Week 4 Blog, Management Communication Styles

I like Likert’s Management Continuum beginning with System 3 while working toward System 4, becoming more nurturing, it becomes less authoritarian.  (O’Hair, Friedrich, Dixon, (2011).
Then, seek the knowledge of differences in the generations that experts have already evaluated. 

With the changes in the economy and the new longevity of life expediency, Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964 are staying in the workforce longer.  Boomers are competitive and think workers should pay their dues, workplace consultants say, (How to Manage Different Generations, WSJ, 20112).    

With the amount of experience that can be taught from the Boomers to the Gen Xers born between 1965 and 1977, it’s critical and corporations are realizing this fact.  With baby boomers retiring at a rapid rate, their thirty or forty years of knowledge and experience become lost.  At Boeing (when I was there last in 2011 consulting), one of senior management’s biggest objectives was the training from Boomers born 1946 to 1964 to the Gen Xers born between 1965 and 1977, before Boomers retire.

By gaining the knowledge that Gen Xers were born between 1965 and 1977, and are more likely to be skeptical and independent-minded helps when managing and leading teams, (How to Manage Different Generations, WSJ, 20112).   Since the GenXers are typically more educated than their parents and computer literate, they bring a lot to the table.  Millennials born in 1978 or later like teamwork, feedback and technology, (How to Manage Different Generations, WSJ, 20112) and this knowledge helps when managing the differences.

Next, learning the group’s technical skills, humanistic skills, and conceptual skills set and defined job roles will help with communication.  Create meetings communicating in teams planning, organizing, motivating while empowering employee’s to create and be part of the decision making process, since employees work better and more effectively when they feel they are part of the process. (O’Hair, Friedrich, Dixon, (2011).  

I would obtain educational programs continually training workers on new computer technology while working together and teaming.  Training on listening skills while teaching how trust is the biggest human aspect when teams work together.  I would also create a process of accountability to lessen the blame when work was late or not completed by a perspective worker of a team in an attempt to avoid conflict.

Post 3: Communication & Leadership: Dale Carnegies Golden Rules Book

Dale Carnegies Golden Rules Book:

http://www.nagesh.com/reference/100-golden-rules/182-golden-rules-from-dale-carnegies-golden-book.html

Principles from How to Win Friends and Influence People
Become a Friendlier Person

1. Don't criticize, condemn or complain.
2. Give honest, sincere appreciation.
3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.
4. Become genuinely interested in other people.
5. Smile.
6. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
7. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
8. Talk in terms of other person's interests.
9. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.

Win People to Your Way of Thinking

1. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
2. Show respect for the other person's opinion. Never say, "you're wrong."
3. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
4. Begin in a friendly way.
5. Get the other person saying, "yes, yes" immediately.
6. Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
7. Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view.
8. Be sympathetic with the other person's ideas and desires.
9. Appeal to the nobler motives.
10. Dramatize your ideas.
11. Throw down a challenge.

Be a Leader

1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
2. Call attention to people's mistakes indirectly.
3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
4. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
5. Let the other person save face.
6. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be "hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise."
7. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
8. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
9. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.

Principles from How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
Fundamental Principles for Overcoming Worry

1. Live in "day-tight compartments."
2. How to face trouble:
   > Ask yourself, "What is the worst that can possibly happen?"
   > Prepare to accept the worst.
   > Try to improve on the worst.
3. Remind yourself of the exorbitant price you can pay for worry in terms of your health.

Basic Techniques in Analyzing Worry

1. Get all the facts.
2. Weight all the facts - then come to a decision.
3. Once a decision is reached, act!
4. Write out and answer the following question:
   > What is the problem?
   > What are the causes of the problem?
   > What are the possible solutions?
   > What is the best possible solution?

Break the Worry Habit Before It Breaks You

1. Keep Busy.
2. Don't fuss about trifles.
3. Use the law of averages to outlaw your worries.
4. Cooperate with the inevitable.
5. Decide just how much anxiety a thing may be worth and refuse to give it more.
6. Don't worry about the past.

Cultivate a Mental Attitude that will Bring You Peace and Happiness

1. Fill your mind with thoughts of peace, courage, health and hope.
2. Never try to get even with your enemies.
3. Expect ingratitude.
4. Count your blessings - not your troubles.
5. Do not imitate others.
6. Try to profit from your losses.
7. Create happiness for others.

The Perfect Way to Conquer Worry

1. Pray.

Don't Worry about Criticism

1. Remember that unjust criticism is often a disguised compliment.
2. Do the very best you can.
3. Analyze your own mistakes and criticize yourself.

Prevent Fatigue and Worry and Keep Your Energy and Spirits High

1. Rest before you get tired.
2. Learn to relax at your work.
3. Protect your health and appearance by relaxing at home.
4. Apply these four good working habits:
   > Clear your desk of all papers except those relating to the immediate problem at hand.
   > Do things in the order of their importance.
   > When you face a problem, solve it then and there if you have the facts necessary to make a decision.
   > Learn to organize, deputize and supervise.
5. Put enthusiasm into your work.
6. Don't worry about insomnia.

Week 2_Project Management Templets

http://www.projectmanagementdocs.com/

A wealth of knowledge can be found in these documents, giving you a clue of how to proceed in the creation of effective communications when managing any business project.

Janice

Week 1_Project Management 5 Phases of the Project

This blog is created for Business Communication Class @ City University.  It is being created to document communication skills.

In project management, there are 5 phases of the project lifecycle.  The following will describe phases. When creating a project or working with teams, if your follow these guidelines, you can have more of successful outcome, instead of going in blind, without any guidelines.

Initiating
The Initiating phase of the project lifecycle is where the project gets defined and authorized by management. The inputs to this phase are usually a statement of work or a contract given to you by the project sponsor. Other inputs are the environmental factors of your organization such as policies, procedures, and cultures to name a few. The output of the Initiating process is a Project Charter and a Preliminary Project Scope Statement.

Planning
As you've probably guessed, the inputs to the Planning Process is the Project Charter and the Preliminary Project Scope Statement that were the outputs of the Initiating Process. The purpose of the Planning Process is to refine the project objectives and then plan the steps necessary to achieve those objectives within the project scope that was given. The output of the Planning Process is the Project Management Plan.

Executing
The Executing Process Group takes the Project Management Plan as input. It is here that people and other resources are combined with the Project Management Plan to carry out, or execute, the plan for the project. As you can imagine, the outputs of this process are the project deliverables, any changes such as change requests, preventive actions, defect repairs, and performance information about how the project plan performed.

Monitoring and Controlling
Throughout the project there is a need to control change and monitor that the project is on time and on budget while still producing a quality deliverable. The Monitoring and Controlling Process group is where these actions take place. It is here that project change requests get approved or rejected, that defect repairs are approved, and that any updates to the Project Scope and Project Management Plan are reviewed and approved. This is the process group that is ultimately responsible for approving the final deliverables of the project.

Closing
After all the deliverables of the project are created, the closing process group still has to close the overall project and provide the deliverables to the customer. The inputs to this process group are the administrative and contract closeout procedures. You may have had an internal or external vendor that supplied part of the deliverables that needs to get paid. You may have a asset management systems that you now need to update with the new product. You may have other procedures and accounts that need to be updated. It is here that formal acceptance of the product or service is obtained from the customer and a orderly close to the project occurs.

By: David White

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