Exclamations are used to indicate great excitement or emphasis. In business writing, exclamation points should be used sparingly and only to add urgency, surprise, or disbelief to a statement. Business writers are expected to convey feeling or emphasis primarily through strong words and clear structures, not through punctuation. If you use exclamation points too often, the reader may become immune to their effect or may consider you unprofessional. There are two rules for using exclamation points in your writing:

1. Rule one: Use them sparingly
   Excessive use of exclamation points suggests that the writer gets excited over relatively small issues. This makes the writer appear immature and unprofessional. By limiting the use of exclamation points, you will appear more professional and credible.
    
2. Rule two: Do not use other punctuation marks in combination with exclamation points.
   Do not use exclamation points in combination with other punctuation marks, such as question marks, periods, and other exclamation points. An exclamation point alone is sufficient to express emotional content for most business communication. If you overuse exclamation points, they lose their effectiveness.

In the business world, avoiding errors in usage and punctuation is important for clear and concise documents. As a business writer, you need to follow generally accepted standards regarding exclamation points so that your readers understand your message and that you and your company appear capable and professional.
 

There are three levels of response to questions asked in an interview. The three levels are the attribute level, the general process level, and the behavioral level.

1. Attribute Level
   The first level of interview question responses is the attribute level. Attribute-level responses contain generalizations that describe skills and personal qualities. There are no specifics in these responses, which makes it difficult to prove or disprove the statements.

   Since it is the easiest level to attain, most interviews are composed of questions and answers at the attribute level. In order to gather more accurate information, the interviewer must proceed to the next level of questioning—the general process level.

    

2. General Process Level
   The second level of interview questioning is the general process level. These questions and responses encourage the candidate to give specific instances to back up the generalization. The specific examples will help the interviewer to make a more accurate evaluation. General process responses contain testimonials that detail processes or end results. These often include step-by-step descriptions.

   General process responses give the interviewer a glimpse of the approach the candidate takes when using a skill.

    

3. Behavioral Level
   The third level of interview questioning is the behavioral level. This level is characterized by reference to a single event that is explained in detail. Behavioral level responses should form a foundation for your hiring decisions.

Making good hiring decisions is the key to the success of an organization. By understanding the different levels of questioning, the interviewer can collect valuable information regarding each candidate and be able to pick the best candidate for the job.
 

Behavioral interviewing is the most powerful and accurate way to get from point A: recruiting, to point B: hiring the best candidate. Behavioral-based hiring hinges on the premise that a person's past job performance is the most telling indicator of his performance in the future. This approach to interviewing is quickly becoming standard procedure in both small and large companies across the globe.
People have a multitude of conversational styles, and similarly, they have a wide range of interviewing preferences. The four interviewing styles are seat-of-the-pants interviews, trait interviews, information collection interviews, and behavioral-based interviews.

1. Seat-of-the-pants interviews
   Seat-of-the-pants interviewing is a person-oriented approach that focuses on building rapport with the candidate. The interviewer then uses intuition to make a judgment. This lack of objectivity, however, sometimes leads to poor hiring decisions because the individual's instinct is not always correct and may lead the interviewer astray.
    
2. Trait interviews
   Trait interviewing is a person-oriented approach that focuses on personality attributes important to the job, such as honesty, integrity, and ambition. In this approach, the interviewer may: read questions from a structured interview form; value personal qualities over real job skills; or rely more heavily on personality testing.
   Seat-of-the-pants and trait interviewing are styles which work well for getting an intuitive and subjective grasp of a candidate's suitability. If the interviewer wants more specific information, she should use the information collection approach.
    
3. Information collection interviews
   Information collection interviewing is an approach used to seek specific facts about the candidate, such as dates, numbers, and technical qualifications. This approach is job orientated and objective, often involving questions which require black and white answers.
    
4. Behavioral-based interviews
   Behavioral-based interviewing is a conversational approach which also yields objective, verifiable data. This should be the interviewer's primary method for job interviews. It is the best way to ensure you are hiring the best applicant.

To get the most from an interview, the interviewer must be knowledgeable and prepared. When conducting a good interview, the interviewer will feel assured by avoiding others' mistakes, save time and money by interviewing effectively, be more confident in the hiring decisions, and be assured that she is picking the best possible candidate.
 

In business, creativity and innovation are often used interchangeably. They mean different things. Creativity is the ability to develop something original, new, and unique. It relates specifically to the act of being creative—seeing new things in old objects and ideas. Innovation, or using objects and ideas in new ways, is often the result of creativity. In other words, when you implement creative ideas, the result is innovation.

