communication - the most important skill in the workplace

8/10/2019 Communication - the most important skill in the workplace.

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Communicationthe most important skill in the workplace

arney Matthews


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INTRODUCTION

Communication the most important skill in the workplace

is based on more than 20 years of practical workplace experience.

This ebook is based on a talk I give to college students titled

Communication is the most important class you will take.

The talk has grown over the years to the point where there is

almost too much information to share in one session. I decided to

write this book so the students I give the talk to have a reference

to go back to afterwards.

The ideas and tips shared in this ebook come from real world

experiences. They come from things I have seen people do really

well from a communication perspective that have got them hired

and promoted. The tips and ideas also come from mistakes I have

seen people make that have cost them jobs.

Even if you havent heard my talk, if you are interested in getting

hired, promoted and not fired, there is probably something in

here for you. I truly believe that communication is the most

important skill in the workplace. Your communication skills really

will get you hired. They will get you promoted. They could also

get you fired.

Barney Matthews

October 2014


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Communication

the most important skill in the workplace


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GETTING HIRED

Your communication skills are what are going to get you hired.

It doesnt matter how good you are at what you do, how much

experience you have, or how much potential you have if a

prospective employer doesnt know about it. How are they

going to find out? Through your communication skills of course!

RESUMES

The first step in a job application process is your resume. Your

resume is what is going to tell the prospective employer that you

are a good candidate for the job.

Your resume should be tailored for the job you are applying for.

It should highlight your relevant skills and experience. Youd be

amazed at how many people just have a generic resume that mayor may not include relevant information to the job they are

applying for.

Make your resume easily readable. Make it easy for the recruiter

or hiring manager to see that you a strong candidate for the job.

I was hiring for a position a few years ago and I reviewed 50

resumes in one hour. Two thirds of these resumes I threw out

within 30 seconds because they didnt highlight the relevant

information or they were paragraphs long and I had to work hard

to find the information I was looking for.


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Your resume has to make it really easy for the recruiter to know

that you should be considered for the position. When you have50 or even 100 resumes to go through in a short period of time

you pick the ones that give you the information you are looking

for rather than the ones you have to work to dig out the relevant

information.

Tailor your resume to the job description. I suggest having one

master resume with all your skills and experience and thenadapting it for each job you apply for. Make sure you keep a copy

of each resume you send out so you can take it to the interview

later.

Write your resume to make it easy to read, make it easy to pick

out the relevant information for the job you are applying for. Use

bullet points. Limit long sentences. Bold key words in your

sentences. Make sure you include the relevant key words from thejob description on your resume.

Your resume may be reviewed by a human or it may be reviewed

by a computer system. If its being reviewed by a human they may

read between the lines - but they may not. If its a computer

reviewing your resume - it cant read between the lines. State

explicitly in your resume what you want the recruiter to know.

Put your experience on the resume. Your past experience is the

best indicator we have of how you will perform in the future.

Some people say you cant get a job unless you have experience

and you cant get experience unless you have a job. Rubbish!


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There is always experience you can draw on from your personal

life. Experience doesnt have to be something you were paid for.Home and volunteer projects are absolutely valid experience.

What about that project you worked on for your church, for your

theatre group, your skating club, your Aunt. Thats relevant

experience. Tell the recruiter about it.

If you dont have any relevant experience make some! Not make

some up, actually make some opportunities to gain experience.Offer to help your skating club build a new wireless network, offer

to do some marketing for your uncles small business, offer to help

a senior citizen with their taxes. Not only will you get the

experience you need to help you get the job but you can tell the

interviewer you have initiative and you were proactive in creating

opportunities. Employers love people who are go-getters!


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COVER LETTERS

To accompany your resume you should write a short cover letter

that summarizes your relevant experience for the hiring manager.

Use your cover letter to highlight your top 3 relevant skills or

experiences.

Dont use a generic cover letter. A generic cover letter will get

your application thrown in the bin straight away. They stand out

from a mile away! Write a cover letter for each job you apply for.

