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How to Do Public Speaking and Presentations

A man presenting in a business meeting

How to Do Public Speaking and Presentations

Sections of This Topic Include

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Public Speaking and Presentations

In addition to the articles on this current page, see the following blogs which have posts related to Public Speaking and Presentations. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog.

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD

Guidelines for Public Speaking and Presentations

Leaders make presentations to a wide variety of audiences, for example, Board members, employees, community leaders and groups of customers. Usually there is a lot that can be quickly gained or quickly lost from a presentation. A little bit of guidance goes a long way toward making a highly effective presentation.

Note that meeting management skills are often helpful in designing an effective presentation. Also note that the following guidelines are intended for general presentations, not for training sessions where your presentation is to help learners to gain specific knowledge, skills or attitudes in order to improve their performance on a task or job.

Basic Guidelines For Designing Your Presentation

  1. List and prioritize the top three goals that you want to accomplish with your audience. It’s not enough just to talk at them. You may think you know what you want to accomplish in your presentation, but if you’re not clear with yourself and others, it is very easy – too easy – for your audience to completely miss the point of your presentation. For example, your goals may be for them to appreciate the accomplishments of your organization, learn how to use your services, etc. Again, the goals should be in terms of what you want to accomplish with your audience.
  2. Be really clear about who your audience is and about why is it important for them to be in the meeting. Members of your audience will want to know right away why they were the ones chosen to be in your presentation. Be sure that your presentation makes this clear to them right away. This will help you clarify your invitation list and design your invitation to them.
  3. List the major points of information that you want to convey to your audience. When you’re done making that list, then ask yourself, “If everyone in the audience understands all of those points, then will I have achieved the goal that I set for this meeting?”
  4. Be clear about the tone that you want to set for your presentation, for example, hopefulness, celebration, warning, teamwork, etc. Consciously identifying the tone to yourself can help you cultivate that mood to your audience.
  5. Design a brief opening (about 5-10% of your total time presentation time) that:
    a. Presents your goals for the presentation.
    b. Clarifies the benefits of the presentation to the audience.
    c. Explains the overall layout of your presentation.
  6. Prepare the body of your presentation (about 70-80% of your presentation time).
  7. Design a brief closing (about 5-10% of your presentation time) that summarizes the key points from your presentation.
  8. Design time for questions and answers (about 10% of the time of your presentation).

Basic Guidelines About Presentation Materials

You might be handing out supplemental materials, for example, articles, reports, etc. along with making your presentation. You might also be handing out copies of your presentation, for example, handing out copies of your slides that you will be referencing during your presentation. You might be using transparency slides or showing slides from a personal computer onto a project screen.

  1. If you plan to project your slides from a computer onto a projection screen, then be sure to check out the computer system before people come into the meeting room, if at all possible.
  2. Use a consistent layout, or organization of colors and images, on your materials.
  3. If you use transparencies on an overhead projector, then allocate one slide for every 3-5 minutes of your presentation. Include 5-8 lines of bulleted phrases on each slide.
  4. If you provide the supplemental information during your presentation, then your audience will very likely read that information during your presentation, rather than listening to you. Therefore, hand out this information after you have completed your presentation. Or, hand it out at the beginning of your presentation and ask them not to read it until you have completed your presentation.
  5. If you hand out copies of your slides, be sure that the text on the slides is large enough that your audience can read the text on the table in front of them without having to hold the handouts up to their faces. Be sure to leave space on the handouts for the audience to make notes on them.

Basic Guidelines About Your Delivery

  1. If you’re speaking to a small group (for example, 2-15 people), then try to accomplish eye contact with each person for a few seconds throughout your delivery.
  2. Look up from your materials, or notes, every 5-10 seconds, to look into the audience.
  3. Speak a little bit louder and a little bit slower than you normally would do with a friend. A good way to practice these guidelines is to speak along with a news anchor when you’re watching television.
  4. Vary the volume and rate of your speech. A monotone voice is absolutely toxic to keeping the attention of an audience.
  5. Stand with your feet at shoulder-length apart.
  6. Keep your hands relatively still.

Five Things You Must Do in the First Five Minutes

© Copyright Gail Zack Anderson

Recently I attended a speech given by a brilliant but soft-spoken philosopher and author. Even though he had a gentle, thoughtful way of speaking, and a serious topic, he managed to connect well with the audience, and got some great chuckles with his stories and his subtle humor. It started me thinking again about how important the first few minutes of every presentation is, and what you can do to make a good connection with your audience early on.

Check your next presentation to see how many of these you are doing.

Tell a short human-interest story.

This speaker made a reference to boy scouts, comparing how they were years ago, to how they are today. It illustrated a point he was making in a highly visual, personal and memorable way. And it took less than one minute.

Refer to the audience and their worlds.

More important than telling them all about you, let them know you understand who they are, what their concerns are, and how you plan to address them. The old adage is true: they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Engage them in some way.

Get them to do something besides just sitting. Ask a question, ask for a show of hands, ask them to greet their neighbors, ask them to write down their questions, ask them to gather in the four corners of the room according to…well, you get the idea. Unless you are mesmerizing, you really should get them engaged and involved, and do it sooner rather than later.

Start without slides.

It sends a whole different energy into the room than starting with your slides on and ready to go. In fact, this speaker used no more than 10 slides in two hours, and he turned them on when needed and off when not needed. And another thing; they were all images, not bullets! Maybe you need to use slides. If so, then make them as clean and simple as possible, and start (and end) without them.

Find the humor.

It could be in your story, in the audience, in a misfire or mistake, in a cartoon you show, or in something you heard or read recently. Look for humor that is comfortable and natural for you; don’t try to be a comedian. It doesn’t have to bring the house down; even a chuckle can bring us all together.

Yes, this speaker did all five of these in the first few minutes. He showed humility, depth, and passion about his topic. I bet you can too, and I would love to hear what you do in the first five minutes.

How to Handle Undesirable Behaviors in Presentations or Training: Use the Intervention Escalator

© Copyright Gail Zack Anderson

Many years ago, while leading a workshop for effective presentations, I had a number of students who were actually there because they had been asked to conduct mandatory safety training. They talked about undesirable behaviors on the part of their learners: people falling asleep during the training sessions, arguing, or making inappropriate comments about the content. I asked what they would do in such cases, and their immediate response was to “kick them out of the class.” I thought this was a pretty radical reaction, so we talked about what else they could do to get through to their learners. I am not sure they bought into my suggestions to start with a more subtle intervention at that point, but I hope as they became more experienced in the classroom they tried some more subtle techniques.

