“We already tried that.” “That won’t work.” “That will never happen here.” Nothing will ever work according to these common comments made by the Naysayer. Or how about Sarcasm, the Naysayer’s witty cousin, who says: “Yeah right.” “Dream on.” “Good luck with that.” These roles and similar ones can hinder a group’s process by diverting the attention away from achieving…
In an interview about my new book Say What You Mean in a Nice Way: Working Together Better in High-Tech Times, I was asked “how can we be more diplomatic?” I loved that question because people sometimes mistake the word “nice” for “weak” or “wimpy”, but I believe that the word can mean “tactful,” “assertive”—not aggressive!—and, well, “diplomatic.” Here’s how…
I’ve found that having an attitude of gratitude has been the secret to staying positive and hopeful. In the words of the legendary motivator Zig Ziglar: “Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.” I recently surveyed my Facebook…
These five phrases appear to be nice, but really are not. They can be passive aggressive and should be avoided—face-to-face and online. These terms are usually used as a get-out-of-jail-free card following a mean comment. If you feel the urge to mitigate a mean comment using one of these phrases, that may be a signal the statement itself could have…
During this crisis, you may be asking the question, what can I do to help? How can I communicate that I care? What difference can I make? Meanwhile, you may be scrambling to save your own business or keep your career from crashing, all while home schooling your children. It has been more than a month since the Covid-19 quarantine…
I surveyed my monthly Communique’ readers earlier this year, asking them this question: “What annoys you most about the way people communicate online?” The responses fell neatly into these three categories: Mistakes and Misspelling, Misunderstanding, Meanness. I’ve summarized the responses below almost word-for-word as received. I’ve also included duplicate responses in order to emphasize how annoying some online communication habits…
In our personal and professional lives, teamwork comes in many forms. From group assignments and project management at work to social and family planning at home, we often need to work together better. No matter what the context, all teamwork has something in common: the three types of behavior that people exhibit while working in a group. Generally, when working…
In the more than 20 years that I’ve spoken at companies and conferences about staying positive and working together better, I have received feedback from hundreds of employees. They have shared what regularly frustrates them. Often the things that annoy employees the most fall into four categories: Lack of accountability Lack of appreciation Lack of direction Lack of belonging…
Whether it’s at work or home, we can all benefit from becoming better at confrontation. How we handle conflict and stress is directly related to how successful and stable our relationships will be. Sometimes, the first question we ask when dealing with a tricky situation is whether we should confront or not confront. Should you confront the cranky coworker, annoying…
The word “no” may be easy to say, however figuring out how to say “no” can be difficult. Even when we know that saying “no” can help us draw healthy boundaries, it can still be challenging to do so. In my experience, I’ve found it helps to say “no” nicely by first acknowledging the other person’s request and then…