Continuous Learning for Individuals, Management & Business

In work and life, effective communication is a critical piece to successful relationships, leadership, and growth. There are communication challenges that can trip up any professional — like reacting instead of responding, treating everyone the same, or assuming your message is understood. And today’s many outlets for communication — like email, text messages, social media, and instant messaging — can actually make communication more complicated, rather than easier.

In this post, we’ll take a look at some wise words that offer practical advice for effective communication.

As political polarization has gotten steadily worse over the last few election cycles, so too has political tension in the workplace. In the close quarters of a work environment, political differences, especially when combined with the pressures of work, have the potential to get out of control. Fewer than a quarter of employers have formal, written policies on political conversations in the workplace. So, it’s important to have an understanding of the management skills that can help you handle these conversations before they escalate into heated debates. We’ve put together some management communication tips to help you do that.

There’s an old saying that “a fish rots from the head down.” Nowhere can this be truer than in the business world. From huge corporations, to small business, leadership at all levels sets the tone for any organization. If any of that leadership is unethical, it will more than likely have a trickle-down effect to the rest of the company.

Do you want to be a stronger leader? In today’s world, too many of us think leading means doing it all on our own — everything from making the “To Do” lists to checking each task off on those lists. But that’s a recipe for burnout! Most strong leaders don’t do everything on their own; they delegate. The power of accepting help can help you become a strong leader by enabling you to work less and do more.

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be really good at problem-solving, while others struggle to make decisions? Did you know that when you strengthen your problem-solving skills, it can actually help you learn how to make better decisions? That’s because you’ll gain the confidence, acquire the analytical skills, and develop the creativity you need to be able to make predictions about the results of different solutions. We’ve put together some of the best ways to strengthen your problem-solving skills and become a more confident decision-maker.

Established by the U.S. Small Business Administration, October marks National Women’s Small Business Month and while the glass ceiling might still be prevalent, women are steadily coming toward the forefront of small business ownership.

Why do people hate change? Because most people feel comfortable doing what they have always been doing. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” they say. Psychologically speaking, it’s not just that people fear change, (although they absolutely do) It’s also that they genuinely believe what they’ve been doing, and how they’ve been doing it, is the best possible way to do it. And the longer they’ve been doing it this way, the better, more efficient, more economical, etc., it is (or so they believe).

As an employer, you can better understand your employees’ traits and roles within your organization by using personality tests. Personality tests can be extremely valuable to all employers across many different industries and organizations.

The world is globalizing at an increasing rate, and trends don’t show signs of this slowing down any time soon. Here in the United States, we’re increasingly becoming a more diverse nation with every business industry consisting of a large variety of people from different cultures, life experiences, family types, generations, and more. This is why the ability to work across technologies, borders and cultures has become so important.

The Holidays are such an important time of year for small businesses. For many, especially in retail, the Holidays may make or break the entire financial year. Craft fairs and holiday markets have become popular among both consumers and small businesses during this time. But are businesses doing all they can to maximize their retail sales from holiday markets?