Being creative is an event or act, whereas innovation is a process. You can be creative about any aspect of work, originating new products, new processes, new services, and so on. But being creative won't always result in innovation. It is only when creative ideas become useful or of value in a corporate sense, that you are being innovative.

People often describe processes such as painting and drawing, composing, or devising new instruments as creative. However, they mistake the process for the creative act. Artists, musicians, composers, and designers do realize new and unique ideas, but they express these acts of creativity through the processes of drawing, painting, composing, or designing. Innovation is a process that does not need the creative act. Something can be innovative without being original or unique. For example, you may apply an old idea in a new way in the workplace.

While the development of a new process by one department is described as creative because it contains an original element, the introduction of flexible working hours in another—not a new idea—may be innovative for that department. Implementing new procedures would also be innovative. In and of themselves, the procedures may not be original or unique, but they may be new to the department using them.

Although there is little consensus among experts, their differences tend to focus on questions of emphasis. It is safe to define creativity as the origination of something new and introduced from scratch, and innovation as the application of novel ideas to new situations. In other words:

• Creativity—Creativity is evident in the development of original artwork, literature, music, scientific theories, and inventions. In the workplace, new ideas stemming from brainstorming sessions, the origination of new products, and the design of new or unique information brochures are examples of creativity.

   

• Innovation—Examples of workplace innovation include the introduction of different procedures into a department, the introduction of different processes to improve work methods, and the introduction of different products to a new area of the business.

Understanding the important differences between creativity and innovation will help you to find solutions to workplace problems and challenges and will encourage you to take a more proactive approach to your job.
 

 
 
You may not believe that you are especially creative, but you probably possess various skills and attributes that will help in creative projects. If you are going to enhance your creative performance and potential, you need to know what skills you already have, and what areas you need to build on.
To do this, you need to determine skills that are essential to organizations seeking to fill creative positions. You also need to be mindful of desirable skills contributing to your ability to be creative. While some may feel communication and technical skills to be essential, others may emphasize open-mindedness, shaping skills, or a willingness to take risks.
Essential creative personality attributes
Generally, the experts agree that communication skills, a willingness to take risks, open-mindedness, and persistence are essential attributes for creativity.

• Communication skills—Being able to communicate your idea to team members, stakeholders, and consumers is essential for any innovator. Explaining your idea, and the benefits of it, is vital for securing buy-in. Without this, no innovator would get far.
   
• Risk-taking—A willingness to take risks is an essential attribute for anyone being creative and innovative at work. New ideas and innovations can only be found if you are prepared to push against conventions, challenge others, and do things in a different way.
   
• Open-mindedness—Being open-minded is an essential attribute for being creative and innovative. Being open-minded makes you receptive to new ideas, and you are able to look at organizational problems and processes in a different way.
   
• Persistence—Innovators claim that their ideas have succeeded through sheer persistence and tenacity. They have refused to let an idea fizzle out, and often kept working away despite the reluctance shown by their organizations.

Desirable creative personality attributes
You may think that analytical skills—the ability to back up your ideas and prove their worth—would be essential. Or that without technical ability, it's unlikely that you can make useful contributions. But provided that your team has a mix of these attributes, they are not essential in any single person.

• Technical ability—A specific technical ability or gift is certainly a desirable attribute. However, it is not just the technically gifted who can have creative ideas. You can have insight without this.
   
• Shaping skills—Having the skills to shape ideas into workable and implementable solutions is desirable in any creative team. But often there are other contributors in a team who can do this. It is not essential for every creative person to possess this skill.
   
• Analytical skills—Good analytical skills can certainly back up your ideas in any creative assignment. But since many creative tasks require teamwork, it is not essential that every creative contributor in the group has the ability to back up their ideas with analysis.

People who are good at communication, taking risks, and being perceptive and determined have all of the essential attributes, whereas those who are analytical, are technically able, or can mold ideas have desirable attributes.
Your personal attributes clearly play an important role in determining how creative or innovative you are. Remember that you can learn many of the attributes that can help you to be more creative and innovative. If you are committed to the development of new skills, you can become more creative in your working life.
 

Negotiation skills are among the most important for any leader. I called on some prominent senior executives in the region (and my former executive MBA students from the Robert H. Smith School of Business) to get their take on what's needed for successful negotiations. They all agreed a collaborative (win-win) style rather than a hardball (win-lose) style is critical, whether you are negotiating with staff, superiors, customers or other constituents.

