Parent should read this book. Definitely the book to buy to find up-to-the-minute information parents want on everyday childhood infections, their prevention and treatment.

ASM Press. American Society for Microbiology.

Contents: Worthy Enemies. Weapons in the war. Wear your boots in the ain. Wisdom of the ages. Appendix. Pages 380.

shanson@asmusa.org or contact the author at: harley.rotbart@gmail.com

www.asm.orgå

Monopolizer
The Monopolizer thinks he or she is the only one with wisdom on various subjects at the business meeting. The Monopolizer believes everyone else is there to hear him or her speak – and so they do – incessantly. They don’t appreciate business that meetings offer an opportunity to hear from many.
They prattle on and on, arrogantly acting as though their ideas or beliefs are inherently more important than those of other employees. Sadly other people shy away from contributing, intimidated by the Monopolizer’s strangle hold on the meeting.
When facilitators allow an employee to monopolize a business meeting, it sends the message that their rudeness is sanctioned. The facilitator, or even other meeting participants, should indicate an interest in hearing from others in the meeting, to remind the Monopolizer that others can speak as well as listen.

Tangent Talker
The Tangent Talker hijacks the topic of the group by taking discussions off on tangents – topics unrelated to the issue at hand. One minute you’re on topic and the next minute you’re in “left field” as your agenda topic has been taken on a tangent.
Your meeting leader’s ability to recognize the tangent and refocus is essential to a productive meeting. “Let’s remember to confine ourselves to the topic at hand” is a good way to get back on track. Alternately saying, “Let’s try to avoid tangents” also labels such behavior as contrary to the group’s aims. As well, you can “park” extraneous items in a “parking lot” list where they’re noted, if only to be addressed later.

Devil’s Advocate
Let’s face it, there’s a Devil’s Advocate in every crowd and in most business meetings, too. This person seems to relish taking the opposite tack. Whatever the argument being put forth, this person delights in taking an opposing view.
It’s sport for them, an exercise in opposition. The more unpopular the stance the more exciting they find the challenge. Often this employee begins by saying “just for the sake of argument – I believe the opposite is true.” While there is value in looking at issues from multiple points of view and to avoid group think, the Devil’s Advocate applies their technique to every issue, every argument and every conversation.
Hold on to your agenda and get comfortable. This could take a while. A good business meeting leader can praise this person’s ability to raise alternative issues. At the same time, the business meeting leader must indicate its inappropriateness, given time parameters or previously agreed upon issues.

Cynic
The ultimate naysayer, the Cynic has a Masters degree in negativity. Adroit at using the phrase, “it won’t work,” they are skilled at deflating and defeating whatever motion is in motion. “Can’t be done.” “They’ll never buy it.” “We tried it once and it was a failure.” Their motto: just say no.
Challenge cynical employees to think like the Devil’s Advocate; suppose for a minute that the idea or project could work. Use a common conflict resolution tool and ask the Cynic to embrace the other side’s point of view as if it were their own, and argue that side’s position.

Fence Sitter
Known for their paralysis by analysis, Fence Sitters are unable to make decisions. Despite being in a deliberative body, they are conflicted by multiple arguments, and can’t “pull the trigger” when it’s time to make a decision in a business meeting.
They provide fodder for the Devil’s Advocate, the Cynic, and other characters with their ambivalence. Whether they are afraid of being wrong, or of disagreeing with someone else, or just going on record, they are a meeting monster for their inability to move the action forward.
Try to cajole the Fence Sitter into action. Remind them that they have a vote and were invited to use it. Ask them their opinions on matters to draw them out and get them on record.

