10 Tips to Communicate Effectively for Meetings

1. Write the way you speak – effective business communications use a conversational tone and avoid beingformal and stuffy.
2. Take a positive approach – negative messages cause listeners to become blocked emotionally and does not allow your audience to fully absorb the message.
3. Tell them how they benefit – if you want to reach your audience, tell them what they will gain from you.
4. Write at the correct level – business communication is meant to communicate.  Your audience must understand the message!
5. Never communicate when you’re angry – you do not want to use a condemning tone or burn bridges by letting your emotions get the best of you.
6. Anticipate questions – answer any potential questions you think might arise beforehand.  Your audience will benefit from being informed upfront.
7. Remove acronyms and jargon – acronyms, words and phrase within your specific industry may seem like everyday language, but make sure you are speaking to your audience.  Will everyone in the audience understand the industry jargon?
8. Longer is not necessarily better – extra content does not always enhance the message.  Make each word count.
9. Be patient – if you can spend the time writing a communication piece, take advantage of the extra time.
10. Do a final proof – write the communication one day, get a good night’s sleep and proof it one final time the next day.  Having another pair of eyes to review your writing is also helpful.

Find out how FUSION Performance Marketing can support your next meeting and Learn more about the FUSION Solutions.

Reference: (Walsh, Ivan.  “10 Tips to Communicate Effectively.”  Smart Planner, September 2010. www.smartmeetings.com)”

Key Elements of a Successful Incentive Program

FUSION prides itself on our expertise of the “ins and outs” of an incentive.  Below is a list of the crucial elements needed to maintain a successful incentive program.

Measurable & Realistic Program Objectives – to reward success, you must be able to measure it.  Expectations must be clear, specific and credible.  Nothing kills the effectiveness of a program quicker than setting unrealistic goals.

Specific Program Period – it is important to consider when to start and when to finish.  Start dates must be early enough to allow attainment and produce an effective return on investment.  End dates create a sense of urgency and allows for results evaluation.

Carefully Select Participants – choose the people who will have the most direct impact on the results you want to achieve.  Think of both the targeted employee group and the support team that affects that group as well, i.e. managers or supporting departments.

Significant Award Opportunities – awards must have a perceived value sufficient to justify the effort required to earn them.  A high performing participant should be able to earn an award value at 3-5% of their regular compensation.

Appealing Awards – there are two important factors to consider when evaluating potential awards.

1. Non-cash awards are much more effective than cash (see our blog on Cash vs. Non-Cash here.)
2. A group travel experience is the most appealing award you can offer.  No award is more requested by potential participants.

Clear Rules – “Do this, get that” is the objective when developing program rules.  Limit award opportunities to key results and behaviors.

Frequent Program Communication – this is critical for maintaining excitement and momentum.  The longer the time frame, the more communication is needed to ensure participants remain focused on program goals!

Performance Reporting – keep participants posted on their progress toward goals and awards with “performance statements.”

Budget Considerations – project potential levels of improvement and resulting revenue / profit increases.  Define acceptable, preferred and ideal results.

Clear Benchmarks for Program Success – this step is vital to evaluating program success and determining how to make your next program more effective.  Define your benchmarks after all other program elements are finalized before starting the program.  Set specific targets for program results and include historic seasonality in performance projections.

Ongoing Observation / Analysis – perform periodic reviews of performance and expenses to date; review quarterly for 12-month programs, bi-monthly for 6-month programs and monthly for programs of shorter duration.

Post-Program Evaluation – here is where the final version of your periodic reviews, comparing actual with estimated budget, occurs. Include post-program participant surveys and any subjective feedback.

Contact FUSION to find out how we can design an effective, profitable incentive program for your company.

What Can't You Live Without in Your Carry-On?

“You Bring It, You Carry It”.  It’s a mantra to use throughout your career in order to become a master at packing a carry-on bag. 

The things you can’t live without in your carry on:

• Entertainment of some sort - an iPod, an iPad,  noise cancelling headphones or even a good old-fashioned book.  Save yourself from unwanted small    talk with strangers on the plane!

• Travel Docs, Meds & Valuables - it should go  without saying that you NEVER pack your passport or meds, but just in case we added it this to the list.

• Cell Phone AND Charger – nothing worse than being delayed and not having your charger with you.

• Sweater, Shawl or Scarf – it’s a pillow or a blanket depending on your needs!

• Anti-bacterial lotion - you don’t even want to know where that plane has been!

What else can’t you live without in your carry-on bag?  

-  FUSION Air Travel Services

www.fpmglobal.com

Economics of Engagement

For employers in today’s economic environment, it is vastly important to keep employees engaged and motivated towards the company’s goals.  According to Schweyer, “Employee disengagement is estimated to cost the US economy as much as 350 billion dollars per year in lost productivity, accidents, theft and turnover.”  Engagement is not only important to the economy and to businesses, but also to society as work influences all aspects of life.

What employee engagement comes down to is the emotional commitment to the organization.  A study by Gallup in 2008 shows that 54% of employees in the U.S. are not engaged and another 17% are disengaged.  Only 29% of American employees are engaged.

Engaged employees are more productive and efficient.  They communicate – creating a work environment of shared ideas, which leads to better performance, greater innovation and happier customers.

What does having engaged employees mean for a business?

• 84% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively impact the quality of their company’s products, compared with 31% of disengaged
• 72% of highly engaged believe they can positively affect customer service, versus 27% of disengaged
• 68% of highly engaged believe they can positively impact costs in their job or unit, versus 19% of disengaged

One important factor that must exist for employee engagement to happen is positive relationship with the company.  Three relationships are most valuable in this measure:  employee to management, employees to their job/company and employees to other employees.

Today the American workforce has less than one-third of employees that can be considered “engaged.”  For both employee and customer engagement to “be high and stay high, an organization needs a solid culture and value system that supports the ingredients necessary for engagement,” says Schweyer.  In the near future engagement may become more than just an important asset.  “An engaged workforce will be a matter of survival.”

Find out how FUSION can help you keep your employees engaged with the FUSION Solutions.

Reference:  Schweyer, Allan.  “The Economics of Engagement.”  Human Capital Institute, June 2009.