Dear Charlotte

Welcome to our August newsletter.   Traditionally a quiet time of year we have managed to find time to look at some interesting research from Harvard on Improving Communications in Business.  This is achieved by encouraging upward communication in organisations as you will see from the article penned by my business partner (and husband) Cyril.  

Main Article: Dare I say it? Encouraging Upward Communication

We also have:

Keeping a Confidence Diary - Tips for Becoming and Staying Confident

HR Advice: Age legislation  Are you up to date?

Quotations: What are your favourites?

Lots of free articles still available at www.quicklearn.co.uk as well as a chance to buy 'How not to Write' every communicators' bible.  Still only £6.99 +P & P reduced from £8.99 for Quicklearn customers. Email now to reserve your copy.  When stock runs out the new price will be £7.50 +P & P.

With very best wishes

Charlotte

No news is not good news, senior managers beware……

(Based on research by Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson and Professor James Detert)

As every company knows, employees are its greatest resource. However, many workers are either not encouraged or are afraid to speak up and communicate their ideas at work. Employers are losing valuable knowledge and experience, and the company is weaker for that loss.

How can you change a culture of fear if people are afraid to speak up?  It's difficult. Company values of say ‘openness’ need to be lived and demonstrated if employees can feel safe in speaking up.  This is not about being "nice" or creating a "nice" workplace. Some of what you learn may be uncomfortable or seen as critical. Not all news is good news and managers can be seen to be arrogant or too busy or maybe lacking in interpersonal skills when they hear things they would rather not know.  Yet managers need to hear from the people in the organisation who are closest to the customers.

One way of changing the culture so that people believe speaking up is expected and desired would include placing individuals who are known to be open ‘upward speakers’ into key roles.  This would illustrate in visible ways that opinions are celebrated rather than punished. At the same time employees may need to improve the way they communicate in order to avoid defensiveness in those higher up in the organisation. 

Building Confidence in Yourself

I was asked the other day how we can help people to join in team meetings and contribute their ideas and thoughts.  Often the reason people don't get involved with workgroups is because they lack confidence and are afraid to say how they feel.  One approach I have used to boost coaching client's confidence is to encourage them to keep a Confidence Diary.

It is a smart tool to remind yourself just how good you really are and what you have to be thankful for and pleased about in your life right now.  Take 10 minutes each week, sit down and jot down your answers to the following confidence building questions in a notebook or a day to view diary.

 What have I got to be grateful for in my life right now?

Why am I happy about these things?

 What did I accomplish last week?

What am I excited about in my life right now?

  Who do I love and appreciate in my life?  

 Who do I like hanging around with and why?

   Who loves and appreciates me for what I am? Warts ‘n all!

Answer these questions at the start of each week and it will set you up for success.  And if you need a booster midweek, then by all means answer them again whenever you want to feel centred and remind yourself of what you have got going for yourself in your life right now.

Do you have any tricky grammar or punctuation questions?  Let us know and we'll endeavour to answer your query in next month's newsletter.

AGE LEGISLATION: Are you up to date?

A recent ACAS survey found that following the introduction of age discrimination legislation last year a large number of SMEs are potentially at risk of being in breach of the legislation:

Of the SMEs contacted for the survey: 

Less than half were aware that the new employment regulations related to age,

25% were not even aware of any new regulations,

·     Organisations employing less than 10 people were least likely to know about the legislation,

·       As little as 17% had made changes to their recruitment policy as a consequence of the new legislation,

·      This leaves a significant 83% who had not made any changes, though many believed their current practices were already in line with the law,

·      30% of those questioned had sought advice about the new legislation and a further 20% intended seeking advice in the next year,

     The survey also found that within a group of organisations that had admitted to treating employees differently on the basis of age before the legislation, many had still not made changes to their practices, 

These findings indicate that there are probably a large number of SMEs who are either unaware of the implications of the legislation or have made no changes to existing practices. 

If you are not sure if you have fully compliant policies, procedures and practices please contact Paul Himple at info@danjonvic.co.uk  or paul.himple@btconnect.com for a free telephone consultation.

What are your favourite quotations?

We are always looking for interesting quotations to turn into posters to decorate our training rooms and make the session look friendly and inviting.  We run a number of Business Writing courses and until people actually come on them I think they often think it is going to be dry, dull and  really hard work.  So welcoming people with memorable quotes can break the ice at the beginning of the session.  Humour is very important to me so the winner this month is a quote from Douglas Adams of the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame -

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound

they make as they fly by"

If you have a favourite quotation that would make a great poster do please email charlotte@quicklearn.co.uk   We'd love to hear from you.