Business Skills All-in-One For Dummies

Fulfil your workplace potential with this indispensable handbook.Written by a team of experts, Business Skills All-in-One For Dummies is your complete guide to perfecting your communication, management and organizational skills. Inside you'll find simple techniques for… (More)

Sections

Introduction
About This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
Foolish Assumptions
How This Book Is Organised
Book I: Communicating Effectively
Book II: Building Your Commercial Acumen
Book III: Managing and Leading Others
Book IV: Increasing Productivity and Performance
Icons Used in This Book
Where to Go from Here
Chapter 1
Knowing Why Rapport is Important
Recognising rapport when you see it
Identifying people with whom you want to build rapport
Having Basic Techniques for Building Rapport
Sharpening your rapport with eight quick tips
Viewing the communication wheel and developing rapport
Matching and mirroring
Pacing to lead other people successfully
Building rapport in virtual communication
Knowing How to Break Rapport and Why You May Want To
Discovering how to break rapport sensitively
Grasping the power of the word ‘but’
Understanding Other Points of View
Exploring perceptual positions
Seeing, Hearing, and Feeling Your Way to Better Communication
Getting to Grips with the Senses
Filtering reality
Hearing how people are thinking
Listening to the World of Words
Building rapport through words
Bringing on the translators
Acknowledging the Importance of the Eyes
Making the VAK System Work for You
Introducing the NLP Communication Model
Scenario 1
Scenario 2
Understanding the Process of Communication
Processing pieces of information
Getting to grips with individual responses
Giving Effective Communication a Try
Discovering How Body Language Conveys Messages
Projecting an image in the first 30 seconds
Transmitting messages unconsciously
Substituting behaviour for the spoken word
Gesturing to illustrate what you’re saying
Physically supporting the spoken word
Revealing thoughts, attitudes and beliefs
Key Types of Gestures
Unintentional gestures
Signature gestures: Gestures that define who you are
Fake gestures: Pulling the wool
Micro gestures: A little gesture means a lot
Displacement gestures
Universal gestures
Getting the Most Out of Body Language
Becoming spatially aware
Anticipating movements
Creating rapport through reflecting gestures
Becoming who you want to be
Reading the signs and responding appropriately
Appreciating Cultural Differences
Developing Confidence in Your Professional Life
Realising that your job isn’t you
Defining your professional identity
Uncovering what you want to do
Finding value in what you do
Becoming Assertive
Demonstrating power and presence in meetings
Shining during presentations
Rejecting manipulation and bullying
Managing Your Boss
Dealing with feedback
Getting your boss to keep his promises
Telling your boss he’s wrong
Casting Off Your Cloak of Invisibility
Dealing Confidently with Corporate Change
Getting through rejection
Taming the threat of redundancy
Question-Asking Tips and Strategies
Cleaning up your language: Removing bias
Recognising that the way you behave is what counts
Pressing the pause button
Testing your questions
Making positive statements the norm
Figuring Out What You Want
What do I want?
What’s that going to do for me?
Asking Questions to Help Make Decisions
Challenging Limiting Beliefs
Finding the Right Person for the Job: A Question of Motivation
What do you want in your work?
Why is that important?
How do you know that you’ve done a good job?
Why did you choose your current work?
