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Category: COMMUNICATION & RELATIONSHIPS
Like personal relationships, organizations can’t thrive without excellent communication and listening skills. In fact, companies invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in leadership development, trust-building, and communication skill training. However, even before typing and texting were the preferred method of communication, we humans have needed tips on the best ways to express ourselves and make others feel heard. Now, we need those skills more than ever. In the WorkSMART blog, we explore best practices for developing deep relationships and conversation prompts perfectly suited for different goals and occasions. Plus, find tips for formulating your own great questions that will lead to deeper discussions.
Making “Big Talk” Safe
Big Talk. I loved the expression as soon as I heard it. Enough with “small talk,” let’s shoot for more meaningful conversations. I had been developing probing conversation starters for over 20 years, when I came upon Kalina Silverman’s TED Talk. I was also excited to learn she’s a fell... Read More
Active Listening Exercises Galore!
While our library of Communication and Listening Exercises is quite comprehensive, Active Listening is a critical subcategory worthy of deeper exploration. Active listening isn’t just nodding to the speaker. Active listening happens when you’re completely focused on the speaker, taking i... Read More
Communication & Listening Exercises
Over the years, I’ve collected these communication exercises and activities from a variety of LinkedIN discussions and recommendations from trainers and business people. If you aren’t sure how to choose a team building game, view How to Choose a Teambuilding Game Infographic. If you̵... Read More
Asking Questions: What we didn’t learn in kindergarten
I had thought that old adage, “everything we need to learn, we learned in kindergarten” was true. Remember “show and tell,” when children are invited to share a favorite object and talk about why it is meaningful to them? Now I’m not so sure. To improve communication an... Read More
Discover which Thumball is best for YOU!
Not sure which Thumball is perfect for your needs? Take a moment to complete this quick quiz and get a handful of ideas about which discussion prompts will be best for your team and what your Thumball Style is! What’s a Thumball? It’s a soft ball imprinted with 32 discussion starters. Cr... Read More
Getting to know you with Quick Response Whiteboards
If your group would feel more relaxed and benefit from knowing a bit more about one another, try this Quick Response Board activity. Have each person write on the board a most unusual fact about themselves (oddest job, a phobia, worst nightmare, proudest accomplishment, etc.) Then ask everybody to p... Read More
7 Tips for Formulating Great Questions
As a designer of conversation starter tools, which I’m proud to say have been wonderfully received, I have some strong feelings about what makes a good icebreaker question and what simply fails to inspire sharing. If you’re hoping to weed through the millions of discussion-starter questi... Read More
No gift of the gab? No Worries!
Some people have the gift of the gab . . . and some of us just don’t. Sometimes I wish I did. When it comes to conversation, I suppose I’d say that I’m comfortable with silence and that I prefer quality to quantity. But I do relish rich, meaningful, and insightful conversations.�... Read More
The Pillar of Trust
Conflict is a part of life. It’s part of sibling, family, and spousal relationships. It rears its ugly head at work when colleagues have different ideas about how to achieve a goal, when they discuss who should do what work and when personalities clash. Conflict is part of friendships and, a... Read More
Building Relationships through Better Communication
When opposing parties get to the negotiating table, they too often dive into the meat of the deal and begin arguing for their perspective. We see that in how our government operates today and in how people discuss politics, family matters, work challenges, and more. It’s time to STOP, take a s... Read More
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