Consider everything as a negotiation opportunity.

Herb Cohen's book "You Can Negotiate Anything" gives examples of how almost every part of our day is spent negotiating, from the time we get up and ask a family member to let the dog out to the time we go to bed and ask someone to take the trash out. Most of us in the United States only see the big-ticket items as negotiable (buying a car or house), but our lives are filled with negotiation opportunities: credit card, phone and cable bills and fees; salaries and raises; negotiations with friends, family and colleagues over vacations, work load, time off, etc. You just have to ask. People are often happy to help and really do not like saying no to requests. Most of us limit what we ask of others because we are afraid of rejection. Try it. Start asking people to do things -- you will be amazed at how often people will try to help you. You may not get everything you ask for, but you won't get anything unless you ask.
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Preparation is critical.
 When asked what was one of the most important tips to successful negotiations, all of the executives I spoke with mentioned the importance of preparation. "If you do prepare, you're way ahead of the game," said Pete Plotas, vice president of RollStream, a McLean-based company that makes software to help companies collaborate. Plotas created his own preparation sheet to guide his efforts in his international negotiations when building strategic partner networks. You wouldn't walk into a car dealership without reviewing the research on the car and invoice prices; other negotiations also require preparation.

Build trust.
"View every situation as the beginning of a potential relationship. Then you'll go into it looking for areas of mutual interest and opportunities to collaborate," said Frans Meuwissen, international sales manager for Expereo, a telecommunications provider. You also need to be credible to build trust. "For example, if you say you are going to call them back the next day, then you need to follow up," said Donna Blackman, vice president at Marriott International. "f you can't be trusted on these small things, then why would they trust you on the larger things?"

Have a best alternative.
Be willing to walk if your best alternative is more attractive than the deal in front of you. So many people go in to ask for a raise with no alternative in mind. They haven't even looked to see how marketable they are. "Having an attractive [alternative] gives you strength in asking for what you want," said Tom Parsons, senior management adviser for Darcars Automotive Group.

Good communication is critical. But, it's not just about what you say. Using silence strategically is extremely powerful. I tell people to ask a question, then say nothing to allow the other party to respond. Plotas sometimes uses the technique. "Invariably the other party makes another comment that helps me better understand their position or they offer another concession," he said.

Know how to handle difficult negotiations.
Control your emotions, remain calm and listen to the other side of things before you get the other party to think about things from your perspective. "I think it is essential to find common ground that both parties can agree on," said Kim Sullivan, a principal at OPX, a worldwide design consultancy. "This smooths out the process and enables everyone to feel receptive to listening to each other."

Personality factors are key.
Be personable, flexible, and build rapport. "Often people from the [United] States are too impatient to get the deal done and don't allow enough time to build the relationship," Meuwissen said. "This is a deal-breaker in many countries today. You have to be willing to spend the time to get to know the other party."

Practice and get feedback to improve.
There are great books out there, Web sites with tips, and excellent courses. Take advantage of all the resources to practice your skills, get feedback and work on improving. You don't get better at negotiations without practicing and getting feedback.

 Using team-building activities to create successful teams has many benefits to both team members and their organizations. Being part of a team can empower individuals because of added knowledge – through learning from each other – and increased motivation and job satisfaction. And successful teams contribute to the organization by providing a higher quality of work and increased flexibility, since such teams have multitasking members. Successful team relationships result in an enhanced quality of information exchange, higher levels of trust, better focus on problem solving, and minimized need for direct supervision as teams develop self-correcting controls.

A lot of team building occurs naturally as the team performs its work, but there are specific team-building techniques that can facilitate the process. These techniques fall into two major areas: relationship maintenance and staying on task.

Maintenance-type processes help preserve the well-being of team relationships. These processes include establishing team norms that are respectful of all members – such as being on time for meetings and having no side conversations – and encouraging all members to participate. Participation can be enhanced by simply stating that all members are expected to play active roles, and also by specifying what particular roles members will take on.

Task-type processes keep a team focused and moving toward its goal. These processes include such things as having an agenda for each team meeting, following an appropriate technical process for the situation – for instance, by using a problem-solving process for troubleshooting – and defining action items, responsibilities, and scheduling.

