The Golden Rules Of Effective Communication

Here are the 12 golden rules of effective communication from Paul Falcone, as highlighted in his book, 2600 Phrases for Setting Effective Performance Goals.

Always remember to:

1. Recognize achievements and accomplishments often.
2. Celebrate success.
3. Deliver bad news quickly, constructively, and in a spirit of professional development.
4. Praise in public, censure in private.
5. Assume responsibility for problems when things go wrong, and provide immediate praise and recognition to others when things go right.
6. Create a work environment based on inclusiveness, welcoming others' suggestions and points of view.
7. Listen actively, making sure that your people feel heard and understood and have a voice in terms of offering positive suggestions in the office or on the shop floor.
8. Share information openly (to the extent possible) so that staff members understand the Why behind your reasoning and can ask appropriate questions as they continue along in their own path of career development and learning.
9. Remember that thankfulness and appreciation are the two most important values you can share with our employees and teach them to live by: make them the core foundation of your culture.
10. Put others' needs ahead of your own and expect them to respond in kind (a.k.a. "selfless leadership," otherwise known as "servant leadership").
11. When dealing with others' shortcomings, always err on the side of compassion.
12. Solicit ongoing feedback and suggestions form your team in terms of how you could do things differently, thereby stimulating creativity and innovation.