Learn how to avoid the Curse of Knowledge with your team in 3 easy steps. In the video, I discuss the famous Tappers & Listeners study which was conducted by Elizabeth Newton back in 1990. Learn more: Read my "Influencing Virtual Teams" Amazon best selling book Subscribe to my YouTube Channel Follow my Facebook Page Check out Made To Stick by Chip & Dan Heath ... Read More
How to Facilitate a Meeting [Includes FREE Meeting Agenda Template and Meeting Minutes Template]
This post will give you everything you need to know about how to facilitate a meeting. You'll learn what you need to do before your meeting, during your meeting, and after your meeting to run it effectively. As a bonus, I'll also give you a free meeting agenda template and a free meeting minutes template that you can download and use instantly with your own team. Quick side note: This post is an excerpt from my bestselling book Influencing Virtual Teams, and the meeting minutes template ... Read More
3 Fun and Easy Virtual Team Building Activities
Update: I launched a "Fun Virtual Team-Building Activities" book that includes 18 easy games you can play on Zoom or Webex with your team (no special apps needed & includes downloadable templates). I'm donating some of the profits to COVID-19 efforts. Click here to learn more. Virtual teams can feel very lonely. Remote employees are typically focused on their own silo, and rarely interact informally with their peers and managers like they would in a regular office. Meetings in particular can ... Read More
A 60-Second Overview of “Influencing Virtual Teams”
If you didn't get the chance to read my "Influencing Virtual Teams" bestselling book, or if you have read it and would like a simple refresher of the 17 tactics presented in it, here's a quick 60-second overview on SlideShare. I hope you find it helpful! Hassan P.S. - Can I ask for a quick favor? If you've read the book, would you take 1 minute to review it on Amazon? I would love to hear your feedback (I read every single review), and it would mean the world to me. Click here to ... Read More
6 Uncommon Tips for Running a Virtual Meeting
I recently wrote an article for the premier edition of SOLVE Magazine, a new publication created by Time Warner Cable Business Class. The article discusses 6 unconventional tips about how to run virtual meetings. The title is “Remote Meetings That Get Results: Keep your employees on the same page, even when they’re not in the same city,” and is a relatively short read (1 page). I’ll think you’ll find some of those tips quite helpful, especially the “Don’t bother with meeting minutes” ... Read More
How To Increase Confidence and Reduce Stress in 2 Minutes Using Simple Power Poses
I just watched this video and thought it was remarkable. Professor Amy Cuddy from the Harvard Business School conducted research on "Power Poses" and the impact they have on your confidence and stress levels. Apparently, doing simple power poses (like standing with your hands on your hips or putting your feet up on a desk) for only 2 minutes before a meeting, presentation, or performance could give you a significant confidence boost that makes you perform at a much better level. It's ... Read More
How to Listen like a CEO (and a great parent)
“You’ve spent years learning how to read and write, years learning how to speak. But what about listening?” – Stephen Covey So true. Whether you listen as a salesman, a consultant, a CEO or a parent, you’ve probably spent very little time honing your skills as a listener. In Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which I just re-read after reading it around 13 years ago, the chapter on Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood (which happens to be my one-sentence ... Read More
How to Create Hand Drawn Pictures to Explain Anything (Even if You Don’t Know How to Draw)
Drawings and sketches are some of the most effective ways to explain anything to anyone (that's why I use them frequently on my blog). They help people understand a problem and see its solution in a much more efficient way than talking about it or writing it out. I’m not referring to the usual PowerPoint diagrams or Excel charts (even though those are definitely helpful), but rather to plain old hand-drawn pictures. I can guarantee that regardless of what industry you're in, you can always ... Read More
How to Investigate a Project Issue: 4 Techniques Used by Lawyers
I’m currently taking a course on managing workplace performance, and as part of the readings, we were given an excerpt from a book entitled “Fundamentals of Trial Techniques” which I thought was very intriguing. I couldn’t help but notice the parallels between how a trial lawyer questions his or her witnesses and how an effective project manager conducts an investigation of a major issue with his or her team. Here are four techniques that lawyers use in court which can be used to ... Read More
Please, Know When to Shut Up in Meetings
Here’s a common problem in teleconference meetings: some people just don’t know when to shut up to get a point across. This includes folks who keep making the same point over and over again, and do not understand the concept of “less is more.” Although this happens in face-to-face meetings as well, it is more common in virtual meetings because the presenter can’t read his or her audience’s visual cues to know whether they’re still actively listening. In the spirit of knowing when to shut up, ... Read More