The Business

FPEC EDUCATION & MEDIA

Skills Part 2 - Companion

The Business

Preface

He is quick, thinking in clear images; I am slow, thinking in broken images. -Robert Graves, In Broken Images

This book is intended as a companion to the eLearning series The Business from FPEC Education & Media. It includes some of the classroom material that has been used and developed in producing The Business. The material is all original and written for use chiey with students at the University of Bors and course participants at the Volvo Group. It is not some great work of depth or meaning, but rather an organic and living process that will need constant revision and updating. I suggest in browsing its pages that you, the reader, use it as a platform for your own thoughts and models, rather than accepting it wholesale as a tailormade business language solution. In short, the world and that of commerce is changing. Rather faster than we can ever perceive. Tiny changes are taking place now that will build a world we barely recognize sooner than we can possibly anticipate. It is in this spirit of constant adaption and re-evaluation that this tome is offered. I hope it provides some growth, stimulation, and - dare I say it - fun.

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Section 1

Interpersonal Skills
CONTENTS 1. Interpersonal Skills 2. Networking 3. Building Relationships 4. Praising 5. Sharing Credit 6. Dealing with the Public 7. Empathizing 8. Mediating 9. Cooperating

Interpersonal skills is another woolly term that seems to be a catch-all for a raft of abilities. Excellent people skills or proven social skills often appear in proles to denote overall competence in dealing with other people. But these traditionally soft skills are constantly gaining currency in the modern work environment. Why? Well, some point out the growing international climate making sensitivity to others of increasing importance. Others allude to a reduction in power distance, or a attening of hierarchies, meaning that traditional chain-of-command-style structures are being replaced by atter organizations requiring greater horizontal or peer-to-peer interaction. Still others place importance on the explosion of information technology that has given us greater opportunities of communicating at all levels. All these differing viewpoints are certainly not contradictory. In fact, they may well go hand in hand in producing the modern workplace where human interplay dictates success. Communication skills is often seen as synonymous with interpersonal skills.

However, I have tried to distinguish between the more clearly communicationbased skills in our rst group and the often value-based skills in this category. I am not sure I have succeeded in this distinction. But as a working division it will have to do. So what do I mean by value-based contra communication-based? Well, the former is not only focused on the communicative transaction or interaction, but rather on the results of that interaction, i.e. its value. So in communication the

majority of the skills are acts of communication, e.g. speaking, expressing, understanding, listening etc. In contrast, in interpersonal skills, the skills tend to focus on the values of the interactions. This tendency is not true in all cases, inasmuch as there must be some overlap. However, I have tried to preserve the distinction between being simply a good communicator and being good with people. This, to my mind, is often two very different things.

self-promotion in networking as the communication is just a means to an end, the end being the other person or persons possible and potential value to you.

Building Relationships
If networking can generate a contact net that is a means to an end, then knowing how to build long-term relationships is potentially a far more important skill. To some, this may seem somewhat of a bogus skill. They may, in fact, think it a natural ability that does not belong in the work skills toolbox. You do not need to be a communicator to build lasting and meaningful relationships, but an ability to engender trust and win and maintain others loyalty is a crunch-skill in making a team or business, project or idea work.

Networking
Networking, both virtually and not, has become a key skill in many positions. Though it is true to say that good communicators are often also skilled networkers, these categories are not necessarily mutually inclusive. I consider myself an excellent communicator, but am far more comfortable with performance and structured situations than casual networking, mingling or working a room. There is an element of

Praising
A little praise goes a long way. It is not the same as attery, which atters to deceive. Instead, it is the lifeblood of why we work. Recognition. Having the ability to let people know that they are doing a good job is an ability I have come to appreciate more and more over the years. Moreover, I have come to realize that it should not be taken for granted, but rather actually worked on and at.