Checking In with Yourself
Listening Intently
Listening at four levels
Listening beyond words
Knowing Who’s Who and What’s What
Convincing the Charismatics
Offering balanced information
Acknowledging and discussing risks
Providing visual aids to strengthen your position
Tying arguments to bottom-line results
Swaying the Sceptics
Establishing credibility through similarities
Gaining endorsement from trusted sources
Allowing them their clout
Grounding concrete facts in the real world
Appealing to the Thinkers
Telling your story sequentially
Providing abundant data
Letting them draw their own conclusions
Urging the Followers
Minimising risk
Keeping it simple
Winning Over the Controllers
Overcoming internal fears
Flooding with pure facts and analytics
Making your arguments structured, linear and credible
Working through others
Making Important Preparations
Deciding whether you should speak
Figuring out why you’re speaking
Setting specific goals
Getting the essential information
Agreeing on a topic
Analysing Your Audience
Discovering demographics
Discovering what the audience is thinking
Finding out what the audience knows
Relating to Your Audience
Putting yourself in the shoes of your audience
Highlighting the benefits of what you’ve got to say
Creating Charts and Graphs
Choosing a type of chart or graph
Making effective charts and graphs
Making Use of PowerPoint and Overheads
Using PowerPoint
Using overhead transparencies
Discovering simple design rules
Flipping for Flipcharts
Avoiding common flipchart mistakes
Using flipcharts effectively
Creating Great Video (and Audio)
Using video
Including audio in your presentations
Making an Impact with Multimedia
Getting the right multimedia equipment
Using software for multimedia presentations
Getting permission to use content
Wowing Your Audience with Simple Multimedia Techniques
Being Handy with Handouts
Making an impact with handouts
Including the right information
Knowing when to give them out
Making the First Impression: The Interview
Gaining Instant Rapport
Mirroring to get the ball rolling
Matching to create similarities
Showing you’re glad to be there
Leading to get them to come to you
Carrying only what’s necessary
Standing tall and holding your ground
Moving with purpose
Pointing Your Body in the Right Direction
Creating a relaxed attitude with the 45 degree angle
Facing directly for serious answers
Picking the power seats
Negotiating Styles
Claiming your space
Displaying confidence
Get the Right People on Board: Making the Million-Pound Decision
Asking for the Right Stuff
Defining the Job and the Person
Finding Good People
Being the Greatest Interviewer in the World
Asking the right questions
Interviewing do’s
Interviewing don’ts
Evaluating Your Candidates
Checking references
Reviewing your notes
Conducting second (or third) interviews
Engaging the Best (and Leaving the Rest)
Being objective
Trusting your instincts
Adjusting after the offer
Accounting Everywhere You Look
The Basic Elements of Accounting
Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards
Why accounting rules are important
Income tax and accounting rules
Flexibility in accounting standards
Enforcing Accounting Rules
Protecting investors: Sarbanes-Oxley and beyond
Focusing on Business Transactions and Other Financial Events
Taking a Closer Look at Financial Statements
The balance sheet
The profit and loss account
The cash flow statement
Exploring the Wonderful World of Budgets
Making a Budget
Budgeting and the Real World
Producing real budgets
Staying on budget
Using Technology to Your Advantage
Get some help
Evaluating the Benefits and Drawbacks of Technology
Improving Efficiency and Productivity
Getting the Most Out of Information Technology
Planning and Implementation
Step 1: Prospecting
Step 2: Meeting and Greeting
Step 3: Fact Finding
Step 4: Presentation
Step 5: Handling Objections
Step 6: Closing the Sale
Step 7: Getting Referrals
Finding Clarity and Direction
Understanding the Structure of Change
The Kübler-Ross Grief Cycle
NLP logical levels
Holding On to Values
Grasping the Importance of Clear Communication
Creating the Mindset for Change
Letting go of fear
Being willing to experiment
Getting Help on the Way
Strengthening resources
Future pacing
Planning the road map
Taking One Step Forward
Making that initial move
Celebrating and closure
Understanding Risks and Risk Management
Seeing why you need risk management
Managing, not necessarily avoiding, risk
Keeping people informed
Keeping risk in focus throughout the project
Working Through the Risk Cycle
Identifying risk
Analysing risk
Deciding risk handling
Adding to or modifying plans as necessary
Taking planned actions and monitoring risk
Documenting Risk on Critical Projects
Risk management plan
Risk Register
Getting Some Help from Techniques
Ishikawa (fishbone) diagram
Work flow diagram
Risk checklist
Decision tree
Phasing Out the Old Hierarchy
Downsizing organisations
Moving towards co-operation
Empowering Your Teams
Recognising the value of an empowered workforce
Managing your teams
Identifying the Advantages of Teams
Smaller and nimbler
Innovative and adaptable
Setting Up and Supporting Your Teams
Formal teams
Informal teams
Self-managed teams
The real world
New technology and teams
Waking Up
Getting in Tune with Flow States
Finding your flow state
Accessing the flow state
Maintaining flow in challenging times
Finding the Meaning in Your Work
Seeking value while questing constantly
Making sense of the tough times
Recognising Your Life Purpose
Noticing what energises you when the going gets tough
Finding and using your passion: the DASE model
Defining purpose in your own words
Building a Shared Vision
Merging different agendas
Knowing when to bend and when to stay tough
Knowing What’s Important
Separating must-haves from shoulds
Separating means values and end values
Focusing on core values
Setting Priorities
Allowing time to refine values
Assessing values-based decisions
Responding to violated values
Keeping Values Alive Every Day
Assessing whether you’re walking the talk
Dreaming bigger and better
Saying Hello to Emotional States
Changing Emotional States
Checking the baseline state
Anchoring positive states
Allowing negative states to slide away
Tackling Interference from Gremlins
Shaking up the peacekeeper gremlin
Messing with the perfectionist gremlin
Firing up the procrastinator gremlin
Drawing your gremlins
Overcoming Fear
Championing natural confidence
Releasing phobias fast
Identifying the Stakeholders Who Matter
Mapping out the network
Informing – or influencing?