Pandora’s Box Opener
These meeting monsters just have to tackle issues that are emotional, touchy or are “hot buttons” for others in the business meeting. In every business meeting there are topics that are sure to strike a nerve, to provoke an emotional reaction or enter the group into a quagmire.
The Pandora’s Box Openers lead the entire meeting into areas that provoke frustration, animosities, and often resentment too. Once this box is opened, it’s hard to get the issues back into the box. Discussions of salaries, promotions or personal styles often stir up issues that hijack meetings. Even worse, some culprits reopen issues from earlier in the business meeting that have already been resolved.
The best cure: a firm “let’s not go there” from the meeting’s facilitator. Other phrases like “let’s cross that bridge when we get there” or “that’s a hornets nest we don’t need to disturb” labels certain subjects out of bounds for the business meeting.
Brown Noser
There’s likely a sycophant in many business meetings. This employee is obsequious, bending over backwards to ingratiate himself or herself to the boss, the meeting leader or another power broker. They’re so busy currying favor with others, they subvert whatever true feelings they have about issues.
This employee is seen by other employees to be in the pocket of the person to whom they’re cow-towing. Ultimately they are seen for who they are and become predictable and not trusted.
Try to elicit their ideas and preferences before asking others as a way of drawing them out.

Attacker
As children these people were bullies. Some still haven’t grown up. The Attacker deftly mixes negativity with personal attacks, challenging others’ ideas with vigor. Without regard to hurting others’ feelings, the Attacker uses a confrontational style to object to others’ ideas and go against the flow. Sadly, sometimes they don’t even realize they’re attacking.
A good facilitator can refocus the Attacker to be positive, to remove the sting from their words and avoid an adversarial approach. All meeting participants are entitled to stop the meeting when attacked personally. Ad hominem attacks are attacks against one’s person. People can criticize your actions or beliefs, but you don’t have to tolerate attacks against who you are as a person.

Joker
Don’t let the Joker’s good nature fool you, Jokers can be meeting monsters. Their constant joking has the effect of diminishing others’ serious ideas or suggestions. Their infusion of humor can belittle others’ motions and makes it difficult for some to be taken seriously.
There is a time and place for joking. While we all like a good laugh, constant joking disrupts a meeting and distracts attention from where it should be.
A business meeting leader can designate several minutes at the start or middle of a business meeting specifically for humor. When it crops up elsewhere and is deemed disruptive, the leader can remind people that the time for humor is passed or forthcoming, so as to control it.

Robots
Yep, these meeting monsters are actually cell phones, pagers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and laptop computers. Each distracts their owner and others, too, as they intrude upon participants’ attention spans during business meetings.
A good meeting leader will create ground rules or norms for business meetings, including turning off these gadgets at their outset. It’s hard to compete with human distractions, let alone electronic ones as well.
As you can see, business meetings are full of characters. Study participant behavior in meetings, including your own behavior, to better understand your style of interaction. The character of your business meetings will surely be affected by the characters in your meeting. May the force be with you.

Source: About.com: Human Resources

Interpersonal conflict is the most obvious source of dissention in the workplace. Differences in work and personality styles commonly clash, increasing miscommunications and anger, which in turn reduce productivity as workers avoid and withhold information from one another. Add to this the fact that more than one third of all workers come from cultures outside majority Anglo backgrounds, and cross-cultural differences in communications and values are added to the mix.

Organizational conflict can develop whenever there are differing interests, which can be a daily occurrence. Common examples are differences in interests between supervisors and employees, between departments, or between generations. Change in the workplace brings constant conflicts between those who are more comfortable staying with the status quo and those who embrace change as a sign of progress. If the reason for the change is clearly articulated, more people will be willing to adjust. However, too often change is presented without a clear purpose.

External factors can also lead to conflict in the workplace. Economic pressures are often generated by changing markets, domestic and foreign competition, and governmental intervention. Be constantly on the lookout for changes to relationships with external parties. Successful organizations embrace conflict as an inevitable product of diverse human beings working together. Smart leaders encourage differences of opinions and work styles as a way to increase creativity. They also have a clear forum for addressing differences before they begin to negatively impact productivity. This forum usually involves asking the manager to mediate disputes without assigning blame or guilt.

Mediation is a systematic process of allowing each of two parties in conflict to state their positions to the manager and the other party without interruption. Then the manager enables the two parties to try to develop their own solution. If no solution can be reached, the manager will impose a solution, with each party recognizing that both are likely to be somewhat dissatisfied with the result. It is for this reason that about 85 percent of the time this process results in two conflicting parties developing and agreeing to a resolution to the conflict that had previously negatively impacted them and the company. Managers must constantly be on the lookout for interpersonal conflicts through surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Employees must be willing to report disputes that they are unable to resolve. Remember, you can’t avoid disputes and dissention, but you can mediate them with or without management getting involved. Once you have a system for handling it, you may even start looking forward to conflict in the workplace!

