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Job Description- Relevant to finding a job in the future.

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Human Resources- This is an important job and resource at every company.

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Philanthropy Challenges

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Steve Case: Overcoming Challenges In Philanthropy | Forbes

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Sustainable Organizations- I feel that all organizations shod strive to reach to be sustainable to help build a better future.

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Organizational Culture- I believe that everyone should share in the Organizational culture of the organization that they work at.

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Group and Teamwork- I love the group that I have at work and how we work together and work together as a team.

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Center for Innovation in Legal Education

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Delegation- everyone must learn to delegate in the workforce! 

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Delegation- everyone must learn to delegate in the workforce! 

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Organization-  an entity comprising multiple people, such as an institution or an association, that has a collective goal and is linked to an external environment.

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Organization-  an entity comprising multiple people, such as an institution or an association, that has a collective goal and is linked to an external environment.

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Stress and Conflict- I personally need to learn to manage stress and conflict in my work and personal life.

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International Management

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Encouraging Creativity- What set you apart from your co-workers?

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Creativity In The Workplace - What You Should Know

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Innovation Skills- I would like to use my innovation skills for my future endeavors.

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A Start Up Company - I would like to start my having my own start up company and taking some of the knowledge that I have learned in this class.

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Enterpeneurship- I would like to venture into entrepreneurship and start a new business when I am finished with school.

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Comprehensive Management Skills

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certificate international school of management (ism)

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Comprehensive Management Theories, Skills & Practices | International School of Management (ISM), Lagos

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This course typically introduces students to the significance and relevance of managers in business organizations highlighting their practical roles and functions especially in the 21st century businesses of constant change and technology driven environments. The content includes an introduction to organisations, the need for and the nature of management.

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Management- The process of controlling things or people.

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Business Policies

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How to Create Policies & Procedures For Your Business

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Code of Conduct- I think its important for everyone to follow the code of conduct in the workforce to ensure rules are followed and everyone is safe.

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Marriott Starwood Merger- As we discussed in discussion #3.

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We're excited to announce that we've secured shareholder approval for Marriott International to join together with Starwood Hotels & Resorts-a significant milestone towards creating the world's largest lodging company and strongest loyalty program in the industry. Since we announced our plans to merge with Starwood, you've raised questions about the impact of the merger on your membership and the Marriott Rewards® program. I want to take this opportunity to provide an update on where we stand.

Serving our valued guests has always been our priority at Marriott, and your feedback is important to us as we collaborate with Starwood on the vision for our loyalty programs.

After we become one company, we expect to run parallel loyalty programs while we engage in the complicated work of integration. During this period, there is no change to how you manage your Marriott Rewards account or book reservations, and you will maintain your existing member benefits for some time. In fact, we don't anticipate launching a newly combined program until 2018.

The good news is that we have many possibilities ahead of us because Marriott and Starwood both have great loyalty programs. We intend to draw upon the very best of both Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest® (SPG®) to provide even more value to our members.

Here are just a few of the future opportunities we're excited about:

Giving our members access to our collective portfolio of 5,500 hotels and resorts in more than 100 countries.

Offering even more unique benefits to help members pursue their passions and greater opportunities for exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

Personalized and relevant service before, during and after the hotel stay.

In the meantime, we're actively exploring ways to build bridges between the two programs to further enhance your experience.

Marriott remains committed to evolving our Marriott Rewards member benefits. Our recent announcement of Marriott Rewards Member Rates is the latest way we're showing our loyalty to our members. These new rates are exclusively designed to reward members with the lowest rates available across our portfolio when booking directly on Marriott.com, our easy-to-use app, our call centers or through select corporate travel professionals.

We are grateful for your loyalty, and we are listening to you and taking your input into consideration. Our merger is on track to close midyear, and as we have more news to share, we'll reach out to you. In the meantime, we will continue to provide you with the exceptional service and travel experience you have come to expect from us at Marriott. You can find the latest updates here and via Twitter (@marriottrewards), and as always, reach out to us through our hotels, at marriott.com, in our Marriott Rewards Insiders community, on the Marriott app or via our call centers.

Thank you for your continued loyalty, and happy traveling!

