Communicate Effectively at Work

Being able to communicate effectively at work is essential to any professional’s success regardless of which department he is working in. Most people do not pay much attention to their communication skills and as a result get easily overlooked at the time of annual promotions. Communication skills are not only important for interacting with the clients but also when interacting with co-workers and the boss.

Each and every day an employee has to interact with dozens of people, both inside the office and out of it. These people might be clients, colleagues, superiors, juniors, vendors, etc. Interacting with all of these people requires some level of communication skills as one has to interact with each person differently in order to get the best results.

Here are some tried and tested rules which will help you in learning the ropes of proper communication:

Keep It Simple & Clear:

Clarity and simplicity are the two most important aspects of being a good and effective communicator. Using too many confusing words and uttering speeches in long sentences serve no other purpose than to confuse the listener. Be direct in whatever you have to say. If you made a mistake, there is no need to spin a story on the reasons why it happened. Just admit your fault, excuse and make sure it never happens again. When dealing with a client, give a direct assessment of the situation so that the client can understand and participate in the discussion rather than confusing him with useless gibberish.

Make Your Point:

Talking about things that are not directly related to your agenda can have a negative effect as the listener will lose focus. You should state the agenda soon after you have set the ground and dwell on the important topics only. When you are articulate, the clients, boss and coworkers will take you seriously and pay more attention to your ideas.

Engage The Listener:

While being professional and articulate are important for a communicator, you need to make sure that you don’t sound cold or distant. When you are holding a conversation make sure that the listener is at ease and comfortable with the way you are talking and let him be relaxed so that he does not completely block you out.

Be a Good Listener:

The key to being an effective communicator is to become a great listener as well. Being a good listener enables you to hold the attention of the other person much longer as the other person feels involved. Whenever you are communicating with someone make sure that you give the other person a chance to express his views as well.

Communicating on the Phone:

Communication on the telephone requires you to be tactful, attentive and prepared. When you call someone you have to answer to his questions, pose your questions and make sure that you jot down all the important points of the conversation.

Before you make the call, you should have all the points you want to discuss organized and written on a sheet of paper. Also you should be expecting that the person you are calling might ask some questions so you need to be prepared to answer any relevant questions posed by the other person.

Make sure that you are concise and to the point when having a conversation on the phone since it is very important to make sure that the person you are talking to understands what you are saying perfectly. If you keep talking without waiting for input from the other end, the conversation will end without any fruitful results as you will not get your point across to the other person.

When you are talking on the phone make sure that the other person understood what was said by you and ask if he has any questions or issues he wants to discuss.

The most important part of a telephonic conversation is to make sure that you are not wasting the other person’s time. Whether you are conversing with your colleagues, boss or clients, make sure that you make your point without wasting any time at all.

Communicating via email:

Since the advent of modern technology and availability of internet in all parts of the world, email has become a very important mode for official communication.  Many employees are not fully aware of the etiquettes involved in sending a professional email and hence make some very big mistakes.

The first rule of communicating via email dictates that the person writing the email should have a good command over the language. It does not mean that you need to use a lot of fancy and difficult words in the email. On the contrary, a well written email contains simple and direct language where there are no spelling or grammatical mistakes in it.

Spell check is a very important part of sending a professional email since a spelling mistake in the email is unacceptable and will create a poor impression on the reader. Always use the spell check before sending the email and if you feel more convenient, write the email in a word file and then copy it to the email box as you can format the email easily in word.

The content of the email is the most important part so make sure that you are concise, short and direct when writing an email. Writing long emails will serve no purpose as professional people do not have much time on their hands and reading lengthy emails will not only be a waste of time but the reader will also lose focus along the way and the email will fail to make an impact.

Formatting the email correctly is very important part of professional communication. Always keep in mind to use a standard font such as Arial or Times New Roman, which most people are comfortable reading. Also use a normal font size ranging between 11 and 14 depending on the font type and use only BLACK as the font color since it looks professional and is easy to read.

Conclusion:

Communication skills are vital for career success in the highly competitive job market and the better we are at communicating with the coworkers, clients and the boss, the higher are our chances for success. Without effective communication, the flow of information from one department to the other stops and affects the overall performance of the organization.