Once youve written a few cover letters you can write one for a

specific job in 15 minutes. Those 15 minutes will help you get

your feet in the door.

Take the time to proof read your cover letter and your resume.

Spelling mistakes will get your application thrown out because its

a sign you dont pay attention to details. These small details areimportant! Use a spell checker and always get someone else to

proof read your work. When youve been working on a document

for a long time your mind skips over your mistakes because it sees

what you wanted to put, not what you actually did put.


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SCREENING INTERVIEW

Once you have secured an interview, you need to prepare for the

initial screening interview. Screening interviews are usually

conducted over the phone either by a recruiter or by the hiring

manager.

Screening interviews should be the easiest interview to get

through. You are going to be asked what you know about the

company, what you know about the job and what your relevant

experience is. Its that simple.

To answer the question of what you know about the company

simply have the About this company webpage open. The

screening interview is on the phone so they wont see you. The

about the company page lists everything the company thinks is

important about the themselves. These are the things they pridethemselves on and want to hear you mention.

Remember your cover letter, make sure you mention those

highlights in this conversation. The time you spent highlighting

your relevant experience is going to be used now. This is your

opportunity to verbally tell them what you said in your cover

letter.

Make sure you have the job description open and are able to talk

about the job you are applying for. You will be asked what you

know about the job you are applying for. You want them to know

that you are interested in that specific job and that you are


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qualified for that specific job. Remember, the job description

is your cheat sheet on what they are looking for. Make sure youmention all your relevant experience and skills. I can tell in a

screening interview if someone just wants a job or if they are truly

interested in this job. Make sure the person conducting the

interview knows you are interested in and excited about that

particular job.

Companies hire people because they have a problem to besolved and they need help. Maybe they need some specific skills,

like web development, or maybe they just need more help.

Dont tell them why you need a job, tell them how you can help

them solve their problem.

Make sure you can answer the phone at the scheduled time and

that it is quiet and you have good cellphone coverage. I once had

a phone interview with someone where their dog kept barking soloudly I couldnt hear what they were saying. That person didnt

get invited to a second round interview. Ive also had multiple

phone interviews with people on cellphones that it was hard to

make out what they were saying because of poor reception. The

mental capacity I am using to try and determine what they are

saying is taken away from concentrating on how good you are for

the job.

When the interviewer asks you to tell them about yourself they

dont want to know that you are a fly fisherman. This is your

opportunity to go over what you said in your cover letter and


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highlight how your skills align with what they are looking for. If

you have an elevator pitch this would be a good time to use it.

In my experience as a hiring manager about 50% of people fail

the screening interview. The screening interview really should be

the easiest part of the interviewing process to get through.

Do these 3 simple things and be one of the 50% who get

a second interview.


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SECOND ROUND INTERVIEW

The next step in the hiring process is the second round interview.

This is your big chance to land the job. You can greatly increase

your chances by doing some preparation. Only a few candidates

actually prepare for an interview and these candidates always

stand out.

The first step in preparing is to do a web search interview

questions for the type of job you are applying for. If I am hiring

for a new type of position I always do some research on good

questions to ask. You have the exact same access to these

questions.

Once you have a list of questions you could be asked, write out

how you would answer them. The great thing is some of these

questions are generic and can you used in any interview forexample what are your strengths and weaknesses. Write out the

answers to lots and lots of questions. You can never be over-

prepared for a job interview.

Practice repeating these answers. Say them out loud. Say them

to someone else. Get someone else to ask you the questions and

answer them. Practice your answers. Get confident with youranswers. If you say anything with enough confidence people will

believe you. If you cant answer with confidence, it doesnt matter

how good your answer is, people will be less likely to believe you.

You should never lie or say something misleading in an interview

you will get caught and then you will lose the job.


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If there is a question you dread answering, like why were you fired

from your last job, you should make sure you know how you aregoing to answer it. Try and put as positive a spin on it as possible.

Say something like I was fired because it wasnt the right job for

me. I have done some soul searching and now I know the kind of

job I would excel in. A job in culinary arts is what excites me and

would be the best use of my talents, which is why I applied for

this job.

