Стр. 33 - Skurikhin_Communicative style

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Did you know you can download a clock from the internet to calculate the cost of your
meetings? All you need to do is type in the number of attendees at the meeting and their
average hourly wage, and start the clock. As the seconds tick away and you see how
much those seconds are costing your company, you’ll start to appreciate what a terrible
waste of time – and money – most meetings are.
So what can you do? Firstly, make sure everyone arrives on time. No excuses. If five
people at a meeting are sitting around waiting for a sixth person to turn up, just think how
much money you are throwing away.
Secondly, get most of the work done before the meeting. That means sending round
detailed agendas, with clear instructions for all participants telling them what they need
to do to prepare for the meeting. Again, accept no excuses if someone fails to prepare
properly. That means the meeting itself can focus on problem-solving and decision-
making rather than wasting time explaining the problem that needs to be solved or the
decision that needs to be made.
Thirdly, stick to the agenda. Don’t let anyone hijack the meeting by chatting about
something irrelevant. If they want to talk about those things, let them call their own
meeting. Don’t let them take over yours.
Fourthly, set a time limit and stick to it. There’s nothing worse than a meeting that goes
round and round in circles with no decisions ever being finalised. A time limit can be a
great way to focus everyone’s minds on the purpose of the meeting and the need to
achieve something concrete …and then to go back towork and start implementing the
decisions.
Of course small talk has its place, but that place is not a meeting.
Text 2
Small talk is the cement that holds businesses together Did you know that 50% of
business communication is actually small talk? Small talk is a vital part of working with
other people: finding out what they’re doing, what they’re having problems with, and
what they think they should be doing differently. Perhaps even more importantly, it’s
about getting to know your colleagues and business partners as people, not just as
business machines. Business is very largely based on trusting people, helping and being
helped by people and persuading people to do things. How can you achieve any of those
things if you don’t spend time getting to know each other?
When is this relationship-building supposed to happen? Outside of working hours? No,
that’s not right if we accept that relationship building is real work. When we’re sitting at
our computers or in our offices? No, that’s when we might need to avoid interruptions
and stay focused. So when, then? A lot of the best small talk happens accidentally: the
classic situations are the queue for the photocopier, the coffee machine or the water
cooler. But a much more systematic and effective way to build good relationships
between people from different departments is to allow small talk to flourish in meetings.
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