Women in the Boardroom: Should the U.S. Have Quotas? | Business Ethics
Columnist Gael O’Brien says the U.S. has failed to show leadership in gender diversity on corporate boards, raising questions about what it can learn from other countries that have imposed quotas for women directors. While quotas can stir up discomfort, she writes, there’s a “complacency, even smugness” about boardroom diversity in the U.S. that argues in favor of requiring companies to take action. (19-Oct-2011)

Why is most communication training misleading?
Why is most communication training misleading?

Why do the same words mean different things to different people?
Why do the same words mean different things to different people?

Why We Don’t Always Tell the Truth

Categories: Business, Free, Workplace Life and Insights Tags: avoid-or-shade, business, consciously, dysfunctional, ethics, experience, house, limit-the-truth, people, supply-problems, truth When I was growing up, one of the principles in our house was that we had to tell the truth, no matter how painful it might be. Lying, we were taught, wasn't something you could get away with. Like Pinocchio's nose , it would be apparent to others. Children of course need clear rules to learn the difference between right and wrong. However as we get older, the truth becomes more nuanced --- and there are times when a little white lie or the absence of some key facts might be appropriate. The problem is that all of us have different standards for when, why, and how we shade the truth. These divergent 'shades of gray' then cause miscommunication, breakdowns of trust, and other dysfunctional behaviors. That's why, despite the inclusion of " integrity " in almost every value statement , some form of lying is common in most companies. From my experience, there are three fundamental concerns that cause people to shade the truth, either consciously or not. Being aware of these "lying triggers" can sometimes help to improve communication and reduce the feelings of mistrust. Impact of the truth on yourself: It's human nature to want people to think well of us, particularly those who have influence over our lives and careers. At the same time we all make mistakes, so we create justifications and excuses --- many of which are at best half-truths. I recall a manager whose key project was behind schedule, largely due to his lack of discipline and follow-up. Yet when asked why the project was lagging, he blamed a snowstorm (from six months previously) for slowing down the work. Impact of the truth on others: One way to gain others' approval is to avoid pointing out things that may damage their self-image. As a result, many people withhold some or all of their true thoughts about others. For example, a senior executive complained to me recently that one of his managers never gave her people negative criticism during performance reviews. To justify that behavior, she said that it was better to reinforce positive behaviors rather than point out weaknesses --- a strategy that also happened to make her popular with her team. The senior executive however was convinced that her drive to be well liked was doing the team a disservice, because they didn't know what they could do to improve. Impact of the truth on business success: To be successful almost every organization needs to sell --- be it a product, a service, a story, or a promise. But much of that selling is done without truthful disclosure of what it will take to fulfill the sale. That's why product salespeople will often take an order without revealing to the customer that there may be supply problems, or why a CEO will tout the benefits of an acquisition without mentioning the challenges of integration. Showing customers or partners what's truly behind the curtain could undermine credibility and threaten the deal. The wiser course in many cases is to limit the truth and figure out how to "deliver" later. It's easy to be judgmental about all these situations and to insist on absolute truth at all times. But people don't work that way, and neither do organizations. As managers, the best we can do is to be more aware of why we avoid or shade the truth --- and make sure that it's an appropriate time to do so. How truthful is your organization? What's your experience with shades of gray? (Read more...)

Who's Really in Charge of Board Performance?
Ask people in the nonprofit world who is to blame for poor board performance, and you won't get agreement. Some people say it's the board's fault. Others say it's the CEO's. Rarely do these conflicting ideas get argued in public. But at the annual meeting of BoardSource, I had the opportunity to debate the point in front of an audience. Two-person teams argued opposing points of view on that and other controversial topics. At the conclusion of our comments, the audience voted. (17-Oct-2011)

What's to Be Done About Performance Reviews? %u2014 HBS Working Knowledge
Some great points in this article which is focused one what needs to be done to make performance reviews valuable. Pay particular attention to the quote from Bob Handwerk, "The 'pain'… of conducting performance reviews is associated with … a lack of clear mutual (management and employee) understanding of their purpose."

What is cooperative communication?
What is cooperative communication?