Before your interview - talk to your self. The more our mind hears

anything the more it believes it. Think about it. You go around

talking to yourself in your head. Guess what? Youre brainwashing

yourself in to believing what ever it is you are thinking.

The question is, what are you brain washing yourself to believe?

Are you telling yourself youll never get a job, youll never get

a job, youll never get a job. Theyll never hire me, theyll neverhire me, theyll never hire me. Im terrible at interviews, Im

terrible at interviews, Im terrible at interviews. Well if you keep

saying this to yourself over and over again it will become a self-

fulfilling prophecy and even if they were true to begin with, they

will become true.

Your mind doesnt care if you tell it good things, things that willhelp you, or bad things, things that will hinder you. It will believe

either. Start telling yourself I am good at interviews, I am good

at interviews, I am good at interviews. Ive told myself I actually

like interviews for years - and you know what? I interview really

well.


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If you walk into your interview having written out the answers tomost of the questions you are likely to be asked and having told

yourself you interview well - guess what, you are going to be

confident, you are going to be comfortable. You will interview

well and you will stand a better than average chance of getting

the job!

When you are in the interview dont bad mouth previousemployers - ever. Even if a previous employer was the worst one

ever in the history of mankind, you should still talk nicely about

them in the interview.

Be nice to everyone you meet while you are at a company for

an interview. Its not unheard of for hiring managers to ask the

Receptionist about a candidate. If a candidate is rude to the

Receptionist its a sign of how they really treat people and it

can cost them the job. Id actually say, be nice to everyone all the

time when you are looking for a job. The person you shout at in

the grocery store parking lot on Sunday may be interviewing you

on Monday.

Take copies of your resume in to the interview. If it is a panel

interview I guarantee at least one person will not have had time toprint a copy. By giving them a copy of your resume you are doing

them a favor and then they will owe you. (This is one of Cialdinis

6 principles of influence.)


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Likeability is said to make up 40% of the hiring decision.

It makes sense, they are going to have to spend 40 hours a weekwith whoever they hire so they want to hire someone they can get

on with. You should deliberately try and build rapport with the

people you are interviewing with people like people like

themselves. Find areas of common interest no matter now small.

Take cues from their desktop background. Do they have dogs or

kids? Take cues from what they are wearing. Are they Red Sox

fans? Ask them about themselves when you are waiting for therest of the interview team to arrive in the room. Find areas of

common interest. It will make them realize that you are like them

and they will like you more as a result.

You should always have questions to the interviewers. You will be

always be asked if you have any questions and it will reflect poorly

on you if you dont have any. When you are preparing your

interview answers you should also spend some time preparing

questions for you to ask them.

One of my favorite questions to ask is What are you looking for

in an ideal candidate? This is a question that can be asked in any

interview. Once they have answered it you can go back and

highlight the areas you already mentioned that meet what they

are looking for. You can also go back and mention anything youomitted that will help your case. Ask why they are hiring? Is it a

new position because of growth? Did the last person get

promoted? Ask them how they would describe the work culture.

This should give you an indication of whether it is a place you

would want to work too.


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Communication

the most important skill in the workplace


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GETTING PROMOTED OR HOW TO

NOT GET FIRED)

Congratulations - your communication skills got you the job.

Now those same communication skills are going to get you

promoted or they are going to get you fired!

EMAIL

Lets start with email. If you are working in an office environmenta lot of your day will be spent sending emails. Emails can be

incredibly powerful. Ive person known people get fired for emails

they have sent. Ive also seen well crafted emails get people

promoted. Ive seen well crafted emails get people budgetary

approval for thousands of dollars with just one email.

Here are some tips for good email communication.

1. Dont send information you wouldnt want others to see: Emails

are easily forwarded. You can never un-send an email (the

Outlook "re-call" feature is not invisible and highlights the fact

that you want to remove the message.)

2. Spellcheck and proofread. People form impressions aboutothers quickly using whatever information they have, which is

sometimes very limited for example a single email.

