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Short articles for technology professionals on communication with colleagues and customers

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Task Management Canvas

Task Management Canvas

According to reliable sources, there are currently 8,045,311,447 people in the world. 35% of them are either under 15 or over 65, so they have nothing to do all day. However, this leaves 5,229,452,460 busy individuals managing a wide variety of tasks. Based on my...

Interesting questions

Interesting questions

Children ask the most amazing questions: “When lightning hits the sea, why don't all the fish die?”; “Do blind people see pictures when they dream?”; “Why are you sad, Mummy?”. Their questions are often thought-provoking and intimate. They are triggered by sincere...

Mon Carnet de Notes pour les Conversations Difficiles

Mon Carnet de Notes pour les Conversations Difficiles

Ce carnet (en anglais) offre un aperçu rapide de cette série et un point de départ pour votre propre carnet, comme support pour la pratique des compétences de Conversations Difficiles. Le carnet peut être téléchargé en plusieurs formats, y compris Excel. Bonne lecture...

My Difficult Conversations Notebook

My Difficult Conversations Notebook

This notebook provides a quick overview of this series and a starting point for your own notebook, as a support for practicing Difficult Conversation skills. The notebook can be download in multiple formats, including Excel. Enjoy ! Comments, suggestions and enquires:...

Fermer la Boucle d’un Échange Difficile

Fermer la Boucle d’un Échange Difficile

Si vous dévalez une pente, sur des rochers et des racines d'arbres, sur un vélo de cross-country, sur quoi vous concentrez-vous ? Si vous conduisez sur une autoroute bondée, avec des voitures qui s'entrecroisent devant vous, sur quoi vous concentrez-vous ? Si vous...

Closing the Loop on a Difficult Exchange

Closing the Loop on a Difficult Exchange

If you're hurtling downhill, over rocks and tree roots, on a cross-country bike, what do you concentrate on? If you're driving on a crowded motorway, with cars criss-crossing in front of you, what do you concentrate on? If you're in a meeting, with clever arguments...

Comprendre et Exprimer ses Besoins dans un Échange Difficile

Comprendre et Exprimer ses Besoins dans un Échange Difficile

Il y a quelques semaines, dans un univers parallèle, un client m'a appelé pour me dire : "Andy, nous avons essayé d'utiliser le logiciel que vous nous avez vendu et nous avons rencontré des difficultés. En fait, nous avons manqué une livraison critique la semaine...

Understanding and Expressing Needs in a Difficult Exchange

Understanding and Expressing Needs in a Difficult Exchange

A few weeks ago, in a parallel universe, a customer called and said, “Andy, we’ve been trying to use the software you sold us and have run into difficulties. In fact, we missed a critical delivery last week and management is telling me that failure this week is not an...

Explaining Feelings Accurately and Sensitively in a Difficult Exchange

Explaining Feelings Accurately and Sensitively in a Difficult Exchange

Imagine the following Difficult Conversations: I’ve messed up my calendar and have to explain to my partner that, instead of going out with them this evening, I must work late I’ve messed up my roadmap and have to explain to my boss that, instead of being able to...

Postures possibles pour « managing up »

Postures possibles pour « managing up »

Voici une bonne nouvelle concernant les diverses compétences en matière de communication, applicable à n'importe quel contexte : si vous interrogez des professionnels sur ce sujet aujourd'hui, vous obtiendrez d'excellentes réponses - nettement meilleures, je crois,...

Starting a Difficult Exchange Safely by being Brief and Factual

Starting a Difficult Exchange Safely by being Brief and Factual

Suraj and I broadcast a podcast on Difficult Conversations a few days ago and we asked participants for ideas on best practices. “Focus on the problem” was suggested and the person who’d suggested this explained: when confronting someone , talk about the issue and...

Ajuster ses Intentions lorsqu’on Mène une Conversation Difficile

Ajuster ses Intentions lorsqu’on Mène une Conversation Difficile

Mon client aborde à nouveau la question de la chaîne d'approvisionnement, comme il l'a fait lors de la dernière réunion et de la précédente, et depuis aussi longtemps que je me souvienne. Comme d'habitude, il le fait juste au moment où j'aborde des sujets qui me...

Conversations Difficiles, Ponts et Trolls

Conversations Difficiles, Ponts et Trolls

Les trolls sont un problème quand on veut traverser un pont. Surtout lorsque le pont en question est glissant et vacillant.  Il faut parfois des heures pour s'en occuper et, bien sûr, les trolls représentent un danger pour la santé et la sécurité. Une conversation...

Adjusting Intentions when Leading a Difficult Conversation

Adjusting Intentions when Leading a Difficult Conversation

My customer brings up supply chain issues again, just as they did last meeting and the one before, and for as long as I can remember now. As usual, this is done just when I’m getting to topics that are important to me and the question is accompanied by an agonized,...

A Troll-Taming Loop for Reconciling a Difficult Exchange

A Troll-Taming Loop for Reconciling a Difficult Exchange

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way" (Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, 1878). We posit that a key attribute of happy families, and effective people in general, is that they can bring Difficult Conversations to a satisfactory...

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