Avoid Job Interview Stress

As soon as we get an interview call, the first reaction is excitement and joy which is immediately followed by anxiety. There are millions of questions in our mind such as, what should be the perfect attire? What will be the interviewer like? How difficult will the questions be? The anxiety and stress a person accumulates waiting for the interview often lead to making some mistake during the interview process.

Being stressed before and during a job interview is very common and some people experience this fear of appearing in an interview even after being in the professional field for years. However, different people feel this anxiety at different levels as some only feel slight anxiety while others feel panicked and completely out of sorts. People who face mild anxiety can easily hide it and appear perfectly composed during the interview but those who face extreme cases of anxiety before the interview, often end up creating a poor impression on the interviewer.

Signs Of Extreme Job Interview Stress:

There are a few signs which can clearly indicate if you are suffering from extreme stress before or during an interview:

• Sweating profusely, so much so that even the palms of your hands are wet
• Dry and scratchy throat
• Head ache, fidgety hands
• Failure to remember important information such as the time or place of interview

Controlling Your Stress Level

Since the anxiety and fear of interview faced by a job-seeker is psychological, it is not difficult to control this anxiety by a little motivation and practice. In order to be successful in your job hunt you need to nail the interview which cannot be done unless you are calm and controlled. Panicking and losing your calm can be fatal for the interview. By following a few simple rules and tips, you can easily control your stress level prior to an interview session. Some of the suggested measures for controlling your panic level are given below:

Sleep Well:

Getting a full night’s rest is essential if you are hoping to be calm and stress-free for the interview. Staying up late can make you feel nervous and fidgety and will definitely have an effect on your performance during the interview. Sleeplessness is known to cause many problems and affects the performance of an individual negatively. So it is important to get rest and sleep for no less than 6 to 8 hours before the interview.

Time It Right:

The most important factor in an interview session is the timing as it can help you in remaining calm during the interview. You should reach the venue about 15 to 20 minutes before the interview and keep yourself focused on the job. Arriving too early will give you too much time to sit and contemplate which will make you nervous and arriving at the nick of time will make you anxious as well. So stick to the middle ground.

Reduce Its Importance:

One of the most successful techniques to eliminate stress and pressure is to readjust your thinking and persuade yourself that the interview is not that big a deal and even if you fail to get this job, there will be other chances. Over time, you can persuade your mind to relax and the tension will evaporate. This technique has been suggested by psychologists and many jobseekers apply this to boost their confidence level prior to an important job interview.

Research & Prepare:

Most of the time, jobseekers are stressed because they feel that they are ill prepared for the interview. So if you want to reduce your stress level before an interview, it is advisable to prepare well by researching the internet and finding out relevant information about the company, job description, responsibilities etc. Thus when you are well prepared, you will be better able to answer questions in an interview session. The confidence that you can answer questions in an interview and you are prepared for them will help in eliminating the stress factor.

Practice Till Its Perfect:

The common things which make the jobseekers nervous include presenting yourself to the interviewer, introducing himself and answering questions without pausing too much. In order to make sure that you do not feel nervous during the interview, you should practice mock interviews repeatedly. When you have attained a certain level of command over different steps of an interview process your anxiety level will come down automatically.

Think Positive:

Positive thinking can change the entire outcome of the interview as you can control your anxiety and tension by controlling your mind. By thinking that you will definitely get the job, you can boost your confidence level and manage to feel relaxed.

Breathing Exercises:

Breathing exercises can help in keeping yourself calm and composed during the interview. If you begin to panic before the interview, just close your eyes and breathe deeply. Keep your mind blank and continue this for 5 to 10 minutes after which you will feel composed and calm.

Be Yourself:

It is an acknowledged fact that a person feels most relaxed when he is open and acts natural rather than trying to be someone he is not. Most people try to act like someone else during the interview process which increases the stress level and they end up making a poor impression. It is best if you be yourself during the interview and answer questions simply.

Think of Answers Beforehand:

Since most of the questions asked during an interview are generic and quite common, it is better if you have prepared answers to some of these questions in advance. Having prepared answers will help you in remaining calm and controlled as there will be no element of surprise.

