5 Effective Coaching Tips to Improve Your Listening Listening is the primary tool in the coach’s toolbox. It is the foundation for developing rapport and producing an effective coaching session that yields results. Here are 5 tips that will ramp up your listening skills and enhance your communication: 1. Focus like a cat – notice …

Good crisis management means being prepared for the worst Being well prepared beforehand is probably the number one way to minimize the impact of crises on your organization. While this may seem obvious, most are at a loss as to what steps to take to ensure this preparedness. In a recent post on the Preparis.com …

What separates the greatest teams from the rest is their mix of talents and, crucially their understanding of one anothers’ strengths. When team building there are a number of questionnaires (or psychometrics) that can be used to help teams identify their strengths and preferences. When this information is used to assign roles and tasks true …

Before actually reaching out to Gen Y, companies must first spend time listening and learning what’s important to them, how they think, and what they like (or dislike!)

Many methods have emerged over the years that are hailed as the greatest and latest way to deliver a project. A good example would be the “scrum” method for delivering IT projects. The scrum concept is implemented in a number of ways, one of which could be to pick groups of requirements which are delivered …

Benefits of Consulting and/or Project Teams Occasionally, a client will specify that they want a team of consultants on the project because the project requires substantial expertise and resources. While there can be many frustrations for consultants working in effective project teams, there are also major benefits. The team can provide a wide variety of …

Our firm gets 4-5 calls/month from people wanting to know how to start or grow a consulting practice. Obviously, there’s no standardized procedure for that. It depends on the nature of the service you’d offer as a consultant. If you’re selling services to develop job descriptions for rural electric co-ops in Kansas, well your service …

I just read an article on BNET, an online resource like the Free Management Library–no disrespect intended to FML, nor am I promoting BNET. I get my inspiration from all over. The article was titled the The 5 Dumbest Management Concepts of All Time. The author says, “These five commonly-held management concepts are responsible for …

We’ve all had successes and even some failures in our career. What can we learn? Here are words of wisdom from experienced leaders I interviewed for a career management presentation at a recent young professional conference. Seven tips to guide your career. 1. Have big enough goals. “Don’t pay any attention to those well-meaning naysayers …

Just wanted to mention a listserv devoted exclusively to social enterprise. Its focus is learning more about how organizations can develop successful social enterprise strategies to generate earned income to pursue mission, build capacity and achieve greater sustainability. If you’re interested, you’re invited to join the 7500-subscriber npEnterprise Forum listserv, the official listserv partner of …