Dealing with the Public

Another side of networking and relationship-building is that very particular skill of dealing with the public. This could have easily appeared in communication skills, but instead is here due to the fact that it is not the communication itself but the value and respect given to others. Again, though communication skills always help, they are not a guarantee of having skills in dealing with the public. It is a nely honed combination of personal

Sharing Credit
Being a team player is a well-worn term but essential in describing work. One of the fundamentals of team play is most denitely sharing credit. Acknowledging the part and role of others in a team and sharing in mutual success is an active skill that creates a winning environment where staff loyalty and morale will soar.

intimacy and professional distance that makes this a skill that is learned.

Empathizing
Having just mentioned the ability to be close and detached at the same time, empathy is a perfect follow-on subject. It is the capacity to put yourself in the place of others and really understand their emotional state. This requires a great degree of detachment from your own self and personal issues. Giving more
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space to others than ourselves is a competence that we need to develop in an age where social media allow ever-increasing levels of self-interest and self-involvement.

Cooperating
The foundation of good team work is cooperation. Being able to pull together and work together as a team is not just a chance happening. It is due to team skills such as cooperating. True, teams may well be able to utilize or carry loners and mediators may be able to bridge the gap between irreconcilable parties. But in the end your staffs ability to cooperate and work together as a team will be decisive.

Mediating
It takes all sorts to make a world, or so the saying adapted from Cervantes Don Quixote - goes. Another important cog in the wheel of team play is the task of mediating between parties and departments, personalities and wills. You can formally mediate between two parties in a dispute. On another level, skilled mediators continuously act to bring about consensus in a diverse workplace. This interpersonal skill is often taken for granted, but can, in fact, be actively developed. Making the most of those around and balancing disparate wills and desires is an invaluable ability.

Section 2

Leadership Skills
CONTENTS 1. Leaderships Skills 2. Motivating 3. Leading People 4. Mentoring 5. Delegating 6. Interviewing

Yet another oft-quoted skillset is Leadership Skills. Leadership occurs at multiple levels in a company and its skills are applicable to a wide range of positions and duties. Having been a manager for many years myself, I have my own particular take on what makes a good leader. But in the end it is a leaders actions that dene them. And so it is the skills that truly make the difference. For reasons of space, Ill look at some of the skills Ive picked out and discuss them.

Motivating
For me, leading people means motivating them. End of story. The ability to motivate others, not only as a group, but also as individuals, is a critical factor in success. Motivating can mean many things and depending on staff and situations. Recognizing what motivates individuals and what they respond to is one part. The other is acting upon that analysis and proffering the right incentive in the right situation.

Leading People
Motivating is just one part of the leader toolbox. The actual operational skill of leading people is an obvious ingredient. Not only does this need to be reexive, i.e. in relation to the group or business being led, but also people choose leaders to demonstrate vision and bring things into play that are not reexive. Leading by example is one skill that always hits home. If you can assess the mood and morale of a unit correctly, and engender that mood as a leader then success is never far away.

mentor and nurture talent is paramount to my mind. A good leader has to consider succession planning right from the off. Developing successors and strength in depth is an invaluable strategic skill.

Delegating
The worst kind of manager or leader is a perfectionist who believes in the maxim: If you want something done properly, then do it yourself! Nothing could be further from the truth. Delegating tasks and responsibility generates trust and a positive work culture and morale. Moreover, it is essential to the success of any management unit. It leaves time for long-term planning and strategy, without which the business would ounder.

Mentoring
One of the things I most look for in a leader is guidance and development. In short, I want to learn. To that end, I want to know what path my manager has plotted out for me. An ability to
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Interviewing
Job interviews and appraisals, performance and pay reviews, personal development, investigating complaints and even formal inquiries: yes, interviewing is a key skill at management level. Of course, excellent interpersonal skills can only help in doing this. But the interview is a particular animal and one that can be mastered as an important tool in the skillbox.

