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How to Create Perfect Business Email Communications

by Tj Helm on 05,01,0909 in Workplace Support

By Michael Roberts Jr
There are different levels of business etiquette and email business communications. When emailing people there are different ideas and ways to convey messages in your email. Learning the tricks of perfecting a email is a great opportunity to sharpen your leadership skills and business communication etiquette.

FORMALITY
There is a certain level of formality that needs to be considered and remember when sending emails. When you are sending an email from a business address then keep the email about whatever your business was when you contacted the person. Keep all business emails formal!

SHORT
It’s been proven that after ten seconds people lose focus. A seven page email will not be read in its entirety. Be short, sweet and to the point. Cover the area that is pertinent of you to cover– leave the rest for later if at all possible. Craft from the top to the bottom, then check to see if your most important information is in the top 1/3 of the message.

BE QUICK
Don’t let the receiver have to guess who you are because you’re using a nick name and not the name that you go by in business. In the subject field be specific about why you are writing, while in the body of the email, as mentioned before get to the point. Be concise and polite always ending by thanking the individual for taking the time out of their day to read the email. Last– but not least, make sure the person knows that it is ok to contact you concerning the message.

When you sit down in the mornings (or whatever time you read your emails) to read your email make sure that you make time to respond to the email promptly. There is a chance if you put it off for later you will forget about making a response.

SENSITIVITY
Don’t handle any sensitive issues with an email. Making a phone call or speaking to the individual is important when handling these types of situations. Email is permanent– it is not the place for delicate matters that could trigger emotional responses.

ERRORS
Check, check and recheck the email for any and all errors! Once you press send the email represents you and your company. You lose the hands on, face to face relationship that you would have if a person was in your office. So once you send the email you don’t have the opportunity to go back and change it or correct yourself as you would in person. You must remember to do spell and grammar checks before sending all emails. Setup Outlook to do an automatic spell check for you… That one move could be a career saver.

This article was written by Michael Roberts Jr. the founder of Manage Up.net
His website is dedicated to developing better organizational leadership. The website has eBooks, articles, and online training for managers. Don’t miss the opportunity to sharpen your skills and take your career to new levels using insightful knowledge from an expert in management. Visit http://www.manageup.net/ today and receive a FREE eBook to get you started.

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Your Online Resume – Why No One May Ever Get to See It!

by Tj Helm on 03,21,0909 in Workplace Support

By Dennis Whitlock
You’re looking for a new job; you’ve put together an outstanding resume and now it’s time to post online. You’ve highlighted your career experience and educational background and you’re just certain that when this puppy goes up there’s going to be a digital lineup of employers offering you your next dream job. WRONG! The purpose of a resume is not to get you a job, rather, to get you an interview.

But here’s the rub; you may have overlooked the most crucial point of the entire exercise and you’re not even aware of it! This is seldom taught or even mentioned in most business courses. There is a huge chance that a human, initially, won’t even look at your resume!

In this time of economic downturn, most positions garner hundreds of applicants. That’s hundreds of resumes coming in for each open slot. If you think that all these resumes are being viewed by human beings you’re in for a real shock. Gone are the days when an assistant scours through stacks of resumes to find that perfect applicant for the boss to call in for an interview. In this day and age most resumes are scanned looking for target keywords. Your resume needs to be optimized so that it can be seen by these scanners. Without doing so, you will likely remain as invisible as if you hadn’t submitted in the first place.

Employers scan resumes to transfer them from a paper format to an electronic format for easy storage and review. Unfortunately, scanning software is not perfect and is easily confused. This means that you need to produce electronic versions of your resume and any “hard copies” that may be scanned in a recognizable form.

Digital resumes and paper resumes differ in three crucial ways.
1) Font/Typesets
2) Format
3) Keywords

Remember these rules when composing your resume.
Font/Typesets

No tabs

Use 10 to 12 point fonts

Avoid two-column formats

No parentheses or brackets

Place your name and contact phone number or email on each page

Acceptable font types – Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Tahoma, and Courier

Avoid italics, underlining, and shading

Opinions on Bolding and using UPPERCASE characters are split. If in doubt, don’t use them.

Format

Left justified. Don’t center or indent lines.

Avoid using vertical and horizontal lines

Avoid using graphics, or boxes

Keywords
Keywords are specific words or phrases that employers look for to identify the candidates they want to interview. Software programs that most companies use scan based on keywords – in much the same way you use keywords to search for information online.

