Are you really encouraging open communication?



Active, open, honest and SAFE communication
may be the key to process improvement and the
difference between success and failure.



The successful working environment these days encourages a fairly open dialogue between management and employees.  Process improvement often depends on honest engagement without fear of reprisal... by either parties. 

This interesting blog by Ron Ashkenas, managing partner for Schaffer Consulting, for HBR Blog Network, offers some great insights on views and strategies from both sides of the responsibility table.  Just click on the link below to read the short article.  It just takes a few minutes and offers some very useful ideas you might want to put into practice. 

Are you really encouraging communication?

Quite a good read.

Cheers!

DCR

A simple and brief thank you letter to donors...

A brief testimonial thank you message
connects your program recipients to your donors

Adding testimonial quotes is a terrific approach to your organization's thank you letter.  Donors want to know their dollars make a difference -- they want to know your mission and cause benefit the recipients. And often, they would love to know, why.  So, I say, let them know!  A brief, sincere thank you letter, with several quotes from real clients/recipients of your service/program, will help your donors understand why their investment is money well-given. 

Link to sample thank you letter.

Small and niche for-profit business can benefit from this idea as well.  When was the last time you received a thank you note for a purchase?  Plus, it is a way to engage customers.

Cheers!

DCR

A slight twist on an old favorite -- teamwork

Team success depends on careful planning

J. Richard Hackman is the Edgar Pierce Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at Harvard University and a leading expert on teams. The misperceptions that are summarized in this post are explored in greater depth in his new book Collaborative Intelligence: Using Teams to Solve Hard Problems (Berrett-Koehler, 2011).

Perhaps you have felt some frustration with your team's results, interactions, performance or communication.  Now might be a very good time for you to revaluate what you have been taught about teamwork, hands-on involvement; conditioning the team and bringing in new players.You can rethink the teamwork paradigm to your organization's advantage.

Prof. Hackman brings up some though-provoking ideas to our whole concept of team, including the individual players and leadership.  It turns out, bigger isn't necessarily better, nor is communication primarily through technology. 

Interesting reading.

Enjoy,

Diana