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The Angry Customer: What Happens Next?
Do you ever wonder what happens when the angry customer storms out that door, or slams down that phone? Or are you simply relieved that this growling windbag is no longer raising a ruckus? Well, depending on your stake in the business, or your aspirations for a career in the service industry, it would behoove you to consider the angry customer%u2019s next moves

Stop Email Overload

Categories: Business, Workplace Life and Insights Tags: attention, british, facebook, inbox, learning, life, managing yourself, outlook, people, productivity, school, source, study, time Complaints about email abound. Perhaps you've heard some of these or uttered them in pain yourself: I receive hundreds of emails a day. I can spend my whole day responding to incoming messages. I can't find anything in my inbox. In response, some companies are taking drastic steps to help workers manage the number of messages they receive. The CEO of Atos, a British IT services company, has vowed to ban internal email by 2015 . Volkswagen in Germany has agreed to stop sending emails to certain employees after work hours . If these companies are taking radical action, is it time for you to do the same to counter your own overload? What the Experts Say Productivity experts counsel against such extreme measures. Email is certainly a threat to efficiency, says David Allen, a consultant and the author of Getting Things Done and Making It All Work , but he maintains that it's also an essential work tool. "I've had email since 1983. I couldn't live the life I live without it," he says. Bob Pozen, a senior lecturer of business administration at Harvard Business School and author of " Extreme Productivity " agrees. Even if you wanted to use it less, he says, it's nearly impossible to get people by phone or in person these days. Both Pozen and Allen believe that sweeping rules like the ones Atos and VW are trying are not necessary. You can regain control over your email, and reduce its insidious effects on your productivity, by looking at the root causes of the problem and then following a few straightforward rules. Recognize it's not really about email According to Allen, email overload is only a symptom of a larger issue: a lack of clear and effective protocols. If your organization has ambiguous decision-making processes and people don't get what they need from their colleagues, they'll flood the system with email and meeting requests. People then get mired down in their backlog, which leads to even more email and meeting requests from frustrated co-workers trying to follow up. Allen had one client who had an average backlog of 3,000 - 4,000 emails. When he finally cleared and stayed on top of his inbox, both his email traffic and his meeting load went down. His colleagues got the direction and input they needed so they didn't need to hound him. "Email handled well reduces meetings. And meetings handled well reduces emails," Allen says. Taking the time to reply now can save you twice the time in the future. Control your flow Another way to reduce the time you spend on email is to turn off the spigot of incoming messages. There are obvious practices that help, such as unsubscribing to e-newsletters or turning off notifications from Facebook or Twitter. But you may also want to reconsider whether your colleagues or direct reports are copying you on too many "for your information" emails. If so, simply explain that you only need to be updated at certain times or when a final decision is made. Pozen says you can also reduce how many you receive by sending fewer and limiting whom you send to. Resist the temptation to send one-word messages such as "Thanks!" Don't hit "Reply All" unless everyone needs to hear what you have to say . Don't rely on email to make big decisions or to sort through complex issues, such as policy changes, that will warrant tons of back and forth. Know what is better handled face to face or by phone . By modeling good email practice, you can encourage those around you to only send messages when it's necessary and appropriate. Clear out your inbox and keep it clean No matter how much you do the above, it's still possible you'll have a clogged inbox. You've probably read much of the advice about managing email , but some of it bears repeating. Start by emptying out your inbox . If you have thousands of messages in your main folder, create a new folder called "Old Inbox" and put the messages in there. You still have access to them if need be but you will be able to handle incoming messages more easily without the clutter staring back at you. Once you've gotten to zero messages (or at least close to it), commit to sorting through new email right away. Use the following three steps: Delete . Glance over your inbox and delete any messages you don't need to read or keep: calendar invites, advertisements, etc. "You ought to be able to discard 80% of them just by looking at the title," says Pozen. Respond . If you can reply to a message in a few minutes or less, go ahead and do that. "If you put it off, you lose time by trying to find it, or remembering what you wanted to say," says Pozen. File . For the rest of your messages, decide where they should go. Put them into folders or use flags or labels to indicate how high priority they are and when you need to respond by. Choose a handful of times during the day when you will review your inbox. If you do it every five minutes, you'll end up spending your whole day on email. But don't try to go cold turkey either. Checking your email only once or twice a day is impractical. "Most people