If you don’t have the right keywords in your resume, employers won’t be able to find you. But how do you know which keywords to include? Here are three places to look:

The specific description or ad for the job you’re applying for

Recent online or newspaper ads for similar jobs

Ask other job seekers and people currently employed in your field

Rick Gillis, in his book Really Useful Job Search Tactics provides 11 excellent ideas for identifying and embedding keywords in your Scanable Electronic Resume. I recommend reading this book and employing his tactics.

Well, that’s it, the most important thing that most people overlook. If you’re going to spend the effort to assemble a first-class resume, make sure that you don’t miss this crucial step.

Good luck on that next job!

Dennis Whitlock has been a business owner for nearly 20 years. In the process of offering employment to literally hundreds of individuals, he has witnessed, firsthand, the key elements of successful job searches. If the economy has you uncertain as to your career future, you may wish to consider a radically new and proven approach to finding a job (http://jobsearchadviceonline.com/).
In addition, post your ideas and questions about what works and what doesn’t in your search for career opportunities (http://jobsearchhelpblog.com/).
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dennis_Whitlock

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Creating a More Supportive Work Environment

by Tj Helm on 02,24,0909 in Workplace Support

By Carol Flagg
In our most recent workshops and training seminars we’ve been incorporating a video clip of a little girl who falters singing the national anthem at a NBA playoff game. As she’s standing there unsure of what to do, Maurice Cheeks, one of the team coaches, comes over and begins to sing with her. We use the video as a metaphor for how people may be feeling in the workplace – scared, uncertain of what to do, under pressure to perform, not wanting to make mistakes, etc. It’s also a metaphor for the possibilities that occur when a supportive presence is at hand. In today’s economic climate where everyone has to do a lot more with a lot less, creating a more supportive work environment has never been more important to prop up morale and keep work teams going forward. I’ve provided a link to this video in the resource box at the end of this article.

3 ways to create a more supportive work environment Creating a more supportive work environment means leader-managers model the following: 1) Show respect for each person’s strengths throughout the organization. 2) Acknowledge the contributions people make. 3) Be more ego-less so you’re free to step back and ask if there is a better way something can be done.

Respect. A respectful work environment is one where people truly know where they fit in and how they individually support the organization, no matter what their position. Each person in the organization needs to be seen as a link in a circular chain. If a link breaks, the chain falls apart. Creating a more respectful work environment begins by leader-managers putting the focus on each person’s strengths vs. their liabilities and progress achieved vs. mistakes made. Mutual respect among individuals, teams and departments starts with an awareness and an understanding on everyone’s part of what people bring to the table and their unique value to the organization.

Acknowledgement. Acknowledging a person is recognition of their role or contribution and thanking the person for the impact. “The work you put into this project this week was tremendous. Thanks for helping make it a success.” Building an acknowledgement-culture means spending a few seconds every day acknowledging people. It’s something that takes very little effort yet has huge impact. That being said, it doesn’t come naturally to everyone so the key is to think of acknowledging as a skill that, with practice, becomes ingrained, much like muscle memory for athletes. Practice builds the acknowledgement muscle. Just make sure you never follow an acknowledgement with the word “but” or “however” – it negates the acknowledgement you just gave. Let the acknowledgement stand on its own and find opportunities to give acknowledgements every day.

Being ego-less. Any supportive work environment requires that leader-managers work on putting ego aside. If a leader or manager is uncomfortable asking the question “is there a better way to get this done?” or “how would you approach this?” then their ego is getting in the way of creating an environment where individuals feel comfortable sharing new ideas or questioning existing paradigms and protocols. The ego could be tied to either the leader-manager’s need to be right or a fear of being perceived as a leader-manager without all the answers. In either case, both create an environment where people do what they’re told without questioning the outcomes or willing to bring new ideas to the table. An ego-less culture means letting go of the idea that as leader-managers we have to have all the answers and relies instead on the creative thought process and input from others around us.

If you watch the video then no doubt you’ll notice that Coach Cheeks (our leader-manager in our metaphor) drew both players and audience into the fold. The picture is now complete – a supportive work environment needs to encompass everyone in the organization.
YouTube video of Maurce Cheeks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em9wR9e5emY
Carol Flagg

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The Need For Team Building to Help Survive the Recession

by Tj Helm on 02,04,0909 in Workplace Support

By Steve Larkins
WHEN THE GOING
GETS TOUGH….SHOULD WE NOT BE MOTIVATING OUR STAFF?

Does it not seem a bit bizarre that just when staff, departments and teams need morale boosting and team building the most – then that is just the time when company bosses and senior managers decide that is the time to stop doing just that!

