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Course Overview Essentials of Business Law: Contract Law offers the student an overview of contract law essentials. This program identifies the elements of contract formation, classifications of contracts, and contract strategies applying to validity and successful contract negotiations. The

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Listening is one of the most common and important things that we do. Recent research on work behaviour suggests that we spend approximately 9% of our time writing, 16% of our time reading, 30% of our time talking and 45% of our time listening.

Listening is a fundamental part of the communication process. Regardless of the type of job you do or the industry in which you work, it is important to understand the listening process, have an awareness of barriers to listening effectively, and learn how to listen actively.

Listening as a process

Hearing and listening are not the same thing. In fact, hearing is just the first of three stages in the listening process, all of which are fairly obvious but still worth remembering.

- Hearing Simply the process of sound waves being transformed by our brains into impulses.

- Attention Important so that we can hear what is being said to us, but often difficult due to distractions such as noise intrusion or internal distractions such as thinking about something else rather than what is being said.

- Understanding This is the most crucial aspect of the process on a number of levels. As well as understanding what is being said, we need to try to understand the context of the message, and understand the significance of any verbal or non-verbal clues from the speaker. Having a degree of background knowledge regarding the speaker or the subject is also helpful.

Barriers to listening

In most situations there are a number of obstacles which can stop us from listening effectively, and as a trainer it is important to appreciate what these obstacles are and how to overcome each of them. Broadly speaking, there are four types of barriers to listening -

- Psychological barriers, including prejudice, apathy or fear on the part of the listener. For example, someone working in marketing or production may not be as interested in a presentation on annual financial results as an accountant or sales director, given that it may not directly impact on their day to day activities.

- Physical barriers, including disability, fatigue or poor health on the part of the listener. For example, trying to listen to a speaker for long periods while you are suffering from a heavy cold is a fairly difficult thing to do.

- Environmental barriers, including distracting noises, uncomfortable or poorly positioned seating, or an unsuitable climate such as an overheated, stuffy meeting room.

- Expectation barriers, such as anticipating a mundane or boring presentation, expecting to receive bad news, or being spoken to in confusing jargon.

In a work or educational situation, you can certainly address tangible barriers such as environmental factors or physical obstacles. Dealing with internal barriers can be more difficult, but a lot of this can be achieved by thorough preparation before any meetings or group sessions.

Active listening

In order to understand the concept and value of active listening, it is worth considering it as one of three different types of listening.

- Competitive listening You will see this most often in negotiation situations, or when politicians are debating with each other. The person being spoken to is more interested in getting their own point of view across when the other person stops speaking, rather than acknowledging what they have just heard. Alternatively, they are distracted by thinking about their own argument or point of view rather than listening properly.

- Passive or attentive listening This is always a danger in lecture style presentation sessions. An audience will pay attention to the slides and listen carefully to the speaker, but there is no real opportunity to interact. This means that the speaker may not know how well their message is being understood.

- Active listening This is the best way to listen for and understand the real message in what people are saying. It involves taking the next step from just listening attentively, by looking to show obvious interest in what the speaker is saying, and by trying to interact with them. As a manager, salesperson or trainer you need to try to use active listening yourself, and provide opportunities for colleagues, customers and learners to use active listening techniques as well. This is of particular importance when involved in informal training activities such as coaching and mentoring.

In terms of outlining the techniques which can be used for active listening, it is useful to think back to the three basic stages of the listening process – hearing, attention and understanding.

Hearing and attention

- First and hopefully obviously, stop talking.

- Try to eliminate as many distractions as possible, both external and internal.

- Try to control your own non-verbal signals to the person speaking. This could mean paying attention to your physical stance, your body movements, eye contact with the speaker, and encouraging motions such as nodding or smiling.

Understanding

- Make sure that you understand the purpose of the speaker, and also be aware of you want from the conversation.

- It also helps to take notes, but try to focus on writing down key words and phrases that will jog your memory later, rather than trying to write down everything that is being said in an act of dictation.

- If possible, try to ask questions. You can use the notes you have written to remind you of points that need clarification. Try not to interrupt though!

- Finally, try to use the technique of reflecting what the speaker says to you.

Reflecting

This is a technique used extensively by people involved in consultative selling, but it is also a very useful tool for anyone involved in business, education, training or voluntary work. Communication can be broken down into three levels – facts, thoughts (or beliefs) and feelings (or emotions). Reflecting works on all three levels.

- Repeat the facts that you think you have been given by the speaker. This is sometimes referred to as â??parroting’. If you are right, you know that you are getting the basic elements of what the speaker is telling you. If you have made any mistakes, this gives you both an opportunity to get back on to the same page.

