Category Archives: Training

E-mail – A Pandemic?

Posted by on June 27, 2011 Comments Off
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Julie Millerby Julie Miller

E-mail has become the most important information vehicle today and its usage increases hourly eclipsing other modes of communication. Of course, therein lies the rub. Because writing-and poor business writing specifically-is now on show for all to see, the pandemic of sloppy writing is proliferating at the speed of light! And the cost? Inestimable! Irate clients, passed-over promotions, and damaged reputations are a high price to pay for not taking the cure to remedy your writing ailments. The treatment? Apply these six e-mail writing tips daily. Read more »

Employee Development: Expense or Investment?

Posted by on May 16, 2011 Comments Off
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text with the word ROI highlightedby Zoe Training staff

Zoe Training was recently featured in a Denver Business Journal article exploring whether employee training and development should be viewed an expense or an investment.

Although it’s easy in theory to say that employee development is an investment, as the report noted, “Despite some obvious advantages of training, some in the field say that in a tepid economy, employee development has been an easy line item to cross off.” According to Manpower’s 2010 Workforce Strategy Survey Global Key Findings (PDF), “Business leaders say they are focused on the professional development of their workforce yet this remains a weak spot for many organizations.  More than a third of employees say their organizations have not made training and development a priority.  A fifth say that training and development opportunity are inadequate for achieving the company’s business strategy–or are not provided at all.” Read more »

Body Talk: What is Your Body Saying?

Posted by on April 4, 2011 Comments Off
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Anna Conradby Anna Conrad

Warning: reading this will make you self conscious for the rest of the day.

There are over 250,000 ways of communicating without words; as a matter of fact, words account for only 5 percent of communication (anyone who is married might even say this number is too high). Can you accurately understand what people are saying to you, even if their words get in the way? More importantly, what are you saying to others? The following are few tips to help you decipher and improve body language: Read more »

Zoe Presenter Spotlight: Debra Fine

Posted by on March 28, 2011 Comments Off
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Debra Fineby Zoe Training staff

A sought-after expert on conversation skills and business social networking techniques for use at networking events and social functions, Debra Fine’s media appearances include: the Today Show, the Early Show, NPR, CNN, Fox Business News, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Men’s Health Magazine.

The formerly shy, tongue-tied “enginerd” is the author of the best-selling book, “The Fine Art of Small Talk.”

What’s your favorite topic(s) to present on? Why?

“The Fine Art of Building Relationships: Face to Face Interactions in an Online World.” Every individual and organization is looking to enhance relationships with potential as well as current clients/customers and gain increased visibility in the marketplace. This may mean making the most of out of networking occasions or simply turning every conversation into an opportunity. In addition, skills offered during my presentations benefit internal relationships with teams, mentors, C-Suite, staff and colleagues. This program is my favorite because it supplies tools that can be instantaneously implemented with immediate rewards. Read more »

What’s Your “Training Groundhog”?

Posted by on February 7, 2011 Comments Off
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groundhogby Ashley Andrus

In 2011, Punxsutawney Phil celebrated the 125th Anniversary of Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, PA.  On February 2nd, he emerged from his burrow and (according to folklore) predicted the arrival of spring.  According to the official rules of Groundhog’s Day, if he sees his shadow, there will be 6 more weeks of winter.  If, however, he does not see his shadow, we are in for an early spring.

Giving Phil the benefit of the doubt and assuming his prediction is correct, one must admire the precision of outcome metrics: Shadow = 6 weeks. No shadow = Less than 6 weeks. Clear, straightforward, easy to use.

Phil’s system got me thinking about the metrics (and lack thereof) often associated with training initiatives. Too often, organizations implement a training program with no clear plan for identifying actual outcomes and ensuring the ROI of the investment. Read more »

Zoe Presenter Spotlight: Mark Zalkin, Part 1

Posted by on January 3, 2011 Comments Off
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Mark Zalkinby Zoe Training staff

Being a seasoned international trainer and coach since 1985, as well as having a long history of serving as a professor and lecturer at various colleges and universities in the U.S. and Singapore, Mark Zalkin has had plenty of thought-provoking – if not life-changing – experiences that he was willing to share with us. This is the first of a two-part interview.

What are some things that inspire you about interactions with clients/participants?