There is no question that over the last 10 years team building as a concept and tool for developing and building teams has worked very well and is an accepted part of any overall company morale policy and indeed in many cases part of Mission Statements and Values.

With redundancies and the general economic situation causing great disruption to work forces, this must surely be the time to motivate those lucky enough to still be in their jobs. Nothing is more unsettling than seeing fellow workmates lose their jobs. It sets an air of fear, concern and worry and this is the time for management to step up to the plate, spend some money and reassure those still working for them.

There are many messages than need to be effectively put across by management in these turbulent times and a simple company or departmental meeting with some fun element to it will certainly help the cause no end.

Why should values built up over so many years and respected by those that work for such companies go out of the window now? We all know it’s tough but business must go on and those still employed must work even harder in a tough situation. The moment cries out for motivation, morale building and team building.

Paint a picture, build a chariot, do a treasure trail, whatever suits your people. It really does not matter what, but just do it! It’s a buyer’s market even in the events industry and there are plenty of deals to be had from events companies with empty order books so why not capitalise on that and inject some fun into a bleak moment?

Kaleidoscope Event’s offer a range of fun team building activities in the United Kingdom, specialising in corporate fun days, themed parties, meeting icebreakers and team building events. Kaleidoscope have an expanding client base including companies in the public and private sector including finance, NHS, DIY and local government to name but a few.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Larkins

For more information and support for creating team building activities, call toll free 866-846-9228 or email us at mail@GPS-4Life.com.

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Virtual-Team Management

by Tj Helm on 10,31,0808 in Business Building, Workplace Support

By Richard Mclaughlin

Workplace Communication
As the example above should show, you have to contact every member of your team regularly. How often is regular? Often enough that they feel comfortable with you. Communication can be email, telephone, a face-to-face visit, or a text message on a cell phone. It can also be a hand written message delivered through office mail. I used to ask people in my company that were going to the country where my team members were to deliver something. Anything. A baseball cap with the company logo and something written in French, accompanied by a signed note.

Invent opportunities to get your team together.
This works best when it is the entire team, but if you can only do parts, make sure that the people that don’t attend the first meeting do get to attend the second. I had 3 of a 5 person team traveling one seek and they were all passing through Munich. One of my team members worked in Munich. I sent the 4th person, from the UK, to Munich and had everyone stay for a one-day meeting that I could not attend. I was there by phone and videoconference, but was not able to be there in person. The team found this to be one of the most productive meetings, I suppose because they could easily mute me and talk “behind my back” before coming up with a collective answer. This also did wonders for the team building trust in each other.

At any meeting, encourage team members to share difficulties and successes. I always brought up that I am and American in France, I have language issues like they do. I told of operations that I had. I have physical problems like some did. Try very hard to make sure your team knows that you are not a faultless person, part of the trust that you gain will come from honest and open communication.

Keep everyone up to date and aware of what is expected of him or her. Don’t let any of them feel they are ‘remote’. An essential element of your communication plan is…

Regular conference calls
I hate conference calls. But they are important for the team. If you have a team spread across countries, keep up to date on the working hours and holidays in the different countries. In France, calling a meeting after 7 in the evening is bad. In Holland, calling a meeting after 5 is considered bad.

National holidays differ. Use Microsoft Outlook, they have a feature that lets you choose to list different country and religious holidays. Take extra care when dealing with religious holidays.

Learn when your team has their weekend. There are some countries that don’t have the Saturday and Sunday weekend. I was part of a team that called a meeting every Friday afternoon. Certain people on that call (who attended every call) were on their weekend. When I was asked to host the call for a month I set it for Sunday afternoon. There were a lot of people that didn’t want to attend the weekend call, but after that odd month we never had a Friday call again.

Publish a schedule of calls, make them at the same time and day so that your team can build a schedule around them. Conference calls need to be run like any other meetings but with stronger control. Have an agenda and stick to it. Don’t let the conversation drift, be careful about people that are native language speakers and tend to talk a lot. Repeat in appropriate terms any comment that may be confusing to people who don’t speak the main language of the call.

Use video conferencing when you can. There are new products that focus on the speaker; very useful. At the beginning and end of a video call make sure to go around the virtual table and ask everyone to speak. This gives everyone at least 2 chances to speak up.

Cultural Differences
Be very aware of cultural differences. Some cultures don’t say no, or find it hard to say no. Different cultures have different expectations of the managers. Even when you have a common language, some things are understood differently in different parts of the world.

Conclusion
Building trust is the most important aspect of managing a virtual or remote team. Cultural differences will possibly bring up the greatest trust issues and you really have to work on these.

