All Things Related to Communication
06.28.2010
A couple days ago, Eric Jacques wrote a post called How to Listen to Your Customers which was an excellent complement to my Listening to What Isn’t Said. In the post, he made one recommendation that really struck home for me: Everyone in your organization needs to learn how to honestly and completely listen to [...]
03.14.2010
Yesterday, during danah boyd’s keynote presentation for SXSWi, she made a comment to which I had to stop myself from jumping up amidst a packed room and shouting, “Amen! Testify, sister!” Her comment consisted of three words printed on a slide deck: Nuance amidst extremes It was in reference to quotes and soundbites from folks [...]
09.18.2009
Earlier today, Matt Singley (@mattsingley) asked a simple, but rather provocative question via Twitter:
What ensued was an interesting mini-conversation about how to successfully and effectively engage with a competitor's customers through social media.
05.05.2009
Be mindful of your own community. Do you have any cliques? Is there an "elite" class who may be excluding other members from their group? I'm not suggesting that allowing groups to form is a negative. Just be careful about the dynamics forming from this behavior. If members feel they are not included and welcome in different areas of the community, they'll likely make way for the door.
04.21.2009
How do you communicate with your current customers? Do you only send them mail when you're launching a new product or email them when there's an upgrade to purchase? Have you taken a good hard look at what you communicate and how often you communicate it? Is it all BUY, BUY, BUY? If so, that's a prescription for buyer fatigue. The reality is that sales are driven by relationships not broadcasted advertisements.
02.09.2009
Did you happen to catch the story on NPR this morning about the video satirizing NASA's overbureacratization and lack of imagination which has come to define the agency? It's a perception that not only exists outside, but has become increasingly entrenched inside the organization. Aside from NASA, does this sound like your own organization?
01.03.2009
Here’s a little fact about me: I don’t like trade shows. From the visitor side, they make me uncomfortable. I’m always afraid to make eye contact with an exhibitor for fear that I’m going to get the full-on sales blitz. And usually it’s for a service or product that I really don’t need. Ever try [...]
04.02.2008
Today Annette Clancy, Johnnie Moore, and Matt Moore published a terrific podcast focused on confidentiality in organizations. It’s based on a post started by Annette a couple of days ago called In Confidence. While the podcast is aimed at the consulting experience, there’s some juicy insight here for managers and leaders, as well. Among the [...]
03.31.2008
Are you someone who sees the status quo inside your business and has an overwhelming desire to shake things up? Do you get frustrated by the often glacial pace of change and feel the need to speed it up? Do you exhibit a relentless and courageous ability to point out elephants of all sizes lurking [...]
02.11.2008
Here are a few phrases that I’ve heard thrown about lately: Billy is an absolute ass…he’s always out for himself. Stan never does his job right…I’m always having to pick up the slack for him. I can’t stand Beth…every time I need something she’s too busy to help. Note some of the common language used [...]