- Also share the thoughts or beliefs that you have heard, and try to convey the underlying feelings or emotions which you believe are involved. For example, the speaker may be very upset and wants you to display empathy or sympathy with their situation. It is this reflection of thoughts and feelings which distinguishes reflecting from just parroting back to the speaker, which might get a bit tedious and annoying for all concerned.

Again, this is a very useful tool when coaching or mentoring. It can also be used during feedback sessions in a more formal situation such as a performance review meeting.

Jason De Boer
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/improve-your-results-with-active-listening-71496.html

Teleconferencing is, possibly, the most efficient communication breakthrough of the 20th century. The thinking is to enable a group (three or more people) interactive communication through an electronic medium between people at many locations!

Teleconferencing is being used in the following ways nowadays:
– Audio conferencing, making use of telephones
– Video conferencing, employing interactive televisions with sound,
– Computer conferencing, employing printed communication via computers and keyboards.

Bonuses:

Voluminous cost saving on group meetings that includes cost of traveling, setting up the venue, food, and other related costs.

Meetings are focused and a lower amount of time is lost.

People and speakers who cant spare effort for face-to-face meetings can participate.

Disadvantages:

The most basic problem with teleconferencing is technical failure. A nightmare for all organizers, teleconferencing also requires basic training or orientation for participants in use of resources. Teleconferencing is also a hindrance in interpersonal communication required for negotiation and bargaining.

It is also cumbersome to break ice during a teleconference and establish a rapport between participants. A profitable teleconference depends on detailed planning of the event.

The upcoming tips can help you have a better teleconferencing session:

Think through the Agenda

It is positively imperative that you plan your items on the agenda. The agenda itself ought to be clear, well defined and should spell out the expectations from the participants. Keep in mind the participation and if you expect an input from everyone on every item, then make sure that you have built in sufficient time for the meeting. Also, indicate to the participants that they go through the agenda before the teleconference.

Technically Sound

It is necessary that all participants have prior access to dial in number and pass-codes. You must also convey if you are offering a toll-free number. Check all materials before the conference and ensure that you have a back plan for technology failure.

Getting there

If you are the facilitator, it makes sense to be the first one online. A team-building activity could help get the meeting to a good start (specifically if the group is diverse and is meeting for the first time!). Be careful to substantiate the protocol and the talking order to avoid confusion and an arrangement where one person monopolizes the meeting.

Teleconferencing Etiquette

Least disturbance should be the decorum of all teleconferences. As a participant it is your job description to insure that you dont introduce noise in the form of noisy background, buzzing sounds of low grade cordless phones, reception errors of cell phones any other noise like rustling paper or tapping pens. If the calls are long, the organizers must offer breaks at previously decided times.

If the call is an international one, be aware of accents and avert speaking too fast.

Other Tips for Organizers
– Use names to get notice.
– Use more than one user to break monologue and boredom.
– Involve everybody and if required go around in circles asking for input.
– During breaks, pair off people to facilitate interaction.
– Share duties, like taking notes, with participants to encourage interaction.
– Do take constructive criticism for which you need to be ready with constructive criticism forms.

John Thompson
http://www.articlesbase.com/communication-articles/effective-teleconferencing-for-effective-people-58398.html

Today’s rapidly changing technology, the economy’s roller-coaster ride, the constant mergers and acquisitions among companies, upsizing, downsizing and resizing, and, of course, our country’s response to terrorism have forced almost all of us to change, in some cases almost daily.

Adapting to new demands is an important mechanism for both personal and organizational survival. Individuals and groups that do it well seem to be more successful than those that resist and accept the inevitable slowly. But change is so difficult and is almost always resisted.

Many ingredients are required to move from the present to your organizationâ??s desired change. The process takes time, vision, role modeling, symbols and benefits for all involved. During the necessary incremental transitional changes, motivators and training are necessary. The organization must create an environment that fosters new learning and behaviors — that “persuades” employees to change.

6 Requirements For Making Organizational Changes In Individuals, Teams, Departments and Divisions:

1. Motivation is essential

Before your employees are really motivated to work at change, they must be convinced of the personal and professional benefits to themselves, as well as to their organization. In addition, management must realize that work will slow during the transitional process. Often temporary help must be brought in or overtime authorized to help get the more mundane tasks accomplished. Learning is often awkward, requiring a great deal of practice before new habits are automated. Practice, of course, means making mistakes and taking time to correct them.

Because of these factors, commitment is mandatory at the highest levels of the organization. Upper management in particular must create a clear, realistic vision. All too often, organizations develop vision statements that are too vague or idealistic. The vision must be something people can buy into. It must be “symbolized” with a theme, and it must have its champions at the highest level of the organization.

