Effective Business Ideas

Get Connected in Business: Be Interactive

What is the best way to get connected? Being Interactive. This means you get involved and stay involved with people without there having to be a problem or situation that gets you started. You will then know what is happening around you. You will know your bosses goals. What concerns your peers and customers have. And if you have people reporting to you, you will know what they are thinking. And at the same time, dont be shy about your own goals and needs. Make sure other people know what you are thinking and planning. The more you know about your organization and the more people know about your goals, the more successful they and you will be.

Will being interactive mean that you will never be blindsided and start to feel that you dont know what is going on? No. However, when the unexpected happens you will have a better sense of how urgent the matter is because you will know the priorities of your business. You will know who to work with so it can be resolved with a minimum of fuss and effort. And you will know what is needed and not have to second guess those around you you will know that you are headed in the right direction and have support and understanding from colleagues and clients.

How to change tactics
How do you make this shift? Try these suggestions and then practice them.
1) Create learning situations with clients and colleagues. Teach what you do and know. Learn what others do and what they need. Update this learning often.
2) Be creative - use the learning to the benefit of all parties. Share ideas, link ideas. Look for best practices, benchmarking, clear roles and responsibilities.
3) Look for barriers to understanding and cooperation. Then work with others to eliminate these as they arise.
4) When going into a new situation, ask of everyone: What do you want to happen? How will we measure our success? Look for understanding, past successful actions start out right.
5) When completing a task, ask everyone: How could this be better?
Use these suggestions to increase connection and introduce an interactive approach to everything you do.

Fritz M. Brunner, Ph.D. 2005