Communication Tools
Ground Rules for Productive Conversations
Ground rules are the foundation of productive discussions. Using ground rules, teams can establish norms for what is – and is not – acceptable communication. We recommend that every team adopt ground rules similar to these to ensure productive discussions.
Helping Groups Reach Consensus
This tool helps leaders reach consensus among a group of people. It gives the leader an easy way to gauge the level of support for a particular option or proposal, thus paving the way for consensus.
Leaders can use this tool to help people express their underlying conflicts and resolve them. It gives people a way to talk about their differences without triggering defensive responses. When used regularly, Inner Scripts can dramatically increase morale and cut down on the time spent dealing with conflicts.
All businesses face tough challenges at one point or another – a drop in sales, an increase in costs, a change in competition. Leaders can solve these issues and take the appropriate action steps using this issue mapping tool. It is often used in conjunction with A Method of Solving Tough Business Problems.
Straight Talk® Extended Profiles
This tool includes extended profiles of all 16 Straight Talk communication styles. Drawn from the book Straight Talk: Turning Communication Upside Down for Strategic Results, it describes how each style communicates, how each style manages, how each style deals with conflict, and each style’s compatibility with other styles. This is an invaluable tool for managers, consultants and trainers.
Straight Talk® Matrix of Communication Styles
This is a beautiful four-color poster showing all 16 communication styles. It comes in a digital format so you can size it to your needs. This is ideal for use with teams in a workshop setting.
Straight Talk® Survey, Scoring Guide, Profiles
This tool includes the Straight Talk® Communication Styles survey, along with instructions for taking the survey and scoring your results. Descriptions of all 16 communication styles are included.
This invaluable tool helps managers create and manage effective meetings. It describes the five types of meetings, how to put together an effective agenda, and the roles of the meeting leader.
When discussing an issue or solving a problem, people often jump to conclusions before they spend time talking about what the problem is – or what data they have at hand. The Circle of Assumptions teaches us an orderly way to think about problems, starting with data and building toward conclusions. It enables us to see how easily our communication can be garbled by our failure to be aware of our own assumptions – and how they affect the conclusions we reach. It helps us to anticipate and to head off potential miscues and misunderstandings.
Understanding intent is key to improving the quality of communication. This tool describes each of the four types of intent in detail and provides useful tips for people who want to display positive intent.
Four Advanced Communication Skills
The art of communicating authentically is a learned skill. It takes coaching and practice to do it well. Communicating authentically means being honest, open and thoughtful in what you say – and in how you listen and respond to what you hear. This tool describes four skills that will help leaders communicate authentically.
This tool describes how to work effectively with both broadcast and print journalists. It describes how to prepare for an interview, what to ask the reporter, what the journalist’s “ground rules” are, and how to handle the press when you are in “crisis mode.” This tool is invaluable for managers and leaders at any level.
Strategic Planning Tools
Defining a Competitive Strategy
This tool shows how to define a competitive strategy that will distinguish you from your competitors and enable your company to win and maintain market share. It employs a multi-step process that asks leaders to answer a logical series of questions related to the competition. Among other things, it results in an analysis of potential factors that could be used against you by your competitors – and your readiness to deal with those contingencies.
Developing a Purpose Statement
Every organization needs a purpose statement. This tool explains what a purpose statement is and provides examples. It includes a process for developing a purpose statement. It also includes four questions that need to be answered in order to develop a strong purpose statement.
This tool is used to develop a vision statement – a clear picture of where the organization wants to be in the future. It helps leaders identify the vision “drivers” of the organization. Hint: Use this tool in conjunction with LRI’s Integrated Strategic Planning® chart.
Core values are those activities that are essential to the success of the organization. In healthy organizations, people share a clear understanding of what these core values are and how they are measured. This tool helps people identify and develop the core values. It is best used in conjunction with the Six Rings Model: Integrated Strategic Planning.
Glossary of Strategic Planning Terms
This handy tool provides concise definitions for all the words typically used in strategic planning terms like "core" and "strategy" and "goal" are clearly defined and their relationship to one another spelled out. This tool contains more than 20 words and phrases. It's an indispensable aid to groups launching a strategic planning process.
Keys to Successful Strategic Thinking
This tool describes the characteristics of a successful strategy. It lays out a series of strategic questions, recommendations, and strategic options. It shows the traps to avoid. We recommend this as an excellent guide to all strategic planning processes.
This tool concisely defines nine types of strategies. It lists the factors that should drive an organization’s choice of strategy and includes helpful hints to guide your choice of strategy. This is an extremely useful tool to use as part of a strategic planning process.