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Marriott Starwood Merger | Letter from Arne Sorenson

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We're excited to announce that we've secured shareholder approval for Marriott International to join together with Starwood Hotels & Resorts-a significant milestone towards creating the world's largest lodging company and strongest loyalty program in the industry. Since we announced our plans to merge with Starwood, you've raised questions about the impact of the merger on your membership and the Marriott Rewards® program.

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Women Entrepreneurs- My personal future goals!

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Diversity in the workplace- Companies with a wide range of employees enjoy broader skill sets, experiences, and points of view.

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Apple Reaches $1 Trillion Market Value- We learned about Apple and Steve jobs in chapter #1 and discussion #1.

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How do you like them apples?

Apple just became the first American public company to cross $1 trillion in value.

The iPhone maker achieved that big number on Thursday when the stock passed $207.04 a share. Its new all-time high is $208.38.Apple is now up more than 20% this year.

Shares surged after Apple reported earnings that topped forecasts and a healthy outlook on Wednesday.

Even though some think Apple needs a new product to keep sales and profits booming, Apple has rallied past the trillion level thanks to solid sales of the iPhone 8 and X -- particularly in China and Japan -- and surging services revenue from the App Store.

Related: Apple is showering its investors with cash

Wall Street thinks Apple could go even higher. Thirteen analysts have a price target of above $225 for Apple. The most bullish, Brian White of Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co., has a price target of $275 a share. That would value Apple at $1.3 trillion.

Apple is benefiting from investor euphoria surrounding the tech sector broadly as well -- and it could soon have company in the trillion dollar club.

Amazon , Google owner Alphabet and Microsoft have all rallied to near record highs this year, too. Amazon is worth nearly $900 billion while Google and Microsoft are each now worth more than $800 billion.

Apple is not the first publicly traded company in the world to surpass the trillion dollar mark though.

Oil giant PetroChina briefly topped a trillion dollar valuation in 2007 when its stock began trading in Shanghai, but shares quickly plunged afterward. PetroChina, which is also listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is now worth about $205 billion.

CNNMoney (New York) First published August 2, 2018: 11:50 AM ET

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Apple just became the first American public company to cross $1 trillion in value. The iPhone maker achieved that big number on Thursday when the stock passed $207.04 a share. Its new all-time high is $208.38.Apple is now up more than 20% this year.

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Rodney Adkins Keeps IBM Updated in Technology

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Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos

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Tony Hsieh is sporting a Mohawk, the first I've encountered atop a gainfully employed billionaire. I ask the Zappos CEO, who sold out to Amazon for $1.2 billion but continues to run his operation largely without interference, how the Mohawk got there.

"I try to do one uncomfortable thing every day."

Noted.

My visit with Hsieh (in theory pronounced "Shay," but everybody calls him "Tony")continues in this funhouse manner for the rest of my time at Zappos' new headquarters. I'll get back to my visit with Tony in a minute, but first follow me upstairs to the call center. Because to understand Zappos, and in particular Zappos' celebrated customer service methodology, Tony isn't the only place you can start. I'd argue, in fact, that the best way to understand Zappos and its approach to customer service is by studying the chalkboard on the wall of Zappos' onsite contact center.

This board, the "Daily Breakdown Report," is a lot simpler than the kind of call analytics you'll find at traditional contact centers. It lists three categories of customer interaction, each sporting a Zappos "z" for good measure:

* Phonez

* Live Chatz

* Emailz"

For each of these channels, someone has written in the number of customer inquiries received for the day (yesterday), and the average time it took for Zappos to respond. The volume of these customer inputs is heavily skewed toward telephone: 7,394 calls, answered in 25 seconds on average, as opposed to 1656 chats (sorry, "chatz") answered in 31 seconds each, and 988 emails (sorry again: "emailz") answered on average in 4 hours and 15 minutes. This final statistic is troubling to Ryo Hanalei Zsun, a former call center agent ("customer loyalty team member," in Zapponian) who served as the guide on my tour, and whose dialogue until now has been bathed in Hawaiian-inflected equanimity (as he told me, although he's lived on the mainland since 1999, he "proudly carries on the spirit of Aloha"). "We fell down on the email response there," he tells me with some agitation. "Our goal for emails is to respond in an hour."

