Does tone matter when communicating via e-mail or verbal?

Hello, It is important that students practice writing for different situations and audiences. Today's students do plenty of informal writing in their emails, blogs, and web pages.

I have found that I try to use the old sandwich technique for feedback. I want to tell the student what they did well, what they did okay that needs improving or what needs to be prsent in the assignment next time, followed by some positive and encouraging summary feedback. I always provide feedback in a timely manner so the student has the information before their next assignment is due. I also try to provide resources for areas that need improvement such as avoiding plagiarism. I am curious to know what other techniques you may use when giving feedback.

I am an instructor at a technical college, and I never really thought of my feedback to students in the same vein as feedback from my employer at work. We all know how important feedback every week is to our students, and we should give praise as well as areas needing improvement - but I think most supervisors fail to give timely feedback. It always seemed awkward to me to get an "annual evaluation" and things would come up that never were mentioned in the previous year. So I think we can apply our excellent feedback skills from the classroom that we give our students, to those who work for us - timely, relevant, helpful feedback is necessary!!

I notice this more often than anything else. I have employees that you can see are doing this and before you can even finish speaking are already snapping back. So you know they didn't get anything from your discussion

This is a great topic for overcoming talking in front of a group of people when you're not comfortable with it.

Emails can be a great way to communitcate for a quick response

While TV interviews can be stressful, it always helps to be well prepared.

Hello, This was a good overview of nonverbal communication. An area that I have personally had to work to overcoming is hiding stress at work. During extreme times of stress I have found that I can give the impression that I'm too busy to be approached. As a manager, that can be very frustrating for employees. I have learned the importance of managing stress and continually being aware of how I am presenting myself so that stress isn't misperceived as stand off-ish. As I have become more aware of this, I have found it's easier to manage and have seen the results of my team coming to me more often.

Hello, I thought this was a good overview on how to speak with employees in a way that can motivate, encourage and help the indivdual to grow. What I have also found to be effective when speaking with individuals is to have them give their own critique on the situation first. I work in a phone-sales position and when I sit with employees to discuss a call, I will often ask how they felt it went before giving my feedback. I have found that almost always the individual is directly on point with areas of improvement and I act more as a supporter instead of discussing what went wrong. I have also found that if employees critique themselves, they are more likely to improve in that area vs. management trying to work and train with them to correct it.

Hello, One of the biggest challenges our department faces is the abundance of meetings that we are asked to attend on a daily basis. With a department of 27, this was indeed a "conference" that was being held on a weekly basis and the meetings were often very long with standing room only. To help keep this problem to a minimum, we have department meetings only as needed and usually try to split the meetings up by team so there is an opportunity for everyone to speak if needed. We have found this to be much more effective due to staff retaining more information from the meetings. Great overview!

This was a great overview of presenting in front of a group. While I wouldn't choose death over giving a presentation, I would agree that it's not one of my favorite things to do. I think preparation has been one of the most effective steps I have taken and continue to take when having to give a presentation. If I know I am well prepared and know the material well, I may still be nervous but can often hide it a little bit easier.

Hello! With the abundance of emails that are sent out every day in our organization, I have found bullet points to be the most effective. We have noticed that because emails are sent so frequently, employees have a tendency to skim emails instead of ready through them. I thought this section provided some great ideas on how to be the most effective in written communication.

Videos are a useful technique for training, butas the test reveals, they don't always adress the topic in the most relevant way or hit in the most concentrated way.

Good communication is a major area of opportunity in the department where I work. We spend so much time sending emails and holding meetings that I believe we often overcommunicate instead of effectively communicating. What that has led to is employees deleting emails before reading them and a lack of interest in attending meetings. Moving forward, I think it's important to have more of a game plan on how to effectively communicate with the team during meetings and keeping emails down to a minimum.

How can an employee learn a manager is always busy and response is very short whenever he or she answers?

Reading an applicate nonverbal communication can tell you if you want to hire a canidate.

Good writing skills are crucial in the school, the business world, and everyday life. I encourage my students to keep a journal to help improve their writing skills. I have them write in their journal 3-5 times a week. It is a great way to revisit your writing to see where your weaknesses or strengths are, get ideas for papers, or help see what is going on in your life. Also, anytime you are doing some form of consistent writing like this, it will help keep your writing skills sharp. Many people feel they cannot write at all, but they see they have some writing ability as they begin to write in their journal. It is also a therapeutic way to relieve daily stress.

One of my pet peeves is when students and business professionals use power point as a crutch. It is not very engaging when a person simply reads off their slides. I believe we have become too dependent on power point. Here is a great funny clip that you can show students to help them understand common power point mistakes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp8dugDbf4w

I'd be interested to hear the group's thoughts on utilizing these tips for conference calls. The majority of the meetings I arrange or attend are generally via webinar or conference call. What are some suggestions on how to make this type of meeting worth while?