Here's one of the backbones to every business or individual professional's success!

Tuesday: Return Driven Strategy FROM THE DESK OF MILES EVERSON: Are you familiar with Return Driven Strategy (RDS)? This pyramid-shaped framework has 11 tenets and 3 foundations that help businesses achieve true wealth and value creation. Professor Joel Litman and Dr. Mark L. Frigo explain this strategy in detail in the book, “Driven.” In this article, we’ll be focusing on Career Driven Strategy (CDS)—the application of RDS to the microlevel or to a person’s career. It’s important to apply these principles in our work so we can maximize our skills and expertise. Interested to learn more about today’s topic? Continue reading to know the importance of communicating well with your managers, colleagues, clients, and target market. CEO, MBO Partners Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute

Here's one of the backbones to every business or individual professional's success! All occupations require team effort and communication with others on a daily basis. These are foundational principles that enable you and your teammates to get tasks/projects done. Even those who are self-employed or working remotely still use their communication skills. They report to their supervisors, talk to customers, or send emails or other written messages to clients. That’s why whether you’re a freelancer or a full-time employee, you have to constantly develop how you communicate with people. This will have a positive impact on both your personal and professional life. Below are some of the benefits of effective communication: Trust Having the ability to initiate conversations, discuss options/opinions with others, and listen to what others have to say shows your willingness to make the best decision/s for your team or business. Additionally, communicating well helps build trust between you and your team as you accomplish tasks, deliver offerings, and set goals for yourselves. … and once you’ve established trust amongst your team, it will be easier to work together and gain the trust of your clients or customers too! Team Building Whether it’s dividing the responsibility of tasks among multiple people or making sure a team member knows a particular task is his/her responsibility, trust and good communication is key. These factors help all team members to have the same understanding of their expectations and duties—individually and as a group. Besides, communicating well within your team creates a more positive work environment. If the members of your team feel like they can trust you and others with work-related matters AND personal concerns, better and stronger relationships will be formed. Increased Productivity and Engagement By communicating well and providing your colleagues with tools needed to do their work properly, they will know what is expected of them and strive to produce excellent outputs. What’s more? They will be more likely to engage with others in their workplace! According to an article published by UK-based online training provider iHASCO, employees who are engaged in their roles and have a good understanding of their duties are less concerned with workplace issues and distractions. As a result, your entire team can focus on particular tasks at hand and increase overall productivity! Now that you know some of the benefits of effective communication, you might be wondering: “What can I do to clearly communicate in the workplace?” Here are a few tips that will help you answer that question: Know where to communicate. Communication happens in many different platforms—face-to-face, via email, instant messages, or other in-work management tools. To be effective in delivering your message, make sure you’re communicating the right things in the right places. Speak or write with clarity. Direction and clarity are important in communication. If you’re uncertain about what you’re saying or writing, the recipient/s of your message will less likely believe you. That’s why clear and concise messages are essential. Practice empathy and understanding. Effective communication involves seeing and understanding things from other people’s point of view. When communicating in the workplace, it’s important to not be biased by preconceived ideas or beliefs. Keep your emotions and ego in check so you can welcome others’ opinions and ideas. Listen. Effective communication is a two-way street. It’s not just about delivering your message but also about being open to what others have to say or suggest. Listening is integral because it helps establish trust among members of a team. Effective Communication: Tenet 11 of Return Driven Strategy (RDS) and Career Driven Strategy (CDS) According to Professor Joel Litman and Dr. Mark L. Frigo in the book, “Driven,” communication plays an integral role in a business strategy or career strategy. Just because it’s the 11th tenet, that doesn’t mean it’s one of the least important tenets in the framework. In fact, Professor Litman and Dr. Frigo believe good communication is as important as any other higher tenets in RDS and CDS! Why? It’s because a clear communication strategy is one of the foundations to a business or professional’s success! With effective communication comes trust, team building, and increased productivity and engagement… and by: Knowing where to communicate Speaking or writing with clarity Practicing empathy and understanding Knowing how to listen to others … a business or an individual professional can engage and partner strategically with others; innovate, deliver, and brand an offering; serve the right constituents; fulfill otherwise unmet customer needs; and ethically maximize wealth—all these are higher tenets of RDS and CDS. So, whether you’re a business owner or leader, marketer, copywriter, or an independent professional, make every effort you can to develop your communication skills. This asset will enable you to positively engage with others in the workplace, reduce miscommunications, increase team satisfaction, bolster collaboration, and foster trust. Lastly, adding effective communication to your skills will help you take your career to the next level. Hope you found this week’s insights interesting and helpful. Follow us on LinkedIn.   Stay tuned for next Tuesday’s Return Driven Strategy! The Hierarchy of Needs is a theory of motivation that states there are 5 core categories of human needs that dictate an individual’s behavior. Learn more about how you can effectively fulfill your target market’s needs in the lens of this framework in next week’s article!