Communicate to Transform

Communicate to Transform Business Communications Strategy Specialists. For twenty years we've been training & coaching busine We start with Communications. We help with team building.

We are here to help you and your business grow the bottom line. We have a way to train you, and your entire team, in cutting edge conflict resolution to navigate those difficult conversations to win-win outcomes when things go off track. We are the only company in the world to offer, economical, difficult conversation training for the entire work group including new hires throughout the year. We help you grow rich with peace of mind.

We're very excited to announce the new FindAmentor.com, where you can find a mentor, be a mentor or set up a mastermind ...
08/28/2025

We're very excited to announce the new FindAmentor.com, where you can find a mentor, be a mentor or set up a mastermind group.

We have over 2000 categories where you can get help in a particular career path or aspect of life, or you can be a helper. Please join as a mentor. People want and need your help and support if your an expert in a particular aspect of life. Its all free. Pay it forward.

There 's over a thousand career categories and many other categories under Education, Life Stages and Process, and Spirituality, so can can excel in all aspects of life with support, and maintain balance in your life.

We can inspire you every morning too. Simply sign up for our free Daily Inspirational Email, where we send you quotes from 3 or more thought leaders to get the started off in a reflective and positive tone. Check out Find A Mentor : https://findamentor.com/

10/14/2024

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 🍁🦃 Here's a positive corporate communications challenge for all leaders out there.

Why not start your meetings with a moment of gratitude? Ask attendees to share something they are thankful for, setting a positive tone for the discussion.

End the meeting with a visualization exercise, imagining the successful completion of action items from the meeting, or other goals they have.

Let's embrace gratitude and positivity in our corporate communications.

Like this post if you thinks this a good idea.

Comment if you're going to accept the challenge. Thank you.

04/02/2022

Embrace Diversity

Family business owner? Why you want to hire a team of employees that becomes a bigger asset to the company, than yoursel...
03/11/2022

Family business owner? Why you want to hire a team of employees that becomes a bigger asset to the company, than yourself!

It can be very tough to do, but businesses are worth more when selling if the business operates perfectly without the owner needing to be there. It also makes it easier to transfer the company to the next generation if that’s your goal.

So how to you do it? Hiring & internal leadership development must be spot on. Hire people that can do your job better than you. It might cost a lot in the short term to do this, but if you can cash flow it, do it. In the long term it will make you much more.

When I was building my cell phone store business there were times some employees were paid more than myself, & I’ve heard other business builders say the same. It pays in the long run. Be focused on growth, team development and providing the best work environment so you can find the best people in your industry & keep them. Ensure your leadership team is focused on the same. Train them to be great conversationalists — our conversations make all the difference. How we do the corrective ones, supportive ones, & how we direct our employees are all about how we talk to them.

I often start my conversation training sessions by saying everyone in this room, or on this Zoom, is a good communicator. If you weren’t you wouldn’t have friends or a job. But those speaking patterns that get us by in daily conversations when things are normal, often hinder difficult or sensitive conversations. Some words & expressions we use habitually that can affect that tough talk negatively. Send your leaders to conversation training. You can do it without having them leave the office & keep your soft training costs down.

Make sure you have a system to identify potential leaders & develop their leadership skills. A formal mentor program is a great idea, & the conversations that need to happen within that program, can be systemized & guided with forms.

Have at least 4 business mentors yourself, is a tip I share with business owners. The formula served me well at different times in my career. I remember wondering whether to join a group lawsuit with other store owners, wondering if it was wise to do. I phoned 4 mentors. In the process I learned it was a common strategy that worked well when dealing with a multi-national. We went ahead & things were resolved in four short months.

To summarize: Hire people that can do your job better than you. Build a system for communicating with your people that keeps them engaged working hard & smart. Train on how to navigate those difficult conversations. Implement a system for identifying & developing future leaders. Make sure you have at least 4 business mentors yourself.

If you want some help with any of these initiatives, we’ve been helping family business owners do these things for twenty years. Check us out at https://www.successtoolchest.com/ Thanks for reading & interacting. Have a wonderful day.