Improvise:

When you have prepared your answers in advance, make sure that you are not sticking to them word by word as this can lead to panic if you happen to say something that was not rehearsed. Be prepared to improvise and spin the words around a little so that you can answer the question with confidence and in a relaxed manner.

Looking For A Job? Avoid Common Mistakes

When you start your job hunt you are filled with enthusiasm and hope for a bright future. However, as the hunt progresses your optimism gets lower with every rejection you have to face. Ever wonder why you are not getting the job that you are perfect for and have all the relevant credentials?

The reason is simple: You are committing some basic job search mistakes without even being aware of the fact that you are doing something wrong. Even the most experience people, who have searched for jobs time and again and even found one, are committing these common mistakes which can eventually lead to failure on all accounts.

Make sure that you are not committing any of the job hunt mistakes mentioned below and if you are its time to stop.

Limited Research:

The most common mistake by all job hunters is that they look for jobs in selected few industries and that too from a single platform. You need to widen your circle and look into all industries which can possibly cater to your profession. There are so many job titles nowadays that there is no saying who can enter a company and who can’t. You need to keep an eye on all the job openings and apply to any job that is relevant to your education and experience. Applying to one or two jobs a month’s is not sufficient in the current job market.

Standardized Resume:

A large majority of the job seekers make this fatal mistake and have to learn sooner than later that standardized resumes don’t work. You cannot make one resume and apply to a dozen jobs by sending the same resume. It is important that you alter each resume and customize it according to the job specifications.

Employers don’t pass as much as a second glance at these resumes which are not specific to the jobs. Focus on the objective part of the resume and write related sentences which make your resume attractive for a specific job.

No Research on Potential Employers:

When the job seeker gets an interview call from a prospective employer, he prepares for all the questions that are asked by the employers but often neglect to research the history of the prospective employer. This is a big mistake as all employers will ask what you know about their company. Admitting ignorance in this regard, points towards a lack of effort and preparation at your end. You need not know everything about the employer but you can get the basic information by simply logging on to the company website and reading about their history and their profile. This little effort will help you tremendously during the interview.

Wasting Valuable Time:

When you are looking for a job you can often end up spending months in the pursuit of the perfect job. Meanwhile you end up wasting a lot of time which will be difficult to explain if the employers asks you about your activities when you were not employed. Make sure that you employ this time in improving your skills, studying additional courses or attending workshops so that you can show the employer that you value time and are proactive in life.

No Long Term Goals:

Not having a long term goal is a very important mistake as you will apply to random jobs and end up not getting a response from any of them. When you have a long term career related goal you can focus on the specific jobs that are good for your career and apply to those only.

Focused on salary alone:

When you are focused on salary only, you end up showing it to the employer. An employer wants to see willingness to work and passion rather than the need to get a high salary. So change your priorities now and see the difference it can make in your life.

Self Assessment: Finding Your Niche

Finding the career that is perfect for you is not as easy or simple as most of us expect it to be. Some have to switch from one career to another in search of the profession of their choice. Being stuck in a job which is not in accordance with your natural capabilities can lead to a burn out very soon in the professional life.

A person can only perform his tasks well if he is good at the job, which means possessing the skills and natural inclination towards that job. The dilemma in Pakistan is that students are not provided any proper counseling which can help them in finding which career will be right for them. Most youngsters get enrolled into Medical and Engineering because their parents want them to enter the specific field and others get enrolled wherever they can. The limited educational opportunities available in Pakistan do not allow these students the luxury of choosing a vocation of their choice.

Still, it is never too late to get on the right track and self assessment is the most important tool that can help in getting this done.

What Is Self Assessment?

Self assessment is the first step in anyone’s professional career as one cannot lead a successful professional life without choosing the career path that is appropriate for him. Self assessment helps a person in reviewing his capabilities and skills and determines a professional path which suits his personality so that maximum output can be delivered.

Focus Areas:

Self assessment basically focuses on certain aspects which reveal a lot about the person’s orientation in professional life.