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What nonsense! I can’t even figure out why the guy at the pet store puts 75 cat food cans in one bag and a tiny box of treats in another so that I lurch to my car leaning to one side. How can I possibly summarize human psychology in a few bullet points?

People are highly complex and often mysterious, so we all struggle to understand our fellow humans. However, now that you’ve gotten over being afraid to sell, here are a few basic psychological tidbits that can help you write compelling copy.

1. People make decisions emotionally. They decide based on a feeling, need, or emotion, not though a logical thought process. That’s why intangible benefits are the keys to persuasion. When you’re writing, you should ask yourself, “What is the emotional hot button here?”

2. People justify decisions with facts. Example: a man sees an advertisement with a photo of a sports car and instantly falls in love. However, he can’t bring himself to buy the car based on a feeling, so he reads the copy for technical details about the powerful engine, safety features, and low maintenance. He wants the car because it makes him feel good. But he buys it only when he can justify the purchase rationally.

3. People are egocentric. The word “egocentric” means centered around the ego or self. We all see the world in terms of how it relates to us personally. So when your copy asks someone to do something, it must also answer the unspoken question, “What’s in it for me?” On a deeper level, the question might be “How does this give me feelings of personal worth?”

4. People look for value. Value is not a fixed number. Value is relative to what you’re selling, what others charge, what the prospect is used to paying, how badly the prospect wants it, and how the prospect perceives the difference between your offer and others. You must demonstrate a value that seems to be equal to or greater than the asking price. The greater the value relative to the price, the more likely people are to buy.

5. People think in terms of people. The human brain is not a computer, calculator, or information processor. Scientists have shown that its primary function is to deal with social interactions. Remember how some mathematical questions in high school were stated as real-life situations? They were always easier to understand and solve than abstract problems. Your copy, therefore, should feature people through names, personal pronouns, quotes, testimonials, stories, photos of satisfied customers, etc.

6. You can’t force people to do anything. When people buy, it’s not because you wield some magical power over them. You can urge. You can push. You can entice. But ultimately, people do what they want to do. This means your job is to show how what you’re offering meets your prospect’s needs.

7. People love to buy. Some say people don’t like to be “sold.” Not true. People love to be sold. They love to discover wonderful new products and experiences. What people don’t love is to be cheated or tricked. Therefore, it can be helpful to change your analogy of the marketing process. Instead of “selling” to people, try to “help” them. Sell good products, make appealing offers, and treat people fairly. That’s a surefire formula for success.

8. People are naturally suspicious. It’strue that there’s a sucker born every minute, but most people are moderately skeptical of any offer. They seek to avoid risk. You can never predict the level of suspicion any particular person has, so it’s usually best to back up all claims with evidence, such as testimonials, survey results, authoritative endorsements, test results, and scientific data.

9. People are always looking for something. Love. Wealth. Glory. Comfort. Safety. People are naturally dissatisfied and spend their lives searching for intangibles. At its simplest, writing good copy is a matter of showing people how a particular product, service, or cause fulfills one or more of their needs.

10. People buy “direct” because of convenience and exclusivity. If people could easily find the things you offer at a nearby store, that’s probably where many would buy them. So if they are not buying from you directly for sheer convenience, they’re doing it because they can’t find the item elsewhere (or just don’t know where to look). That’s why it’s wise to emphasize the convenience and exclusivity of what you wish to sell.

11. People like to see it, hear it, touch it, taste it, or smell it before they buy it. Some people never buy online because they can’t examine the merchandise. Some items, such as books and CDs, are tangible and familiar enough to sell easily online because there is little doubt about the physical quality. Other items, such as clothing or food, may be a harder sell — at least until people have a satisfactory buying experience — because quality may be variable. Think about how people buy things in stores and ask yourself if there is some element of that sensory experience that is missing from your sales message.

12. Most people follow the crowd. Most of us are imitators. We look to others for guidance, especially when we are uncertain about something. We ask, “What do others think about this? What do others feel? What do others do?” Then we act accordingly. This is why testimonials and case histories are so influential.

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