In the workplace, there’s a clear-cut difference between ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills. Hard skills are the technical, tangible ones: knowing a foreign language, graphic design, bookkeeping etc. Soft skills are abilities that combine interpersonal strengths, common sense, personality and people skills. Although harder to define, measure, quantify, and assess,…
‘The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. If you live to be 80, you’ll have had about 4,000 weeks. But that’s no reason for despair.’ So says Oliver Burkeman in his phenomenal book, Four Thousand Weeks – all about time management ‘for mortals’. Burkeman explains that it’s only…
How can you create impactful learning and training experiences for adults? When you design new training content, your goals are probably clear: Create material that genuinely helps learners Successfully share knowledge and skills Ensure learners retain and apply that knowledge to positive effect But even with hours of hard…
Where do your suppliers rank in your customer experience pecking order? Do they receive the same level of TLC as you shower upon those who purchase your products/services? Do you respond to their emails as promptly and politely as you would to an email sent to you by your…
We have now reached the final part of our three-part series on communication strategies. You can read the previous two articles about communication roadblocks and active and reflective listening on our blog. Today, we will explore healthy confrontations and how to practice them. And yes, you read that correctly:…
Welcome back to our three-part series on communication. In our last blog post, we talked about how our poor conversational habits (e.g. judging, sending solutions and avoidance) can create communication ‘roadblocks’. This time, we’ll discuss how you can improve communication by using active and reflective listening. Let’s dive into…
Did you know that communication barriers can harm your relationships with friends, family and work colleagues? Relationship building relies heavily on communication, so you risk missing out on some significant chances to connect if you’re unaware of the dynamics at play. In fact, over 50 per cent of people…
How often do you stop to consider equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in public transport? Did you know that in the 1960s, people of colour could not drive buses? And as recently as the 1990s, buses and trains remained inaccessible to people with disabilities? In this article, we share…
What does it take to not just survive but truly thrive in a frontline customer service role? Working in customer service is no walk in the park. It involves managing increasingly high expectations and handling difficult customers daily. However, when you have the right mindset and skills, this role…
If you want to deliver brilliant customer experiences, start by understanding what really matters to your customers. Matt Watkinson’s bestselling book The Ten Principles Behind Great Customer Experiences is a great place to begin. At Understood, we believe in turning great ideas into real-world impact. These ten principles underpin…
