sure we understand. Providing exceptional customer service is no different – as my example with the Marriott shows. The receptionist knew to ask questions instead of making assumptions.

Customers and people, in general, may not be very skilled or even clear at expressing what they truly want or need. They may ask a lot of questions, but the questions can be misleading unless we understand the context.

We must get curious, ask questions, ask “what else” (or “anything else”) and repeat what we’ve heard to clarify and let the other person know we’ve understood. And in the process, we effectively establish the human connection that makes an interaction authentic and builds emotional capital.

Why is this important? There’s a real cost associated with poor customer service. Research by Forbes indicates that in 2017, US businesses lost $75 billion due to poor customer service, which is up $13 billion from 2016!

Many employers believe that simply being friendly, smiling, and complying with customer requests in a timely manner equals good customer service. Not so.

That’s simply meeting guest expectations. How about exceeding expectations to really gain customer loyalty? How about “wowing” the customer?

Customer-facing employees must do more than be friendly if they are to deliver excellent customer service. We must get over the idea that enthusiasm and a smile are enough (although they are a great start).

I have found that a sincere desire to serve, to please, cannot be trained. It is a natural trait some people have. Processes and procedures can be trained, but sincere caring and desire to please cannot.

According to the ACA Group, an alliance of highly trained and experienced consultants and instructors unique to manufacturing and service organizations, customer service is “the ability of an organization to constantly and consistently give the customer what they want and need.” Excellent customer service is “the ability of an organization to constantly and consistently exceed the customer’s expectations.”

Exceptional customer service is delivered not just by providing what the customer asks for in a timely manner. Nor is it about giving into every single customer request. Providing exceptional customer service is about understanding the unexpressed wishes and desires of the customer.

4 Tips for Enhancing Your Customer Service Skills

So, how do we go about improving our ability to discover and deliver the unexpressed wishes and desires; even providing what customers didn’t know they wanted? By engaging in conversation and getting curious. By starting with the Four Objectives of a Fierce Conversation:

1. Interrogate reality

Ask the customer questions, then dig deeper with more questions. What else? Anything else? Then, repeat what you heard them say, just to be sure.

2. Provoke learning

When the customer is asked questions about their wishes, the learning happens. The person serving the customer learns more and gains a deeper understanding. This also allows the customer to understand more options and various ways their desires can be met.

3. Tackle tough challenges

When customers or clients ask for something we can’t deliver, the temptation is high to dismiss their request out of hand. When we tackle tough challenges, we have the willingness to name what’s true AND go further. Loyal customers stay that way when we offer what can be done and go the extra mile – no matter how “tough” that might be.

4. Enrich relationships

This is key, the lynchpin to keeping customers happy, loyal, and consistently promoting our business and our brand. By offering sincere interest, curiosity, genuine care, and a desire to please – all of which must be authentic and from the heart – we provide more than what a customer asked for – we strengthen the long-term relationship.

Training customer-facing employees to follow these four objectives quickly enriches relationships with clients and customers. And the benefits of such go far beyond repeat pizza orders. Loyalty, high customer satisfaction, and amazing promoter scores (NPS) are just the start.

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The #1 Way You Can Boost Employee Engagement

Like most people, the coronavirus pandemic has forced me into an alternate job routine. I used to spend my days in airports and hotels, delivering training face to face at corporations all over the country.

Now, my commute is roughly 35 feet to my home office where I deliver training virtually to corporations all over the country. One of the most common questions I am asked in these virtual sessions is, “How do I maintain employee engagement when I don’t actually see my people?”

One of the first questions I ask in return is this: “What kinds of questions are you getting from your people?”  Often, my question is met with that tilted-head-furrowed-brow look. Allow me to explain.

Understanding Employee Engagement

Imagine if everyone who works for an organization is clear on, and committed to, the “why” of the organization? How engaged do you think they will be?

That’s the key question I listen for. How many times do I hear “Why” questions during the day? Generally, the more “why” questions (Why are we doing this, why does this matter, who do we have to _____) the less engaged the people are.

I am blessed to work for a small (yet powerful) organization where everyone is laser-focused on our collective “why” – “to change the world, one conversation at a time.” Now, before you jump in with “Sure, that might work for a small group, but what about an organization with thousands of people,” allow me to present one for you: Barry Wehmiller, a packaging solutions company led by Bob Chapman.

Across their 80 companies and 12,000 employees the world over are a couple of central themes, or “WHYs”, “We’re an organization fiercely committed to improving the lives of our team members across the globe” and “We measure our success by the way we touch the lives of others and that comes through in everything we do.”  