Team-building activities

Both maintenance-type and task-type processes can be covered using basic areas of team-building activities. The three commonly used activities are

• holding introductory meetings
• developing a common vision
• identifying and assigning specific roles

Introductory meetings set the tone for the team, and are critical to team building. Two of the ways meetings help build team relationships are by

• emphasizing the importance of the project - To ensure the team members have a full appreciation of their mission and its scope, they need to understand the importance of the project. To this end, the project sponsor should be sure to attend, and the project plan and schedule should be reviewed.
• setting ground rules - Ground rules describe how to use norms and rules to prevent problems with team dynamics. A list of behavioral expectations can be set out by the team during the introductory meeting, laying a framework of mutual respect and contribution. Ground rules range from working out how decisions will be made – for example, by consensus or not – to laying out how to deal with issues not on the agenda, to stating expectations for attendance – such as being on time and actively participating.

Introductory meetings are also the time for members to share information about themselves to enhance team membership. But sometimes people need a little help in getting started, and that's where the use of icebreakers can be important. Icebreakers allow interaction and conversation, and can be used whether or not team members already know each other. Icebreakers include

• team member introductions - In general team member introductions, people share information such as their name and job, how they got to be on the team, and what they like the best or find the most challenging about their job. If the members are comfortable enough, they may also talk about outside interests or family.
• paired introductions - When team members don't know each other well, paired introductions can build a bridge. The group is divided into pairs and each person asks the other all of the questions on a whiteboard or flip chart. In addition to basic name and job information, questions can be about education or hobbies.
• member mapping - Member mapping is used when team members already knows one another. A map of the building is posted, and each person puts their initials on the job station or area where they work. Then they study the map as a group to look for patterns and interactions, and to see if all areas of the company are represented.
• group conversation - Group conversation is helped along by using a list of open-ended statements, such as "Anyone will work hard if..." or "A job is rewarding when..." One person begins with one of the statements and uses actual experiences. The team discusses it before moving on to a statement chosen by a different person.
• common denominators - The common denominators technique pairs up members who don't know each other well and has them find traits in common. Statements should be in the positive, not the negative, and might range from playing the banjo to being CPR certified.

Developing a common vision is also a critical component of team building. Clear vision and agreement on team goals can be set out using a team charter and objectives. Team charters are documents that define the purpose of the team, how it will work, and the expected outcomes. They're the roadmaps created at the beginning of the journey to make sure that everyone is clear about where the team is headed. And charters can give direction when times get tough. The team charter helps set expectations – both within the team and externally – and avoid turf conflicts.

Charters are usually set by the time the team convenes, and define the goals of the team, its scope and boundaries, and its responsibilities. Charters specify general guidelines – such as the nature of the problem and its importance to the company, how the team is connected organizationally, the schedule dates and key milestones, the measures that define success, and the level of autonomy and authority. The team charter is used to inform others in the organization of the team and its role.

Team charters don't specify quantifiable terms, but team objectives do. The acronym SMARTWAY indicates the criteria needed for meaningful goals:

• S for Specific, meaning to focus on distinct issues
• M for Measurable, meaning able to be quantified
• A for Achievable, so the goals are challenging yet in reach
• R for Realistic, meaning needed resources are available
• T for Time frame, so the deadline for achievement is clear
• W for Worthwhile, ensuring the objectives are meaningful
• A for Assigned, meaning responsibility is specified
• Y for Yield results, to ensure the desired outcome

The third component of building a team is to identify and assign specific roles. Team members are selected based on the mission and objectives. Since team members bring experience and approaches from a range of backgrounds, once you know who is on the team you can look at what each person can do to further the team's mission. During this process, you can spot any gaps in skills and abilities.

Team structures can vary depending on the scope of the process and the dynamics of the team members, but several common key team roles are

• champion - A team champion is the person who first came up with the idea for the team, and who is its advocate.
• sponsor - The team sponsor supports the team and helps it get needed resources, acting as a communication and support link to other parts of management.
• team lead - Team leaders keep the group on task and bring out the best in people. They usually staff the team and participate in the team as a member.
• facilitator - Facilitators act as advisors, keeping the team focused and on track with the agenda. They remain neutral in discussions and make sure everyone participates.
• scribe - The scribe is the member of the team who is the recorder, noting the critical information and action items, and distributing them as needed.
• timekeeper - The timekeeper or gatekeeper is a member chosen by the team to monitor and keep track of time.
• team member - Team members are the team's participants who have been selected to work together.

As a team progresses through the various stages of development, team building is essential to deepen relationships and reliances between members. Three specific techniques that can facilitate the team-building process are the use of introductory meetings, developing a common vision, and identifying and assigning the specific roles a team needs to have filled in order to be successful.