These aspects include:

Goals:

What you want from your professional life both in the long term and the short term, helps in determining profession is suitable for you. It can be money, fame, stability, status, or anything else that you feel is the reason you want to enter a profession.

Interests:

Interest and hobbies are important in selecting a professional field as you can work much better if you have an interest in what you are doing. Otherwise, you end up getting stuck in a job that has no attraction.

Personal Traits:

Your personality such as what you like, what motivates you, etc are also important in determining what profession is good for you.

Skills:

During the course of education, the skills that one has acquired such as writing, computer programming, organizing, managing etc., help in choosing a specialized field.

Effective Steps For Self Assessment:

You do not necessarily need a professional career expert to carry out self assessment. Self assessment can be done by anyone and at any time during the educational or professional life. The important thing is to be prepared to handle the challenges of professional life and self assessment prepares you for this.

By following some basic steps, you can carry out the much needed self assessment yourself and benefits from the results. These steps are:

Preparation:

Simply put preparation is the key to success in every sphere of life. You cannot execute any plan or complete any project unless you are well prepared. When you enter the professional life, you must be aware of which steps are necessary to achieve your long term and short term goals. Preparation includes having a list of your priorities, job choices, skills and other important factors that can affect your professional life.  So in essence when you prepare for self assessment, you are actually making a long term career plan as well.

Make A List:

The first step in self assessment is to make a list of all the previous experiences you have, places you have worked at and the positions you have held. This will give you a general sphere of interest as you can highlight the jobs that you liked best. If you are a fresh graduate, you can make a list of the major subject, project completed, achievements and the internships you have done.

Set Your Goal:

The next step involves making a list of your short term and long term goals. The best way to go about it is to think of your long term goal and then make a list of the short term goals or all the steps involved which will help you in achieving the long term goal. The best option is to write the titles or actual positions which you want to be working at in 5 years from now and the position you would love to work at within the next six months or so. You can include two or three alternate positions in this list.

Skills & Achievements:

In the next step, you need to focus on your additional skills and academic achievements which can help in a specific field or at any job in general.

Screen & Select:

Now, you need to evaluate the three lists made under these directions and see which skills match the job title of your choice. By a careful evaluation process you can narrow down the ideal job position that is suitable according to your skills and your interests.

Customize Your Resume:

Keeping in mind the positions you have chosen, modify your resume and add the skills and achievements that cater to a specific job title. A generic resume can never land you the perfect jobs as the employers attention is only caught by specific resumes that are tailored for the job in question.

Conclusion:

Self assessment can help you in finding the perfect job within no time. So if you are languishing in a job where there is no interest, motivation or success, it is time to go through self assessment and see which career suits you best.

If you feel that you are not going to be able to carry out self assessment on your own, you can ask a friend or family member to help you. Otherwise, there are many online self assessment tests which you can take and determine which career or industry suits you better.

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Enhance Your Performance With Advanced Education

Once a person has completed his college education, all he can think about is getting a job and making the most of the experience he can gain in practical life. There are many who become successful in professional life as soon as they set foot in their industry but for others professional life is a continuous battle. They have to work very hard and attain all the potential skills which can help in securing a better job and strengthening their career in the long run. Continuing your education even after being in the practical field for years is the most significant factor in improving your performance at work by simply enhancing your skill set.

Why Advanced Education Is Important?

Since the economic recession has affected the job markets and companies have terminated millions of employees, survival of the fittest has become the rule of the day. If you want to survive in the corporate culture you need to be the best at your job otherwise those who are better will take your position and you’ll end up taking the axe.

The last two decades have seen tremendous growth in advanced education programs as more and more people have realized the importance of these programs in shaping their careers and improving their expertise. As all multinationals and even small companies have revamped their infrastructure by installing the latest technology, it is important that the employees are trained accordingly and know what they are dealing with. Advanced education helps the individuals in adapting to the latest professional trends and hence improves their chances of success in the professional life.

Informal & Formal Training:

There are two ways in which an individual can get advanced education to improve his skills, i.e. formal and informal training. The formal training includes proper courses and programs that are aimed at teaching the relevant skills to the students. It is important to recognize the fact that these educational programs are for adults, so the person does not have to be uncomfortable when enrolling in a course for advanced education. Informal training refers to other modes of educating oneself such as getting online tutorials and learning skills that are relevant to your job. Informal training also includes seminars, workshops and other such events which are organized to help the participants improve their j0b related skills.

