It has been several years since I have had to travel, or TOUR, with my wife. For me the travel ban due to Covid has been a blessing. The Covid-19 pandemic started in March of 2020. And our first trip was in July of 2022. On August 1, the Oceania cruise line said negative Covid test results were no longer required to board the ship.

 

Well, with the restrictions easing, and my step-daughter, her husband and two dogs moving into our house while they remodel theirs, my wife wanted to get the heck out of Dodge. So she planned a trip to Portugal and a Mediterranean cruise to Morocco and Spain. The trip is about three weeks.

 

Our first warning was Heathrow Airport requesting people avoid their airport. They are short-staffed and thousands (and I mean thousands) of suitcases are stacking up in the terminal and not getting to the intended destination.

 

Well, of course we are booked through Heathrow, so we packed an emergency carry on with necessary toiletries, medicines, and a change of clothing. We lucked out and things turned out fine with our bags arriving with us in Lisbon, Portugal.

 

We were easily able to get a cab at the airport and it took us directly to our hotel, the Avenida Palace. This is a beautiful hotel located in a great part of the city. It was walking distance to many restaurants, cafes, and the river with more restaurants.

 

When we checked into the hotel we used our passports. All hotels and trains require passports to check in or buy travel tickets. And this hotel also provided a wonderful buffet breakfast included in the room charge.

 

On the first morning at breakfast we are sitting at a table overlooking a lovely busy street when the server comes over with a makeshift cake. It had three pancakes with Nutella spread between each, and on top was free cut fruit and a single candle in the middle.

 

The server said this was a birthday greeting as he looked at me. My first response was, “It’s not my birthday.” And then it hit me; yes, today is my birthday. They must have noticed the date on my passport when we checked in.

 

We had a very similar experience in Paris, France about 15 years earlier. We were in the hotel, it was around dinner time, we were tired, but we were hungry. I offered to go out and bring back some food.

 

There was a nearby McDonalds and I brought back some hamburgers, and that was our dinner.

 

The next day as we are getting on a tour bus I noticed the date on the ticket was the date after my birthday. We realized we both completely forgot about my birth day. It only comes once every 365 days or so, so it’s easy to overlook.

 

And that explains my comment to the server in Lisbon that brought the makeshift cake, “It’s not my birthday.”

 

After breakfast we walked about a 100 yards and purchased tickets to the Hop On, Hop Off bus. If you don’t know how those work you purchase a ticket and it’s good for 24 hours. They have about six to ten languages that explain the city you’re visiting. There are about 15 or 20 stops where you can Hop Off and explore something in more detail, a museum, castle, palace, zoo or whatever.

 

When you are done with your visit you Hop On the next bus that arrives and continue your tour of the city. The full loop, if you don’t Hop Off, is usually around two hours. You get the history of a city anywhere in the world with these bus tours.

 

WiFi

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I have a lap top computer that will not connect to any unsecured, open WiFi network. While that protects my computer from anyone able to easily hack into it while it is in use, it also prevents me from using it to reply to emails and file them in my customer relationship management (CRM) program.

 

I am only able to reply to emails on my smart phone, and need to keep them all until I return home and can save them to the correct client, tenant or customer contact records.

 

After three days in Lisbon, it was off to Porto, Portugal, and that will be the next blog post.

New Blog and Website

We are excited to announce that we have a new website and blog at http://possibilitiesunlimited.com/. We will no longer be posting to this blog but our new site offers a lot, including several training courses in business management, sales and profit and our free Deeper Dive group call.  Join us at http://possibilitiesunlimited.com/.

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How to Communicate Well at Work

How to Communicate Well at Work

WholeLife Matrix: Career Camaraderie – Communication 

“Communication - the human connection - is the key to personal and career success.”  — Paul J. Meyer

Since we spend much of our time at work, learning good communication skills with others at work and having good relationships is essential.  Good communication helps to ensure that we are on the same page with others, makes us more efficient and happier both at work and in our personal lives.  Here are some tips to help you communicate well at work:

Listen Fully
Carefully listen to what the other person has to say.  Often we don’t listen very carefully because we are thinking about what we are going to say next or believe we know what the other person is going to say, which causes us to interrupt.  Giving the person your full attention while listening will help ensure that you hear and understand everything they want to say.  Open communication is also best for accomplishing goals.

Restate What Someone Tells You
Repeat the important points that you are told in the conversation by rephrasing it to show that you are listening and understand the information that you have been given.  This is valuable because it allows any possible confusion to be cleared up and will help you to remember what was said. 

Observe Body Language
Observing the body language of people can tell you a lot about what a person is thinking and feeling.  For example, spread out fingers covering the face can mean “I can’t believe this”; if the person wearily leans away, it may mean they are tired of listening; various forms of arm crossing may mean the person is retreating or angry; a hand on the heart may show sincerity.

Acknowledge Preferred Communication Methods
People like to communicate with different tools.  Consider whether someone prefers to communicate by email, phone, Skype, text, social media or instant message.  Using the other person’s preferred form of communication to contact them will make it easier to reach them and you may have a better interaction with them.  If you realize that someone is hard to reach by phone but responds quickly to emails, switch to email communication.  Also, when communicating with people out of state, consider their time zone.

Review Your Tone
Before sending a message, think about how another person may interpret the tone. Letters, social media, and emails can be easily misinterpreted since the person can’t hear your actual tone of voice or see your body language, so it is important to review your message for tone before sending.  You may be trying to communicate a joke but end up sounding angry or insulting and, as a result, offend somebody.  In some cases, you may consider using emotion icons so that people can see the emotion associated with your message.  Be sure to use clear language and when you are angry, take time to relax before you write an email and before you send it.  In some cases it may be better to meet in person to resolve conflict.

Use Grammar Check
Always make sure to check your writing for spelling and grammar whether you are writing a resume, letter, or social media message.  Proofread until you no longer see errors and your writing sounds good.  In some cases, you may even want someone to proofread your writing to have a second pair of eyes look at things from a different perspective and offer advice for improvements.

Act Professionally
It is important to act professionally with your colleagues as well as your clients and customers.  People will have more respect for you if your meetings, phone calls, and emails are professional and you keep your appointments and other commitments.

Use Constructive Criticism

Constructive criticism is helpful in showing us where we might need to improve and teaches us new things.  Make sure that the person you are giving feedback to understands what you are telling them and make sure that you are considerate when giving feedback. Give positive feedback when a job is well-done.

Talk a Little About Life Outside Work
Talking with people a little bit about their life outside of work can help build a friendlier connection and trust.  You might ask people what they like to do outside of work or talk about someone’s kids if they have kids etc.

Continue to Practice Communication
The more you practice effective communication, the better you will get at it.  Notice how people react to your communication style to find areas where you can improve.

In the WholeLife Matrix, we have four aspects for developing good communication with colleagues:

1.  Shared Language

2.  Listen with Purpose

3.  Speaking Authentically 

4.  Supportive Communication

Are you ready to win?
Join the community taking a Deeper Dive into the WholeLife matrix. The free phone discussion meets every other Tuesday from 11am - Noon Pacific time.  Email me with "Deeper Dive" in the subject line: Ralph@Consulting2Win.com.