Author's articles

Include Team Members In Setting Goals for the Year
By Helen Wilkie · 16 years ago
Ah yes, the new year. That time when, regardless of past failures and disappointments, we hopefully make promises to ourselves and great plans for the next twelve months. We do this at home, and we ...
Business Writing Skills: why yours matter
By Helen Wilkie · 17 years ago
I'm often surprised when I hear people talk about "communication skills" and "writing skills" as if they were two separate attributes. Writing is a communication skill, and an important part of any communication skillset. Good ...
Avoid e-mail overload and still keep everyone informed
By Helen Wilkie · 17 years ago
Have you ever come back from vacation, or from a business trip of more than a few days, to find an overstuffed e-mailbox containing a blow-by-blow account of everything that happened while you were away? ...
Unclear writing is a barrier to communication
By Helen Wilkie · 17 years ago
We live in a communication age, yet a surprising number of people don't know how to effectively use the basic vehicle of communication, the written word. Too often we throw up barriers to communication in ...
How Good Is Your Grammar?
By Helen Wilkie · 17 years ago
Here is a series of sentences containing common grammatical errors. See if you can spot them. 1. We started small, but as the company has grown over the past ten years. 2. The reason we ...
Is this poor communication? Yes!
By Helen Wilkie · 17 years ago
Have I noticed a strange new language pattern creeping into people's speech? Yes. Does it make the message any clearer? No Does it annoy me? Yes, it annoys me a lot! Lately I've heard this ...
For New Managers, Conventional Management Training Doesn't Fit
By Helen Wilkie · 17 years ago
Conventional management training typically consists of single, time-limited workshops or seminars. The length of the event varies by position level, function or business discipline, and size and structure of the employer organization. For new managers, ...
Employees' Poor Writing Skills Can Lead to Lost Profit
By Helen Wilkie · 17 years ago
Employees' writing skills - or the lack of them - substantially affect the bottom line in ways you may never have considered. Here are just a few. * Badly written instructions can lead to incorrect ...
Don't Let Jargon Hide Your Message
By Helen Wilkie · 17 years ago
One of the main barriers to business communication, both in writing and in speech, is the inappropriate use of jargon. Is the reader a member of your company, your organization, your industry or profession? If ...