Over time, as I heard and experienced similar audience behaviors, I developed and shared the Intervention Escalator, a reminder to start with subtle interventions, and move toward more extreme responses only as needed. The hope was that presenters could use subtle but active interventions to maintain harmony in meetings, presentations, or training sessions without relying on extreme or unilateral methods.

Take a look and let me know what you think of this approach. Where do you start on the scale? What is the most effective technique, in your experience? Have you had to eject participants from a classroom or meeting? Are there other steps you would suggest adding?

  1. Ignore it. If you see or hear a behavior once, you may be able to ignore it. For example, a short side conversation, heavy eyes, or a comment you think is just a little “off” can probably be ignored for a while without fear of losing control of the classroom. Keep an eye out for continued behaviors around the room or from the same people but just take note.
  2. Silence it. Instead of stopping your presentation or commenting directly to the offender, insert an extended pause into the conversation. Most times, when the room gets quiet, so do those who are indulging in side conversations. Wait until everyone is quiet, then continue without comment.
  3. Eyeball them. Often you can head off a confrontation non-verbally by making extended eye contact with people who are distracting others. Your silent message is: “I have my eyes on you.” You still don’t have to be confrontational or put anyone on the spot. Just extend the eye contact beyond 5 seconds and they will get the point.
  4. Stand by them. As you move around the room, standing close to those who are being disruptive can help quiet them down, again without a direct confrontation. If only one party to the side conversation is “into it” the other person may appreciate your non-verbal intervention.
  5. Ask a question. As the behaviors continue unabated, you are moving toward direct action. But before you jump on someone, start with questions. Ask a question of the audience at large: for example, “I have shown you some of the facts about eye safety, now who can tell me which one you think is most compelling?” Questions sound different than questions, and this may be enough to grab the attention of those who are drifting. By the way, ask the question first, then call on someone. That way, everyone in the room must think, in case you call on them.
  6. Ask for input. If lots of side discussions are breaking out, or if lots of eyes are fluttering, you are going to have to deal with it. Call it out: “I see some of you are drifting… Is it too warm in here? Do we need a break now? Did you have a question? Was there a comment you could share?” Note that it is really easy to sound sarcastic here, so try not to let that happen. You could try humor too, if it seems natural and appropriate. “Try this lecture tonight on your three year old to get her to sleep.” (And if you are lecturing, stop, and change the pace to discussion or action.)
  7. Talk offline. If one or two people are causing the distraction, try connecting with them on a break. Let them know the impact of their behavior, on you and on others. Ask if there is anything you can do to keep them engaged. Let them know the consequences of continued behavior. At least this way you aren’t embarrassing them in front of others and you are giving them fair notice.
  8. Divide and conquer. If certain people are developing distracting behaviors, it may help to get them apart. Break into “discussion groups” by counting off, thereby breaking up teams or whole tables who are too chatty. After lunch or a break, ask people to sit in a new spot so they can “meet new people.” In long meetings or training sessions, this is great practice anyway. Just note that people get attached to their territory and sometimes resist moving. If you use name tents, you can move them over lunch, or catch people at the door and ask them to move. If even a few people change seats it is often enough to change the dynamics.
  9. Address them directly. You are getting toward the most direct approaches. If behaviors have continued to this point, you will have to address them directly. Be direct, calm, and factual. “Bill and Sam, I am going to ask for your cooperation. Let’s eliminate the side comments so we can finish our session on time.” (I love telling them this; everyone wants to finish on time.)
  10. Eject them. In twenty years of leading training sessions, I have only had to ask someone to leave once or twice. But if you feel their presence is impacting or threatening the physical or psychological safety of the other participants, you will need to take action. Personally, I would ask them to step outside the room and then privately ask them to make a choice about leaving the class or changing their behavior. If you feel threatened, you will want to call security or ask for help. Hopefully, you never have to get this far on the Intervention Escalator.

It is a fine line to walk between being respectful to individuals while being a strong leader, but by starting at the bottom of the escalator, you may never have to get to the most direct actions. Don’t confuse subtlety with avoidance or evasion; take action early to maintain a healthy environment in your next meeting, training session or presentation.

Additional Perspectives on Presentation Skills (Public Speaking)

There are numerous articles on the Internet about public speaking, presentation skills, etc.

Recommended Articles

Additional Articles

Alphabet Series on Presenting

Using Visual Aids

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to This Topic

In addition to the articles on this current page, see the following blogs which have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog.

Library’s Communications Blog

For the Category of Interpersonal Skills:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.


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How to Improve Your Listening Skills

Woman in Black Shirt Listening to Her Colleague while in a Meeting

How to Improve Your Listening Skills

Sections of This Topic Include

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Test – How Well Do You Listen Now?

Before you read more about how to improve your listening skills, you might get an impression of how well you listen now. Take this short online quiz.

How Well Do You Listen?

So based on the results of that quiz, what do you want to improve? Consider the many guidelines in this topic.

How to Really Listen to Others

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD

Listening is a critical skill for all adults to have, to learn about others. Also, it is one of the most valuable tools for you to establish a strong rapport with employees. There are many books about effective listening skills. The following common guidelines can help you to accomplish effective listening in the vast majority of situations.

  1. Be sure you can hear the speaker. It is surprising how often people do not really listen to other people. It is just as surprising how often people do not realize that they cannot even hear other people. So always make this your first guideline in any situation for effective listening.
  2. Overall, attempt to listen 75% of time – speak 25% of time. This is one of the most powerful guidelines. Use of the guideline depends on your situation. For example, if you are making a presentation, you will speak more. Otherwise, ensure that the other person speaks more than you do – and listen to them.
  3. Adopt a culturally compatible physical posture to show you are interested. This can be a powerful means to show others that you are interested in hearing them. For example, you might lean forward and maintain eye contact. Whatever physical gestures you make, be sure they are compatible to the culture of the speaker.
  4. Do not think about what to say while you are also trying to listen to the speaker. Your brain goes four times faster than a speaker’s voice. Thus, your brain can easily leave the speaker behind. Instead, trust that you will know how to respond to the speaker when the speaker is done.
  5. Notice the other’s speaking style. Different people have different speaking styles. Do they speak loud or soft? Slow or fast? Are there disconnects between what they say versus what their body language conveys? Some people convey the central idea first and then support it with additional information. Other people provide information to lead the listener to the same conclusion as the speaker.
  6. Listen for the central ideas, not for all the facts. Experienced leaders develop a sense for noticing the most important information conveyed by their people. They hear the main themes and ideas from their employees. If you notice the major ideas, then often the facts “come along” with those ideas.
  7. Let the speaker finish each major point that he/she wants to make. Do not interrupt – offer your response when the speaker is done. If you do have to interrupt, do so to ensure you are hearing the other person. Interrupt tactfully. For example, put up your hand and say, “Might I interrupt to ask you to clarify something?”
  8. Reflect back and ask if you are hearing accurately. This is also one of the most powerful guidelines. Start by asking if you can reflect back, or summarize, to the other person after he/she has spoken. Then progress to where you can ask the person to summarize back to you what you have just said to him/her.
  9. Regularly share indications that you are listening to them. Those indications can be, for example, nodding your head, saying, “Yes” to short points that you agree with.
  10. Learn the art of supportive questioning. Coaching involves the use of powerful questions to understand yours and other’s perceptions, assumptions and conclusions. The coach must practice effective questioning skills to really understand others.
  11. Ask others to provide you feedback about your communication skills. Often, people do not know what they do not know about themselves. One example is the leader who prizes him/herself on strong listening skills, yet regularly interrupts others when they are speaking. Another is the leader who speaks only in conclusions, but does not share how he/she came to those conclusions. Thus, others do not understand the leader’s rationale.

