Three Questions to Elevate the Mood in the Office

Are Bad moods contributing to the office drama?  Maybe you are asking the wrong questions. In this 3.45 minute audio you will learn:

• What a bad mood really is
• How thinking contributes to a bad mood
• Why negativity rolls downhill

In addition you will get three new questions you can use with your staff, (or with yourself) to nip bad moods in the bud.

Listen Here

How to Stay Cool When Hot Buttons Are Pushed

Leadership is about influence. The most important thing a boss can do to influence employees is to show them respect. Listening is the best way to show respect. (When I was finishing my master’s degree I interviewed employees and found a common theme: My boss doesn’t listen.)

Or course, they have no idea of the pressures of leadership. Dealing with the people issues while trying to increase productivity and profits. It’s easy to get into habits that indicate a lack of respect.

OK..I know what you are thinking. If they would just quit complaining, or if they would just do their job it would be easy.

Who ever told you leadership was easy? I truly believe leadership is a spiritual journey where you learn to be conscious and learn your own lessons. Your employees…the ones that cause you trouble are your best teachers.

Here’s the deal: The hardest time to listen is when you feel like blowing your stack. The complainer comes to you with a problem that you can’t solve, or the bickering has you rescuing instead of leading. If you aren’t careful your complainers start navigating the ship while you shovel coal in the boiler room trying to keep the ship on course.

Is it possible to listen without encouraging the complaining? Yes, but it takes an awareness of how to listen while EMPOWERING them to be a problem solver! The wrong kind of listening only encourages the complaining and then you become an enabler!

Here is a five part audio lesson that will help you turn complainers into problem-solvers, and make you look like the best listener on the planet. Once you master these techniques you will be in control and navigating the ship instead of shoveling coal in the boiler room.

It’s called How to Stay Cool When Hot Buttons Are Pushed.

Getting Customers Versus Keeping Them

Here’s the deal: You have to teach your staff to think like an owner. So often they really don’t connect the dots with their job, satisfied customers, repeat business, profits and them keeping their job. Here’s what you can say when you get resistance!

Teach Employees the Right Mindset to Improve Customer Service

7 Tips for Stopping Workplace negativity

Your employees might be driving your customers away because they don’t have the right mindset.
Do you think everything is fine as long as you hire correctly?

The fact is, your employees and staff will NEVER think like an owner or a manager.
The reason? Customer service and the ability to see the whole picture is a mindset which must be developed. Watch this short video and I’ll explain more.

Good Training Can Prevent Bad Customer Service

I just returned from a much needed vacation. My husband and I went to Las Vegas to see a show, a couple of attractions and to spend a day at the Grand Canyon. Part of any good vacation is eating at restaurants you don’t have in your own area. I spotted a Bahama Breeze Restaurant and remembered a great experience in Florida four years ago.

This particular experience was not the same. When our waiter approached I asked him if they could seat us outside since it was a lovely evening. He said, “No we aren’t serving anyone outside tonight.”

Realizing that I was hinting instead of asking for what I really wanted, I decided to be more direct. I asked the young lady who brought our water and menus if we could move outside.

“Absolutely,” she said.
“Our first waiter said ‘no’ in a round about way so could you check to make sure?”

Before she could return, I asked our main waiter, “Would you mind waiting on us outside?”

“No, I won’t wait on you out there,” he said. “It’s too windy.”

The other waitress was shocked, and she apologized for her co-worker, letting us know if it was up to her she would gladly serve us outside.

Having so much compassion for the manager, I consciously decided to let the manager know about the incident. The manager was extremely polite and he apologized saying that they never give training to their employees and they rely totally on their hiring processes.

This is a good example why training is just as important as hiring. One without the other can cost you your reputation and new customers. Many times the employees don’t see the bigger picture. They are just there to put in their hours, or they don’t want their work to be challenging and they forget that their main job is to serve the customer, not to make their own work easier.

Negative attitudes hampers productivity. Go here to learn more.

Managers Mastermind Forum

From my recent survey it seems that drama in the form of negativity and stress is the BIG concern for most managers and supervisors. I hope you’ll join the Manager’s Mastermind Forum where I’ll give you the scoop on Drama in the workplace.

We’ll talk about…

–Why there is so much stress
–The hidden payoffs
–Ways that we unconsciously avoid mastering our energy
–Three common myths about stress and productivity
–Five facts about negativity
–How negativity impacts productivity and health
–Five practical solutions to stop drama and reduce stress

The information in this teleseminar is backed by research and resources from my library of business, communication and leadership resources as well as from surveys and personal experience.

Date: March 28, 2008
Time: 11:30 Central Time
Length: Schedule 45 minutes

We may only be on the phone for 30 minutes but please prepare for 45 minutes. There’s time to get settled in, get a drink, run to the restroom and dial in. Once you register, you will receive an automatic e-mail with the dial in instructions etc. Please whitelist my e-mail, marlenechism@mchsi.com. Also, if you want your question to be added, you can do so right after you sign up.

To register Click Here

What Employees Won’t Tell You

I worked for over twenty years on the factory floor doing everything from production work on the lines to sanitation to driving a forklift. I left that world to pursue a professional speaking career. I finished two college degrees and continue to study what I already knew from my 20 plus years on the factory floor. On the factory floor, employee relationships can either make or break productivity, working for you or against you. I learned that bosses either encourage and support productivity or discourage and hamper productivity.

On March 28th, I’m going to answer your questions about employee motivation, productivity, teamwork and how to stop the drama so that teamwork and productivity can thrive. Join me by going to www.stopyourdrama.com/mastermind.html

If you are an employee and you have some insights, feel free to leave your post. If you are a manager with suggestions, please do the same.