Once realistic themes have been developed, upper management must create a mission, goals and objectives specific to individual departments. Then management must sell these missions, goals and objectives to members of the various departments.

2. Procedural and cultural changes require working with the latest tools of persuasion, negotiation and learning.

Persuasion needs a user-friendly approach. User-friendly in this context means giving employees an opportunity to vent, to express their own ideas and to make mistakes. It means that managers involved in the process must remain positive and approachable, and have an encouraging demeanor.

At this point managers should coach and encourage rather than criticize or punish. Self-righteous, critical or condescending behavior will only frighten people back into their old tried-and-true behaviors. In helping employees adapt to new conditions, managers must not assume an â??I’m right you’re wrongâ? stance. Workers immediately will become defensive. Moreover, they will tune the managers out, become argumentative or passively resist the changes they’re being asked to make.

3. It pays to reward success.

Remember, success builds on itself. By rewarding success, you will create internal champions from among those who are higher risk takers and more aware of the value of the new outcomes. They will become your role models and persuaders. Others will follow them more easily.

4. Promote changes with workshops

Part of the change process involves conducting teambuilding and management development workshops to promote change, get input on needs and work with different management styles.

Keep in mind that people respond better to workshop exercises that have “face validity” — that is, whose content is related to the work people actually perform. The workshop should combine process and content. Participants must be encouraged to learn more about one another personally, and to build a level of trust. They should be given content-specific tasks to perform together. This will enable them not only to improve their actual working conditions and move toward the desired process or cultural changes, but also to work more effectively with each other in the future.

5. Launch the change management program

While smaller companies and organizations might be able to just dig in and start the process, in larger organizations it may be necessary to create some drama. Thus the firm might want to develop a large-scale kickoff program involving as many people as possible

This all-day affair should be exciting and motivational, and encourage the participation and ideas of all attendees, who should be provided with a means of ensuring their ongoing involvement in the process.

6. Alignment is necessary

Too often, alignment behind a company’s goals, objectives, values and beliefs is taken for granted. This is a potentially fatal mistake. So starting from the top, the highest levels within the organization must agree on the values and desired cultural changes. Then they must communicate these and get a buy-in at other levels of the organization. You must ensure that the words and slogans being used have the same meaning across all levels.

When all is said and done, change can be exciting, and if managed correctly, it will be a vital component in the vitality and continued growth of your organization. So go for it!

Arlyne Diamond
http://www.articlesbase.com/management-articles/change-management-strategies-6-ways-to-take-your-organization-to-the-next-level-with-change-management-100268.html

Sometimes a marriage reaches the point where both partners need the assistance of a professional counselor to resolve their relationship problems. Considering that your relationship is not getting any better and that both of you need to make a big decision now is sometimes difficult for both partners. But you have to keep in mind that counseling will make your problems easier to solve and your relationship can improve considerably.

Factors that contribute to the distress of a marriage may include infidelity, sexual dissatisfaction, anger, unemployment, finances, cultural differences, communication breakdown and many more. Marriage counseling can prove to be helpful in solving these issues and bringing two people together again. The important thing is how to choose a marriage counselor once you have decided that you need one. This article will give you some tips regarding this matter so that you do not face any more difficulties than you already are.

First of all ask your friends and relatives who have sought assistance of a marriage counselor before. If they recommend someone and you trust their recommendation then you might not need to search any other place. Meet the recommended person and see if you can communicate effectively with him/her. Remember that it is not easy at first to talk about your failing marriage with a counselor, but after a few sessions you will definitely notice improvement in your relationship, given that everything worked out well and that the counselor was a professional. If things seem to have worsened then stop your counseling at this stage and move on to another marriage counselor.

If you are searching for a counselor on your own, then look around for a little information about them before signing them up. Many therapists and marriage counselors work without a license or professional training. Choose a counselor who is a licensed mental health professional. They must have acquired at least some degree level education on family and relationship counseling. Do not hesitate to ask them questions regarding their education, professional experience and success rate. Also make sure their timings suit you and if you ever faced an emergency they will be available to help you get out of it.

You can use the Internet to search for marriage counselors in your area. Most of the sites give enough information about them to decide which one suits you the best. If their email address is available, contact them online to ask a few questions before making the decision of hiring them as your marriage counselor. Remember that hasty decisions are often the wrong decisions. Take your time to communicate with the person and after careful consideration and negotiation with your partner choose the right counselor to improve your relationship and avoid any future disaster.

George Wood
http://www.articlesbase.com/marriage-articles/choosing-a-marriage-counselor-76455.html