I have learned that I only have to keep an open mind and I will usually learn something from my workshop participants and coaching clients. Like many trainers and coaches, I have used certain exercises and questions thousands of times because they are effective in reinforcing a point.

After 26 years, I can usually predict about 98 percent of the questions, answers, and outcomes stated by workshop participants and coaching clients. However, many times, a participant will make a observation that I never saw or even considered. I look forward to picking up new insights and nuances from my participants. This reinforces the old saying, ” if you want to really learn something, teach it.” Read more »

“Can You Imagine It?” Developing Your Vision and Strategy

Posted by on February 15, 2010 Comments Off
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by Tara Powers

Tara PowersThere is continuous talk in business about having a compelling mission and vision for your company but who really cares? Well, you should. Whether you are a large corporation or a small business owner, having a vision is essential to be able to communicate a picture of the future of your business that others can see, understand, and support. A vision helps motivate people into action. A vision engages, excites, and empowers people to move forward in a consistent direction together. A vision makes people more willing to make small sacrifices today for the hope of a better future. A vision helps people know what to do.

Convinced yet? I thought so. Then read on to develop an effective vision for your business with 7 key characteristics to include in your visioning strategy discussion.

7 Key Characteristics to Developing an Effective Vision

  • Be sure your vision tells a story that people can imagine. Can they see it? Can they see themselves in the story? Read more »

Becoming Paperless for Effectiveness and Efficiency

Posted by on November 9, 2009 Comments Off
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K.J. McCorryby K.J. McCorry

Efficiency expert K.J. McCorry, author of Organize Your Work Day In No Time, thinks that the world could be a better place if we’d all cut back on our consumption of paper. With the help of technology, that long-awaited goal might even be manageable.

Today’s employees are inundated with data, finding it more and more difficult to manage this overwhelming amount of data and yet be effective and efficient at their jobs. One of the keys to gaining efficiencies in data management and increasing productivity is to reduce the paper pileup.

Disadvantages of Paper

Although some workers still need, desire, and perhaps even love paper, it comes with some disadvantages: Read more »

Is Your Writing Style In Sync With Your Company’s Brand?

Posted by on August 17, 2009 Comments Off
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Julie Millerby Julie Miller

The blessing and the curse of the digital revolution! Between e-mail, instant and text messaging, cell phones, Blackberries and the Internet, we are drowning in data overload. Moreover, the constant interruptions are costing the U. S. economy an estimated $558 billion annually. This staggering number does not add in the cost of poorly written e-mails that land companies and employees in hot legal trouble, destroy long-term client relationships, and ruin reputations—just review Mike Brown’s e-mails (former FEMA chief) as Hurricane Katrina raged and you will understand. Add to this mix a lack of civility and common sense and you have an explosive brew.What to do? For starters, treat e-mail writing as writing not as casual conversation. Whether words are written in the sky, sent by carrier pigeon or via the Web, words must connect with the reader. Good writing allows this to happen; poor writing does not. Currently, writing online is still, as author Patricia O’Conner writes, in its Wild West stage a free-for-all with everybody shooting from the hip and no sheriff in sight.

Therefore, I would like to establish some law and order by recommending that all companies—from multi-nationals to sole proprietors—develop e-mail protocol. Simply stated it’s “the way we do business around here” in terms of communicating via e-mail with co-workers and customers. It is a code of behavior, a set of standards as to how you will frame your words, manage your inbox, even extend your brand. Read more »

Continuous Skills Improvement: The Tortoise & The Latte

Posted by on June 29, 2009 Comments Off
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stack of coffee cupsby Ashley Andrus

If Starbucks had a Most Valued Customer club I would have it made in the shade.  Those 600 locations they are closing?  Not my fault. Between my 6am get-‘er-done dose, various meetings, and insane afternoons that scream “get me a mocha STAT!” I estimate that I make an average of 2.3 daily visits to some Starbucks somewhere.

This has been my routine for the last 3.5 years. In that period I calculate I’ve consumed somewhere in the neighborhood of 35,259 ounces* of coffee.

That’s 275 gallons of coffee.

1100 quarts.

Heck, if coffee came in beer kegs, I would have consumed almost 18 of them. By myself.

And I did it all one “tall” serving at a time. Read more »

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