This tool concisely defines nine types of strategies. It lists the factors that should drive an organization’s choice of strategy and includes helpful hints to guide your choice of strategy. This is an extremely useful tool to use as part of a strategic planning process.
This tool is great for assessing the relative value of various strategic options. It is useful for facilitating group discussions about alternative strategies. It has two dimensions: ease of implementation and degree of impact. This is a valuable tool for leaders who want to explore various strategic investments.
This tool is useful for visualizing the steps in a typical strategic planning process, from the initial environmental scan to the narrowing of strategies and developing of related performance targets. Managers and leaders can use this tool to communicate their planning process to other managers, employees, board members and other stakeholders.
The Six Principals of Strategic Positioning
This tool is for leaders who want to understand the six principals of successful strategic positioning. It ensures that leaders are asking the right questions about the overall goals of the company, it's business model, and the value that the company creates. Research has shown that companies that follow these six fundamental principles establish and maintain a distinctive strategic position.
The Six Rings Model: Integrated Strategic Planning
This tool defines the six elements of a strategic plan and shows their relationship and inter-dependence. This is a valuable tool to use in guiding an effective strategic planning process.
The Three Levels of Strategic Planning
This tool shows the relationship between the three levels of long-range planning and the various parts of the organization they affect. Leaders can use this tool to explain the relationship between top-level strategic planning and information technology (IT) strategy, for example. They can also use this tool to illustrate the importance of having a top-level strategic plan in place prior to addressing organizational strategy or IT strategy.
Organizational Tools
Components of a Successful Business Plan
This tool details the content of a successful business plan. It provides a valuable checklist of information that you will need to gather – and poses questions that savvy investors will ask.
Creating a Business Interruption Plan
A business interruption plan prepares an organization for an unexpected interruption of services. This tool contains a detailed outline to use in preparing a business interruption plan.
Developing Management Standards
Leaders and managers need to take the time to articulate and implement a consistent set of management standards for themselves and every manager and supervisor in the company. This checklist should detail the specific practices expected of every manager and supervisor. For example, it should clarify how managers assign decision-making responsibilities, how often they meet with staff, how they set performance expectations, and how often they provide performance feedback.
Five Keys to Building A Successful Organization
This tool lists five keys to building a successful organization, based on research into what successful leaders do. Leaders can use this as a checklist to make sure they have considered all the crucial questions in building and managing their business.
This tool defines the life cycles of organizations and illustrates the key hurdles that all companies face. It’s used by leaders to assess the obstacles their companies will face from start-up to maturity. For example, a typical start-up hits a hurdle at 3-4 years when it’s forced to decide whether its products and/or services have gained sufficient market validation to warrant further investment.
What are the signs that an organization is in trouble? What are the symptoms of a company that has lost its way? Based on the ideas of W. Edwards Deming, "The Seven Deadly Diseases" are the things you need to look for – whether you’re managing a company – or simply investing in it.
Marketing Tools
Eight Ways to Expand Your Business
This tool reveals the major advantages and disadvantages of eight methods for entering into a new business or expanding an old one. This tool is often used in conjunction with New Market Entry Strategies.
Evaluating the Potential of a Product or Service
This valuable tool allows you to weigh several new product or service ideas against each other
Five Tests of Competitive Advantage
This tool provides a clear method for assessing the level of competitive advantage your company enjoys in a particular market segment.
Top quality branding campaigns are based on developing what is known in the industry as a "Brand Triangle." The base of this triangle is the Brand Promise, and the two legs of the Triangle relate to Brand Attributes and Brand Personality.
Leaders can use this tool to assess options for entering new markets. It looks at market factors and technology factors in determining which of nine entry strategies makes the most sense. This is a valuable tool for technology-based companies in particular.
Six principles come into play whenever we persuade people to buy our product or services. Based on the book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by social psychologist Robert Cialdini, this tool explains each psychological principal in detail and provides examples. Marketing executives can use this tool to design successful campaigns. Sales people can use these six principles every time they make a call.
Web-Based Marketing – Some Legal Issues
Marketing on the web is a tricky business, fraught with numerous legal considerations. This handy tool lists some of the legal issues to consider if your organization is marketing its products or services via the web.
Evaluating the Business Potential of a New Product or Service
This is an invaluable tool for leaders to use in evaluating the business potential of a new product or service. It allows you to weigh several new product ideas against each other. It yields a “go” or “no-go” decision on each product or service by employing a set of weighted criteria.
Five Tests of Competitive Advantage
This tool provides a clear method for assessing the level of competitive advantage your company enjoys in a particular market segment. It lays out a two-step process that tests each product or service against five proven measures of competitive advantage.