Four hours does seem long to me on the email front (I counsel customer service consulting clients that every hour seems like a day in internet time; after just a couple hours not hearing from you, customers start to assume that a company's never getting back to them), but more, I was impressed that the Zappos volume is weighted six- or sevenfold toward the telephone as opposed to email or chat. "That's because other companies hide their phone number. We put ours front and center on the website," says Ryo.

The chalkboard has a second sector of hand-drawn stats that you'll never see compiled at any other contact center, these telling how many flowers, cookies, postcards and unnamed "wow gifts" have been sent to customers in the previous month and previous year. Ryo told me the story behind one of the 2016 "flower stats" on this board:

Last year, when I was working the phones, a woman called, trying to return some boots. The sad story turned out to be that she had bought them for her father, who had since died. I told her not to bother returning them; that we would refund her money but she was free to give the boots away instead of returning them. And after the call I felt moved to send her some flowers-just one of the 380 gifts of flowers you can see on the board that we sent out last year. Some time after that, she sent me a letter and a photo of her father."

It was quite a story. But Ryo didn't want me to take the wrong lesson from it. "The flowers aren't what mattered here most. The phone is. It lets us have these in-depth, textured conversations with our customers. It's the key to how we build customers for life."

Half an hour later, Tony himself points to the telephone as the differentiator of the Zappos customer experience. We're talking about the challenge at Zappos of competing directly with its overlords at Amazon.com, often selling the exact same items, and sharing the same technological backend. I define the Zappos/Amazon difference thus: Amazon's site is set up for customers who want the fewest clicks and the most streamlined experience, while Zappos appeals to customers who enjoy a touch more backstory on the merchandise and have a bit more interest in the people who are selling it to them. Tony is insistent, however, that this differentiation isn't achieved through the website; it's a result of how people are treated when they actually interact with Zappos. "I don't think the difference [between the appeal of Zappos and the Amazon brand] is in the UI [the website user interface]. It's in how we build a personal connection, primarily on the phone. We're actually experimenting with ways to get more people to call because it's such a valuable marketing and brand builder for us."

It might sound anticlimactic to hear that Zappos feels that its unique customer service differentiator is the lowly telephone. I think it's most meaningful and useful if you take this comment both narrowly and broadly. Narrowly speaking, it's true: Zappos takes the telephone experience very, very seriously. This starts with promoting the chance to call Zappos 'round the clock-you're invited to do so right at the top of the Zappos homepage, where, in their signature white on blue color scheme, they proclaim, Customer Service Available 24/7 at (800) 927-7671. (Good luck uncovering a phone number on the Amazon site.) In this narrow sense, Zappos is serious about wanting you to call them; Hsieh's theory on this is that even though a very small percentage (fewer than 5%) of Zappos sales are made on the phone (almost all are made on the website), a much higher percentage of Zappos customers will call the company at some point in their life as customer. When that one call comes in, Zappos will do anything to make sure it's an engaging and personable experience for the customer, in the hope that a single great phone interaction will serve as a proxy in the customer's mind for the overall personality of this company-that "this company wants to be my friend," to put it rather elementarily.

Broadly speaking, the telephone at Zappos represents human contact, and extending rather than contracting the amount of time and resources that the company wants to spend in human-on-human connect with customers, whether it is telephone to telephone, terminal to terminal, or even asymmetrically, like when the wildly engaging employees at Zappos create their signature video demos for any and all products they have for sale on their site. So, if telephone inquiries ever drop off from Zappos customers-which seems likely as customer support trends continue to move toward messaging, chat, and social media-I expect Zappos will find ways to have engaging conversations on those channels as well.

Either way, Zappos is depending on customer service as marketing, trusting that the intimate engagements they're having are enough to cement the loyalty of the customers on those calls and ensure that word of the Zappos brand will spread.

And about that ten-hour contact center phone call we've all heard about? I wanted to know: "What did they talk about? And did they get bathroom breaks?"