How to Make Sure Your Employees Really Listen to You

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD

Usually, your most frequent form of communication is spoken words. As with non-verbal communication, spoken communication is highly dependent on the particular culture in which you are working. For example, culture can affect how people speak about conflict, use humor, are honest and direct with each other, use silence and use certain wording. Consider the following general guidelines, which might be useful in a wide variety of cultures.

  1. Know the main point that you want to convey. Sometimes, people begin speaking with the hope that if they talk long enough, they are bound to say what they want to say. Before you speak, take the time to think about the main points that you want to convey.
  2. Convey one point at a time. That approach ensures that the listener is more likely to continue to understand you, rather than being overwhelmed with too many ideas delivered at too fast a rate. You might even find that you understand your own thoughts more completely.
  3. Speak too slowly, rather than too quickly. A good way to practice this guideline is to speak along with a news anchor when you are watching television. You will likely find that they speak much more slowly than you realize. They are professionals who have learned an effective rate of speaking.
  4. Vary your voice. Always avoid monotone. A monotone voice might convey to the listener that you are bored or controlled. It is likely to lull you and/or the listener into a stupor. Varying your voice takes practice, but it is well worth the effort.
  5. State your conclusion before describing how you came to that conclusion. Some speakers convey their recommendations or advice by conveying the necessary information to lead the listener to the same conclusions as the speaker’s. Instead, it is often more reliable to first state your point and then explain it.
  6. People speak more frequently and completely when they are comfortable. Therefore, get comfortable with the person to whom you are speaking. Skills in authentic expression can be useful in these situations. For example, if you are uncomfortable or confused, simply say so.
  7. Ask the listener to repeat the main points of what you just said to them. This guideline ensures that the listener is indeed hearing what you wanted to convey. Be tactful when asking the listener to repeat what you said. For example, say “I want to be sure that I made sense to you just now, so I would appreciate if you could tell me what you heard me say.”
  8. Ask others to provide feedback about your spoken communication. One of the most powerful ways to learn about yourself is to ask others for feedback. Therefore, ask others about how you might improve your speaking skills.

Habits to Differentiate Good From Poor Listening

This information is from “How to Be a Better Listener” by Sherman K. Okum, Nation’s Business, August 1975, and from “Building a Professional Image: Improving Listening Behavior” by Philip Morgan and Kent Baker, Supervisory Management, November 1995. Only about 25 percent of listeners grasp the central ideas in communications. To improve listening skills, consider the following:

Poor Listener

Effective Listener
tends to “wool-gather” with slow speakers thinks and mentally summarizes, weighs the evidence, listens between the lines to tones of voice and evidence
subject is dry so tunes out speaker finds what’s in it for me
distracted easily fights distractions, sees past bad communication habits, knows how to concentrate
takes intensive notes, but the more notes taken, the less value; has only one way to take notes has 2-3 ways to take notes and organize important information
is overstimulated, tends to seek and enter into arguments doesn’t judge until comprehension is complete
inexperienced in listening to difficult material; has usually sought light, recreational materials uses “heavier” materials to regularly exercise the mind
lets deaf spots or blind words catch his or her attention interpret color words, and doesn’t get hung up on them
shows no energy output holds eye contact and helps speaker along by showing an active body state
judges delivery — tunes out judges content, skips over delivery errors
listens for facts listens for central ideas

Additional Perspectives on Listening Skills

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Listening Skills

In addition to the articles on this current page, see the following blogs which have posts related to Listening Skills. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog.

For the Category of Interpersonal Skills:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.


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How to Do Interviews (Many Kinds)

Business woman holding a note conducting an interview

How to Do Interviews (Many Kinds)

Major Types of Interviews

Being
Interviewed By the Media
Exit
Interviews
General
Guidelines for Conducting Interviews
Interviewing
for a Job
Interviewing
Job Candidates

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Doing Interviews

In addition to the articles on this current page, see the following blogs which
have posts related to Doing Interviews. Scan down the blog’s page to see various
posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of
the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog.

Library’s
Coaching Blog
Library’s
Communications Blog
Library’s
Leadership Blog
Library’s Supervision Blog

For the Category of Interpersonal Skills:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may
want to review some related topics, available from the link below.
Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been
selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

Related Library Topics

Recommended Books


Posted on

How to Improve Your Communications Skills

call-telephone-communication-phone-conversation-concept

How to Improve Your Communications Skills

Some of the information in this topic is adapted from the books Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision in Business
and Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision for Nonprofit Staff.

Sections of This Topic Include

Test – What is Your Preferred Style of Communications?
What’s Your Communication IQ?
Communications Tools to Use With Employees
Additional Perspectives on Communications Skills

Also consider
Appreciative
Inquiry
Communications (Organizational)

Communications (Writing)

Feedback
Interpersonal Skills

Interviews
(exit interviews, by media, for a job, selecting job candidate and research
method)
Listening
Non-Verbal
Communications
Presenting
Questioning
Storytelling

Related Library Topics

Test – What is Your Preferred Style of Communications?

Before you read more about how to communicate better, you might get an impression
of your naturally preferred style of communications. Take this online test.

Communication
Style

What’s Your Communication IQ?

© Copyright Marcia Zidle

Communication, which occupies approximately 70% of our waking hours, is what
many leaders find the most frustrating.

Many of us were never taught to communicate in ways that lead to positive outcomes.
Rather, we tend to experience annoyance, anger or just give up on the person
or the situation. Here’s how to communicate better to get better outcomes.

Take a Quick Communication Quiz.

Think of a recent important conversation How many of these questions can you
answer YES to?