Section 3

Information Technology
CONTENTS 1. Operating Systems 2. Client Server/Networking/Hardware 3. Arts & Graphics 4. Video Editing 5. Audio Editing 6. Desktop Publishing 7. Presentation 8. Spreadsheet 9. Word Processing 10.Programming 11.Database/Statistics 12.Engineering Software 13.Web Page Design 14.Certications 15.Languages & Scripts

Industry bods should have outlined IT skills through their work experience section. Some may feel it unnecessary to reiterate their IT skills in a sub-section. As always, the tweaking of an individual CV is dependent on the job, sector etc. In spite of this, I feel that an IT skills section is well worth doing to showcase your abilities beyond writing well versed in Microsoft Ofce which should really be a given at this stage. Here are some areas you might like to outline. Ive included some industry-standard software of the past few years. By the time of print they may well have been discontinued or bought out by competitors!

Operating Systems
A brief outline of OS experience may not matter to many but does show breadth of scope. Familiarity with both Apple and Microsoft systems serves well for basic use.
Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7 Solaris Unix Linux MSDOS HP/UX AIX

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Mac OSX

Audio Editing
Logic Pro Tools Cubase

Client Server/Networking/Hardware
CISCO Routers WAN (Wide Area Networks) TCP/IP Apache Web Server Active Directory Microsoft Exchange Server Microsoft SQL Server Oracle Database Server Checkpoint Firewall Novell Console One

Desktop Publishing
Microsoft Publisher Adobe InDesign QuarkXPress

Presentation
Microsoft PowerPoint Macromedia Flash Keynote

Art & Graphics

Adobe Illustrator Adobe Photoshop Corel Draw Xara

Spreadsheet
Microsoft Excel

Word Processing
Microsoft Word Corel Word Perfect Pages

Video Editing
Adobe Premiere Final Cut Pro Avid Media Composer

Programming
Microsoft Visual Basic.NET 11

Basic/Qbasic C Programming C++ Programming Java Programming SQL Fortran Cobol

ASP (Active Server Pages) JSP (Java Server Pages) PHP Adobe InDesign Adobe GoLive JavaScript Microsoft FrontPage Macromedia Dreamweaver

Database/Statistics
Microsoft Access FileMaker Pro SPSS Quick Books Pro Windows QSB

CSS (Cascading Styling Sheets) Intermediate ActionScript Macromedia Dreamweaver Macromedia Flash Macromedia Fireworks Macromedia Coldfusion

Engineering Software
AutoCAD Matlab MathCad Pro E PT Modeler

Certications
MCSE MCSA CCNA Microsoft Certied Systems Engineer (MCSE) Microsoft Certied Systems Administrator (MCSA)

Web Page Design

HTML DHTML XML

Microsoft Certied Database Administrator (MCDBA) Microsoft Ofce Specialist CompTIA A+, Computing Technology Industry Association
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CompTIA Network+, Computing Technology Industry Association Comp TIA A+ Certied Technician, Computing Technology Industry Association

Languages and Scripts

C, C++, Visual Basic, Visual C++, PL/SQL, Java, JavaScript, HTML, DHTML, HTTP/1, HTTP/1.1, Pop Server, TCP/IP, SQL, Oracle PL/SQL, PERL, J2EE, ODBC/JDBC, Python, PHP, mySQL, PostScript, EJB, XML, KSH, ANT, AWK, SED, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), Coldfusion, Active Server Pages (ASP)

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Section 4

Vocabulary Builder
CONTENTS 1. Interpersonal Skills 2. Leadership Skills 3. IT Skills
building relationships networking making new contacts, developing and maintaining a contact network, mingling, working a room, collecting and updating contact details, giving referrals, recommending others, liaising developing and maintaining rapport, connecting with people, bonding, teambuilding, building alliances, creating allegiances giving credit, attributing acclaim, rewarding, showing appreciation, endorsing, encouraging, giving positive feedback, giving recognition not taking credit from others, acknowledging others, giving recognition to others, team-building, paying tribute, developing staff loyalty and team morale servicing customers, handling clients, giving good service, developing and maintaining customer relations relating to others, identifying with others, sympathizing, acknowledging and accepting difference, seeing similarities