Make sure that you have developed a sense of rapport with each member of your team before a group meeting, if possible. I have twice been made manager of groups, and no one except me was aware of the change until we were in a group meeting. If this happens, make sure you are as short and to the point as you can be, and use that first meeting to schedule time with each person on your team before the meeting has ended.

Visit Richard McLaughlin (http://richardmclaughlin.biz/)
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Mclaughlin

For more information and support for creating the life and career you want visit http://www.GalileoLS.com/consult.html for a free coaching consultation.

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Easy Tips For Organizing Electronic Files

by Tj Helm on 09,01,0808 in Workplace Support

By Lynn Cressy

When it comes to organization, electronic files have to be dealt with like everything else. There are ways to keep these organized and save time as well. It will help to eliminate some of the time spent searching for the file that you need. Wasting time searching for an electronic file defeats the purpose of doing the task electronically in the first place and causes you more headache than if you had done it by hand.

Organizing electronic files can be done rather simply with techniques that involve little effort on your part. Time is all that you need to do this and it will, in turn, save you time later on since many areas of our lives are driven by the use of electronics.

The basics of organizing electronic files remains the same no matter what type of system you are using. The first thing you should remember is that computers do not organize information the way our minds do. It will be arranged by the application source or format that was used to create the file in question.

Second is remembering that we can use a name for the file that contains as many as 225 characters and can use a search on the computer to find them. This makes naming files properly a must. This will save time that is often wasted doing things that you have already done.

The third step is to use keywords to keep the files that you need in order. This makes it easy to find them in the search options. This will allow you to change them later if you need to.

Directories are the next step. Put files into designated directories that you made for each of them. Sub directories can be made for each program that you utilize during the time you are on your computer. If something is for work, you may designate one directory entitled “work” and another entitled “personal” if something is of a personal nature. The fewer directories the less you have to search. General directories that are broken into sub categories will save time.

Next are the folders. You can create different folders to keep your files in. The names of these folders should be something that helps you to remember the content of them.

Now that you know what to do with all the new files you create, it is time to put old files in the appropriate place which may take some time. You want to make sure you have the correct file in the correct place. This is simple; you move the files you still need to relevant folders and directories. Then you take the files that you no longer need and back them up to a flash drive, CD or even an online backup service. Once the file is backed up you can now delete them from the computer and you still have the backup copy if you need it in the future.

For ideas on keeping your home and office organized, download a free copy of the ebook “The Essential Guide to Organizing Your Home”. Download it free here: Organizing Tips.

Lynn Cressy has a love for decorating and shopping for home decor. She owns a home decor web site and writes articles on home decorating and organizing your home and your life. http://www.lynnshomedecor.com/f/Opt-in_Pages.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lynn_Cressy

For more information and support for creating more time for yourself and what’s important to you, visit http://www.GalileoLS.com/consult.html for a free coaching consultation.

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5 Easy Ways to Deal with Difficult People

by Tj Helm on 09,08,0707 in Workplace Support

By Melissa Roske

There are people out there who are… oh, how can I diplomatically put this?… ready, willing and able to drive the sanest, most patient person on Planet Earth absolutely and positively NUTS.

Whether it’s your annoying Aunt Ethel (“When I was a girl I knew the value of a dollar!”); your curmudgeon of a boss (“I said I needed that report YESTERDAY, damn it!”), or your well-meaning but clearly misguided sister (“Shouldn’t you try bangs? You can’t see the wrinkles that way…”), the result is the same: Their insensitive, unfair or poorly chosen words make you feel like yesterday’s dinner — rotten.

Don’t despair. With the following tips and tricks from my trusty coach’s toolkit, you’ll be able to avoid allowing difficult people get the best of you. They don’t deserve it!

–> 1. In one ear and out the other.
Picture this: You’re having lunch with your mother, who happens to know that you’ve been on WeightWatchers for the last several months. She sees you reaching for the breadbasket. Again. She shakes her head, gives you one of her best “Do you really need that extra dinner roll, dear?” looks, and opens her mouth to let you have it (and I don’t mean the roll!).

What to do: Instead of reverting to behavior fitting of that of a sullen teenager, try this visualization technique: Imagine a water pitcher filled to the brim with your mother’s well meaning but hurtful words. See the words being poured from the pitcher into one of your ears and out the other one. Watch the words as they drip languidly to the ground, forming a large, disorganized, and useless puddle.

Now, doesn’t that feel good?

The main benefit: Once you’re able to master the “I’m Not Listening; I’m Not Listening!” technique, you’ll see that words are only words. They don’t have power or control over us – unless we allow them to.