Benefits of Advanced Education:

The main reason why enrollment in the continued education programs has been multiplying over the years is that there are many benefits of getting additional training which can enrich the skill of the employees to a great extent. If a person does not work on his skills and constantly upgrade his education in this regard, there is a good chance that the employer will replace him with someone who is more qualified and skilled.

Improves Chances of Promotion:

Even if you are not facing any immediate threat to your job, getting enrolled in an advanced education program can increase your chances of getting a promotion and even a pay raise. If you get enrolled in an advanced education program to improve your job related skills, it will clearly reflect in your performance and give you an edge over your colleagues. Without these skills, the chances of your promotion will be much lesser and you might have to work twice as hard to prove yourself.

Understanding Your Job Better:

By acquiring advanced education you can improve your analytical skills and have better understanding of your responsibilities which will help you in dealing with projects and daily chores without any hassle or trouble. Advanced education prepares you to resolve any issues that arise without affecting your performance negatively rather your efficiency level will improve.

Open Up New Choices:

By taking advanced courses in any field you can not only improve your existing skills but also learn new skills which were unavailable to you during the college years. You can thus open up many job opportunities which would not have been available to you otherwise.

Upgrades Your Skills:

When you enlist for an advanced education course, you learn new skills and understand how to perform your duties better. As new technologies are becoming a part of the corporate life on a regular basis, it is important that you also upgrade the skill set frequently.

Moreover in any field, new discoveries and inventions modify the mechanism of operations so the educational courses for that particular field are also upgraded and changed from time to time. If a person does not pay attention towards improving his education on a regular basis, he will fall behind the others who are newer to the field and can perform these jobs at a better rate due to the latest educational facilities.

How To Manage Advanced Education Courses With a Full Time Job?

The main reason why most of the people tend to avoid taking courses in advanced education is that they cannot manage to study and work at the same time. While it is true that taking on advanced educational courses in addition to a 9 to 5 job can increase the burden, one can easily manage both only by finding the proper balance.

When you choose an advanced educational course, be sure to check the timings so that they do not overlap with your work hours. Moreover try to take courses that have lesser credit hours as they will be easier to complete and you will not feel overburdened.

The positive aspect of advanced education is that you do not have to meet a deadline so you can take easier courses that may take more time but in the end you will have acquired more skills and knowledge. You can even enroll for courses which make it possible for you to attend classes only once or twice a week.

Last Thoughts:

Learning does not stop at any age or any phase of life so you have to keep updating yourself with the latest developments in the fields that are relevant to your field. Advanced education helps a person by improving his performance in the professional field considerably which means you not only perform your tasks better but also acquire better time management skills.

Polish Your Presentation Skills

Everyone has to give a presentation at some point during his professional life and whenever the time comes, it grips one with fear, apprehension and anxiety. Some people cannot get rid of this fear even after giving presentations many times. Some of us give average presentations, some below average and some are so good that their presentation skills become exemplary.

The fact is that with a little practice, patience and hard work, you too can improve your presentation skills considerably. If you are properly prepared and know what you have to do, you will feel little or no anxiety when giving your next presentation. The skills needed to give a good presentation are very basic but most people are unaware of their importance.

We have compiled a list of some golden rules that will help you in improving your presentation skills considerably and open the doors of a successful career for you. Even if you have not had the chance to deliver a presentation as yet, you should be prepared in advance as there is no knowing when you might be asked to give a presentation. If you are unprepared you might panic and fail to do a good job.

Golden Rules For A Great Presentation:

These tried and tested rules will ensure that you are able to give a smooth and impressive presentation.

Be Prepared:

For giving a good preparation you need to be well-prepared and organized. Know what material you have to include in the presentation and what should be excluded. Moreover you need to organize all the available information in such a manner that it has a smooth flow and easily understandable by the audience.