3.Never send emails when you are angry.


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4. If you need to clarify emotions in (e.g. J) in a potentially

sensitive email, then email is the wrong medium to be using.80% of communication is non-verbal. You dont get any non-

verbal cues in email so you cant tell how people will interpret

what you have said.

5. Avoid discussing sensitive issues through email (e.g., conflict,

delivering bad news). These subjects should be discussed in

person or if thats not possible, over the phone. If you must senda sensitive email that requires careful crafting, insert the

addresses in last to prevent accidental sending.

6. When in back and forth email use the rule of 3. On the third

reply its time to pick up the phone or have a meeting. It can take

far longer to write an email than have a conversation. If you have

to keep replying then the matter can be cleared up much more

quickly in person.

7. Never assume confidentiality in an email.

8. Avoid using all UPPERCASE letters, it is often mistaken

as yelling.

9.Use "ABC" when composing your message.

A is for Attachment When you start a new message the very

first thing you should do is attachany files you want to send with

the message.


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B is for Body Next write the body of the message. Run

spellcheck. Read the entiremessage through from beginning toend.

C is for Contact Last, but not least, enter the email addresses

of the clients orcolleagues you are sending the message to.

10. Keep your message as concise as possible. Use bullet points

to make pertinent information stand out. Limit email to3 paragraphs whenever possible. I have found longer emails are

less likely to be read.

11. Write a meaningful subject line. Make sure people actually

open the message and dont skip past it.

12. Put your request at the end of the email so people know what

it is you want from them.


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PRESENTATIONS

At some point in your career you are going to have to give

a presentation of some sort. It may be a training, it may be a

presentation to a small group of your team members, it may be a

presentation to a larger group of outside people no matter what

it is, some form of public speaking is inevitable. A study said that

public speaking is peoples number one fear. Number two was

death! Public speaking doesnt have to be scary and sometimes

it can even be fun.

Here are some tips on giving good presentations.

1. Know your material. If you know what you are talking about you

will be more confident and you will be better able to handle slip-

ups.

2. Practice makes perfect. Make sure you practice your

presentation multiple times. Do not put off practicing because

you dont like giving presentations. Practice out loud, practice in

front of people.

3. Relax. Before you start your presentation do something that

relaxes you. Practice circular breathing, jump up and down10 times whatever works for you.

4. Realize that your audience wants you to do well. You are not

presenting in front of a group of people who want you to fail,

realize you are in front of a group of supporters.


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5. Use Powerpoint presentations as an aid, not a crutch. Your

Powerpoint should support your presentation, not be yourpresentation. Dont just stand up and read off the words on the

slides. Tell people what you want them to know and use

information on the slides to support that. As a bonus you can use

your Powerpoint slides as speakers notes.

6. Go to Toastmasters. If you are going to have to give several

presentations, go to your local Toastmasters meeting. Its awonderful program that will improve your confidence and your

skills.


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MATCHING COMMUNICATION STYLES

You will often have to talk to colleagues in person at work. The

way to be effective in your communication is to match their

communication style. Each person has a preferred communication

style. If you can identify and match the style of the person you are

communicating with they will understand what you are conveying

to them. However, if you use a different style they wont get what

you are saying.

Unfortunately people dont walk around with signs hanging

around their necks explaining their preferred communication

style. However people do give clues you can pick up on though.

You just have to look or listen for them.

Direct and Indirect ommunicator s

Some people get right to the point when communicating. We call

these people direct communicators. Other people expect others

to read between the lines. We call these people indirect

communicators.

I once had a direct report at work. We got on well and he

respected me as a manager. I felt he was sometimes a little rude

but I knew his intentions were good. However when I would try

and get him to do something for me he wouldnt do it. It wasnt

that he was being disobedient; he just didnt understand what

I wanted him to do.


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INDIRECT COMMUNICATORS

Indirect communicators expect people to read between the lines.

The clues they will give are saying things like:

If you dont have anything nice to say dont say anything at all.

Maybe. Possibly.

