The Newsletter

Issue no. 54|27 September, 2011

Your Mother Was Right…

… you catch more flies with honey. Just in case your mother didn't say that to you, the saying means that by being nice, you're more likely to get what you want.

Our customer service email gets hundreds of emails a day, with members emailing about everything from password issues to registrations for conferences to how to find things on our site.

There's an interesting variety of approaches, from people who say, 'it must be me, but I can't find/do this thing I'm trying to do', to people who say 'your system isn't working'.

Maggie, who answers our customer service queue, treats them all equally and is fantastically friendly and patient with everyone - which just goes to show we hire well :-)

It's not true everywhere though. As we say relatively often, it's all about people. No matter what you're doing, especially at work, people are involved. And people respond better with a gentle approach.

Don't start a conversation with what someone else did wrong – even if you're frustrated. Begin with 'I'm trying to do x and I'm getting outcome y. Can you help me?'. If necessary, write it down to remind yourself.

If you approach a conversation by telling someone else what they did wrong, you force them into a corner – nearly every human being will feel the need to defend themselves, creating an escalation of aggression which does not foster easy resolution of the problem.

Approach it by asking for help, and you start with collaboration – which is much more likely to result in the outcome you want.

Newsletter Frequency

This is the last of the newsletters to be produced weekly. Back at the beginning of August, we promised you weekly newsletters to celebrate the launch of Individual Licenses and the Interview Creation Tool.

The next newsletter will be on 11 October. We hope you've enjoyed the additional editions and found the extra content useful and thought-provoking.

Please Forward This Newsletter

Those of you who have premium content know that use of that content is only for that particular member. This newsletter is not licensed material, and we'd love for you to forward it to anyone who would find it interesting and useful. You just need to click the link at the bottom of the page.

If someone forwarded it to you, and you'd like your own copy in future, become a Manager Tools member here. It's free!

managertools.com

Manager Tools

A weekly podcast focused on helping you become a more effective manager and leader.

Career Tools

Giving you the tools you need to have the career you want.

 
             

[ Other Places To Find Us ]

 

[ Conferences ]

 

Washington, DC Effective Manager Conference October 4

Washington Effective Communications Conference October 5

Minneapolis Effective Manager Conference October 20

Austin Effective Manager Conference November 1

Sydney Australia Effective Manager Conference November 30 (Waiting List)

Sydney Australia Effective Communications Conference December 1 (Waiting List)

Atlanta Effective Manager Conference January 10

Atlanta Effective Communications Conference January 11

London UK Effective Manager Conference January 24

London UK Effective Communications Conference January 25

Register for Effective Manager Conferences

Register for Effective Communications Conferences

[ In The Forums ]

Boss' Professionalism

http://www.manager-tools.com/forums-6233

Working For An Admirable Boss

http://www.manager-tools.com/forums-6232

Too Much Praise?

http://www.manager-tools.com/forums-6228

Management Experience Outside Work

http://www.manager-tools.com/forums-6163

Design Accomplishments

http://www.manager-tools.com/forums-6223

'Keep In Touch' Email Template

http://www.manager-tools.com/forums-6147

Join The Conversation

http://www.manager-tools.com/forums/latest-comments

[ People Say ]

Interview Creation Tool: "Great tool! You make it easy to create the behavioral questions it used to take me hours to assemble. THANKS!" BookChic49

[ Feedback ]

We'd love to hear your thoughts on our newsletter. Please send feedback to [email protected]. Thank you!

Follow Us On Twitter

Join Us On Facebook

Facebook/ManagerTools

Join Us On LinkedIn

LinkedIn/ManagerTools

Read Our Newsletter Archive

Archive

Manager Tools iPhone App

Available at the App Store.