Mike

I can’t believe he texted that! How & when to use phone, text, emails & in-person meetings. I've had business owners sha...
03/04/2022

I can’t believe he texted that!
How & when to use phone, text, emails & in-person meetings.
I've had business owners share many frustrations regarding their people using different communications platforms. “Staff doesn't know when to just pick up the phone - wasting time on long multiple texts when it could be more effective & efficient with a 1 or 2-minute phone call.
So, here’s a lesson on best practice business communications using different technologies.
Keep in mind, only about 10-20% of interpersonal communication is words alone. Over 80% of communication works with other assets.
We have 4 primary communication assets in an interaction with another person.
· Word choice
· Facial expression
· Body language
· Tone of voice
Text & email offer words to read only. We loose 3 of our communication assets. When 80% is missing, misinterpretations are common & can be detrimental to the relationship, so be careful how you use the different technologies. When emotions are heightened, &/or the stakes are high, avoid text & email communication only to resolve problems or difficult situations. Things could get worse easily.
General rules:
1. When emotions are charged, or there is a high possibility of it, & the situation is difficult or complicated, do an in-person meeting whenever possible. Do corrective conversations with a staff member, in person & in private.
2. If you can’t do an in-person conversation, use a video call or, at the very least, pick up the phone. With phone you have 2 assets working for you. You’re still missing 2, but it can work effectively at times. Phone is quicker when discussing complex issues or situations. We talk on average at a rate of 150 words a minute. The average typing speed is 40 words per minute. Slower for two fingers. Which is more time efficient? Is your & your teams’ time valuable? Yes.
3. Use email for long, or short, detailed information delivery & when there is no emotional charge. Use it for confirmations, send details of a contract or confirm details of a verbal agreement. Send a meeting agenda or list of expectations of action items agreed too.
4. Use text for short, quick messages & confirmations. Jumping on the phone usually saves a lot of time when discussing complicated scenarios. Long back & forth texts are not efficient & clarity takes longer. Mis-interpretation possibilities are likely. Do not use text if there is high negative emotional energy present in either party.

If you think you might get a negative response, pick up the phone or go see the person. You can deal with negative responses much more effectively & turn them into win-win outcomes when you have all your communication assets working.
If you want some help training your people in best practice communications for difficult conversations, check out the CONTACT 20-20 training & other services offered at https://www.successtoolchest.com/

We've updated our home page at https://www.successtoolchest.com/ Check it out. If you have feedback, we would love to he...
03/03/2022

We've updated our home page at https://www.successtoolchest.com/
Check it out. If you have feedback, we would love to hear it. Have a wonderful day. Thanks

Mike

What’s happening in your business that you don’t know about?Bad-vibe viruses and leaders being ‘un-aware’ are the cause ...
02/22/2022

What’s happening in your business that you don’t know about?

Bad-vibe viruses and leaders being ‘un-aware’ are the cause of the recent tsunami of people looking to change jobs. 50% of people would change jobs tomorrow if an opportunity arose. WOW.

S--t happens at work. People get disgruntled. They feel disrespected or cheated in some way and they spread that negative energy. It can become like a virus. Often the owners and managers aren’t even aware its happening.
How do you find out if your people are thinking of, or wanting to leave? How do you find out what aspects of your business operations could improve to engage employees and create loyalty? Survey your employees with a detailed business inquiry — sometimes called an employee satisfaction survey.

We suggest surveying the workgroup every 5-7 years when things are stable. Every year for a couple years if you’re having problems with finding good people, or staff retention, low sales and profits, poor productivity, and efficiency, etc. Your people are your biggest asset. They affect the numbers on your financials. It’s a good idea to know what’s going on in their minds.

Our Success Tool Chest Survey includes key questions to give you an idea of exactly what’s going on, at the different levels of your business. It’s a free template that includes important questions we think need to be asked.
Here are the main categories to consider when surveying your work group:
1. THE WORK ITSELF.
2. DECISION MAKING
3. QUALITY, CUSTOMER SERVICE AND WORK PERFORMANCE.
4. INNOVATION AND CHANGE
5. MY SUPERVISOR
6. DEVELOPMENT/OPPORTUNITY
7. TEAMWORK and COMMUNICATION FLOW
8. SAFETY
9. COMMITMENT TO MY COMPANY

Under these categories our survey template includes 65 questions. Feel free to use our template as a base to design a survey that works for your company. Get your free survey template now, and if you use our templates, you can establish what your Success Tool Chest employee satisfaction rating is.

