Do you realize people may dislike you immediately?
Networking and communication build and sustain the relationships that make business work. Dropping the ball in any one of these areas would be a real career progress blocker.
These are the 5 reasons people will dislike you within minutes:
1. Not demonstrating real empathy
Did you ever immediately respond with an experience similar to the person speaking? It may feel like you're confirming a similarity, but it can come across as one-upmanship and a lack of empathy. Instead, show genuine interest by asking follow up questions.
2. Being impatient
Have you found yourself jumping into a conversation before the other person has finished talking? You might think you're showing enthusiasm, but you're sending disrespectful signals that you think what you have to say is more important. Patience is a better approach. Listen well, pause, and ask relevant questions. Once you've understood their point, then it may be appropriate to respond.
3. Acting like a know-it-all
While you might indeed be more knowledgeable than the person speaking, interjecting "Well, ACTUALLY..." isn't going to win anyone over. Being right isn't the goal of conversation, being friendly and likeable builds lasting relationships. It's okay to disagree, but do it tactfully, and when possible, privately.
4. Constantly complaining
There's always plenty to complain about, but it's the go-to move of the lazy conversationalist. It's boring and sucks the energy from the room. Instead, find areas of common interest that people can get excited about. You want them to look forward to talking with you, not to dread it.
5. Paying attention to your phone
Okay, we've all done it, but when you're standing in front of someone, checking your phone (or worse, interacting with it), it signals that you're looking to get out of the conversation. ("Maybe something more important or interesting has popped up.") Be present, connect with the person you're talking with. Those notifications can wait a few minutes.
It takes a bit of practice, but avoiding these bad habits will pay dividends in your networking, project execution, and leadership.
Mastering these 5 missing skills quickly maximizes your productivity and influence, which in turn enhances both job security and advancement potential.
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Each approach relies on an underlying logical flow that goes like this: [a] make sure the problem is clearly defined; [b] be open to all sources of information; [c] vet the information for relevance and accuracy; [d] use the process of elimination to narrow down all possible causes to the most likely few; [e] prove which of the suspects is really the cause of the issue; [f] generate a number of potential solutions; [g] evaluate the effectiveness, feasibility and risk of the potential solutions; [h] implement the winning solution(s); and [i] take steps to make sure your solution(s) don’t unravel in the future.
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Your team is marching through the tools of your company's chosen problem-solving approach. This is time not spent on growing your business or delivering cost reductions. Yet your customers are suffering, and they're not shy about letting you know it! Why isn't it working?
Does your team struggle to deliver the kind of rapid and effective problem-solving your business requires? Can you really afford the unhappy customers, wasted engineering hours, cost of poor quality, and lost opportunities? Use the Visual 8D™ / Visual CAPA™ approach by CAEDENCE.