Innovation Tools
34 Ways to Encourage “Intrapreneurship”
For leaders, encouraging people to think like entrepreneurs is key to maintaining a competitive edge. This tool lists 34 ways to help people in your organization think creatively and become in-house entrepreneurs – or “intrapreneurs.”
Empowering Employees to Innovate
This handy tool provides a way for employees to suggest ideas for improvement (a new market to go into, a new product to sell, or a new way of doing business). Using a simple template, it asks for five pieces of information that are important in evaluating whether the idea has merit. Leaders can tell their employees: “Use this form if you have an idea that you think will make this company more successful.”
How to Succeed at Core Process Improvement
This tool helps managers at all levels to condense te concepts behind core process improvement. The tool provides a useful framework for leaders who want to understand the factors behind successful process improvement. This tool is best used in conjunction with Seven Step Process Improvement, also located in our Innovation Tools Category.
This tool provides a valuable checklist of specific ideas to make sure your company is organized for innovation. It lists specific strategies for creating an environment in which innovation flourishes. Among other things, it details the pros and cons of technological “push” versus market “pull.” It also describes the role of corporate headquarters in fostering innovation.
Seven Step Process Improvement
This tool describes in seven steps how to improve a business process. Each step is defined, along with hints for ensuring quality of execution in each phase. This is an invaluable tool for leaders who want to improve a business process and assure themselves of success from planning through implementation.
This checklist details the ten things that companies must do to be successful. It is based on research conducted during the past 20 years on companies that became the leaders in their industries. This list serves as a checklist for business leaders and executives. This tool also includes a list of six things that unsuccessful companies do.
Team Building Tools
This tool is very useful for leaders who want to develop high performing teams. The tool measures twelve different aspects of communication through a survey of 52 questions, which enables leaders to identify the areas of strength, and the areas that need improvement in team communication.
Five Habits of High Performing Teams
What characterizes a highly effective team? This is a quick look at what high performing teams really do.
Focus and Trust in High Performing Teams
This tool emphasizes the importance of focus and trust in creating high performing teams. The tool describes four types of teams. Using this tool, leaders can assess their teams and quickly see ways to transform them into high performing teams.
The Emotional Intelligence of Teams
This tool enables leaders to increase the level of emotional intelligence on their teams. It shows ways to increase awareness of emotions at both the individual and team level. It also suggests strategies to help regulate emotions. This is invaluable for leaders who want to create teams where there is a healthy balance of emotional and analytical intelligence.
This tool contains a checklist to use in establishing a successful team. It includes the team's purpose, norms of behavior, measures of success, team roles and responsibilities, and operating rules.
As a leader, you need to know what people want from you. This handy tool divides people into four types, based on their level of need and level of trust. It enables you to understand the needs of your direct reports and determine the management style that will work best with them.
Five Elements of Effective Teams
This tool helps leaders understand the five elements of successful teams and establish these elements in their own teams. It includes an agenda to use in establishing a team "charter". This tool is useful for new, as well as established teams that are searching for renewed sense of purpose.
Expert Tools
A Method for Solving Tough Business Problems
This tool lays out a step-by-step process for addressing tough business issues. It’s designed to work with any industry and any problem.
This is a valuble tol for any type of board. The 48-question survey measures ten different aspects of board practices, including strategic vision, decisiveness, drive, and resilience. The survey enables leaders to identify the areas of strength - and the areas that need improvement - in board practices.
Commonly Used Financial Ratios
These are the 15 most commonly used financial ratios and concepts, along with the formulas for calculating them, how they are used, and examples of good performance. This tool is particularly useful for leaders who do not have a financial background but need to understand financial yardsticks.
Five M&A Strategies: The Pros and Cons
This tool lays out the pros and cons of five different merger and acquisition strategies. It provides an example of each strategy, it details the objectives of each one, and it lists the major concerns. This is an invaluable tool for anyone considering a merger or acquisition.
Performance Management for Corporations
Every organization needs a performance management system that focuses regular attention on its success in achieving its goals. This tool shows how to build performance scorecards for a corporation or business.
Performance Management for Governing Boards
City councils, boards of supervisors and other governing bodies need performance management systems that focus on what results staff is going to achieve, and how success will be measured. This tool shows how to build an “Integrated Performance Management System” that takes into account the many different functions that a city or a county has to administer.
The 10 Responsibilities Of Non-Profit Boards
This tool spells out the ten responsibilities of non-profit board members and serves as a valuable reminder of the priorities of non-profit boards. It comes in the form of a checklist. The staffs of non-profit organizations can use this tool to make sure their boards stay on track.