Small talk is important.

To communicate best with an indirect communicator:

Avoid blunt comments.

Use open-ended questions.

If you talk indirectly to a direct communicator they wont get your

message.

If you talk directly to an indirect communicator they will think you

are being rude.

You have to talk directly to a direct communicator and indirectly

to an indirect communicator.


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VISUAL, AUDITORY AND KINESTHETIC

COMMUNICATORS

Some people think and communicate best in pictures. We call

these people visual communicators. Some people think and

communicate best with words. We call these people auditory

communicators. Some people think and communicate best with

feelings. We call these people kinesthetic communicators. If you

match your message to the way a person thinks, you will be more

effective in your communication.

I once had a new manager at work. I spent the first few weeks

explaining how we do our job. No matter how many times I told

him, he just didnt get it. He was obviously very smart so I kept

trying to explain it. I tried writing it down in a document for him.

He still didnt get what was trying to explain. So I wrote more

detailed instructions in a document. It was some of my bestwriting. He still didnt get what I was trying to explain. Then

I noticed something - when he was explaining something new

to me he would always go to a whiteboard and draw a diagram.

Then it hit me - he was a visual communicator. He thought and

communicated best with pictures. I am an auditory communicator,

I think and communicate best with words. I was writing reams and

reams of words - and he would never understand that I was trying

to say. He needed pictures to understand! As soon as I started

using pictures and diagrams he understood what I was saying

straight away.


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VISUAL COMMUNICATORS

Visual communicators need to see things. The clues they will give

will be things like saying:

That looks good.

I see.

Show me.I can picture that.

Let me watch that.

To communicate best with a visual communicator:

Use pictures and diagrams.

Use color.Maintain eye contact.

Show them.

AUDITORY COMMUNICATORS

Auditory communicators need to hear things. The clues they will

give will be things like saying:

I hear what you are saying.

That sounds good to me.

Tell me.


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To communicate best with an auditory communicator:

Read directions out loud.

Give verbal reminders.

Emphasize important points by changing tone of voice.

KINESTHETIC COMMUNICATORS

Kinesthetic communicators need to feel or experience things. The

clues they will give will be things like saying:

That feels right.

That touched me.

How does it work?

To communicate best with a kinesthetic communicator:

Let them touch or do it.

Give them practical examples.

Give them the big picture.


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ACTIVE LISTENING

We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as

much as we speak - Epictetus.

Up to this point I have been concentrating solely on the person

giving the message. This is only half of the communication

however. Someone has to receive the message, someone has to

listen to what is being said. Otherwise you are just talking to

yourself. For half the conversation you will be

A trait I have noticed in very successful leaders is that they are

always 100% present. I asked a Vice President at work how he

does it. He said he just listens. It is something most great leaders

do. You can do it too.

Listening is as much of a skill than can be learned ascommunication. In-fact I would argue people should spend as

much time learning about listening as communication.

If you practice active listening you show you support the other

person, you can check assumptions, you can clear up

misperceptions and you can find the key points.

You can show you are listening by making eye contact, echoing

words, nodding your head, keeping your body language open

and leaning toward the speaker.


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To practice active listening:

Listen without interrupting.

Pay attention.

Use supportive body language.

Paraphrase facts and feelings.

By listening to what people say at work you will show you are

interested in them and you will also minimize misunderstandings.


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CONCLUSION

This ebook has explained how your communication skills can get

you hired, promoted and maybe fired. If you only take one thing

from this ebook it should be this effective communication is

about thinking about the other person. Its about thinking what

they want, how they communicate best. This is a brief guide

based on my personal experience in the workplace. If you areinterested in learning more I highly recommend reading Dale

Carnegies book How to win friends and influence people. It

really is the best single book I have read on communication.

Communication is a skill that has to be learned through practice.

This ebook will get you started in the right direction but the most

effective way to learn about effective communication is topractice communication on real people.

If you liked reading this book you can find more of my work on

the web at www barney me .

Barney Matthews

2014

communication - the most important skill in the workplace

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