Onpoint Coaching

How are Your Communication Skills?

The teenager’s emergency surgery, A gut wrenching lawsuit, a life threatening disease?

 

How these real life stories are remembered:

 Communication and Service

 

 

There are plenty of great books, articles, blogs and consultancy practices built around the teachings of effective communication skills and how that leads to a better customer service experience.  What is amazing to me is how every day there are examples in front of us to learn from and apply to our leadership at work.

 

The other day, a friend’s teenage son came down with a very serious condition which required emergency treatment. His son had to have emergency surgery to stop a fast growing tumor. The boy had to withstand difficult testing procedures, surgery and recovery procedures, and what amazed me is the Dad’s glowing report in an email update to friends and family telling us about the excellent communication and service skills of the hospital staff and all the professionals his family came in contact with through the ordeal.  At the crux if it was how they communicated effectively and it was a first rate experience. He was truly appreciative of the professionalism and superb communication skills of those Doctors and staff who told them what was happening every step of the way.  All of that while he was witnessing his son’s critical condition get worse. He by the hospital professionals communication skills and great service they delivered.

 

Another gut wrencher is the client who had a huge legal battle which ran on for 2 years, and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The amount of legal bills she paid were horrendous, and while that sucked a lot of energy out of her, she kept talking about how professional her attorneys were, how smart and thorough they were, their professionalism and how they had superb communication skills when they interacted with her and during all the procedures.  This won the trust and respect of my client. She spoke so highly of them in the midst of a torturous litigation process.

 

A third example is the client who finally faced facts with her serious health issue, which could be controlled by exercise, eating better and medication. While finally facing the tough exercise and nutrition and lifestyle changes required, she said in an email to friends and supporters, the Doctors, Nurses, Dietician and Trainer at the gym are all so clear, and the experience with them so positive because they are giving me the information I need in a professional way so I can get healthy and strong again.

 

I am not saying the injury of a child or legal battle which wipes out your net worth is pleasant, but isn’t it interesting that in these examples, the professionalism and communication competence they experienced was superb. No question the technical skills of Doctors, Lawyers, Dieticians and Emergency Technicians are critical, but what these three people relate later to friends and family is how the soft skills of communications, emotional support and customer service are sustainable and memorable.

 

How can we apply that to every day at work? The soft skills of service and communication may be downplayed in times of economic downturn and cost cutting, yet that is what the customer/client/patient is remembering from the life threatening or gruesome experiences. What does that tell you about the criticality of working on these skills; rewarding great service examples at work, teaching and modeling solid effective communication skills, teaching ways that crucial conversations lead to successful outcomes, coaching employees on how they can take steps to make customer service and better communication skills second nature?

 

So lets think again about reinforcing these skills with your teams, give them the tools for effective communication, let them work with a coach or get training on these critical skills. The medical, legal and personal training staff mentioned above did and look what it did for their patient/client experience.

What are the signs an employee will be successful?

In the Dallas Morning News Community Section, “How do you know a student will be successful,?” appeared on October 25, 2009.  Local teachers were polled for their opinions. This provocative question pulled me in because I have a very high regard for teachers, and wondered how it related to leadership issues I deal with everyday as an executive coach, and coach at UTD working with  EMBA students. The eight Dallas area teachers’ perspectives can help managers in all industries and levels see what attributes stand out and will make someone successful. As a parent, many times I reminded my children that their “job” was to be a good student. Well, a good student will make a good employee. Here I have summarized their stories into the top attributes along with how managers can spot the same in their teams.

Curiosity: Questions like “Why?” and “How?” from a student tell you they are intellectually stimulated.  Those unexpected curious questions signal presence of a vision.

Leaders usually are stimulated to learn as much as they can, and are learning agile. Their quest for knowledge propels them to greatness.

Belief: Parents and teachers who have an unbridled belief in their child can and will succeed are the foundation. Just as the manager who believes in his/her employee. The students believe they can do it even if it means more work and diligence. They discover that success breeds more success.

Awareness: Students will be successful when they are aware of their capabilities and limitations and work to move forward beyond those levels. A confident student has a leg up. How does one get confidence? Self awareness and achievement in small steps, not blind general praise. As a coach, I do a lot of strengths work with clients. The first step in personal development is to be aware of your strengths, then to be motivated and off we go! Do you know your team’s strengths? Are you helping them gain awareness? Are the motivations in place to maximize their talents? If your team lacks confidence, how can you help them gain self awareness?

Initiative: When the student gets the assignment and does more or goes further, this signals a successful work ethic and engaged learner. How engaged are your people? Who takes initiative? Have you recognized that, or at your organization, does the initiator get pounded down?

Problem solver: Takes failure or mistake in stride and creates a solution that moves him or her forward. Perseverance and creativity are used to solve problems as they see varied facets of an issue. As an adult, having various perspectives on issues will help enormously, especially when dealing with conflict, misunderstanding or trying to persuade others.  Another huge point is that kids start out very creative, as they grow up and conform to society, this spark may go out. As a manager, it is your job to challenge people to get creative, and think outside the box. Remember creativity and innovation is not just for artists and designers. All workers can demonstrate problem solving and innovative ways to get the work done better.

Engage others: To reflect ideas or solicit physical help or brainpower. The students who reflect with others or ask for help and approach problems in a team fashion get it. In the business world a favorite tactic of interviewers is to ask how the candidate solved a problem. They are listening to learn the thinking style, approach and attitudes of the candidate. Did they do it alone? Did they reach out and collaborate for best ideas? Did they ask their boss what to do? How independent or dependent are they?

Reflection: Plays a big part in these students’ lives as they build on challenges they conquered or even at which they have failed. When is the last time you asked yourself or a team member what they learned from their success or failure? How can you integrate reflection and the insights gained from that thinking into your management style?

Take action: One teacher mentioned the responsibility he has is to provide opportunities for success.  Once given the opportunity, it is up to the student to act on it, show up and do the work. As a manager, are you giving everyone a chance to succeed? Do you know your team members’ strengths? Do they know them? Are you matching the right person to the job requirements? Have you given the opportunity and challenged your team? They will reach or exceed results, but only if you set the bar high.

Focus, Drive, Responsibility, Commitment: These all combine to make up for deficits in other areas. Teachers and parents see this all the time in the classroom. A student with average intelligence who makes up for that with tremendous drive or commitment to succeed, will succeed in the workplace. As a manager, how are you developing your people who have the natural talents such as these? Or, are you only rewarding those who have the highest IQ?

 

Keeping your valued team members

This article will give you easy to implement talking points on how to broach the subject of team contentment. You want to keep your people motivated, and stay close so that you understand what is worrying them and if they are at risk of leaving. Many organizations have “at risk” plans and programs, yet a simple conversation may be all you need to do to keep morale high on your team.

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