The Importance of Effective Communication

No matter how brilliant and invaluable your idea, it is worthless unless you can share it with others. For this reason, effective communication is crucial at every level of an organization. However, the ability to communicate effectively does not come easily to many people, and it is a skill that requires practice.

We begin practicing our communication skills even before we learn to walk. A newborn child communicates by crying, but it slowly learns to mimic its parents' speech. Eventually, the child discovers that certain speech patterns elicit different responses; one of the joys of parenting is trying to decipher the meaning behind certain "words." Does "baaaaaw" mean that the baby wants his ball, his bottle, or his blanket? Slowly, through trial and error, the child learns to manipulate sounds to get what it wants, and as the child develops, this active oral practice leads to more nuanced and fluid conversations. In short, the child learns effective communication.

To effectively communicate a complex idea, however, requires skills beyond elementary conversation. There are two golden rules to remember and follow.

The Importance of Effective Communication

Golden Rule #1: Organize thoughts in your mind before sharing them with others.

One idea often prompts a torrent of others. In order to share your ideas, you must first shape them coherently. Organization is important, because it creates a pattern for your listener, allowing him or her to grasp the larger picture intuitively. This allows the listener to focus on the details of your message, without struggling to understand how you went from Point A to Point B.

As a thought experiment, imagine that a colleague has asked you for directions to the airport. Write them down. Your directions will probably look something like:

* Drive west half a mile on Aurora.

* Take a left on Madison.

* At the third light, turn right and follow Dexter for 2-3 miles.

* Get on the interstate, heading south.

* Etc.

Now, with a pair of scissors, cut each line of instructions into a small strip of paper. Jumble the strips up and arrange them in a completely random order, then give them to your colleague. Even with mixed-up directions, s/he should have no trouble reaching the airport, right? After all, your directions are complete and accurate. Not a single step is missing.

The problem, of course, is that your directions are also completely unorganized, rendering them useless. Your colleague will find it impossible to focus on your message itself, because he or she will struggle to follow your message's structure (or lack thereof).

Golden Rule #2: Communication is collaborative, not competitive.

Thrusting your idea on others mars the beauty and integrity of conversation. Communication is in some ways like a dance; each partner plays off the other, basing his or her steps on the other person's, while simultaneously maintaining a certain amount of individuality.

Communication is a two-way process involving an exchange of ideas. If you try to make it one-way, you prevent this exchange and will eventually frustrate the other person. You may also frustrate yourself, if you read the other person's lack of verbosity as disinterest in the conversation, rather than an inability to get a word in.

The hallmark of effective communication is the coherent verbal projection of your ideas, so that your listener receives the message that you intend to send. By observing these two rules, you will reduce miscommunication and misunderstandings.

The Importance of Effective Communication
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Barbara Stennes, CSP, is president and owner of Resources Unlimited, a consulting firm based in Des Moines, Iowa. She is widely recognized as an expert on team building, customer service, creativity, and innovation. To learn how Barbara can help your organization, please visit Resources Unlimited or de Bono Online.

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Managing Organizational Change - Using Innovation For Business Growth

The life cycle that is within any business consists of a variety of changes, growth spurts and the need to keep everything stable. As a business grows and changes, is also the need to ensure that the opportunities are taken care of effectively. Managing organizational change in the correct manner is one that allows for everyone who is working within the business to have the opportunity to grow with the business and to do so without resistance or difficulties with the changes.

A business can go through several effective organizational changes, all which are designed to enhance a business and to helps it grow. However, the need for change is sometimes stopped or moves into a yield because of employees, leaders and individuals that don't completely understand the change. Along these lines, the culture may not be as accepting of the alterations that are taking place within the organization, which can lead to discomfort and individuals who are no longer satisfied with the work place. Making sure that this is taken care of first ensures that the right change moves into any business.

The main component that any organization will want to look at when moving towards organizational change is to use innovation when building what is needed within a company. This provides specific needs to take place within the business without having as much resistance as would take place otherwise. Starting by seeing where individuals are in relation to the company provides the best insight into this. For example, taking surveys or filling out a questionnaire will help to see where an organization and it's employees are at.

Managing Organizational Change - Using Innovation For Business Growth

After there is a complete analysis of the employees, leaders and individuals that are within the work area, there can then be a plan of action to begin implementing the necessary changes to help with business growth. When doing this, the leaders will need to use a step by step process that will help everyone in the business to understand what is occurring. This includes training, knowledge, research and step by step plans to get everyone moving onto the same page. This is where the innovation comes in, so that everyone in the company is comfortable with the changes that occur.