Click here for your survey template https://www.successtoolchest.com/free-survey-docs
Good luck. Have a great day.
Mike

How to set up an internal mentor program – 7 key elements.One sure way to make sure your company is preparing for the fu...
02/14/2022

How to set up an internal mentor program – 7 key elements.

One sure way to make sure your company is preparing for the future and avoiding being affected by the job change virus. An Internal Mentor program. Here’s the benefits and how to set one up.

People are changing jobs at the highest rate in our modern history. You can set your company up to avoid this trend for your business. We've had incredible success with mentor programs in companies as small as 30 employees. A good mentor program starts with clear objectives.

The focus of your mentor program should be to 1) identify future leaders, 2) develop leaders to be even better than the current ones.

The benefits of implementing a mentor program include:
· Increased employee retention. People like to learn and increase their value to employers.
· Increased employee engagement and loyalty. With encouragement offered in a good mentor program people work harder and appreciate your company more.
· Increased desire to work for your company because people see opportunity for advancement making it easier to attract good new employees and become an employer of choice in your industry.
· Assuring the continuation of a successful business culture, transferring of knowledge and attitudes required for success. A good program will actually make your success culture stronger and more resilient.
Setting up an effective mentoring program is key to the future success of your business.

Here are some key elements to consider:
1. Assign a mentor program champion or co-ordinator that communicates regularly with the mentors and mentees.
2. Have clear objectives and make sure mentors and mentees are aware of those.
3. Document everything. Forms for mentor sessions. Forms for goals and skills the mentee is developing that align specifically with your companies’ unique processes, leadership duties, etc. Identify leadership traits & make sure mentees set goals for which of those traits he/she/they is developing. Include hard skills relating to your industry, and soft skills.
4. Research - find out what outside training programs make sense for the mentees to take. Find at least two programs and over the period of the mentor program, make sure the mentees attend those courses.
5. Include structure for: Common mentoring, Multi-mentoring, Peer mentoring and masterminding, Vertical mentoring.
6. Survey the mentors and mentees separately once peer year and adjust program as needed.
7. Set a time frame for the program - two years.

If you’re a business owner - senior leader within your organization and want some free mentoring yourself on this topic, you can book a free 30-minute strategy session with me by clicking this link. https://www.successtoolchest.com/mentor-program-submission
Keep in mind, a mentor program is only one part of a successful internal communication strategy and system for your business, albeit a very important one. Thanks for reading.
Mike

Does an internal mentor program really work? One sure way to make sure your company is prepared for the future and avoid...
02/11/2022

Does an internal mentor program really work?

One sure way to make sure your company is prepared for the future and avoiding being affected by the job change virus is an internal Mentor program. People are changing jobs at the highest rate in our modern history. You can set your company up to avoid this trend for your business.

River, A mentoring software company surveyed their customers employees and found:
· 90% said that the mentoring program helped them develop a positive relationship with another individual in the company.
· 89% said that they feel like their company values their development because they offer a mentoring program.
· 89% said mentoring allowed them to contribute to the success of their company.
· 82% said that participating in their company’s mentoring program gave them a feeling of control over their development needs.
· 83% said that their mentoring experience positively influenced their desire to stay at their organization.
· 83% said they speak positively about their organization to others because of their mentoring experience.
· 91% of mentees said they experienced competency improvement in one or more of the areas that they worked on in their mentoring relationship.
· 88% of mentors and mentees agree that their productivity or effectiveness increased due to their current mentoring experience.
· 83% of participants said mentoring helped them enhance skills they need to perform their job.
· 96% reported that they could apply the information gained from the group mentoring experience directly to their role in the organization.

We've had incredible success with mentor programs in companies as small as 30 employees. A good mentor program starts with clear objectives. I think the focus of your mentor program should be to 1) identify future leaders, 2) develop those leaders to be even better then the current ones.

Get a free consult on how a mentoring program could work for your unique organization:
If you’re a business owner/senior leader within your organization and want some free mentoring yourself on this topic, you can book a free 30-minute strategy session with me by clicking this link. https://www.successtoolchest.com/mentor-program-submission

Watch for my next post on Monday where I'll share 7 key elemets for setting up a great internal mentor program!

Keep in mind, a mentor program is only one part of a successful internal communication strategy and system for your business, albeit a very important one. Thanks for reading. Go out and make it an awesome day.
Mike

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