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Summary: Communication techniques for the work environment
Review: Communication skills are both some of the most important skills you can have and at the same time some of the most lacking skills in most people. In this book Jack Griffin provides helpful advice on how to evaluate and improve your communication skills. The book is filled with self-tests so you can evaluate how well you handle various communication skills. From there he provides an in-depth analysis of the most critical components of those skills followed by positive methods to improve your skills.All of the most common communication needs in a work situation are covered whether it is dealing with a supervisor, subordinate, customer, potential customer, creditors, customer complaints, vendors, investors or job interviews. One of the unique things about the book are the lists of words and phrases to use as well as ones to avoid and why. A recommended read for anyone seeking to improve their communication in all aspects of the work environment.
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Summary: Excellent and essential book for everyone
Review: I started teaching people to make PowerPoint presentations around 1992. Around 1995, I realized that many people were talking about themselves, so I suggested that the most important word they could use was "You." In 2003, I realized that people who wanted to be accepted by their audience should use the word "We." And then I picked up this book and read that the the three most important words in a business person's vocabulary were "we," "us," and "our." And that was on page eleven. At that point I was sold.
It's very easy to open your mouth and say your message in a way that alienates people. Very few people can negotiate difficult communications, but this book will help them do this. The book shows you words, phrases and body language to use and to avoid. It has numerous samples of conversations you can have with your fellow workers to put yourself in the best position.
The book covers all kinds of spoken business communications - the four largest sections include Getting a Job, speaking with your Supervisors, your Colleagues, and your Subordinates. Other groups are Prospective Clients, Current Clients, Handling Credit, Collection, and Customer Complaints, Vendors and Suppliers, and Lenders and Investors. In many cases you'll see the traps you can fall into.
You need to use this book with a little thought, in that the circumstances are usually similar to what you have to deal with, but not identical. But a few minutes' reading will change you from being a tongue-tied person to someone who achieves what you want.
I feel sorry for people who dismiss this and other similar books as "just common sense." I've known few people who possessed even a fraction of the skills shown in this book, and my own experience shows that I spent over ten years learning the information that appears in the beginning of the book.
Definitely a must-have, and a good book to build your general communications skills. And you'll stop coming away from meetings thinking, "I wish I could have said that better."
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Summary: Common sense will serve you better than this book
Review: I use Griffin's book regularly for work and always find great ideas and expressions to jumpstart my thinking process. This book is thorough and professional. It should be on every office reference collection.
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Summary: GOOD ADVICE BUT COULD BE 100 PAGES SHORTER
Review: I'm half-way through the book now and I found some pretty good advice there. The examples though not always the brightest are concise and should do the job of giving you a lead on how to go on from there (in your own style etc.) The bottom line: reccommended, but to be read 'smartly'.
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Summary: Waste of Time
Review: This book claims to provide important keys to office communication, but there is nothing ground-breaking here. In fact, it's a disappointing waste of time of the first order, as most of the items covered are mere common sense. If you need help remembering not to refuse a request by your boss by telling him that "that's not my job" then, by all means, purchase this book. Otherwise, try one of the 1000s of books out there that can really help you achieve this goal, such as Stephen Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" or Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People".
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Summary: Joining the job market when over 45
Review: This book gave me the ideas I needed to do the homework for interviews. I was fully prepared for my job interview though nervous. I was able to give the appropriate answers and ask the appropriate questions. In my current job this book has been useful when dealing with co-workers. I have shared some of the information on job interviews with a family member. She had been trying to get a job with a particular agency. She had three previous interviews. She aced the interview after we discussed presentation from this book.
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Summary: Practical, Situational, Inexpensive
Review: This book is (a) practical - it provides logical, step-by-step details that work, (b) situational - it is organized by the many types of conversations and interactions that one is likely to have on the job, and (c) inexpensive - it offers a lot for the money. Granted, some of the specific situations covered in this book occur regularly and will be most helpful to readers who may have little or no workplace experience. The book's real value, however, involves those interactions we have with our bosses, employees, customers, and suppliers that do not happen all that often. When these situations come up, emotions may run high and the stakes may be significant. In my experience, "common sense" alone wasn't always enough to ensure that I got what I needed and still maintained a good relationship with the other person. This book doesn't guarantee that (nothing does), but it does offer guidelines that have helped and worked for me. If you have natural political savvy on the job, you probably don't need the information in this book. If you are more comfortable dealing with tasks than dealing with the people in your workplace, I think you will find this book well worth twelve bucks and the few minutes it takes to read about a specific interaction before you're actually having it.
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Summary: Good ideas for the tongue-tied.
Review: This is an excellent book for anyone who thinks of the right response about three days too late. This book also provides a good framework on which to base verbal communication. It is especially useful for anyone that is shy, non-assertive, non-confrontational, or simply wants to put forth a professional image. I use it as an example in my Customer Service and Career Search classes and the students love it! I don't agree with absolutely everything in the book (I had a few problems with how to treat a tyrant boss), but overall, it was very good.
Rating:
Summary: Good ideas for the tongue-tied.
Review: This is an excellent book for anyone who thinks of the right response about three days too late. This book also provides a good framework on which to base verbal communication. It is especially useful for anyone that is shy, non-assertive, non-confrontational, or simply wants to put forth a professional image. I use it as an example in my Customer Service and Career Search classes and the students love it! I don't agree with absolutely everything in the book (I had a few problems with how to treat a tyrant boss), but overall, it was very good.
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