If you are in a business that wants to see how the implementation for managing organizational change occurs, than you can begin by looking at concrete examples of companies who have effectively grown into a new image and internal environment. For example, McDonalds has used concepts with organizational change to ensure that employees benefit from the changes, combined with innovation of the procedures used to build substantial growth for the entire company, from customers to individuals that are affiliated with the restaurant.

Making sure that you are able to build your business through different time frames, as well as through resistance, is what will ensure business growth. Understanding the abilities needed for managing organizational change ensures that everyone within the work area will stay comfortable and will have the ability to continue to move forward with the organization. The result will be the ability for the business to reach it's full capacity within the market and to continue to grow as a company.

Managing Organizational Change - Using Innovation For Business Growth
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Read more information about successfully implementing Organizational Changes for businesses at => http://www.organizationalstructurechanges.com

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Innovation in Business: Change As the Game Changes

In today's times with new ways of working, better manufacturing processes etc. coming up, the need for business innovation has risen greatly, with the world becoming a unified marketplace and globalisation, liberalisation etc. making trade and commerce and basically any and every kind of exchange of information raw materials, data etc. very easy, it has become very important for an organisation to keep reinventing and changing itself to help tackle the increase in competition. Also, it becomes very important that companies keep trying to find out better and more advanced ways to cut down costs, get better profits and at the same time help in deliver better and better value to the customer.

Business innovation now a days doesn't only mean making the product development better but it also means that the companies should keep in mind in inventing themselves in ways so that the internal and external customers goodwill towards the company increases.

Kinds of innovation that a company can make

Innovation in Business: Change As the Game Changes

Basically there are two kinds of levels where the company can make innovations:

• For the internal customer: This includes bringing in more advanced technology, making the work processes, the way of working for the company, making innovations in the company which help increase the internal customer loyalty as well as his interest to work.

• For the External customer: this includes making better and technologically advanced products, increasing safety standards for the various products better, giving the external customer more value for money.

A company can try and achieve the type of innovation required to beat competition by using the 'Innovation Life Cycle' effectively. This is basically a step by step way of innovating in your business, it includes:

• The first step is where the overall innovation idea is formulated, thought about in its infant form, in this various basic pros and cons of the innovation are thought about and then any irregularities are smoothed out.

• The second step is where the overall advanced concept is developed, in this the idea is usually tested out or simulated against real time market conditions and then the final blueprint of how the idea looks, where should it be implemented etc. is made.

• The third step simply is checking out the idea against real market conditions (with the help of test runs), it helps know how the concept fares against changes in the business environment and helps understand the market better also.

• Business innovation strategy plans are then prepared out and then the final commercialization is done.

• It becomes very important that the company keep following up closely with the plan, in fact innovation consulting says that it is only through constantly performing these kind of control measures that an organisation can remove out any chinks or flaws in their plans.

Innovation in Business: Change As the Game Changes
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Alan Marsh has 5 long years of career proficiency of working as a content writer. Throughout the years, Alan Marsh has been writing content about innovation in business, data management system, supply chain management solutions and b2b business to business has offered some of the outstanding contents to the viewers.

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History of the Curling Iron

History of the curling iron. Is there such a thing or is the curling iron just a modern invention? Each generation is the same. We think we have invented something new when perhaps all we have done is to modify "old inventions" by applying modern technology. Let us begin to investigate the history of the curling iron or, as it is also known, the curling tong.

Let us begin with the definition of a curling iron. It is a tool, a cylindrical metal appliance, used to change the structure of the hair by applying heat to a lock of hair that has been curled around it. It is natural to think with a modern mind and assume that the heat is generated by electricity. However, the curling iron goes way back before the introduction of electricity.

We only have to look at carvings from the ancient world to see that people cared about the style of their hair and that a popular style involved creating curls. Babylonian and Assyrian men dyed their hair and square beards black and crimped and curled them with curling irons. Persian nobles also curled their hair and beards, quite often staining them.

History of the Curling Iron

Egyptian nobles, men and women, cropped their hair close but later, for coolness and cleanliness in their hot climate, shaved their heads. On ceremonial occasions, for protection from the sun, they wore wigs. The wigs would be short and curly or long and full of curls or braids. The Science Museum has an example of curling tongs used by rich Egyptians to prepare their wigs.

In classical Greece it is known that the upper classes used curling irons.