Setting priorities for communication
Understanding What Makes Others Tick
Taking perceptual positions
Gazing into the NLP meta-mirror
Listening for metaprograms
Adapting your approach
Coaching Teams to Bond
Forming: Adopting the mindset for success
Storming: Developing a shared future
Disbanding: Moving on positively
Doing the Right Thing: Ethics and You
Creating a code of ethics
Living ethics
Evaluating Your Political Environment
Assessing your organisation’s political environment
Identifying key players
Redrawing your organisation chart
Scrutinising Communication: What’s Real and What’s Not?
Believing actions, not words
Reading between the lines
Probing for information
Uncovering the Unwritten Rules of Organisational Politics
Be friendly with all
Help others get what they want
Don’t party at company parties
Manage your manager
Move ahead with your mentors
Be trustworthy
Protecting Yourself
Document for protection
Don’t make promises you can’t keep
Be visible
Recognising Behaviours under Pressure
Checking for patterns
Holding on to the best outcome
Working through Differences
Knowing the enemy well
Negotiating in the best-sized chunks
Voicing What Needs to Be Said
Developing the non-violent vocabulary
Finessing feedback
Building the most confident voice
Developing appreciative habits
Recognising Your Existing Skills
Enhancing Relating to People
‘Working with’ and not ‘doing to’ people
Having a genuine interest in others
Building strong connections
Being non-judgemental
Developing the Courage to Speak Your Mind
Standing out from the crowd
Remaining aware of being dishonest
Asking searching questions
Inviting challenge
Coping with embarrassment and threat
Sensing for Success
Being in the moment
Seeing what others miss
Listening for meaning: Getting behind language
Being Brilliant at Building Commitment
Starting from pole position
Beginning from their grid position
Focusing on winning together
Agreeing actions to drive success
Avoiding meaningless language
Keeping on track
Being a Great Role Model
Flying your flag on the summit
Avoiding the crevasse of double standards
Acting Before Avalanches
Appreciating the dangers of delay
Applying the golden rule of ‘Now’
Leading Under-performers Towards Your Peak
Working on commitment and capability
Approaching cliffhanger conversations
Roping people into improvements
Mapping progress towards peak performance
Coaching the Good Towards Greatness
Taking a time out to coach
Choosing the right role
Practising what great coaches do
Checking that Goals Are Well-Formed
1. Is the goal stated in the positive?
Is the goal stated in the positive?
Does the goal describe the evidence procedure?
Is the context of the goal clearly defined?
Does the goal identify the necessary resources?
Have I evaluated whether the goal is ecological?
Does the goal identify the first step I need to take?