  1. Did I prepare ahead of time for this conversation?
  2. Did I think about what’s the best way to approach this person?
  3. Was I aware of the other person’s communication style and spoke to it?
  4. Did I pay full attention, without multitasking, to what the other person
    was saying?
  5. Was the intent of my communication to discuss and understand rather than
    be right?
  6. Did I listen, without interruption, to the other person’s point of view
    even if I didn’t agree?
  7. If I was asking the person to take a specific action, did I make my request
    clear and concise?
  8. Did I summarize what I thought I heard the other person say before expressing
    my point of view?
  9. Did I follow-up to see if the conversation was successful – it led to a
    positive outcome for the other?
  10. If the outcome did not meet my expectations, did I reflect on how to better
    communicate with that particular person?

What’s Your Communication IQ?

8-10 Yeses indicate you’re the tops. Keep up the good work.

4-7 Yeses is OK. Brush up in certain areas.

0-3 Yeses. You have work to do.

To Raise Your Communication IQ:

1. Talk less, hear more.

We want to be heard and listened to but we don’t always concentrate on listening
to others. We focus more on our agenda than on the other person’s concerns or
issues.

2. Don’t shoot the messenger.

We want to understand but our ability is tainted by our perceptions of the
person speaking or the outcome we are looking for. So, we often pass judgment
on the speaker and disregard the message. Concentrate on the message not the
messenger.

3. Avoid mind reading.

We want some kind of action or response from another person. However, we don’t
let them know what we really want or how to achieve it. Before assuming the
other knows what you want, first inform and then ask for feedback.

4. Stop pushing.

We want agreement from others, so much so, that we often become consumed with
being right or proving our point. Rather, look for areas of mutual agreement.
Then work from there to create a greater outcome.

Career Success Tip

Steven Covey, author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, says; “Seek
first to understand, then to be understood.” Therefore, in your communication,
make sure to understand others before you start trying to be understood.

Are there situations in which you need to raise your communication IQ? What
do you need to do to get better outcomes? How will you know that you have been
successful?

Communications Tools to Use With Employees

© Copyright Carter McNamara

Effective communication is the “life’s blood” of an organization. Organizations
that are highly successful have strong systems of communication. One of the
first signs that an organization is struggling is that communications have broken
down. The following guidelines are basic in nature, but comprise the critical
fundamentals for ensuring strong ongoing, internal communications.

1. Each employee writes a one-page weekly status report to his/her supervisor.

These reports may seem a tedious task, but they are precious in ensuring that
the employee and supervisor have mutual understanding of what is going on. The
reports also come in very handy for planning purposes. They make otherwise harried
employees stand back and reflect on what they are doing. In the dated report,
include a description of:

  1. What tasks were done last week.
  2. What tasks are planned next week.
  3. Any current highlights, trends or issues regarding your activities.

2. Chief Executive Officer conducts employee-wide meetings.

Employees greatly appreciate that the CEO finds time to talk to them, and the
opportunity to meet their CEO in person.

  1. For clarity, focus and morale, be sure to use agendas and ensure follow-up
    minutes.
  2. Mention any significant events for employees, for example, birthdays.
  3. Review the overall condition of the organization.
  4. Consider conducting “in service” training about the organization where employees
    take turns describing their roles to the rest of the employees.
  5. Consider bringing in a customer to tell his/her story of how the organization
    helped them.

3. Each supervisor conducts meetings with all employees together.

Have these meetings even if there is not a specific problem to solve – just
make them shorter. Holding meetings only when there are problems to solve cultivates
a crisis-oriented environment where managers believe their only job is to solve
problems.

  1. Prepare for these meetings by reviewing the employee’s weekly status report.
  2. For clarity, focus and morale, be sure to use agendas, take minutes and
    ensure follow-up minutes.
  3. Facilitate the meetings to support exchange of ideas and questions.
  4. Use these meetings for each person to briefly give an overview of what they
    are
    doing that week. If the meeting includes 10 people or less, then have each
    person
    give a one-minute description of what they did last week and plan to do next
    week.
  5. Have each person bring his/her calendar to ensure the scheduling of future
    meetings accommodates everyone’s calendar.

Each supervisor conducts one-on-one, monthly meetings with each employee.

This ultimately produces more efficient time management and supervision.

  1. Review overall status of work activities.
  2. Hear status from both the supervisor and the employee.
  3. Exchange feedback and answer any questions about current products and services.
  4. Discuss career planning, training plans, performance review plans, etc.

4. Use memos.

It is much more effective if important day-to-day information is written to
people rather than said to people. Use of memos, or even e-mail messages, is
ideal in these situations. In your memos or e-mail messages, include:

  1. “Subject” line, with a phrase describing the topic of the memo.
  2. “To” and “From” lines.
  3. “Date.”
  4. “Summary” describing the highlights in a paragraph near the top of the memo.
  5. “Action” specifying what you want the recipients to do with the information
    in the memo, for example: to respond, to take note, to starting doing something
    or to stop doing something.
  6. “Signature” line, that includes the signature of who wrote the memo.

5. Every employee gets an Employee Manual.

The Employee Manual includes all of the up-to-date personnel policies of the
organization.

Additional Perspectives on Communications Skills

Managing By Walking
Around
Big
Dog on Communicating

Coaching Tip – The Art of Being Succinct
What’s Your Communication IQ?
Your Communications May Not Be Communicating
Best Practices: Your Approach to Great Communication
Five Keys to Clear Communication
When Facts Are Not Enough – 10 Tips for Communicating to a Non-Technical Audience
Dialing for Dollars: Telephone Skills that Matter

8 Coaching Tips to Enhance Interpersonal Communication
10 Question Quiz – How Do You Communicate Messages?
10 Tips to Communicate Messages Effectively
Can You See Me Now? How to Speak When Your Audience Is Remote
Introducing…You!
You Can Catch More Flies with Honey…Using Positive Communication Skills for Better Results
Fighting the Dreaded Upward Inflection, Right?
Useful Communications Skills — How to Paraphrase and Summarize
Online Communications for Change Presentations

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Communication Skills

In addition to the articles on this current page, see the following blogs which
have posts related to Improving Your Communication Skills. Scan down the blog’s
page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts”
in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a
post in the blog.

Library’s
Coaching Blog
Library’s
Communications Blog
Library’s
Leadership Blog
Library’s
Supervision Blog

For the Category of Communications:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

Related
Library Topics

Recommended Books on Interpersonal Communications

Recommended Books on Business Writing


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How to Give Useful Feedback and Advice

A-feedback-evaluation-on-a-tablet-

How to Give Useful Feedback and Advice

Sections of This Topic Include

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Test – How Good Are You at Giving Feedback Now?

Before you read more about giving feedback, you might get an impression of how good you are at it now.

The Feedback Quiz

Based on the results of that quiz, what do you want to improve? Consider the many guidelines in this section.