"I don't know if they got bathroom breaks," says Tony-Jamie Naughton, Zappos Chief of Staff, breaks in and confirms that they did. "Well, that's good news-but, seriously, what did they talk about?" I persist. Tony looks at me sourly, or as sourly as his essentially affectless demeanor would allow. "Whatever friends would talk about." But, not to flog a dead phone line, but they weren't friends-this was a call between a contact center employee and a Zappos customer. And unless he was talking her off a cliff, the 10-hour scenario isn't understandable by traditional call center logic. It's only understandable (and as such it makes sense) as a flag that Zappos has planted to show their employees how important it is to connect with customers. The 10-hour phone call, which has become an essential part of Zappos lore (akin to the tire-refund legend at Nordstrom, that other customer-focused company) is no joking matter to Tony, but to lighten the mood, he pulls up a Jimmy Fallon segment on his laptop where the agent on the Zappos end of the marathon call finally gets to meet the customer he was speaking with. Unfortunately, the internet connection, ironically, is terrible, and we never get to see the full segment.

But I got the picture.

****

Next article, I'll revisit Zappos to consider how its proudly-weird culture does, or doesn't, fit into the customer service picture.
Forbes readers: Get two free chapters of Micah Solomon's books here. Reach him directly here.

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Tony Hsieh Reveals The Secret To Zappos' Customer Service Success In One Word

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Tony Hsieh is sporting a Mohawk, the first I've encountered atop a gainfully employed billionaire. I ask the Zappos CEO, who sold out to Amazon for $1.2 billion but continues to run his operation largely without interference, how the Mohawk got there. "I try to do one uncomfortable thing every day."

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Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos

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SWOT Analysis- conducting a SWOT analysis will  help me to determine Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of business opportunities in my future endeavors.

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A SWOT analysis is a compilation of your company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

The primary objective of a SWOT analysis is to help organizations develop a full awareness of all the factors involved in making a business decision.

Perform a SWOT analysis before you commit to any sort of company action, whether you are exploring new initiatives, revamping internal policies, considering opportunities to pivot or altering a plan midway through its execution.

Use your SWOT analysis to discover recommendations and strategies, with a focus on leveraging strengths and opportunities to overcome weaknesses and threats.

To run a successful business, you should regularly analyze your processes to ensure you are operating as efficiently as possible. While there are numerous ways to assess your company, one of the most effective methods is to conduct a SWOT analysis.

A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis is a planning process that helps your company overcome challenges and determine what new leads to pursue.

The primary objective of a SWOT analysis is to help organizations develop a full awareness of all the factors involved in making a business decision. This method was created in the 1960s by Albert Humphrey of the Stanford Research Institute, during a study conducted to identify why corporate planning consistently failed. Since its creation, SWOT has become one of the most useful tools for business owners to start and grow their companies.

"It is impossible to accurately map out a small business's future without first evaluating it from all angles, which includes an exhaustive look at all internal and external resources and threats," Bonnie Taylor, chief marketing strategist at CCS Innovations, told Business News Daily. "A SWOT accomplishes this in four straightforward steps that even rookie business owners can understand and embrace."

Free Download: Create your own S.W.O.T. analysis matrix with our free S.W.O.T. Analysis Template.

When should you perform a SWOT analysis?

You can employ a SWOT analysis before you commit to any sort of company action, whether you are exploring new initiatives, revamping internal policies, considering opportunities to pivot or altering a plan midway through its execution. Sometimes it's wise to perform a general SWOT analysis just to check on the current landscape of your business so you can improve business operations as needed. The analysis can show you the key areas where your organization is performing optimally, as well as which operations need adjustment.

Don't make the mistake of thinking about your business operations informally, in hopes that they will all come together cohesively. By taking the time to put together a formal SWOT analysis, you can see the whole picture of your business. From there, you can discover ways to improve or eliminate your company's weaknesses and capitalize on its strengths.

While the business owner should certainly be involved in creating a SWOT analysis, it is often helpful to include other team members in the process. Ask for input from a variety of team members and openly discuss any contributions made. The collective knowledge of the team will allow you to adequately analyze your business from all sides.

Characteristics of a SWOT analysis

A SWOT analysis focuses on the four elements of the acronym, allowing companies to identify the forces influencing a strategy, action or initiative. Knowing these positive and negative elements can help companies more effectively communicate what parts of a plan need to be recognized.

When drafting a SWOT analysis, individuals typically create a table split into four columns to list each impacting element side by side for comparison. Strengths and weaknesses won't typically match listed opportunities and threats verbatim, although they should correlate, since they are ultimately tied together.

