Good Practices to Adopt

This week, instead of talking about problem people, I would like to pass along some great practices that are helping some of my clients be successful.

Doug decided he needed to become a better listener. When one of his staff comes into his office needing to talk, Doug asks for a minute to finish what he’s doing. Once he puts that work aside, he turns his full attention on the staffer. The staffer knows Doug is really listening. It’s a sign of respect and goes a long way toward building trust.

Greg wanted to improve his productivity and effectiveness. Now he sets aside time to answer emails that require thought and saves them as drafts. He lets them sit overnight before sending. The overnight break gives him time to think over his responses and change them if needed. This practice also keeps him focused on one task, rather than diverting his attention to answer each email when it arrives.

Jesse recognized that he needed to improve his approach to building relationships with clients. His usual practice was to start talking about his firm and what the firm could do for clients. He decided to turn the situation around, focusing on the client. Now, he spends a few minutes before a client meeting to prepare questions that are focused on the client, getting the client to open up about his concerns. This is a great way to build client relationships.

Anna kept finding her productivity dropping and her concentration broken by employees popping into her office to chat or ask a quick question. As an introvert, Anna needed chunks of time to concentrate on getting things done. She used the calendar-sharing function on Outlook to block out times when she didn’t want to be interrupted as well as open-office hours. This helped employees save their visits to open-office times and allowed Anna the periods of concentration she needed.

Send me your own best practices so I can share them with others in this online community. Or share them by commenting on this post.