Active Listening in 4 Steps:
Active listening in 4 steps: The best managers make the best listeners
Managers spend a good part of their workday listening to other people. But bear in mind, there’s a big difference between “passive” and “active” listening.
Effective listening includes a four-step process to ensure understanding:
1. Listen to the total message.
2. Prove your understanding by using nonverbal signals.
3. Use open-ended probes.
4. Paraphrase what you hear.
Motivating employees through realistic deadlines: 4 do's and don'ts
Without deadlines, employees flounder. They can’t be aware of the urgency or priorities of a project unless their supervisors tell them.
Following are four tips on motivating employees by setting realistic deadlines:
1. Do be specific
Name the target day and time. And mean what you say. If you ask for completion “next week,” don’t complain on Friday that you really needed it on Wednesday.
2. Do clarify priorities
Let people know if this assignment takes precedence over any other projects they’re working on now. Avoid the old, favorite deadline “ASAP,” which usually translates in an employee’s mind as “whenever it gets done.”
3. Don’t set false deadlines
Setting a deadline earlier than necessary (because you don’t trust your employees to meet the real deadline) creates more problems than it solves.
Your staff will soon learn that’s how you operate and will assume there’s always air in the schedule. As a result, they’ll always miss that first deadline, just as you knew they would.
4. Do establish an update schedule
The best-laid plans can go astray, and so can deadlines. You’ll minimize the chance of this occurring by setting up a progress report schedule when you assign the project. This is especially important for long-term projects.
Motivating employees to do their best each day: 6 office communication techniques
Here are six tips for motivating employees to stay on task and work together toward the common goal, according to a report by
Managers spend a good part of their workday listening to other people. But bear in mind, there’s a big difference between “passive” and “active” listening.
Effective listening includes a four-step process to ensure understanding:
1. Listen to the total message.
2. Prove your understanding by using nonverbal signals.
3. Use open-ended probes.
4. Paraphrase what you hear.
Motivating employees through realistic deadlines: 4 do's and don'ts
Without deadlines, employees flounder. They can’t be aware of the urgency or priorities of a project unless their supervisors tell them.
Following are four tips on motivating employees by setting realistic deadlines:
1. Do be specific
Name the target day and time. And mean what you say. If you ask for completion “next week,” don’t complain on Friday that you really needed it on Wednesday.
2. Do clarify priorities
Let people know if this assignment takes precedence over any other projects they’re working on now. Avoid the old, favorite deadline “ASAP,” which usually translates in an employee’s mind as “whenever it gets done.”
3. Don’t set false deadlines
Setting a deadline earlier than necessary (because you don’t trust your employees to meet the real deadline) creates more problems than it solves.
Your staff will soon learn that’s how you operate and will assume there’s always air in the schedule. As a result, they’ll always miss that first deadline, just as you knew they would.
4. Do establish an update schedule
The best-laid plans can go astray, and so can deadlines. You’ll minimize the chance of this occurring by setting up a progress report schedule when you assign the project. This is especially important for long-term projects.
Motivating employees to do their best each day: 6 office communication techniques
Here are six tips for motivating employees to stay on task and work together toward the common goal, according to a report by