Billy Bauer, managing director of Royce Leather, noted that pairing external threats with internal weaknesses can highlight the most serious issues a company faces.

"Once you've identified your risks, you can then decide whether it is most appropriate to eliminate the internal weakness by assigning company resources to fix the problems, or to reduce the external threat by abandoning the threatened area of business and meeting it after strengthening your business," said Bauer.

Internal factors

Strengths (S) and weaknesses (W) refer to internal factors, which are the resources and experience readily available to you.

These are some commonly considered internal factors:

Financial resources (funding, sources of income and investment opportunities)

Physical resources (location, facilities and equipment)

Human resources (employees, volunteers and target audiences)

Access to natural resources, trademarks, patents and copyrights

Current processes (employee programs, department hierarchies and software systems - like CRM Software and Accounting Software)

External factors

External forces influence and affect every company, organization and individual. Whether these factors are connected directly or indirectly to an opportunity (O) or threat (T), it is important to note and document each one.

External factors are typically things you or your company do not control, such as the following:

Market trends (new products, technology advancements and shifts in audience needs)

Economic trends (local, national and international financial trends)

Funding (donations, legislature and other sources)

Demographics

Relationships with suppliers and partners

Political, environmental and economic regulations

After you create your SWOT framework and fill out your SWOT analysis, you will need to come up with some recommendations and strategies based on the results. Linda Pophal, owner and CEO of consulting firm Strategic Communications, said these strategies should focus on leveraging strengths and opportunities to overcome weaknesses and threats.

"This is actually the area of strategy development where organizations have an opportunity to be most creative and where innovative ideas can emerge, but only if the analysis has been appropriately prepared in the first place," said Pophal.

SWOT analysis example

Bryan Weaver, a partner at Scholefield Construction Law, was heavily involved in creating a SWOT analysis for his firm. He provided Business News Daily with a sample SWOT analysis template and example that was used in the firm's decision to expand its practice to include dispute mediation services. His SWOT matrix included the following:

STRENGTHS

WEAKNESSES

Construction law firm with staff members who are trained in both law and professional engineering/general contracting. Their experience gives a unique advantage.

Small (three employees) - can change and adapt quickly.

No one has been a mediator before or been through any formal mediation training programs.

One staff member has been a part of mediations but not as a neutral party.

OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

Most commercial construction contracts require mediation. Despite hundreds of mediators in the marketplace, only a few have actual construction experience.

Anyone can become a mediator, so other construction law firms could open up their own mediation service as well.

Most potential clients have a negative impression of mediation, because they feel mediators don't understand or care to understand the problem, and rush to resolve it.

For smaller disputes, mediators don't work as a team, only as individuals; Scholefield staff can offer anyone the advantage of a group of neutrals to evaluate a dispute

Resulting strategy: Take mediation courses to eliminate weaknesses and launch Scholefield Mediation, which uses name recognition with the law firm, and highlights that the firm's construction and construction law experience makes it different.

"Our SWOT analysis forced us to methodically and objectively look at what we had to work with and what the marketplace was offering," Weaver said. "We then crafted our business plan to emphasize the advantages of our strongest features while exploiting opportunities based on marketplace weaknesses."

Additional business analysis strategies

The SWOT analysis is a simple but comprehensive strategy for identifying not only the weaknesses and threats of an action plan but also the strengths and opportunities it makes possible. However, a SWOT analysis is just one tool in your business strategy. Additional analytic tools to consider include the PEST analysis (political, economic, social and technological), MOST analysis (mission, objective, strategies and tactics) and SCRS analysis (strategy, current state, requirements and solution).

Consistent business analysis and strategic planning is the best way to keep track of growth, strengths and weaknesses. Use a series of analysis strategies, like SWOT, in your decision-making process to examine and execute strategies in a more balanced, in-depth way.
Additional reporting by Adam C. Uzialko and Nicole Fallon. Some source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.

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SWOT Analysis: Definition and Examples - businessnewsdaily.com

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A SWOT analysis is a compilation of your company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The primary objective of a SWOT analysis is to help organizations develop a full awareness of all the factors involved in making a business decision.