Through time there have been many methods devised to curl hair and to keep the curl in place. For example, in 1906 Charles L. Nessler, a German hairdresser working in London, applied a borax paste and curled hair with an iron to produce the first permanent waves. This costly process took twelve hours. Eight years later, Eugene Sutter adapted the method by creating a dryer containing twenty heaters to do the job of waving more efficiently. Sutter was followed by Gaston Boudou, who modified Sutter's dryer and invented an automatic roller. By 1920, Rambaud, a Paris beautician, had perfected a system of curling and drying permed hair for softer, looser curls by using an electric hot-air dryer, an innovation of the period made by the Racine Universal Motor Company of Racine, Wisconsin. A significant breakthrough came in 1945, when French chemist Eugene Schueller of L'Oréal laboratories combined the action of thioglycolic acid with hydrogen peroxide to produce the first cold permanent wave, which was cheaper and faster than the earlier hot processes. To control the amount of curl, varying diameter of rods were used for rolling. Technology to hold hair in place was advanced in 1960 when L'Oréal laboratories introduced a polymer hair spray to serve as an invisible net.

The curling iron has remained a favoured tool in spite of all the chemical inventions. We have moved on from the metal rods heated by insertion into hot coals or heating on gas or electric stoves. With no control of the heat of the iron there must have been many cases of singed hair, not to mention burnt fingers and scalps! Modern day styles demand more control and flexibility of hair style with hair looking loose rather than "glued into place". Electrically heated and electronically controlled irons and tongs are now available. The barrels come in varying sizes enabling a tight curl or loose falling curl finish. Some have a smooth easy-glide ceramic barrel to create a super smooth finish and you can also purchase drop curl hair tongs with a cone shaped tong to create loose, tumbling waves and tousled curls. The fluctuation in hair styles from curly to straight and back again means manufacturers will continue to dream up new innovations to attract both professional hair stylists and the consumer.

So who "invented" the curling iron? Inevitably you find many references to "invented" and "patented by" or "introduced by". The original inventor is lost in the mists of time but examples of the previous sentence are:

In1866, Hiram Maxim, who designed the machine gun bearing his name, applied for and obtained the first of many patents at age 26 for a hair-curling iron.

Four years later in 1890 two Frenchmen, Maurice Lentheric and Marcel Grateau, used hot-air drying and heated curling tongs to make deep, long-lasting Marcel waves.

The Straightening comb however, is actually credited as first being invented by the late 19th century French hairdresser, Marcel Grateau, who also, invented the curling iron, the permanent wave and later the Gillette safety razor which became popular in Germany after World War I.

In related developments, Rene Lelievre and Roger Lemoine invented an electric curling iron in 1959.

The pressing/curling iron was patented by Theora Stephens on October 21, 1980.

In August 1987 the Wahl Clipper Corporation introduced to the professional market the ZeeCurl. This flat-barrel curling iron gave stylists a tool to create new hairstyles with Z-shaped curls, adding texture and body to all types of hair. In 1988, FrenZee, the consumer version, was added.

There is little doubt that fashion will demand and dictate new innovations to ensure continuation of the history of the curling iron.

Rodger Cresswell

History of the Curling Iron
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Rodger is Managing Director of Avondale Consultancy Limited and Consultant to JC Regali

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Organizational Structure, Creativity, Innovation

Organizational structure can inhibit or foster creativity and innovation. The problem with organizational structure though, is that it is resultant of many factors, including history, organic growth, strategy, operational design, product diversity, logistics, marketing, client base, supplier base and so forth. Therefore, what managers need, are not recipes for complete structural change, but insights into the properties of fostering structures that can be adapted into the existing structure.

To start, it is useful to analyse the preferred structures against the not so preferred. There are many definitions of types of organizational structure, but one example is:

a) Mechanistic structures (generally not preferred) - includes centralised control and authority, clearly defined tasks, vertical communication links, obedience to supervisors, rigidity and inflexibility.

Organizational Structure, Creativity, Innovation

b) Organic structures (generally preferred) - decentralisation of authority, tasks loosely defined, horizontal communications, greater individual authority, flexible, adaptable.

Experience shows that the above can be misleading. For example, flat organisations are generally preferred and hierarchical ones not preferred, however, even flat organisations are in reality hierarchical.

Importantly, if we have a mechanistic structure, what factors allow us to move in the right direction without wholesale change?

Some answers include:

a) Direct communication links to decision makers.

b) Communication and information flow between departments.

c) Tangible progression of ideas from problem to solution, product development to commercialisation.

d) Creative teams working outside but linked into the organization, whose culture, processes etc diffuse into the existing structure.

These and other topics are covered in depth in the MBA dissertation on Managing Creativity & Innovation, which can be purchased (along with a Creativity and Innovation DIY Audit, Good Idea Generator Software and Power Point Presentation) from http://www.managing-creativity.com

Kal Bishop, MBA

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Organizational Structure, Creativity, Innovation
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Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached on http://www.managing-creativity.com.

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