Use Visual Aid:

If you want to create a lasting impact on the audience and wish for them to retain more information, avoid bulleting and replace with images instead. Researchers have indicated that using images and visual aid has a much better effect on the audience rather than plain text.

Personalize:

In order to engage you audience in to the presentation completely you need to personalize with them. You can relate incidents from your past experiences to explain or elaborate a certain point in your presentation. Choose something which the audience can relate to, so that they can connect to your story and understand the point you are trying to make.

Remain Calm:

Nervousness is something which can be easily sensed by the audience and if you become too nervous you might end up sending the entire presentation down the drain. You must be ready to handle pressure and answer questions that the audience poses at the end of the presentation.

Work On Your Body Language:

For any presentation or speech, body language plays an important part in making it successful or a disaster. Your gestures say a lot about the level of confidence you have in your presentation. If you are nervous it will be reflected by your gestures and the audience will fail to connect with you properly. You must maintain eye contact with the audience and talk to them rather than staring at the back wall.

Know The Specifics:

You must know what kinds of audience are you presenting to, what do they expect and what kind of information they need to understand your presentation better. Get the details and work on them so that you do not have to face any unpleasant surprise at the 11th hour.

Be Moderate:

While some people believe that a long presentation is necessary to make their point and try to extend it for more than an hour. There are others who believe that a short presentation is the way to go and do not extend it for a period more than 15 minutes. The fact is that one should decide on the duration of the presentation based on the type of audience, the topic of the presentation and the purpose of the presentation.

It is better to keep the presentation short, but not too short. You have to be able to make your point clearly during the time allocated for the presentation. Don’t try to rush too much information in too little time as this will accomplish nothing and the audience will have retained very little information.

The Trio Rule:

Many researchers have agreed upon the fact that most of the people are able to retain three main points in any presentation. So in order to have the maximum effect on the audience it is advisable that you concentrate on three main points which can best explain the purpose and aim of your presentation.
If you break down the presentation into too many small points, it will fail to have a lasting impact on the audience. It is better to keep the presentation concise and to the point.

Make A Video

If you are too nervous about the presentation and there is too much on stake, it is a good idea to video tape yourself when you are rehearsing the presentation and carefully go through it. See what mistakes are there and which moves are making your presentation unimpressive. Work on these deficiencies and you will be able to give a great presentation.

Know What’s Next

If you have prepared a multimedia presentation you should be familiar with the content and the order of appearance of the slides. This way when the slide changes you know what is appearing next and you can start talking about what you are about to show. This gives you command over the presentation and enhance the confidence level.

Familiarize Yourself With The Surroundings:

If possible you should visit the room where you have to give the presentation and familiarize yourself with the surroundings. This will boost your confidence and you will feel comfortable at the time of the presentation.

Bottom Line:

Giving a presentation does not have to be a difficult and threatening task. If you are well prepared and have attained the basic skills needed to give a presentation, it will be a piece of cake. Keep in mind, no matter how good of a presentation you have put together, there will be no effect if you fail to give the presentation properly.

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Way To The Top

Many of us face problems at work as we often fail to meet the deadlines or panic when we have too much work on our hand. Yet there are those who seem to be handling every task efficiently and never fail to meet a deadline. We often feel envious of such individuals and wonder why these people are always ahead of us and are able to complete their tasks with such efficiency and enthusiasm.

Ever wonder what their secret is? The answer is simple: multitasking. In very simple words, multitasking is handling multiple tasks at the same time without compromising on a single task. Multitasking is not as difficult or complex as it sounds and one can learn to multi task by following few basic steps.

• Organize
• Prioritize
• Start with simple tasks
• Finishing pending jobs
• Delegate tasks
• Handle tasks without delay
• Take a break
• Split tasks into smaller jobs

While there are many benefits of multitasking, some people argue that there are also negative aspects to multitasking. It is true that multitasking can be detrimental in some aspects, which is why it is important to know when and how to multitask. Some of the common drawbacks of  multitasking include.

• Stress
• Lack of Work-Home Balance

But multitasking is work technique that helps you in performing better with effective time management. Once you learn how to multi task effectively, you can progress in your career by getting the maximum output from your time and effort. Make sure that you do not over do it, as excess of everything is bad.

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