who send an email are looking for a response quickly," says Pozen. Be careful with rules According to both Allen and Pozen, sweeping policies that effect a broad population of workers and dictate how and when they check email are not realistic, nor likely to be effective. "Why hamstring your employees with silly rules?," says Allen. Plus policies like these don't always stick. "It's hard to come up with mechanical rules that work for everyone," says Pozen. That doesn't mean all rules are bad however. You can develop guidelines for yourself and those you interact with. Encourage others to limit emails to only those who have an action item. Have open discussions about how you will communicate about specific topics. "Try to reach agreement with the group on what's reasonable to send and receive," says Pozen. Take an occasional break Since email is such a constant presence in our lives, it can be rejuvenating to disconnect from all things digital once in a while. Some do this whenever they go on vacation. Others take a deliberate " email sabbatical ." "It's always a good idea to untangle yourself from intense interactive engagements every once in a while just to prove you're not hopelessly addicted and get some fresh air," says Allen. Of course, this strategy isn't for everyone: "If you're constantly distracted by what you might be missing, you're way better off spending as much time as you need to handle it," says Allen. Principles to Remember: Do: Respond quickly and clearly to those who need your attention or input --- this will reduce the amount of email you receive When you can't reply immediately, file the emails for action later Take an email sabbatical on occasion to give yourself a break Don't: Assume that email is the real problem --- a clogged inbox might mean you haven't established clear priorities Send one-word emails and reply to everyone on a thread --- the more email you send the more you will receive Think a company-wide policy will solve your email problems --- focus on what you can control: your own behavior Case Study #1: Develop a system and stick to it Ana Dutra, the CEO of Korn/Ferry International , is known for responding to every email she receives within 24 hours, regardless of who it comes from. But she doesn't feel like she spends too much time on email. "I have a system that works for me," she says. It is a process she felt forced to develop when she led the global organization strategy practice at Accenture and received 250 to 300 emails per day. While that number is lower now that she's at Korn/Ferry (around 120 emails a day, she says), she is still committed to staying on top of her email and keeping her inbox clean. "The more it accumulates, the harder it is to catch up and determine what's important and what's not," she says. Ana uses a four-step process each time she opens her Blackberry or Outlook inbox. She starts by deleting anything she can: invites, spam, etc. She then sorts by subject so she is only looking at the last message in a conversation. She doesn't look at the previous trail of email unless she needs to. "The problem may have already been solved," she points out. She then looks at the messages she was copied on to see if there is something urgent or whether she is just being kept in the loop. The last thing she does is reply to messages that can be handled immediately and files the rest into folders. For her it's a matter of respect to reply promptly. "It takes 20-30 seconds to write a quick email explaining when you will get to something," she says. "So much is resolved and so many decisions are made by email, it is irresponsible not to respond." She also trains those she works with. "If you want me to read what you write to me, make it short," she says. She encourages people to label things "Action required" or "No action --- FYI only." Every time she has down time --- in a car, waiting for an appointment --- she cleans out her inbox. She doesn't think of the time she spends managing her email as an encumbrance. In fact it's the opposite. "It doesn't feel like a burden at all. It feels great," she says. Case Study #2: Stop the source Frank Sopper, the President of OpenBook Learning , a company that provides educational software to U.S. public schools and advises executives on cognitive effectiveness, does not want to be copied on any emails. "I don't slap anyone's hand if they do," he says, "but I may ask, 'Why are you sending this to me?'" Sopper started to look closely as the emails he was receiving several years back in a previous role. He asked himself: Is there an action item here for me? If not, why am I receiving these? At OpenBook, he has pushed the people he works with to think carefully about why they are sending an email and who needs to receive it. "We've really worked hard in our organization not to copy anyone on an email unless there's an action item for them," he says. The goal is not to stifle conversation but to make sure it's relevant. "Anyone can communicate with me. They send me an email with me in the 'To' line." Managers at OpenBook don't feel constrained by the rule. In fact, Sopper says that people seem relieved because they feel trusted to do their job. And he relies on other tools to monitor performance. "I have to trust that we have metrics that measure people's work without watching their conversations," he says. Has the no CC approach significantly reduced his email load? "I don't know how many emails I receive," he acknowledges. "I get rid of them, move them into folders. They don't stack up in my inbox. But I know it's sharply less than my peers who are running similar sized organizations." (Read more...)