With that mission at the root of what they do, my guess is that they do not have to spend a lot of time answering repetitive “why” questions.

That said, hearing repeated “why” questions are a great sign that your people might not be as engaged as you had hoped. Indulge me for a very broad parallel for a moment.

I have been lucky enough to spend quality time with several great-nieces and nephews recently. Through these interactions, I have a new appreciation for the 2-year old mind. In fact, I think 2-year olds are geniuses! Work with me on this. It all comes down to that one word – three letters, “why” – usually repeated many, MANY times much to the chagrin of their parents.

The true genius of this word, and the way they use it, is that they keep using it until they receive the answer that makes that emotional connection with them. The answer that truly helps them go beyond the simple, and often abstract, “what” and “how” to that personally compelling and resonating reason or answer… “why”.

How to Use “Why” to Improve Employee Engagement

I know what you are thinking, hearing “why” repeating can be really annoying. You’ve likely been exasperated on numerous occasions by having to tell a little person “why” multiple times on the same subject.

Yet, if we expand the lens out to see the adults we work with every day, doesn’t it seem like this pattern is repeated? Interesting. This is my first clue that something is amiss as it pertains to engagement. It is also one of your best tools for uncovering what is missing.

Repeatedly asking why reveals the relationship of causes until you get to the core, or root cause, thus making it easier (to say nothing of essential) to begin working on a potential solution. Which is the goal is it not?

More importantly, “why” allows you the clarity necessary to inspire and engage the people you want and need to come along with you in order to bring your vision to reality, whether in person or virtually.  

Understanding the “why” of the organization AND making the connection between what we do and the overarching mission of the organization, is another key factor in maintaining and/or increasing employee engagement.

In fact, it happens to be a question in Gallup’s long-running Q12 survey (The mission or purpose of my organization makes me feel my job is important).

Unfortunately, the majority of people can’t clearly articulate that. A recent study found that a mere 26 percent of people have a very clear understanding of how their individual work relates to their company goals.

3 Tips for Improving Employee Engagement

Here are three actions you can do today to connect, engage, and inspire your people:

1. Define the “why”

At Fierce, we turn the personal stump speech into a collective stump speech. It consists of four questions: Where are we going – Why are we going there – who is going with us – how are we going to get there. This last question is a great way to make the connection between their actual job and the mission of the organization.

If you can all align on the answers to those questions, chances are good the energy and engagement will follow.

2. Make the time to truly connect with your people

Another statement that finds its way onto countless engagement surveys is,” My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.” Yes, the world is moving at a frenetic pace. And yes, there seemingly is more to do than there are hours in the day.

Yet when I ask people to list the attributes of their favorite boss, here’s what I normally hear: They listened to me – They had my back – They cared about me – They had my best interest in mind – They trusted me, and the list goes on and on.

In short, what made a difference was in the way their leader connected with them. The relationship was built. Yes, it takes time, but ask yourself, “What wouldn’t I do for my favorite boss?” That’s engagement.

3. Listen closely to the questions you are being asked

This brings us back to the genius 2-year old story I mentioned earlier. How many times, intentional or not, have you asked a 2-year old to do something and, when asked the inevitable “why”, have responded with “Because I just asked you to” or some variation of that? What usually happens next?

You guessed it; they ask “why” again.

Expand back out to the much larger version of this 2-year old, working in your office (NOT suggesting at all that adults are 2-year old’s – but I think you can follow me with this) asking you, yet again “why” we are doing ____?

Rather than get frustrated and repeat the same answer again, why not take a step back and ask yourself if you’ve gone beyond the simplistic and obvious “what” and “how” to make that connection, that engagement, that conversation with this person to help them understand the “why” (remember root cause) that is driving “what” you are doing.

“Why” may be one simple word, used in a variety of ways, but it’s a powerful tool to help maintain and build engagement, even in the most unique circumstances.       

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Why We Need to Be More Authentic and Vulnerable in the Workplace

Let’s talk about how we are doing in this new normal during the coronavirus pandemic…I’ll stop you right there. Let’s talk about how we are really doing.  I’ll go first…

As the days and weeks drag on and I continue to question “what day is it? Did I shower yesterday? No wait, that was Monday…or was it? How many days has it been since I washed these sweat pants? Or how is it that a human can inhale that many Oreos in the course of one meeting, the reality of this ‘new normal’” has done nothing more than saddle me with a solid case of the “crazies”.

While I’m still trying to find some semblance of myself in this not-so-new normal, I can’t help but notice that others are coping far better through this ambiguous time than me. Or so it seems.  

