As winter has a grip on us in the northern hemisphere and the mid-winter blues sets in, I hope you find this issue a warming welcomed relief. As a busy working person, life often takes over and puts us into a mind numbing blur. At ProductivElearn we strive to bring you articles and tips to keep you fresh, inspired, and creative. Please let us know how you like or dislike what we offer. Drop us an email or shout out in the Discussion Boards. We really would like to encourage dialogue amongst our readers.

Now Available in Our Online Course Offerings! Dynamic Study Reading and Mastery! If you take coursework this program is a must. If you're not in an academic program, you probably have lots of tough reading to do for your work, not to mention technical reading. This program unlocks the secrets of efficient and effective approaches to studying. As a recent user said to us, "it couldn't have come at a better time!" Click Here

Announcing our new Speed Reading Tactics Sub-site - Get free reading and Information Overload tips by e-mail, articles, test, free mini-lesson. Click here

Live Group Training: Productive Learning Systems, our sister company, is still booking  for 2006. Mention our newsletter and you can get special pricing for your organization! Our most popular programs are: Dynamic Reading, Memory, and Recall; Time Management; Communication Skills for Technical Professionals; Managing Technical Professionals; Productive Listening; Productive Meetings. Besides our "stock programs," we develop and deliver customized programs as well. If you have a need for training in your organization, please give us a call to discuss and arrange dates. As a loyal reader, we will give your group special pricing. But hurry for choice dates are disappearing.
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We hope you find this issue helping you make your work easier and productive!

Best Regards,

President & CEO
Productive Learning Systems, Inc.

Are You A Champion Communicator? Ask for Feedback

Although Joe Lufts and Harry Ingram, authors of the “Johari window” intended the model to be used for management development, the same framework can be applied to successful workplace communication. As many of you who have seen me live  have heard, whenever we interact we have a blind spot – that part in our behavior that we don’t see, yet others do.  When we operate in our blindspot, we experience difficulties connecting to others and success fails us. One of the best quotes from Ken Blanchard goes, “Feedback is the breakfast food of champions.”  Often people fail to ask for feedback because they fear what they may hear in return. Here are some simple steps to help you on your way to being a workplace communication champion.

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Making Tough Decisions

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Money and Happiness

How often have you said or heard someone else say, they’d be happier if they made more money?  Sounds logical, doesn’t it? The average incomes have doubled in the last 50 years.  You’d expect that people today would be twice as happy as people were 50 years ago. Right?

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Your Approach To Corrective Action Influences the Outcome

As you may know if you’re a regular reader of this column, the strongest reason for employees leaving is due to the quality feedback (or lack of) process of the direct manager. Corrective feedback and discipline are part of your responsibility. But, who likes giving it? Yes, this is a very difficult part of the manager’s job. Here are some basic guidelines to help you make it easier for yourself, and the employee.

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"I Can't Remember Syndrome"

In this note, I want to reveal some little known facts about how your brain works. I will also clarify some great misunderstandings about the differences between reading, comprehension and memory. If you forget rapidly after you have just read something, you need to read on. You may not be as “brain dead” as you think.

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