The Evolution of Non-Profit Boards
The Board of a non-profit organization typically follows an evolutionary path as the organization matures. This tool lays out three stages of Board evolution and identifies the characteristic behaviors of each stage.
Human Resources Tools
Aligning Behaviors With Core Values
Once you’ve defined your organization’s core values, you can reinforce them by incorporating them into your performance appraisals and organizational assessments. In order to do that, you need to identify the specific behaviors associated with each core value. This tool shows how to articulate a set of behaviors that reinforce the core values.
CPS/360: Constellation Performance System
The Constellation Performance System is a 360 assessment tool that enables a manager to improve his or her performance. This is a multi-part tool that includes 1) instructions for using the CPS system; 2) a survey to be used by peers, subordinates and superiors, 3) a form for managers to assess themselves, and 4) a scoring system to translate the survey data into useful results, along with a sample scorecard.
This is a proven system for assessing employee satisfaction. It's been used both in the private and public sectors. It asks 62 questions in 6 different areas including overall satisfaction, work environment, technology, communication, innovation, and management support. It also contains fields for demographic information. Scoring methodology is included. This is a valuble tool for human resource managers and consultants.
This tool is for leaders who are looking to develop their careers. It is a superb tool for people who are seeking to find a new position or career track within their existing company or in a new company. It details the steps to ensure the best possible results.
These are some favorite “icebreakers” to help teams and groups get into a relaxed and open frame of mind for discussing important issues. Each of these icebreakers has proven successful many times over – so they’re guaranteed to work. Pick and choose – or try them all. This is a great tool for leaders, consultants, and facilitators.
These are the best interview questions we’ve ever encountered. It’s also the best structure for an interview. For key hires, using these questions and this structure ensures that you’ll get the most out of the interview.
Skillful leadership requires many things. Among them is being aware of your own leadership style – and how it affects other people. Knowing your style, and adjusting it to fit the needs of the situation, helps build trust. This tool describes four different leadership styles. It shows you how to identify your own style, and then provides a chart showing the strengths and weaknesses of each style. Finally, it concludes with two exercises to help you become a more successful leader.
The 20 Qualities of Leadership
This tool defines the 20 qualities of leadership that researchers have identified as common to virtually all organizations. It can be used to identify the leadership qualities people value most within their organization. It can also be used to help an individual leader assess his or her own leadership skills.
Three Steps to Flawless Decision-Making
This tool provides a simple, straightforward checklist for effective decision-making. Leaders can use this tool to clarify decision-making roles and responsibilities – and to train people in making better decisions. It includes brief definitions of the five types of decisions (our “Five Types of Decisions” tool contains detailed explanations of each type).
Employee Tuition Assistance Programs
This tool provides a simple, straightforward checklist for effective decision-making. Leaders can use this tool to clarify decision-making roles and responsibilities – and to train people in making better decisions. It includes brief definitions of the five types of decisions (our “Five Types of Decisions” tool contains detailed explanations of each type).
This tool describes five types of decisions (and two levels within each type). Managers and leaders can use this tool to clarify the types of decisions that are made every day – and the respective roles that people play in making them. This is an invaluable tool for improving organizational communication and performance.
Training Materials
Communication Styles Trainer's Guide
Based on the book Straight Talk: Turning Communication Upside Down for Strategic Results, this trainer's guide, with four-color artwork throughout, has everything you will need to create a highly succesful workshop on the topic of communication styles. Great for work groups and teams, this trainer's guide s designed to be used in conjunction with the Communication Styles Participants Workbook.
Communication Styles Participants Workbook
The participant's workbook is the companion to the Communication Styles Trainers's Guide. Based on the book Straight Talk: Turning Communication Upside Down for Strategic Results, the participant's workbook, with four-colorartwork throughout, guides participants through the workshop. It contains all the exercises, diagrams, and reading material you need to make the workshop a success.
Straight Talk® Survey, Scoring Guide and Profiles
This tool includes the Straight Talk® Communication Styles Survey, along with instructions for taking the survey and scoring your results. Descriptions of all 16-communication styles are included. This is a valuable tool for peoplpe who do not want to take the survey online.
Straight Talk® Managing Effective Meetings
This workbook teaches people how to create and manage effective meetings. It defines the five different types of meetings, it showas how to lead each type of meeting, and it provides a wealth of practical tools for managing meetings (from writing agendas to keeping meetings on track). This workshop is part of the Straight Talk® serie, designed to provide people with the tools to be an effective communicator, problem solver, and leader. Complete with individual and group exercises. Ideal for trainers and consultants.