Stop Email Overload

Categories: Business, Workplace Life and Insights Tags: attention, british, communication, inbox, life, managing yourself, messages, organization, outlook, people, president, school, time, tools, work Complaints about email abound. Perhaps you've heard some of these or uttered them in pain yourself: I receive hundreds of emails a day. I can spend my whole day responding to incoming messages. I can't find anything in my inbox. In response, some companies are taking drastic steps to help workers manage the number of messages they receive. The CEO of Atos, a British IT services company, has vowed to ban internal email by 2015 . Volkswagen in Germany has agreed to stop sending emails to certain employees after work hours . If these companies are taking radical action, is it time for you to do the same to counter your own overload? What the Experts Say Productivity experts counsel against such extreme measures. Email is certainly a threat to efficiency, says David Allen, a consultant and the author of Getting Things Done and Making It All Work , but he maintains that it's also an essential work tool. "I've had email since 1983. I couldn't live the life I live without it," he says. Bob Pozen, a senior lecturer of business administration at Harvard Business School and author of " Extreme Productivity " agrees. Even if you wanted to use it less, he says, it's nearly impossible to get people by phone or in person these days. Both Pozen and Allen believe that sweeping rules like the ones Atos and VW are trying are not necessary. You can regain control over your email, and reduce its insidious effects on your productivity, by looking at the root causes of the problem and then following a few straightforward rules. Recognize it's not really about email According to Allen, email overload is only a symptom of a larger issue: a lack of clear and effective protocols. If your organization has ambiguous decision-making processes and people don't get what they need from their colleagues, they'll flood the system with email and meeting requests. People then get mired down in their backlog, which leads to even more email and meeting requests from frustrated co-workers trying to follow up. Allen had one client who had an average backlog of 3,000 - 4,000 emails. When he finally cleared and stayed on top of his inbox, both his email traffic and his meeting load went down. His colleagues got the direction and input they needed so they didn't need to hound him. "Email handled well reduces meetings. And meetings handled well reduces emails," Allen says. Taking the time to reply now can save you twice the time in the future. Control your flow Another way to reduce the time you spend on email is to turn off the spigot of incoming messages. There are obvious practices that help, such as unsubscribing to e-newsletters or turning off notifications from Facebook or Twitter. But you may also want to reconsider whether your colleagues or direct reports are copying you on too many "for your information" emails. If so, simply explain that you only need to be updated at certain times or when a final decision is made. Pozen says you can also reduce how many you receive by sending fewer and limiting whom you send to. Resist the temptation to send one-word messages such as "Thanks!" Don't hit "Reply All" unless everyone needs to hear what you have to say . Don't rely on email to make big decisions or to sort through complex issues, such as policy changes, that will warrant tons of back and forth. Know what is better handled face to face or by phone . By modeling good email practice, you can encourage those around you to only send messages when it's necessary and appropriate. Clear out your inbox and keep it clean No matter how much you do the above, it's still possible you'll have a clogged inbox. You've probably read much of the advice about managing email , but some of it bears repeating. Start by emptying out your inbox . If you have thousands of messages in your main folder, create a new folder called "Old Inbox" and put the messages in there. You still have access to them if need be but you will be able to handle incoming messages more easily without the clutter staring back at you. Once you've gotten to zero messages (or at least close to it), commit to sorting through new email right away. Use the following three steps: Delete . Glance over your inbox and delete any messages you don't need to read or keep: calendar invites, advertisements, etc. "You ought to be able to discard 80% of them just by looking at the title," says Pozen. Respond . If you can reply to a message in a few minutes or less, go ahead and do that. "If you put it off, you lose time by trying to find it, or remembering what you wanted to say," says Pozen. File . For the rest of your messages, decide where they should go. Put them into folders or use flags or labels to indicate how high priority they are and when you need to respond by. Choose a handful of times during the day when you will review your inbox. If you do it every five minutes, you'll end up spending your whole day on email. But don't try to go cold turkey either. Checking your email only once or twice a day is impractical. "Most people who send an email are looking for a response quickly," says Pozen. Be careful with rules According to both Allen and Pozen, sweeping policies that effect a broad population of workers and dictate how and when they check email are not realistic, nor likely to be effective. "Why hamstring your employees with silly rules?," says Allen. Plus policies like these don't always stick. "It's hard to come up with mechanical rules that work for everyone," says Pozen. That doesn't mean all rules are bad however. You can develop guidelines for yourself and those you interact with. Encourage others to limit emails to only those who have an action item. Have open discussions about how you will communicate about specific topics. "Try to reach agreement with the group on what's reasonable to send and receive," says Pozen. Take an occasional break Since email is such a constant presence in our lives, it can be rejuvenating to disconnect from all things digital once in a while. Some do this whenever they go on vacation. Others take a deliberate " email sabbatical ." "It's always a good idea to untangle yourself from intense interactive engagements every once in a while just to prove you're not hopelessly addicted and get some fresh air," says Allen. Of course, this strategy isn't for everyone: "If you're constantly distracted by what you might be missing, you're way better off spending as much time as you need to handle it," says Allen. Principles to Remember: Do: Respond quickly and clearly to those who need your attention or input --- this will reduce the amount of email you receive When you can't reply immediately, file the emails for action later Take an email sabbatical on occasion to give yourself a break Don't: Assume that email is the real problem --- a clogged inbox might mean you haven't established clear priorities Send one-word emails and reply to everyone on a thread --- the more email you send the more you will receive Think a company-wide policy will solve your email problems --- focus on what you can control: your own behavior Case Study #1: Develop a system and stick to it Ana Dutra, the CEO of Korn/Ferry International , is known for responding to every email she receives within 24 hours, regardless of who it comes from. But she doesn't feel like she spends too much time on email. "I have a system that works for me," she says. It is a process she felt forced to develop when she led the global organization strategy practice at Accenture and received 250 to 300 emails per day. While that number is lower now that she's at Korn/Ferry (around 120 emails a day, she says), she is still committed to staying on top of her email and keeping her inbox clean. "The more it accumulates, the harder it is to catch up and determine what's important and what's not," she says. Ana uses a four-step process each time she opens her Blackberry or Outlook inbox. She starts by deleting anything she can: invites, spam, etc. She then sorts by subject so she is only looking at the last message in a conversation. She doesn't look at the previous trail of email unless she needs to. "The problem may have already been solved," she points out. She then looks at the messages she was copied on to see if there is something urgent or whether she is just being kept in the loop. The last thing she does is reply to messages that can be handled immediately and files the rest into folders. For her it's a matter of respect to reply promptly. "It takes 20-30 seconds to write a quick email explaining when you will get to something," she says. "So much is resolved and so many decisions are made by email, it is irresponsible not to respond." She also trains those she works with. "If you want me to read what you write to me, make it short," she says. She encourages people to label things "Action required" or "No action --- FYI only." Every time she has down time --- in a car, waiting for an appointment --- she cleans out her inbox. She doesn't think of the time she spends managing her email as an encumbrance. In fact it's the opposite. "It doesn't feel like a burden at all. It feels great," she says. Case Study #2: Stop the source Frank Sopper, the President of OpenBook Learning , a company that provides educational software to U.S. public schools and advises executives on cognitive effectiveness, does not want to be copied on any emails. "I don't slap anyone's hand if they do," he says, "but I may ask, 'Why are you sending this to me?'" Sopper started to look closely as the emails he was receiving several years back in a previous role. He asked himself: Is there an action item here for me? If not, why am I receiving these? At OpenBook, he has pushed the people he works with to think carefully about why they are sending an email and who needs to receive it. "We've really worked hard in our organization not to copy anyone on an email unless there's an action item for them," he says. The goal is not to stifle conversation but to make sure it's relevant. "Anyone can communicate with me. They send me an email with me in the 'To' line." Managers at OpenBook don't feel constrained by the rule. In fact, Sopper says that people seem relieved because they feel trusted to do their job. And he relies on other tools to monitor performance. "I have to trust that we have metrics that measure people's work without watching their conversations," he says. Has the no CC approach significantly reduced his email load? "I don't know how many emails I receive," he acknowledges. "I get rid of them, move them into folders. They don't stack up in my inbox. But I know it's sharply less than my peers who are running similar sized organizations." (Read more...)

