In 2006, 450 Radio Shack employees opened their email one day and found a message that stated: “The workforce reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated.”

Looking at this ill-advised approach from the outside, it’s easy to see that email was a poor communication method for the circumstances. From within our own client universes, though, it’s sometimes a bit more difficult to determine when email could be a similar liability. Consider these research tidbits:

• In one study, (more…)

Several years ago, we hired a pet-sitting company to give our dogs a walk on occasional days when our work schedules meant too long a stretch for canine comfort. At first, things seemed to go well enough. But after a few weeks, the company failed to show up on several agreed-upon days and our poor dogs bore the brunt of the no-show.

Initially, I thought it was a scheduling snafu or a miscommunication. I tried to be more clear, and requested call-backs to confirm. It didn’t work. When I called one of the owners directly to address my concerns, her response hit me right between the eyes: “You’ve got no right to question us when you never even pay your bill on time!” she said angrily. (more…)

Imagine that it’s a Saturday night and you’re headed to the movies with friends. There’s a new blockbuster movie and people whose taste you trust have told you it’s a must-see. Picture yourself buying your ticket and joking around with friends while standing in the concession line. Imagine the taste of the popcorn as you share a bucket with the friends sitting next to you. Imagine the trailers for upcoming flicks.

Now the blockbuster you’ve come to see begins. Let’s say, for the sake of our imagination, that it’s The Simpsons Movie.

Do you stand up and shout to the audience, “This is ridiculous! You’ve wasted your time and money! The Simpsons don’t really exist! It’s not believable! I beg you to stop listening to this!”

Of course you don’t. Hopefully. If you do, I don’t imagine your friends invite you to the movies very often. (more…)

In the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, 4-foot, 9-inch, 18-year old gymnast Kerri Strug was up last on the vault. By her calculations, her team’s last shot at the gold medal rested squarely on her shoulders.

She sprinted down the runway and into the air, performing a vault with a handspring and twisting dismount. As she reached the ground, she slipped, lost her balance, and fell. She also heard an audible pop in her ankle, the heart-breaking sound of two ligaments tearing. The audience gasped in shock. Her score was a disappointing 9.162. The gold, Strug, thought, was slipping out of reach. (more…)

Curious George, the storybook monkey, is over retirement age these days. So the odds are good you grew up with Curious George books, television shows or movies. The “good little monkey who was always very curious” is a great image to keep in mind during difficult conversations with clients. Just ask someone else from the family tree: the gorilla. (more…)

Clients. They’re your bread and butter, the conduit for doing the work you love. They can also be the thorns in your side, inducing digital dread of email and fear of phones.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll offer five tips for jump-starting dialogue with clients—before, during, or after things get messy. These five tips will help you keep your balance when you have to confront a client-related problem, transform conflict into joint problem solving, or create a foundation that will keep your client relationships strong and healthy.

Unlike most conflict resolution tips, these five won’t be techniques to memorize and deliver. Here’s why, by way of a story told me in class by one of my mediation students:

“I got into an argument with my husband this morning. It wasn’t about anything dire, just daily little stuff. I thought to myself, I’ll put my good mediator skills to use and make this conversation go better! So I did all the right things: I reflected back, I asked good questions, I uncovered interests, I reframed. I was so proud of myself!

“But there was one little problem. It was making things worse. (more…)