My house isn’t “cleaner than it’s ever been” and my garden definitely has more weeds than plants. And no, I haven’t found my life calling even though I’ve had plenty of quiet, reflective “me time” in the last few months to search my soul to the heavens and back.  

Yeah, nope, nothing even close to earth-shattering or life-affirming to share. Why, now that I have so much more time on my hands, have I done nothing worthy of it? Why do I feel less accomplished, less “together” than ever before? 

The Importance of Vulnerability in the Workplace

I was reminded today, by an amazing individual, that life is round. As human beings, we’re built to hold the good with the bad, the organized with the messy, the joy with the pain. We don’t have to choose between them, we don’t have to be all of one and none of the other, we get to have them both. Actually, life requires us to live with both, daily.

This revelation evoked two competing responses in me – a great big sigh of relief and a resounding “huh?” 

While it feels validating and refreshing to know I don’t have to have this all figured out, that I can be messy and “normal” at the same time, accepting imperfection is one of the hardest things for me to do.  

I grew up believing that successful people, people who are living life “the right way” are the same people who have it all together.  Together-people don’t have to question how clean their clothes really are, they take showers every day, and those favorite pair of jeans in the closet always fit (because there is no Oreo-binging…EVER.)

I grew up believing that messy is bad. You can and should control the mess. There is guilt, shame, and embarrassment associated with not keeping life so tightly controlled.  And this messy = bad equation has been reinforced tirelessly throughout my life:  

At home, at work, in school, with my peers, and within my community. It’s a conversation I have on a loop in my head and something our current culture continues to validate for me. It’s exhausting: “Put on a good show, fake it ‘til you make it, just be happy, what do you have to be worried about? Don’t air your dirty laundry”.  

I’ve taught myself to shelve the hard stuff. Keep it safely out of sight. Instead, I’ve worked hard at reframing how I am feeling. I’m not overwhelmed, I’m not scared, I’m energized, I’m ready to take on the world!  

I reframe my life so it appears I have it all together. I spend so much time focusing on how the bad isn’t so bad, I try to force-fit my life into our culture’s definition of “perfect”.  

While that all seems well and good on the OUTSIDE, what I have realized as of late, is that by role-playing a “together person” every minute of every day I pay a huge price. I end up ignoring a very important part of myself. The part that makes me human, the part that makes me “round”. I ignore the struggles.  

I pretend I have it all figured out and I suffer greatly because of it. Why?

Because you can’t actually shove the messy out of your life. It doesn’t work that way. It’s like trying to cram a closet too full of the things you don’t want anyone else to see.  

You stuff and you stuff and you stuff, and eventually, you open that door to put one more thing inside and the items give way and come tumbling toward you like a tsunami. And yes, you get clocked in the head with those favorite pair of jeans that no longer fit.  (Darn you, Oreos!)  

There is no ignoring or wishing away the underbelly of life.  Life is curly.  Life is messy.  Life is light and dark, order and chaos, joy, and pain. All wrapped up together. The key is to accept it all, invite it all in, acknowledge all of it. 

Then and only then can you decide how you want to move forward.  By trying to ignore the mess, we lose our “roundness” as human beings.  We lose our authentic selves.

Why People Need Authenticity In the Workplace

A dear friend of mine told me recently “I want the magic you seem to have. You imagine something to happen and it just happens.” When I heard this, I wanted to drive the 2 hours to her house and sit her down and confess.  “No! You have it all wrong. I’m sorry I misled you. I don’t have any magic! I barely have the next hour figured out, let alone how I’m going to get my life from point a to point b. I do not have it figured out, I’m hanging on just like you.”   

And then I had another epiphany.  How am I showing up with those around me?  Am I allowing those closest to me to really KNOW me?  Or am I choosing to show a limited side of myself – to prove I’m normal, worthy, “together”, even when I feel far from it?  

Dan Pearce once said, “Share your weaknesses. Share your hard moments. Share your real side.  It’ll either scare away every fake person in your life or it will inspire them to finally let go of that mirage called “perfection,” which will open the doors to the most important relationships you’ll ever be apart of.”

What I’m recognizing is while acknowledging the messiness and accepting it is great, it’s not enough. I need to be willing to share it with others. That kind of vulnerability is what allows us all to relate more meaningfully to each other.  

There is something that resonates deeply in us when people are willing to share their imperfections. It gives us permission to take a deep breath, let go of unrealistic expectations of ourselves and just be. 

Thus, here I am sharing my truth, being vulnerable, and confessing to you that I don’t have it all figured out. I am messy in so many ways and perfectly imperfect. I am human.

Now it’s your turn. How are you really doing in this new normal?  Be brutally honest with yourself and then find someone to share it with. Give them permission to do the same.

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