Scrap Your Performance Appraisal System - CRM Magazine
A good article, but it's fascinating to see that the author suggests scrapping appraisals, and then describes a modernized performance management system which would still end up having to have some formal means of documenting and feedback -- in effect, scrap it, then sneak it in, and don't call it what it is.

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Dealing with Angry Customers - 7 Hints
Seven general hints for dealing with angry customers. It happens on a regular basis! Angry customers are expressing their frustrations by aiming their complaints at staff members.

Dealing with Angry Customers
If you sell almost any type of product, then you already know that despite your best efforts at managing service and inventory, clients will be displeased from time to time. But don't simply accept ongoing dissatisfaction as an inevitable part of doing business. Instead, work at improving how you deal with customers whose experience has been less than satisfactory. It could mean the difference between losing customers permanently or keeping them satisfied—maybe even more committed to doing business with you. Here are seven keys.

Customer Service Zone Free Library For Better Customer Service
Customer Service Zone - The place to get help and learn about customer service issues. Learn about difficult customers, and develop your customer service skills.

Customer Service Zone Free Library For Better Customer Service
Customer Service Zone - The place to get help and learn about customer service issues. Learn about difficult customers, and develop your customer service skills.

Business Justification for Privilege Management

Up until now, enterprise organization focused on features and functional values when using a privilege management product to manage permissions for standard users. This eBook chapter for enterprise IT managers provides a clear compelling business value to privilege management. Enterprise organizations will see the business benefits of a privilege management solution and its expected ROI for managing administrative rights in locked down environments. Request Free!

Anger Management - Learn From Customer Service Experts -
Staying calm and in control with difficult clients is essential. In this section you'll find help with anger management techniques you can use to help you keep your cool with difficult and even insulting customers.