Feedback: Negative, Positive or Just Right?

© Copyright Gail Zack Anderson

Some of us are really good at giving positive feedback. Others are really good at giving negative feedback. Not many seem skilled in providing both, what I call balanced feedback. Occasionally a client will tell me, “just tell it like it is. Be brutally honest.” Or, “you are just being nice.”

This makes me wonder if my feedback is too polite, or too subtle, even though I try to give it honestly and in a balanced fashion. Why? Let’s take a look at what can happen when you give feedback, either too positive or too negative.

Too little positive feedback.

While working recently with a manager, I noticed that he tended to give mostly negative feedback, and very little positive. This manager stated that he had been taught that giving negative feedback would be more motivational. He also thought positive feedback seemed “too soft” and unnecessary. As he added: “Why should we praise people for just doing their jobs?”

When most or all feedback is negative, people know what you don’t like, but they often have to guess at what you do like or want from them. They may feel overwhelmed and discouraged by the criticism, and they may take it personally.

They don’t ready minds, and so are often confused about what you really want. They may lose confidence, since everything they do seems wrong. In addition, if the only time they hear from you is when you have a complaint, they may soon begin to feel defensive, or try to avoid interactions with you.

That said, negative feedback has its place. To be effective it needs to be specific and non-judgmental. Compare these two comments on a written report:

  1. “I can’t believe you turned in such shoddy work. Don’t you know any better?”
  2. “One of your conclusions was faulty and you had 3 typos on the report.”

The first comment is shaming and demotivating. I feel bad, but I don’t know what I should do differently. The second comment seems deliberately unemotional, so it takes the shame out of it. It also gives me specific information about what I can do to improve.

Too much positive feedback.

If you are a big believer in positive feedback, or if you don’t want to hurt people’s feelings, you may be relying too much on positive feedback and fail to deliver the bad news. We have all heard about employees who received glowing performance reviews right up to the day they were let go for “performance issues.”

Obviously, there were problems that should have been addressed. If all you give is positive feedback, people can have an unrealistically high view of their worth and performance levels. Because they receive unbalanced feedback, they can have confidence above and beyond their actual performance levels.

Positive reinforcement certainly has its place, and to be effective it also needs to be specific and clear. Consider these two examples:

  1. “Good job. Keep it up.”
  2. “Your report was clear, your conclusions were on target, and the writing was crisp and accurate.”

The first comment may make me feel good, but I am not really sure what was right about my work. It might make me feel bad because you didn’t even take time to notice what I did. In other words, the easy compliment seems canned and can come across as insincere. The second comment is all positive, but it tells me what you valued, and clearly shows you read my report.

Balanced feedback.

Balanced feedback provides feedback on what is being done well as well as what could be improved. The positive feedback builds confidence and reinforces the “good” behavior you want to see more of. It clarifies expectations. It feels good. The negative feedback is given factually and preferably with suggestions for improvement.

Consider this example of balanced feedback:

1. “Your report was clear, your conclusions were on target, and the writing was crisp and accurate. There were several typos, and for that I suggest more careful proofing. And one of your conclusions wasn’t clear to me. Let’s talk it over this afternoon and compare notes. Overall, great job!”

If you lead, coach or develop people, I suggest aiming for balanced feedback that builds confidence, shows the direction you want the performance to take, and highlights areas for improvement in a clear, non-punishing way.

At the same time, note that people react differently. Some crave the honest feedback, and some crave the “feel good” aspects of positive feedback. Some remember and take to heart any criticism, and some live for it. So adjust accordingly, but always strive to be honest, sincere and matter-of-fact.

By being honest and straightforward, and by offering balanced feedback, the people you influence can build skills and confidence at the same time.

How to Share Useful – and Respectful – Feedback

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD

Feedback to employees is information regarding their performance and also is information they can act on. Feedback must be shared in a manner that is understandable to them and is perceived by them as being provided in a highly respectful manner.

Sharing feedback involves skills in effective listening, verbal and non-verbal communications, and working in multi-cultural environments. Consider the following guidelines, as well.

1. Be clear about what you want to say before you say it.

You might have already sensed what feedback you want to convey. However, you should be clear to yourself about what you want to convey and how you want to convey it.

2. Share your feedback in a concise and specific manner, then you can embellish.

People often lose specificity when they speak because they say far too much, rather than not enough. Or, they speak about general themes and patterns. When giving feedback, first share what you saw or heard, what you want instead, and how the person can achieve it. Then you can add more descriptive information if necessary.

3. Avoid generalizations.

Avoid use of the words “all,” “never” and “always.” Those words can seem extreme, lack credibility and place arbitrary limits on behavior. Be more precise about quantity or proportion, if you address terms
of quantities, at all.

4. Be descriptive rather than evaluative.

Report what you are seeing, hearing or feeling. Attempt to avoid evaluative words, such as “good” or “bad.” It may be helpful to quickly share your particular feeling, if appropriate, but do not dwell on it
or become emotional.

5. Own the feedback.

The information should be about your own perception of information, not about the other’s perceptions, assumptions and motives. Use ‘I’ statements as much as possible to indicate that your impressions are your own.

6. Be careful about giving advice.

When giving feedback, it is often best to do one thing at a time – share your feedback, get the person’s response to your feedback, and then, when he/she is more ready to consider additional information, share your advice with him/her.

Additional Perspectives on Giving and Receiving Feedback

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Giving and Sharing Feedback

In addition to the articles on this current page, see the following blogs which have posts related to Giving and Sharing Feedback. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog.

For the Category of Interpersonal Skills:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.


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Non-Verbal, Interpersonal Communications (Body Language)

Communication-is-vital-in-crisis-management

Non-Verbal, Interpersonal Communications (Body Language)

Sections of This Topic Include

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Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Body Language

In addition to the articles on this current page, see the following blogs which have posts related to Body Language. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog.

Non-Verbal Communications — Interpreting Other’s Body Language

Resistance, confusion, distaste and passivity all show up in the body language of others, regardless of what they are saying verbally. Experienced leaders have learned often to trust what they see more than what they hear. Body language is always present. Too many speakers and listeners are unaware of body language.

The nature of a person’s body language is highly dependent on the person’s nature. For example, some people are intent on sitting or standing upright with their hands at their sides in a stance of attention and respect. Other people might slouch in their chair or extend their legs, in part, to convey that they feel comfortable around others in the room.

It is difficult to make overall conclusions about body language because it is culturally dependent. However, people trust non-verbal communication more than they do verbal (spoken) communication, so learn to notice non-verbal communication, and be aware of your own.

In general, notice:

  1. Style of voice, for example, loud, soft, frequent, irregular.
  2. Movement of the body, for example, gestures, face, eyes.
  3. Distance, space and time between speaker and listener.