praising

sharing credit

dealing with the public

empathizing

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mediating

acting as a go-between, bringing to agreement, achieving consensus, acting as a middleman, arbitrating, reconciling parties, parleying, agreeing terms working with others, being part of a team, collaborating, working well in a team, pooling resources, joining forces, facilitating, expediting looking after others interests, substituting, speaking on behalf of others, acting on behalf of others, acting as proxy for others, sitting in for others dealing with grievances, investigating allegations, accepting criticism, troubleshooting operations nding the middle or common ground, conceding to others, meeting halfway, agreeing to disagree, nding a happy medium, giving in order to get respecting other cultures, empathizing, treating people with sensitivity, showing interest in culture, acknowledging and accepting difference, showing tolerance settling disputes, working through problems and issues, ironing out difculties, working out differences, diffusing potentially problematic situations, dealing with rivalries giving advice, advising, guiding, giving guidance, listening to grievances, engendering trust

Leadership Skills
motivating encouraging, developing and maintaining morale, evoking passion, empowering staff, developing and maintaining a positive culture, managing by objectives inspiring others, engendering trust, demonstrating vision, growing the business, leading by example coaching, teaching, training, sponsoring, endorsing assigning tasks, appointing to positions, commissioning activities, sanctioning actions, trusting others asking questions, examining, investigating cases or issues, holding formal inquiries, questioning, sounding out, panel interviewing, one-to-one interviewing, deliberating appraising staff, carrying out appraisals, assessing progress, setting up short and long-term goals, evaluating contributions making and introducing organizational changes, promoting change to employees, dealing with uncertainty, allaying fears of failure, uniting diverse opinions, engendering trust, mourning loss

cooperating

leading people

representing others

mentoring

handling complaints

delegating

compromising

interviewing

showing cultural awareness

reviewing performance

resolving conict

initiating and managing change

counseling

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long-term planning

strategizing, strategic planning, facing present realities, analyzing current situation, envisioning the future, stating vision, stating mission, mapping company values, analyzing trends managing people, managing projects, administering operations, overseeing staff, assigning tasks employing and developing staff, planning and overseeing a career path, taking skill inventories, growing staff, keeping motivated, offering lateral progression analyzing risk, prioritizing risks, assessing vulnerability, contingency planning, managing crises, developing ensuring best practice, leading by example, promoting corporate responsibility, promoting best conduct, raising awareness carrying out projections, setting nancial targets, calculating costs, projecting sales, forecasting sales, reading balance sheets developing and maintaining a consistent style of leadership, setting boundaries, setting an example, leading by doing, communicating clearly accepting responsibility, promoting accountability, speaking for others, acting on behalf of others interests

IT Skills
using spreadsheets producing and updating spreadsheets, invoices, simple statistics and business documents writing and producing documents and documentation, letters etc writing, sending, receiving mail and managing mailboxes drafting documents and putting together presentation material; presenting with a computer handling and managing industrystandard operating systems setting up, operating and troubleshooting devices and hardware managing meetings & appointments electronically

supervising

using word processing software using e-mail

developing staff

using presentation software

installing and using operating systems managing risks installing and using hardware

safeguarding ethical practice

using calendars

budgeting and projecting

using Internet browsers installing & updating software using databases typing & entering data

browsing and surng in industrystandard browsers handling, maintaining and troubleshooting general software accessing and retrieving or sharing information and les via databases typing up, writing and using a keyboard as a work tool managing smart phones in various functions, especially docking or linking to existing mail accounts and storage facilities

building a leadership style

representing the group

using smart phones, docking & lesharing

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navigating lesystems & using external or cloud drives

accessing and retrieving or sharing les and information via various storage devices whether remote or local identifying and actioning basic faults in operating systems, hard and software, and external devices using and in participating in digital media to communicate to a wider audience installing, running and troubleshooting industry-standard anti-virus programs and applications

basic troubleshooting

blogging & social networking

managing virus software

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