Do You Allow Your Team to Get Creative? Are You Sure?
Posted On April 22, 2020 BY Dean Brenner
Today’s post is written by our wonderful colleague Robert Mapstead. Robert is a Director of Learning and Instructional Design for our NextGen Services Team. And one of the many things we love about Robert is that he brings unbridled creative thought into every conversation. So, who better to share some thoughts today about the topic […]
Coaching Advice: Do You Connect, or Do You Correct?
Posted On April 20, 2020 BY Dean Brenner
During work discussions with your colleagues, many (perhaps most) conversations come down to the following choice: Which is more important to you… the relationship or winning the discussion? When we are having substantive, work-related conversations with our colleagues, and the ideas are being thrown around, there almost always comes a point when we have to […]
Help Your Team Help You
Posted On April 17, 2020 BY Dean Brenner
We do an enormous amount of writing here about how to prepare well, and not waste other people’s time… especially if that person is your boss. We all know how important it is to be able to communicate well to people above you on the org chart. But let’s flip that around for a moment. […]
Virtual Meetings: Curate What Your Audience Sees
Posted On April 15, 2020 BY Kendra Raguckas
This post was written by Kendra Raguckas, Director of Instructional Design & Technology at The Latimer Group. Two weeks ago, our team hosted a free online conversation focusing on our new normal in the virtual world. We shared our top five observations from the transition to mandated remote work and our recommendations on how to adjust […]
Is Remote Communication REALLY That Different?
Posted On April 13, 2020 BY Dean Brenner
There has been a LOT of content generated of late about the new challenges of communicating, running meetings and leading teams in a virtual environment. Much of it has been good, including several of the pieces posted here by our Latimer team. But just for a moment, let’s look at this another way. Sure, there […]
Communicating During a Crisis: Trust is the Coin of the Realm
Posted On April 10, 2020 BY Dean Brenner
Distance tends to clarify relationships. (I wish I knew that in college…) Human beings are social creatures who thrive on connection and community. Relationships and trust are built over time through shared experiences and common bonds. When we separate from each other for extended periods of time, the strengths of our relationships are challenged. Distance […]
Communicating During a Crisis: What’s Too Much?
Posted On April 8, 2020 BY Dean Brenner
Is it possible to communicate too much during a crisis? Let’s dig into that question a bit. During a crisis, emotions tend to run higher than normal, for everyone. And the default setting for most people during such a period is to hyper communicate. The common wisdom is that “more information is better” during a […]
Communicating During a Crisis: What’s Required?
Posted On April 6, 2020 BY Dean Brenner
Like many of you, I crave good communication from the people I lean on in a crisis. I look to the leaders in my life… political, business, personal… and I lean on them for good communication when things are bad. I prefer good communication all the time. But I need good communication during a crisis. […]
Join the Conversation: Observations from a Lonely Planet – Adapting to a Virtual World (replay)
Posted On April 1, 2020 BY Dean Brenner
Last week, we hosted a free lunchtime conversation to share our observations on the “new normal” world we have all been thrust into. We covered some of the obvious communication implications of this new world, but our conversation went well beyond that. This health crisis has impacted not just the way we communicate, but the […]
4 Simple Ways to Be a Better Listener
Posted On March 30, 2020 BY Dean Brenner
I’m thinking a lot about how well we listen. How well do you actually listen to the people around you? Do you think you listen well? Are you sure? I think I listen well, most of the time. When I focus on it, which is often, I listen really well. But it is really easy […]