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Hi! Heather Uczynski, business psychologist and executive coach with today’s management minute on effective communication tips. Don’t just hear, really listen to what’s being said. Listening goes beyond just what is said. Make sure you’re not just waiting for your turn to talk. Then, when the conversation’s finished, repeat what the person said and ask them, “is that right?” If it’s not, they’ll make sure to correct you. Make sure to take the emotions out of it. Don’t engage in any kind of personal attacks. At all costs, avoid the amygdala hijack. That’s when your rational emotions get hijacked by your emotional brain (and it’s not pretty). Finally, don’t micromanage your employees. When employees are too closely managed, they feel insecure and unmotivated. The quickest way to take the fun out of working is to tell your employees exactly how to do their job.

Hi, Heather Uczynski, business psychologist and executive coach with today’s management minute; tips for keeping good employees, makes sure that your organization has a plan for engaging disengaged employees. As the saying goes, some employees quit and leave, others quit and stay. Make sure that all your employees are a good fit in your organizational culture. A company’s culture is a combination of its core values and the shared meaning of the majority of its employees. And by all means avoid desperation hiring. Today’s hiring mistake equals tomorrow’s headache. Get to know your employees personally and consider their family needs. An employee without an adequate home life is a stressed out employee. Most of us need a job and we all want a life. We really should be able to have both.

Hi, Heather Uczynski, business psychologist and executive coach with today’s management minute on tips for minimizing conflict in the workplace. First of all, you need to know when to get involved. Give your employees a chance to work out minor conflicts that helps them to learn and practice new skills. But if you as a manager noticed that productivity is dropping, that’s when you need to get involved and attempt mediation. Determine whether a high maintenance employee is really worth the cost. If you notice that one person keeps causing all the problems, you need to remind them that getting along with coworkers is a job requirement, whether they agree or not. Provide opportunities for workplace activities. You can build camaraderie through having workplace lunches, company sports teams and volunteer work. And plus these things really do improve workplace relationships.

Hi, Heather Uczynski, business psychologist and executive coach with today’s management minute on tips for dealing with difficult customers and clients. First of all, put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Listen and acknowledge what the customer is saying. That doesn’t mean you have to agree. You might just want to say, I’m really sorry that you feel that way and don’t take the customer’s anger personally. You might want to say, “I understand that you’re angry about this situation, you feel that you were mistreated. Let’s see what we can do to resolve this”. If the person isn’t hearing what you’re saying, they’re trying to control you. So instead of getting into a power struggle, use the broken record technique where you say something like, “I understand that you feel mistreated. Our policy is…” and then just keep repeating and repeating that until the person just gives up. Make the customer feel involved in finding a solution. You might want to say something like, “What would you like me to do in order to move forward?”

Hi, Heather, Uczynski, business psychologist and executive coach with today’s management minute on tips for great leaders. Make sure that you share information. Don’t let your employees fill in the blanks which leads to rumors. There’s really no such thing as too much communication. Make sure to adjust your style to the personalities on your team. Don’t assume that you can manage everyone the same and if you don’t know how they like to be managed, just ask. Make sure to have fun. Work and fun really aren’t incompatible. Your team wants to enjoy their work. Lead by example. When employees see you working extra hours, they’re inspired to jump right in and help. Say thank you. People want to be appreciated. A simple thank you doesn’t cost anything and it really makes a huge difference.

Hi, Heather Uczynski, business psychologist and executive coach with today’s management minute: tips for keeping good employees. Make sure that your leaders have integrity. Oftentimes in organization’s integrity or lack thereof is revealed by how it’s employees are treated. Employers of choice have a passion for taking care of their employees as people. The lifeblood of leadership is trust. Employees can’t be led by managers that they don’t trust. Be open, fair, honest, and consistent. People don’t leave bad jobs. They leave bad managers. Pay attention to the career goals of your employees. A common reason that employees leave jobs is lack of opportunity for career growth. Help your employees find their passion.

Hi, Heather Uczynski, business psychologist and executive coach with today’s management minute: top management tips. Don’t hide behind email. Sure, It’s a convenient and quick way to communicate, but it’s impersonal. Get to know your employees by walking around. It’s called management by walking around. Find out what they’re involved in and appreciate their efforts. Give your employees enough information to see the big picture. When they don’t have enough information, they fill in the gaps and usually it’s with the wrong information. Let them know what matters most and help them to see how they fit into the overall plan of the organization. Be aware of and take steps to help employees during times of need. Remember your employees are human beings with a wide range of emotion, not human doings. Not only is this something that will build loyalty to you and your organization, it’s just the right thing to do. Treat your employees fairly and respectfully. This has everything to do with trust. If your employees trust you, they will move mountains for you. Trust is built very slowly but can be totally destroyed in a moment of indiscretion. Challenge your employees and learn about their vocational goals. A bored employ will eventually move on to greener pastures.

Hi, Heather Uczynski, business psychologist and executive coach with today’s management minute: tips on keeping good employees. Make sure to evaluate your employees consistently and fairly. Employees need regular coaching and feedback. Make sure to never ambush an employee with a negative evaluation. They should know what they’re doing wrong before the end of the year. Make sure that your employees have all the support that’s needed. It won’t matter how productive your employees are if they don’t have the support resources that are necessary. Listen to your employees requests and respond to them quickly. Make sure that you reward and recognize your employees consistently, but make sure you know how they like to be rewarded because all employees are different.

Hi, Heather Uczynski, business psychologist and executive coach with today’s management minute on effective communication. Make sure to give good feedback, annual or bi-annual performance evaluations are just not enough. Make sure that your feedback is specific and detailed and make sure that you focus on behavior, not personality. Help your employees to develop emotional intelligence. They all need to know how to get along with people. Emotional intelligence has three components, self awareness, self control and empathy. Dealing with employee emotions is difficult and uncomfortable, but necessary. Adaptability and flexibility are also indicators of high emotional intelligence.

Hi, Heather Uczynski, business psychologist and executive coach with today’s management minute on workplace meaning. Author and consultant, Jim Collins said, “it is impossible to have a great life without having a meaningful life, and it’s very difficult to have a meaningful life without the meaningful work”. Workplace meaning increases when employees are able to link the purpose of their own lives with their jobs. You take away meaning when you don’t allow employees to put their own creative stamp on their jobs and it takes all the fun out of working. You add meaning when you allow employees to be creative about how they do their jobs.