Specifically, notice:

  1. Eye contact. In the United States, this often conveys sincerity. In other cultures, though, it might convey aggressiveness or hostility.
  2. Frequent movements of the body. Frequent movements might convey nervousness, poor listening.
  3. Openness of the body.
  4. Arms crossed may mean defensiveness, which impedes communication.

Interpreting Your Own Body Language

Your body language is often the true “compass” about your impression of something. For you to remain authentic, you need to be in touch with your own non-verbal communication. Different people have different physical reactions in different situations. Consider the following:

  1. Are you moving your arms and legs a lot? If so, maybe you are afraid, frustrated or confused about something.
  2. Is your mouth dry? Then maybe you are afraid of something.
  3. Is your body position closed? Are your legs and arms crossed? Perhaps you feel attacked somehow?
  4. Is your brow furled? Perhaps you are confused – or you are really interested in what the other has to say.
  5. Are you looking away from the others a lot? Then there is likely something that is bothering you. Or, perhaps your style is to look away so you can think more clearly. If that is the case, realize that others might be seeing you as having poor eye contact.
  6. Is your heart racing? Perhaps you are afraid of others, or you are excited about a project you are undertaking.

Additional Perspectives on Non-Verbal Communications (Body Language)

For the Category of Interpersonal Skills:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.


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Roles and Responsibilities of Chief Executive Officer of a Corporation

CEO-of-an-organization-in-his-office

Roles and Responsibilities of Chief Executive Officer of a Corporation

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Adapted from the Field Guide to Developing and Operating Your Nonprofit Board of Directors.

Sections of This Topic Include

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Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Roles and Responsibilities of Chief Executive

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to the Roles and Responsibilities of Chief Executive. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

Roles of Chief Executive Officer

NOTE: References to a Boards of Directors in the following are in regard to chief executive officers of corporations, whether for-profit or nonprofit.

Leader

  • Advises the Board
  • Advocates / promotes organization and stakeholder change related to organization mission
  • Supports motivation of employees in organization products/programs and operations

Visionary / Information Bearer

  • Ensures staff and Board have sufficient and up-to-date information
  • Looks to the future for change opportunities
  • Interfaces between Board and employees
  • Interfaces between organization and community

Decision Maker

  • Formulates policies and planning recommendations to the Board
  • Decides or guides courses of action in operations by staff

Manager

  • Oversees operations of organization
  • Implements plans
  • Manages human resources of organization
  • Manages financial and physical resources

Board Developer

  • Assists in the selection and evaluation of board members
  • Makes recommendations, supports Board during orientation and self-evaluation
  • Supports Board’s evaluation of Chief Executive

Responsibilities of Chief Executive Officer

There is no standardized list of the major functions and responsibilities carried out by position of chief executive officer. The following list is one perspective and includes the major functions typically addressed by job descriptions of chief executive officers.

1. Board Administration and Support

Supports operations and administration of Board by advising and informing Board members, interfacing between Board and staff, and supporting Board’s evaluation of chief executive

2. Program, Product and Service Delivery

Oversees design, marketing, promotion, delivery and quality of programs, products and services

3. Financial, Tax, Risk and Facilities Management

Recommends yearly budget for Board approval and prudently manages organization’s resources within those budget guidelines according to current laws and regulations

4. Human Resource Management

Effectively manages the human resources of the organization according to authorized personnel policies and procedures that fully conform to current laws and regulations

5. Community and Public Relations

Assures the organization and its mission, programs, products and services are consistently presented in strong, positive image to relevant stakeholders

6. Fundraising (nonprofit-specific)

Oversees fundraising planning and implementation, including identifying resource requirements, researching funding sources, establishing strategies to approach funders, submitting proposals and administrating fundraising records and documentation

Return to Overview of the Chief Executive Role

For the Category of Leadership:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.


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Overview of Role of Chief Executive

a-man-smiling-and-writing-out-ideas-business-strategy-plan-business-

Overview of Role of Chief Executive

The chief executive officer is the most important role in the
management of an organization. This topic in the library does
not go into great detail about each of the particular systems
and practices managed by the chief executive officer because those
systems and practices are explained in depth across many of the
other topics in this library. This library topic provides sufficient
overview for the reader to gain basic perspective on the typical
roles and responsibilities of the chief executive officer and
how those responsibilities are typically met.

Sections of This Topic Include

Gaining Broad Perspective on Role of Chief Executive Officer

What is the “Chief Executive
Officer”? (includes definition and major roles of position)
What Do Chief Executive Officers Do? (includes
major functions and example job descriptions)

Core Areas of Knowledge and Skills Required by Chief Executive
Officers

Basics in Management and Leadership
Planning
Organizing
Leading
Coordinating Activities/Resources (including
performance management)

Special Topics

CEO Development
Evaluating the CEO
Transitioning to New CEO (detailed procedure,
contracts, etc.)
Other Miscellaneous Topics (board relations,
executive pay, etc.)

Founder’s Syndrome

This syndrome occurs when the organization operates according
to the personality of someone in the organization (usually the
founder) rather than according to the mission of the organization.
The Chief Executive Officer can make a big difference in helping
an organization to detect Founder’s Syndrome and recover from
the Syndrome.
Founder’s
Syndrome — How Organizations Suffer — and Can Recover

Also consider
Related Library Topics

What is the “Chief Executive Officer”?

A “Definition”

The definition of “chief executive officer” (almost
always) depends on whether a business is a corporation or not,
that is, whether it (usually) has a board of directors or not.
In an organization that has a board of directors, the “chief
executive officer” is (usually) the singular organizational
position that is primarily responsible to carry out the strategic
plans and policies as established by the board of directors. In
this case, the chief executive reports to the board of directors.
In a form of business that is usually without a board of directors
(sole proprietorship, partnership, etc.), the “chief executive
officer” is (usually) the singular organizational position
(other than partnerships, etc.) that sets the direction and oversees
the operations of an organization.

Major Roles of the Position of Chief Executive Officer

The following link references the major roles carried out by
the typical chief executive officer.
Roles and
Responsibilities of the Chief Executive

Position Can Have Various Titles

This organizational position, whether in corporations or not,
is also sometimes called the President, Executive Director, Chief
Administrator, etc. Information in this topic will use the phrase
“Chief Executive Officer”.

What Do Chief Executive Officers Do?

Typical Responsibilities

The following link references a listing of the broad responsibilities
of the typical position of chief executive officer.
Typical
Responsibilities of Corporate Chief Executive Officer (nonprofit
or for-profit)

Job Descriptions

The following links reference additional overviews of the general
responsibilities of a chief executive, including listing of those
responsibilities in job descriptions.