–> 2. Avoid confrontation.
Picture this: Your bossy Cousin Rona is over for dinner at your house and volunteers to help you clean up after the meal. Mid-clean-up, she notices that you’re not rinsing the plates thoroughly before loading them into the dishwasher. You’re also tossing out “perfectly good leftovers” and not using enough Fantastik on the countertops. Your worst crime of all? Improperly sealed Tupperware lids. She continues to comment on your shortcomings, over, and over, and over, and over…

What to do: Tell Cousin Rona, kindly but firmly, that while you’re grateful for and appreciative of her help, this is the way you’re used to scraping your plates, cleaning your countertops, tossing food scraps and sealing Tupperware. If she still refuses to put a sock in it, offer to let her load the dishwasher, scrape the plates and seal the Tupperware. Now you can go into the family room and put your feet up. Ahhh… that’s better!

The main benefit: Nipping annoying, bossy behavior in the bud not only makes you feel better, it helps you to show the world who’s really the queen of your castle (or kitchen, as the case may be) – YOU.

–> 3. Use distraction.
Picture this: Your son’s Bar Mitzvah is quickly approaching and your mother-in-law has made it her life’s work to scrutinize and question each and every detail of the upcoming event, from the color of the tablecloths to the inscription on the kippahs. You’re at your wits’ end, and are having some pretty intense revenge fantasies…

What to do: Instead of reading your mother-in-law the riot act, which will only hurt her feelings, bruise her ego and make your life worse than it already is, give her several minor but necessary tasks to perform: greeting guests at the reception; helping to check coats; mingling during cocktail hour. She’ll be thrilled that you’ve asked for her help, and you’ll be thrilled that she’s out of your hair. Problem solved!

The main benefit: Well meaning relatives can get under your skin, but why be cruel when it’s easier to be kind?

–> 4. Don’t take it personally.
Picture this: Your gossipy next-door neighbor sidles up to you and informs you that she’s recently seen your teenage son in town, trying to buy liquor with a fake ID. Despite the fact that you’re furious, you feel as if your son’s juvenile-delinquent behavior is none of your neighbor’s business.

What to do: Instead of telling your neighbor where to stick it, remember: many hard-to-get-along with folks aren’t aware of the pain and emotional havoc their words and actions wreak. Like a bull in a china shop, these Nosy Nellies are blithely unaware of the damage they cause.

Your best course of action in this situation is to politely thank your neighbor for her concern, and walk away. If you act as if you care, you’re only adding fuel to her already stoked fire. Nothing annoys a gossip more than disinterest. Nothing.

The main benefit: The biggest mistake made when dealing with a difficult or gossipy person is to personalize the experience. Take yourself out of it, and keep in that way. You’ve got better things to do with your time than to fritter it away with idle or malicious gossip.

–> 5. Reject comparisons.
Picture this: Your friend Barbara’s favorite pastime is bragging about her “amazing” daughter, Zoe. Not only does Zoe have a genius IQ, she’s captain of her school’s volleyball team, plays competitive tennis, is an accomplished violinist, and has just received a full scholarship to Harvard. Your daughter, on the other hand, a lovely but average teenager, gives you sass and yanks your chain. You hate to make resentment-filled comparisons, but it’s so hard not to.

What to do: Consider the fact that Barbara is waxing poetic about her offspring for a reason. Maybe your friend feels as if she’s never reached her potential and is thus living vicariously through her daughter. Or maybe Barb is bragging in order to cover up the truth: That her beloved Zoe is actually failing Spanish, contemplating yet another body piercing, and has a new boyfriend named Spike, whose prison sentence is almost up. Hey, you never know…

The main benefit: Giving people the benefit of the doubt serves a greater purpose than making you appear holier-than-thou. It shows that appearances can be deceiving, and what you see is not necessary not what you get. Not by a long shot.

Melissa Roske, ACC, president of Wheels in Motion Coaching ( http://www.WheelsinMotionCoaching.com ), is a New York University Certified Life and Personal Coach, committed to helping her clients to realize their potential and to successfully attain both their personal and career-related goals. Melissa, a member of the International Coach Federation, is also an internationally published author, advice columnist and relationships advisor.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Melissa_Roske

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How to Create Perfect Business Email Communications

Your Online Resume – Why No One May Ever Get to See It!

Creating a More Supportive Work Environment

The Need For Team Building to Help Survive the Recession

Virtual-Team Management

Easy Tips For Organizing Electronic Files

5 Easy Ways to Deal with Difficult People

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