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Steve Jobs "We started out to get a computer in the hands of everyday people, and we succeeded beyond our wildest dreams."-Steve Jobs

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Executive Headhunters- I believe the Executive headhunters provide some expertise over the in house talent agencies and could help make the hiring process run smoother.

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SHRM HR- The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world's largest HR professional society.

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Employee Satisfaction Survey- The following surveys are sent out on behalf of employers to determine employee satisfaction.

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Employee of the Month- What we don't want to look like in the workforce.

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motivation, rewards and recognition to increase performance

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Employee Recognition and Reward Programs

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*Improve Employee Retention* with (Rewards and Recognition) Programs

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http://www.myhrpro.ca Learn how to improve employee engagement and reduce employee turnover with rewards and recognition programs and techniques that I discuss in this human resources video. In addition to our other HR videos in our series http://wwwmyHRpro.ca, here are some other resources from other sources.Employee Recognition and Reward Programs http://www.loyaltyworks.com/...rewards-programs/employee-recogn...

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Effective Communication- Both managers and employees need effective communication to make for an positive working environment.

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Jane Taylor | Mindfulness & Compassion Teacher | Mind-Body Connection Coach | Wellbeing Coaching | Mindful Self-Compassion Coaching | Gold Coast

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The ability to communicate effectively is an essential skill in today's world. Communication is a dynamic process and how you communicate can positively and negatively affect the relationships you have in your work and life.

In today's post, I will be covering -

What is Communication?

5 Barriers to Effective Communication

9 Effective Communication Skills

What is Communication?

There are many definitions of communication, including the -

"imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium" and "means of sending or receiving information, such as telephone lines or computers." ~ Google

"act or process of using words, sounds, signs, or behaviours to express or exchange information or to express your ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc., to someone else" ~ Merriam-Webster Dictionary

"exchange of thoughts, messages or information, as by speech, signals, writing or behaviour" ~ The Free Dictionary

"act or an instance of communicating; the imparting or exchange of information, ideas, or feelings" ~ Collins Dictionary

"imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium" ~ Oxford Dictionary

As you can see by the above, communication is more than just your words, it also includes -

how you say it - including the tone of your voice,

why you say it - the intention behind the message,

when you say it - for example - during an argument, the time of day etc.,

what you don't say - sometimes what you don't say gives a clearer picture of what is going on than what you say, and

your body language - including your facial expressions, gestures and posture.

5 Barriers to Effective Communication

"The greatest compliment that was ever paid to me was when someone asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer." ~ Henry David Thoreau

In many ways, the above quote sums up effective communication! So what are some behaviours that get in the way of communicating effectively with other people? Glad you asked!

Five barriers to effective communication include -

1. Judging the other person.

If you are judging a person whilst you are talking to them you could be criticising, diagnosing or calling them names. An example of criticising is saying "don't you understand anything?"

2. Not paying attention to the person you are talking to.

Examples of this include - playing with your mobile phone or electronic device, not listening to the thoughts or feelings of the person you are speaking to, looking away when the other person is talking.

3. Using technical language.

Have you ever been at an event when people are using acronyms or language relevant only to their profession? If so, you know what I mean!

4. Giving solutions or unwanted advice.

I am not sure of many people who like to be told what to do! What about you?

5. Avoiding the concerns of others.

In a conversation that is avoiding the concerns of others, the listener don't address the problem (i.e. the individual's feelings and concerns are not taken in to account). This can be done in a variety of ways, including diverting the conversation, reassuring the person or discounting the, (i.e. yes, but...).

9 Effective Communication Skills

Effective communication doesn't happen overnight, it is a skill that has to be cultivated and nurtured. Below are some skills that can be practised to build on or develop your communication skills.

1. Active Listening -

Some ways to actively listen include: listen twice as much as you speak, listen with your whole body, be alert and interested in the other person, refrain from interrupting and reflecting back what you have heard. Remember - "The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them." ~ Ralph Nichols.

2. Non-Verbal Communication -

We transmit information using words, gestures and body language, subsequently active listening also involves non-verbal communication. Sometimes you can be unaware of the messages you are sending none-verbally. Examples of non-verbal signals include tone of voice, eye contact, facial expressions, silence and hand, arm and leg postures. Are you aware of the signals your non-verbal communication could be sending?