“Generic” Job Description

Roles and Responsibilities

Job Descriptions of Nonprofit CEOs

Thanks to Betsey M. Noble, Internet Research Librarian, Global
Employment Solutions, Inc., for the following:
CEO Job Descriptions in Non-Profit Organizations
Sample Nonprofit Executive Director Position Description
TheCEO Role in Associations
Nonprofit Job Description Toolkit
Job Description for Nonprofit Executive Director

Job Descriptions of For-Profit CEOs

The CEO Job Description
The
CEO Job Description
What
do CEOs do? A CEO Job Description

Core Areas of Knowledge and Skills Required by Chief Executive
Officers





The chief executive officer is the overall, primary management
and leadership role in the organization. Therefore, it’s critical
that chief executive officers have strong knowledge and skills
in a wide variety of areas. However, there are certain basic areas
of knowledge and skills which provide the foundation from which
chief executive officers can add knowledge and skills customized
to the particular nature of their organization, its industry (service,
manufacturing, wholesale, etc.) and the current environment (political,
social, economic and technological).

Basics in Management and Leadership

Managing
Yourself
core skills in managing/a>
Core
Competencies for Leading
Boards
of Directors

Planning

Business
Planning (plan a new business organization, product, business
department, etc.)
Strategic
Planning (establish organizational goals and how to reach them)

Organizing

Human
Resources Management
Organizing
Staff
Organizing
Various Types of Groups
Organizing
a New Business (whether for-profit or nonprofit)
Guidelines
to Reorganize a Current Organization

Leading

Leading
Other Individuals
Leading
Groups
Leading
Organizations

Coordinating Activities and Resources (including performance
management)

Ethics
Management Systems
Finances
(For-Profit) or
Finances
(Nonprofit)
Fundraising
(For-Profit) or
Fundraising
(Nonprofit)
Employee
Performance Management
Group
Performance Management
Guidelines, Methods and Resources for Organizational Change Agents
Organizational
Performance Management
Policies
and Procedures
Product/Service
Management
Program
Management
Marketing
and Promotions and Public and Media Relations
Systems
Thinking

Special Topics

CEO Development

Leadership
Development Planning
Management
Development
Seven Surprises for New CEOs

Evaluating the CEO (Typically Referred to as “Executive
Director” if Nonprofits)

Guidelines
for Evaluating the Chief Executive
Sample
Form to Use During Evaluation of Chief Executive
Sample
of a Board’s Supervisory Skills Development Plan for CEO
The Dreaded E.D. Evaluation!
How
Can I Get My Board to Evaluate Me?
Founder’s
Syndrome (when the top executive is a poor manager)
Time for the CEO or Executive Director’s Annual
Performance Review by the Board
Firing the Executive Director

Transitioning to New CEO (including use of contracts)

Hiring
/ Transitioning to a New Chief Executive
Succession Planning
Contracts for Nonprofit Executives
CEO
Contracts
Meatloaf
or Tartare?

Also consider
Succession
Planning

Other Miscellaneous Topics

Founder’s Syndrome
(when the top executive is ineffective manager)
CEO
Education, CEO Turnover, and Firm Performance
Results
of New Daring to Lead Study on Nonprofit Leadership – What a Board Should
Know
Executive
Remuneration – A View from the UK

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to the Role of Chief Executive

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs
that have posts related to the Role of Chief Executive. Scan down the blog’s
page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts”
in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a
post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

Library’s
Leadership Blog
Library’s
Supervision Blog

For the Category of Leadership:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may
want to review some related topics, available from the link below.
Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been
selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

Related Library Topics

Recommended Books


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Suggestions to Enhance Working Relationship Between Board Chair and Chief Executive

Elderly Women in a Business Meeting

Suggestions to Enhance Working Relationship

Between Board Chair and Chief Executive

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Inherent Struggles Between Both
Roles
Formal Practices and Procedures
that Can Minimize Conflict
Personal Practices to Minimize
Interpersonal Conflicts
If Worse Comes to Worse

Also consider
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Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Working Relationship Between Board
Chair and Chief Executive

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs
that have posts related to Working Relationship Between Board Chair and Chief
Executive. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section
“Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next”
near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free
related resources.

Library’s Leadership
Blog
Library’s Supervision
Blog

Inherent
Struggles Between Both Roles

Many experts assert that one of the most important ingredients
to a successful corporation (nonprofit or for-profit) is a high-quality
relationship between the board chair and the chief executive.
However, this relationship has several inherent struggles to overcome.
The chief executive was usually in the organization before the
chair was appointed and will be around after the chair will be
gone. In addition, the chief executive is also much closer to
the day-to-day activities in the organization. Lastly, the chief
executive usually knows far more about the organization’s customers.
Consequently, the chief executive may feel that he or she knows
far much more about the organization than the board chair. Yet,
the board chair is responsible to provide leadership to the board
to whom the chief executive is accountable. The board chair leads
the board which evaluates the performance of the chief executive.
Maintaining a high-quality relationship between the two roles
requires a high level of maturity and understanding from both
people filling those roles.

Formal Practices
and Procedures that Can Minimize Conflict

One of the most effective means to minimize conflict
between both roles is to set up formal practices or procedures
that help both people in the roles discern between an organizational
issue and a personal issue. The following suggestions are provided
to help ensure a high-quality relationship between the board chair
and chief executive by establishing formal practices and procedures.

1. Have clearly written and approved procedures for evaluating
the chief executive and in an approach that ensures strong input
from the chief executive.
2. Have regular board training sessions that include overviews
of the roles of board chair and chief executive.
3. When a new board chair or chief executive is brought into the
organization, the two of them should meet to discuss how they
can work together as a team.
4. Agendas for board meetings should be mutually developed by
the board chair and chief executive.
5. The board chair can consult with the chief executive when appointing
(or suggesting to the board) chairs for various committees.
6. Have clear written guidelines about the roles of staff when
they provide ongoing support to board committees.
7. Rotate the board chair position every few years to ensure new
and fresh perspectives in the role.
8. Develop board chairs by having vice chairs for a year who later
become board chairs.
9. Have a board-wide discussion about the frequency and nature
of meetings to be held between the chief executive and board chair.
Avoid frequent, one-on-one meetings that only include these two
people. While it might intuitively seem that meeting with only
these two to cultivate a strong relationship, the risk is too
high that the relationship could become highly personalized and
confusing to other board members. Always write down the highlights
of meetings between the chief executive and board chair and share
these highlights with the entire board.
10. Ensure all board members are trained about the role of the
board, its current committees and their charters and membership,
and that the board chair has basic skills in meeting management.
11. The chief executive and board chair should never conceal information
from the rest of the board. Board members pay prefer to keep certain
information confidential among board members and not tell the
chief executive, but these occasions should be very rare. The
chief executive should never conceal information from the board
— all board members have a right to any information about the
organization.
12. Celebrate accomplishments, including by naming the key people
involved in bringing about the successes. Often these people include
the board chair and chief executive.

