How to Communicate Calmly
- Default to Asynchronous.
- Default to 1-to-1. (i.e. Default to zero cc’s on emails. Default to email, not Slack.)
- Before hitting Send on an email, ask yourself:
– “What questions might they ask when they receive my email?”
– “How can I more-clearly state this?”
– “Is this email even necessary to send?” - Always look 1 week ahead, anticipate customer questions, & communicate what you are (and aren’t) going to do before it happens.
- Eliminate surprises.
Additional Ideas to Build a Calmer Company:
“Now THAT was a good meeting!”
A single effective meeting can change the course of history for a company. Imagine if you could lead effective meetings EVERY DAY! You can, but it takes curiosity & practice. This article is a good place to start your journey to a more effective you.
Never Respond to RFPs & Custom Proposal Requests
Y’all who work at normal 9-5 jobs don’t need to deal with the B.S. that is an RFP process (or rather you get paid to deal with it).
But us freelancers gotta deal with a whole big bag of schtuff when it comes to custom proposals.
Here’s my quick-and-dirty RFP filtering process that I use every time.
(It’s about a minute read.)
Enjoy!
Toby
#business #smallbusiness #lifehacks #innovation #entrepreneurship #strategy #productivity #personaldevelopment #emotionalintelligence #culture #consultants #freelancers #contracts #freelancing
Continue Reading Never Respond to RFPs & Custom Proposal Requests
Dumping Paper Checks 3x’d My Profit
Your paper check-based billing is costing you more than you think.
An Alternative to Elon Musk
As I drudge myself out of bed for yet another war with monotony, a battle with my fat-old-man eating habits, a valiant clash with against my child’s militant stand against doing their homework, and an overall feeling of blech due to our country’s unsteady Coronovirus response, I discovered this article and quote lionizing a quote Elon Musk gave to TED in 2017: “If you’re not progressing, you’re regressing; so, keep moving forward.” BLECH! Thankfully, we have an alternative to Musk’s medicine.
Surprises are Perilous.
Today I received a surprise bill for $157 from a vendor. I hate surprises.
Remote Work Resources
Coronavirus has forced us into a reality where our friends who are fortunate enough to have jobs, are forced to adapt to the new world of remote work. Thankfully, there’s tons of remote work tools & resources out there. I’ve compiled some of those tools & resources here.