3. Asking Questions -

When you are in conversation with someone, asking questions shows you are interested in them. There are many types of questions you can ask including - open (i.e. questions that start with What and How), closed (i.e. questions that start with Did, Do, Would, Will, Should, Could, Have, Must and Is), specific (e.g. questions that are specific can start with When, Where, Who, Which, How much, How many and How often) or visionary (e.g. what are your dreams).

4. Being Clear and Succinct -

when you are speaking, be clear, articulate and concise. Less is more when it comes to speaking and speak plain English.

5. Clarifying and Summarising -

to ensure you are hearing correctly you can reflect back to clarify what you have heard and summarise what you have heard from the other person. This shows you are listening to the other person and also checks you have the message correct that they are trying to get across.

6. Being Empathetic -

Having empathy for another person is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Not sure what I am talking about - have a look at this beautiful clip called "If We Could See Inside Other People's Hearts."

7. Providing Feedback -

It doesn't matter whether you are giving or receiving feedback, the feedback process is a vulnerable place to be. If you are providing feedback, you may like to use the Engaging Feedback checklist that was developed by Dr Brené Brown.

8. Developing Trust and Rapport -

What is trust for you? How do you build trust with your friends, family and colleagues? Is it about doing what you say you are going to do and building relationships on honesty and integrity? How do you build trust in your relationships? As Ralph Waldo Emerson stated - "The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship."

9. Being Present -

Being present links to many of the above skills. Some of the words that relate to being present include being accepting of the other person you are communicating with, allowing life to be as it is, cultivating compassion and having a beginners mind. Thich Nhat Hanh so eloquently says - "The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers."

Over to You...

I hope you have enjoyed this post on communication, barriers to effective communication and effective communications skills. What is your best tip on communication or favourite communication skill? Feel free to share in the comment section below. If you have any questions, please contact us.

If you are ready to take yourself on the journey of getting to know yourself (your true self), why not join the Toolkit (it's free)? A place where I share tools, inspiration and ideas to live a courageous and openhearted life.

Page Reference -

I have had many people want to reference this page, so here is the correct reference. Thanks in advance for honouring my work 🙂

Taylor, J. (2015). 9 Effective Communication Skills. [WWW] Available from: https://www.habitsforwellbeing.com/9-effective-communication-skills/ [Accessed ........ ]

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The ability to communicate effectively is an essential skill in today's world. Communication is a dynamic process and how you communicate can positively and negatively affect the relationships you have in your work and life. In today's post, I will be covering - What is Communication?

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Managerial Decisions- a lot of what we learned about this semester!

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HP CEO Apotheker Fired

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Meg Whitman (left) will replace Leo Apotheker as Hewlett-Packard's CEO.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Hewlett-Packard's board on Thursday ousted CEO Leo Apotheker after just 11 months on the job, replacing him with Meg Whitman.

"I am honored and excited to lead HP," Whitman said in a prepared statement. "I believe HP matters -- it matters to Silicon Valley, California, the country and the world."

HP's board said the company needed a change at the top. The company cut its financial outlook three times in Apotheker's tenure, and on Thursday, HP said it was not confident it would be able to meet its sales targets for the current quarter.

Shareholders sent the stock down more than 40% this year before Fortune and other outlets broke the news this week that the board was considering letting Apotheker go.

"We are at a critical moment and we need renewed leadership to successfully implement our strategy and take advantage of the market opportunities ahead," said Ray Lane, who on Thursday was named executive chairman of HP's board.

Lane was formerly an independent, non-executive chair. The company said it will look for someone to fill that independent role on its board.

The chairman said on a conference call Thursday that the board considered many candidates and decided together that Whitman was the right fit.

"I can't think of a name out there I would select as CEO over Meg," said Lane.

As the former head of European software giant SAP (), Apotheker was a curious choice to lead HP (, Fortune 500) -- the largest U.S. technology company by sales -- since it is predominantly a hardware company. HP's software business makes up around 2% of the company's annual revenue, which hit $125 billion last year.

Apotheker stuck to what he knows best and decided to refocus HP on higher-margin businesses like cloud computing and software. He was particularly bullish on HP's acquisition of Palm, which was made prior to his arrival at the company. He planned to let Palm's webOS software permeate the company's various hardware lines, including PCs, phones and the much-publicized TouchPad tablet.