Balancing Dreams with Reality: The Disney Strategy
Getting to know the various roles
Coaching through the roles
Generating New Behaviours
Hearing the soundtrack
Seeing the movie
Feeling, touching and smelling the result
Taking the First Steps
Setting your checkpoints: The milestones
Reaching your checkpoints: The actions
Acting in sequence: The relationships
Establishing your timeframe: The schedules
Reducing shrinkage
Creating programmes based on desired behaviours
Reading the Results
Appraising Performance: Why It Matters
Spelling Out the Performance Appraisal Process
Preparing for the No-Surprises Appraisal
Taking on a Project
Avoiding the Pitfalls
Deciding Whether the Job Is Really a Project
Understanding the four control areas
Recognising the diversity of projects
Understanding the four stages of a project
Defining the Project Manager’s Role
Looking at the Project Manager’s tasks
Avoiding ‘shortcuts’
Do You Have What It Takes?
Questions
Answers
Seeing Why You Need to Plan Staff Use
Dealing with resource conflicts
Making sure that people are available
Monitoring use of staff on the project
Matching People to Tasks
Growing your people
Developing a Skills Matrix
Honing Your Task Duration Estimates
Documenting your estimates
Factors in activity timing and estimates
Estimating required work effort
Factoring in productivity
Taking care with historical data
Accounting for availability in estimates
Smoothing the Resource
Checking for resource conflict
Resolving resource conflicts – the steps
Co-ordinating assignments across multiple projects
Driving Forward in Your Life
Rising through Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Greeting the world with grace
Taking Charge at Work
Looking at usable theory
Recognising the importance of achievement
Going for the next promotion
Letting Go of Unreal Expectations
Focusing on perfection distracts you from excellence
Being Generous to Yourself First
Acknowledging your successes
Accepting help and delegating
Overcoming Procrastination
Breaking the gridlock
Biting off smaller chunks
Taking Time Off – for You
Slowing down
Adopting the 80/20 principle
Generating Realistic Standards of Behaviour
Adjusting your goals to the circumstances
Staying positive while keeping it real
Increasing your flexibility
Managing Stress in the Workplace
Discovering the warning signs
Identifying the causes
Finding ways for you to relax
Getting organised at work to feel more relaxed
Learning to prioritise ruthlessly
Overcoming bad working habits to relax
Trying other strategies to stress less and relax more
Highlighting Your Likeability
Accenting your attractiveness
Finding similarities
Complimenting others
Relying on Reciprocity
Giving first to gain advantage
Negotiating and making concessions
Encouraging Follow-through on Commitments
Playing to the desire for consistency
Getting others to commit
Following the Crowd
Building your own crowd
Recognising and responding to peer pressure
Asserting Your Authority
Making the most of titles and positions
Dressing like an authority figure
Exposing your expertise
Taking authority and obedience too far
Playing Up Exclusivity
Seeking uniqueness
Avoiding losses
Letting Go
Asking for Help
Getting Systems in Place
Knowing What to Delegate
Remembering the do’s and don’ts
Sharing the burden at work
Getting help at home
Understanding How to Delegate
Planning in advance
Delegating appropriately
Giving instructions
Managing the delegated task
Achieving the best result
Structuring Your Time
Creating blocks of time
Working with your natural tendencies
Doing varied tasks, little and often
Scheduling in ‘me time’
Organising Your Tasks
Binning to-do lists
Deciding what belongs on your action list
Prioritising your tasks
Setting up action lists
Creating checklists
Investing Your Time Instead of Spending It
Beware of Fluffy Time!
Making Time to Plan Time
Undertaking urgent activities
Sorting important activities
Deciding on secondary activities
Making time for unplanned happenings
Accounting for Your Time
Investigating your past
Analysing your today
Discovering your tomorrow
Knowing When and Where to Plan
Organising Your Work Space
Keep only immediate activities on your desk
Take charge of your time
Handle phone calls wisely
Do We Really Need Another Meeting?
Choosing the Right Type of Meeting
Face to face
Tele/Web conferences
Planning the Meeting
Running the Meeting
Agendas
Taking notes
Getting to Your Meetings on Time
Calculating travel time
Leaving in good time
Networking Meetings
Dedicating Time to Your Emails
Checking your email periodically
Setting aside time for emails
Managing Your Inbox
Organising your incoming mail
Using templates
Clearing the clutter
Avoiding spam
Dealing with an Email Backlog
Preparing before time out
Handling the deluge when you return
Index

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02/24/2012

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