Communication Archives

The 2 Keys to Building Emotional Intimacy

How do you understand intimacy? What’s the key to building emotional intimacy? Humans have defined intimacy differently across cultures and time, and there’s no overarching definition. In their book The Art of Happiness, Cutler and the Dalai Lama propose that an intimate relationship is one in which you’re open with the other person and experience a connection. Keep reading to learn about the two keys to building emotional intimacy: compassion and a solid foundation.

The Importance of Acknowledgment in Communication

What role does acknowledgment play in communication? How do you acknowledge the speaker’s message without interrupting their turn to speak? Acknowledgment is an extremely important part of human communication, and it’s one that we often overlook. Recent research in the field of linguistics has put renewed focus on “backchannels,” a listener’s short interjections that acknowledge a speaker’s message without ending their turn to speak. Here is why acknowledgment is the key to smooth communication.

Listening to Customers Increases Sales: Here’s How

How important is listening in the sales process? How might you become a better listener? According to The Sales Bible, listening to customers is probably the most important part of sales. However, many salespeople don’t understand this. Most people are actually pretty poor listeners. Author Jeffrey Gitomer offers three tips to help you become better at listening. Read more for insights on listening to customers.

How to Deal With Rejection: Try This Strategy

How do you deal with rejection? Are you the type of person who keeps trying or gives up hope and moves on? Getting rejected is painful but it’s not always the end-all-be-all—sometimes it may be worth it to keep trying. In their book Algorithms to Live By, Christian and Griffiths suggest using the so-called “Exponential Backoff” algorithm to handle rejection without totally giving up hope. Here is how the “Exponential Backoff” algorithm can help you deal with rejection.

How to Build Customer Relationships (The Sales Bible)

How do you build customer relationships? How important are those relationships to the sales process? In his bestselling classic The Sales Bible, Jeffrey Gitomer discusses how to build customer relationships—whether it’s forging relationships with new or prospective customers or retaining current customers. He provides four steps for handling complaints and offers insights on leveraging existing relationships. Read more to learn how to build customer relationships.

Corrective Feedback: What It Is and How to Use It

What is corrective feedback? Why does the Netflix CEO so strongly believe in corrective feedback? Corrective feedback is a type of ongoing feedback aimed at improving an employee’s performance over time. When done incorrectly, corrective feedback can cause frustration and awkwardness. But, when done properly, it can raise employee performance. Here are Netflix’s guidelines for implementing corrective feedback in the workplace.

Cultural Diversity in the Workplace: Netflix’s Story

Does your company employ people from a diverse range of backgrounds? How can you adapt your policies to accommodate for cultural diversity in the workplace? What can you learn from how Netflix handled this hurdle? In their book No Rules Rules, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and author Erin Meyer discuss the challenges Netflix faced when it started to grow internationally. He learned two major lessons about working with people from different cultures and now Netflix successfully operates in over 190 countries. Here’s how Netflix CEO Reed Hastings adapted for diversity.

Netflix’s Approach to Organizational Transparency

Is it a good idea for company executives to share sensitive information with all employees, including finances and employee profiles? What practices does Netflix use to ensure organizational transparency? According to Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, there are many benefits of transparency in the workplace. That’s why at Netflix, they are transparent about financial data, job security, mistakes, and even firings. Let’s look at four specific ways that Netflix practices organizational transparency and the positive outcomes that come from this practice.

Netflix’s 360-Degree Assessment Process

Are 360-degree reviews effective at Netflix? Would you give criticism to a coworker if your name was attached to it? Reed Hastings, Netflix’s co-founder and CEO, wrote about his 360-degree assessment process in his book No Rules Rules. At first, Hastings believed that written, anonymous feedback would be given to each employee. But later, he decided that live feedback given from an employee’s coworkers was more effective. Continue reading to learn about the evolution of Netflix’s 360-degree assessment process.

Surrounded by Idiots: The Blue Personality Type

What are the traits of a Blue-dominant person? For what reasons would you seek out a Blue personality? In Thomas Erikson’s book Surrounded by Idiots, Blue personalities are described as meticulous, knowledgeable, and cautious. You would seek out a Blue-dominant person at work if you needed to make sure something is organized and done right the first time. Continue below to learn all about the Blue personality type.