Personal
Practices to Minimize Interpersonal Conflicts

In addition to formal practices to minimize conflicts,
the two people in these two roles can follow certain practices
themselves. If you’re a board chair or chief executive,
1. Practice at least the basic skills in interpersonal communications,
e.g., particularly in listening and giving feedback.
2. Whenever you feel conflict, identify to yourself what it is
that you’re actually seeing or hearing that might
be causing the conflict. This attempt helps to differentiate whether
the source of the conflict is the other person’s behavior or,
e.g., some remnant of a relationship or situation in the past.
(Note that whether the conflict is from the other person or not,
it’s still appropriate to work with the other person to address
at least your perception of a conflict with them.)
3. If you’re feeling uneasy, then say out loud what you’re feeling.
If you feel there’s conflict or tension between you two, name
it out loud. This doesn’t mean your “weaker” or out
of control — quite the contrary. It displays a great deal of
maturity and knowledge about interpersonal dynamics to recognize
and surface conflict in order to mutually resolve it
4. Recognize that conflict is inherent in any successful relationship,
particularly in a board if all members are actively meeting their
responsibilities. The important thing here, again, is to name
it if you think it’s becoming an ongoing problem.
5. Keep perspective that no one should have to continue to experience
continued conflicts with someone in their lives, including the
workplace. Know when to say enough is enough — this limit is
your own and you’re the expert at recognizing it.
6. Continue to try sense if the conflict is around an organizational
issue or is a matter of interpersonal “chemistry”, that
is, you both have such differing natures that you’ll probably
need some outside intervention to work together. (Note that if
this is the case, it will be a tremendous learning curve — but
a precious one — for you to learn to work with such natures that
are so different than your own. That’s one hallmark of diversity.)

If Worse
Comes to Worse

Obviously, the course of action for a situation such
as this depends to a great extent on the nature of the organization
and the two people involved. If you’re a board chair or chief
executive who continues to feel conflict in working with the other
person, then consider:
1. Approach the other person and ask for five minutes of their
uninterrupted time. Explain your concern, what you see and
hear that leads you to believe there’s continued conflicts
between both of you, what you would like to see or hear
between both of you in the future, and why continued conflict
can be so destructive to the organization.
2. If the other person says there’s no conflict that they are
aware of (whether there really is or not), then assert to them
that you would appreciate it if they changed certain behaviors
when working with you and specifically describe what behaviors
you’d like to see from them. They either will change their behaviors,
in which case things should improve, or they won’t. In which case,
you’ll need to escalate the issue up the organization, if appropriate,
or seek additional assistance about how you plan to handle the
problem, for example, avoid it, confront it further, negotiate
further, etc.
3. If the problem persists, ask to have time with the Executive
Committee to share your concerns. If this isn’t appropriate, consider
approaching two to three board members one-on-one. (At this point,
it’s critical to remember that any “badmouthing” or
“conspiring” against the other person will only end
up hurting the entire board and organization. Therefore, talk
with a friend or take careful time to reflect about what you want
to say and how to say it to the other board members.) Explain
the situation in terms of the behaviors in the issue, not the
personality or character of the other person. Explain what you’ve
done so far to address the issue. Describe your perception of
the results of your efforts with the other person — note that
it’s your perception. Ask for specific advice to address the issue.
At the end of the meeting, echo back to them what you hear them
suggesting. Attempt to follow their advice. Commit to follow up
with them about the results of your following their advice.
4. If the problems persists, you might consider getting outside
help. Note that this may be more constructive than posing the
problem to the entire board where it may cause great confusion
and unease with little or not clear course of action to resolve
the issue.

For the Category of Leadership:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

Related Library Topics

Recommended Books


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How to Write Your Resume

A-businessman presenting-his-resume

How to Write Your Resume

Sections of this Topic Include:

How Not to Write Your Resume

How to Write Your Resume

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Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Writing a Resume

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs
that have posts related to writing a resume. Scan down the blog’s page to see
various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar
of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog.
The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

Library’s
Career Management Blog
Library’s
Coaching Blog
Library’s
Human Resources Blog

How Not to Write Your Resume

There is a vast range of articles about how to write a resume. Some are included
later on below. So perhaps now it would be most meaningful to start by writing
about how NOT to write your resume.

by Sheri Mazurek

In a recent article, Forbes lists three things that will get your resume “thrown
in the trash.” The list includes three resume mistakes that will most likely
get candidates overlooked. The article provides good advice. I would recommend
giving it a read. The Forbes list includes the following:

  • You don’t meet the basic requirements
  • You are not a culture fit
  • You don’t pay attention to detail

In addition, be mindful of the following:

  • The resume doesn’t highlight the qualifications to the specific job for
    which you are applying. Look at the ad or description that is posted. It will
    most likely not only tell you the qualifications, but many times it will start
    with what is most needed or required. If you learned about the job from someone
    in the company or a recruiter, be sure to find out what skills are required
    and what are most important. Your resume will be scanned quickly, be sure
    your can show how your qualifications will fit this position.
  • The resume includes an objective statement that refers to another industry,
    position or company. This is in line with Forbes advice to pay attention to
    detail. I would recommend removing the objective statement all together. Use
    that space for a headline statement that highlights your skills and background.
  • The resume makes claims about your abilities or skills without communicating
    results. Be sure you can show what results you have achieved by using those
    skills. You have very limited space to display your qualifications and sell
    yourself to a recruiter. Use that space wisely.
  • Do not use creative fonts and formatting for your resume. The resume is
    often uploaded into an applicant tracking system. Those systems do not always
    display special fonts accurately. If it doesn’t convert well, the recruiter
    will not be able to read it and it will be skipped.

How to Write Your Resume

Resume
and Cover Letters
44 Resume Writing Tips
Free Resume and Job
Search Workshops
Sample resumes

How to Write a Winning Professional Resume
7
Ways to Impress Recruiters With Your Resume
Reference
in the Resume
What
is it like to work in HR
The
Definitive Guide to Submitting Your Resume in Sand Land
How to Improve Your Employment Application
8 Simple Ways to Customize Your Resume
How to Write a Resume: 6 Steps to Take Before You Write
Free
CV Examples & Templates
Free Printable Job
Applications Online
Don’t Wait Until Job Search, Think Resume In Everything You Do
Is your SHRM membership on your resume?
My Success Portfolio: Why Have One?

For the Category of Career Development:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may
want to review some related topics, available from the link below.
Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

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