But the TouchPad was a failure, HP's phones weren't selling, and PC sales slumped globally. Last month, Apotheker announced yet another hard left turn: He opted to end the webOS experiment and said HP would get out of the PC business entirely -- a market that it leads both in the United States and globally.

The problem with Apotheker wasn't lack of vision as much as a lack of execution and communication, Lane said.

Whitman said Thursday that the company under her leadership would stay the course and continue to transition to an enterprise software business.

"The only thing we can do to regain investors' and customers' confidence is to execute, and that's what I intend to do," she said.

The ousting of its third straight CEO marks yet another dramatic crisis in a decade of turmoil for one of Silicon Valley's original pioneers. A year earlier, Mark Hurd was fired as HP's CEO after submitting false expense reports in what appeared to be an effort to conceal a relationship with a former employee.

In 2006, HP's chairwoman Pattie Dunn was shown the door after it was revealed that she had spearheaded a secret probe to spy on fellow board members and journalists, in an attempt to find the source of board-level media leaks.

A year before that, in 2005, then-CEO Carly Fiorina was booted out (she technically resigned, but, the move wasn't especially voluntary) after spearheading HP's the failed merger with Compaq. The company's stock price was cut in half during her tenure.

The CEO revolving door has cost the company more than $83 million in severance pay, including more than $25 million that will be owed to Apotheker.

Fending off criticism from analysts that the board is dysfunctional, Lane argued that the board is very different than the ones of the past, comprised of 8 new directors since the company ousted Hurd.

"I tell you this right from my heart," he said. "That's not this board. They work really well together."

Whitman, who is also an HP board member, was formerly the CEO of eBay (, Fortune 500). She headed the online auction site for 10 years, taking over the company in 1998 when it was in its infancy. By the time she left in 2008, the company had grown to an $8.5 billion e-commerce behemoth.

She was the Republican nominee in the 2010 California gubernatorial race, spending much of her fortune in her unsuccessful campaign. She then resurfaced several months later, when she was named to HP's board in January.

Lane, HP's chairman, praised Whitman, saying her experience gives her the right set of skills to steer HP back on course.

"Meg is a technology visionary with a proven track record of execution," he said. "She is a strong communicator who is customer focused with deep leadership capabilities. Furthermore, as a member of HP's board of directors for the past eight months, Meg has a solid understanding of our products and markets."

Still, many analysts were scratching their heads about the choice.

"I'm not really convinced she's the best fit -- HP needs to regain the confidence of its enterprise customers, and her expertise resides in the consumer retail market," said Ron Gruia, principal consultant at Frost & Sullivan.

"She's on the board, so she's a logical interim choice, but not a person who's going to be driver for HP as it transitions to a software and services kind of model," Gruia added.

Some believe that HP is making a fatal decision.

"As if HP didn't make a mistake on bringing in Leo Apotheker, now they are making an even bigger mistake by bringing in Meg Whitman, someone with very little experience in the core areas of HP," said Vanessa Alvarez, analyst at Forrester Research.

"This is plain carelessness by the board of directors, and quite frankly, hammering the last nail in the coffin for HP. Its leadership is in the gutter. I'm appalled," she added.

But other analysts believe Whitman is capable of doing the job, albeit a very difficult one.

"She's a great communicator; a great marketer; and, an excellent manager, but she'll need to put a strategic stamp on HP," said Joel Achramowicz, senior vice president of research at Blaylock Robert Van.

"There are even more questions and concerns regarding HP exigent from both the Street and from customers. She'll have to work expediently."

First Published: September 22, 2011: 4:08 PM ET

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HP CEO Apotheker fired, replaced by Meg Whitman

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Meg Whitman (left) will replace Leo Apotheker as Hewlett-Packard's CEO. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Hewlett-Packard's board on Thursday ousted CEO Leo Apotheker after just 11 months on the job, replacing him with Meg Whitman. "I am honored and excited to lead HP," Whitman said in a prepared statement.

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Management Decision Making- Most managers face daily decisions that could affect the company or the employees.

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Lean Six Sigma- a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects

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Lean Six Sigma- a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects

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Organization and Fundamental Management Concepts

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Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle