The paradox of e-mail communication
E-mail offered the hope of instant communications. It also offered the advantage of asynchronous communications – the sender and receiver [...]
More Thoughts on Millennials and Internships
In my previous article I argued that from a societal perspective (and that’s pretty broad!) there is a need to [...]
Millennials in the Workplace
Admittedly my perspective may be skewed by my location – I’m in Ottawa, surrounded by abstract public servants, or [...]
Millennials
Much has been written, or talked about, when it comes to the latest generational cohort, much of it misplaced, in [...]
Communicating with Tact & Diplomacy, Part 9d: Balancing Politeness and Honesty – Getting the Balance Right
As with many things in life we all have to manage a balance between politeness and honesty. Such balances [...]
Communicating with Tact & Diplomacy, Part 9: Balancing Politeness and Honesty
The reason for using tact and diplomacy in communications – being polite so as not to offend – is [...]
Communicating with Tact & Diplomacy, Part 7: Faux Pas and Humour
A ‘faux pas’ (from French meaning ‘false step’) is usually an accidental, or unintentional, breach of socially accepted norms, manners [...]
Communicating with Tact & Diplomacy, Part 5: Getting your Message Across
Most people prefer to talk than to listen – which is why listening is so hard. Even so, getting [...]
Communicating with Tact & Diplomacy, Part 4: Common Listening Misconceptions
We are all capable of listening effectively in different situations and to different people. Listening effectively is, however, an [...]
Communicating with Tact & Diplomacy, Part 3b: Two Components of Attentive Listening
Attentive listening requires both cognitive and emotional processing: active listening and empathetic listening. Unfortunately, most of us aren’t very [...]