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For residents today, a planned community could very well be connoted to be the numerous real estate developments which are both large-scale and expensive to move into. However, what most people would fail to realize that establishing a planned community has long been practiced by pioneers and visionaries who long for an orderly way of establishing order and a sense of community. The colonies of Americas, for example, took root in the establishment of a planned community one after the other.

There are two features distinct in a planned community. One is the careful planning of its establishment and the even stricter adherence of its execution in order to achieve the kind of order and perhaps aesthetic beauty desired. Another prominent feature of a planned community is its establishment in an underdeveloped area which would then undergo major transformations and physical changes to achieve what was conceived of in the first place. Sounds familiar? Could be because this is how some of the capital cities of numerous countries all over the world were established and founded. Examples of these would be New Delhi in India, Brasilia in Brazil, Canberra in Australia, and even Washington D.C. in the United States.

Though a planned community is designed and built to accommodate a large number of populations enjoying social diversity, adherence to the master plan is still the key to its successful implementation. Often, those who created a planned community would also want esteemed community values to be practiced and enjoyed by its residents. To this end, the relative term of ‘New Town’ has been coined to designate an intentional community with shared environmental, economic, and social benefits.

There are certainly a great number of this type of community being developed today in the United, being fostered by a great demand by those wishing to share in the communal values and orderly social interaction inherent in a planned community. Most of these properties promote a sense of pride and appreciation for the enhanced quality of life enjoyed by its residents.

A planned community may also espouse the concept of environmental responsibility and management. This is achieved by striving to protect the natural resources present within the area for its residents to enjoy. To this end, expect most of the planned communities to have large outdoor spaces dedicated to leisure and nature appreciation.

In a sense, a planned community enhances the value and attraction of a certain locality or area. With a lot of potential homeowners dreaming of living in a place that is both secure and fosters a sense of community, there is ample demand for this kind of residential estate developments. It also promotes a sense of exclusiveness that is often sought after by residents who wish to live among those whom they considered to be of their ‘kind.’

Be aware though that the common planned community we see and heard of today is not as grand-scale as the ones envisioned by pioneers in centuries past. However, the concept and dream of fostering an orderly community sharing the same values are what is considered common in both the planned community of today and of the years long past.

When deciding on a retirement community for you or a loved one, there are many factors to take into consideration. Where do you want to live? What type of community do you want to live in? How much can you afford? Here are several of the many important questions to ask yourself or your parents when trying to decide on a retirement community.

1. Where do you or a loved one want to live?

Location is the key to beginning a search for a retirement community. Do you want to stay in the same town, city or state that you live in now? Many seniors decide to move to a warmer climate to enjoy their retirement. However, some seniors would rather experience all four seasons or would rather stay in their area. Whatever your choice, deciding what part of the world you want to live in is very important in trying to find a retirement community.

2. What type of community do you want to live in?

There are many different types of communities that are now available for retiring seniors. Try learning more about these communities and deciding which is best for you:

Active Retirement Communities

Assisted Living Retirement Communities

Independent Living Retirement Communities

Continuing Care Retirement Communities

Alzheimer’s Care Communities

Skilled Nursing Care Retirement Communities

After you find what type of community you want to live in, check out the cost. Also, make sure to check accreditation, licensing and the credentials of each prospective community. You want to be living in the best place for you, and need to be extra safe in doing the research for the community.

3. How are the local services?

When searching for a retirement community, look for grocery stores, gas stations, churches, hospitals, salons, pharmacies and different shops to make life easier for when you do move.

4. What are some living amenities?

Many retirement communities offer different types of housing for seniors. Many seniors prefer to choose places with elevators, wide hallways, shower chairs and good lighting that include meal plans and wheelchair accessibility. Some seniors choose to live in a community that offers a very active lifestyle. Many of the active lifestyle communities include golf, tennis and swimming activities, and concentrate on health and fitness to help you enjoy your retirement. Some of these might not apply to you, so just write down the living amenities you prefer to live with, and use that as a frame of reference when looking for a retirement community.

5. Is this place safe?

It is always important to keep safety in mind when looking for any home. Ask the following questions:

Is there security personnel on staff at night?

Is the retirement community located within the confines of a gated community?

How are the locks on the main door?

When finding a new place to live, it is nice to get to know what the neighborhood is like before moving so you are not caught off guard a week after you move in. Most of the time, you can tell whether a place is safe by looking at. Be sure to check during different times of the day. Ask could-be neighbors, gas station clerks, staff members or check with the local police department to see if the community is an ideal place for you.

6. Is the staff friendly?

An important aspect of a retirement community is a friendly and helpful staff. Many times people overlook the staff members when deciding on a retirement home. Remember, these people will be a major part of your life! Make a visit to the community and speak with actual staff members. As you walk through the community, observe how staff members and residents interact with each other. You want your retirement to be enjoyable, and it can be a lot more fun if the staff members in your community are easy to interact with.

Just as you would tour a house or apartment before buying or renting, you should tour a prospective retirement community to see where you fit in. After all, this is going to be a place where you plan on enjoying your retirement! Be sure it is right for you!

Forget GQ! These days it’s your CQ that matters…your Communication Quotient. Degrees and awards are fine, your bilingualism and knowledge of the latest programming languages are nice, but how good a communicator are you? In English? With co-workers and customers?

Every job description emphasizes it: must have excellent communication skills. In performance reviews many get marked down for it. And as entrepreneurs who wear many hats, speaking with many voices is also a requisite skill. So how is your communication quotient?

Communication takes many forms. Think for a moment about a typical workday. You must communicate with customers, clients, co-workers (both superiors and subordinates), vendors, and even city, state and federal bureaucrats. Perhaps you even have interns or volunteers to communicate with. On occasion you’re also speaking with the media, members of your association or even competitors. How well are you communicating with each?

Each form of communication draws on different skills, each requires different approaches and sometimes even a different lexicon. The checklist below has broken out many of these types of communication into categories. Place a plus, minus or equal sign next to each line to rate whether you see yourself as already strong (+), average (=) or weak (-) in each area.

Can You Interact Successfully with Strangers?

- Make Small Talk?

- Ask them About Themselves?

- Tell Them About Yourself?

- Introduce Two Strangers to Each Other

- Discuss Current Events with Confidence

Networking and the ability to work a room are invaluable skills for a small business owner. Knowing how to introduce yourself to others through your elevator speech can also open many doors of opportunity. As you meet strangers are you exuding confidence? (To read more about elevator speeches: http://www.expressionsofexcellence.com/articles.html#elevatorspeech.)

Being able to mingle and mix, compliment strangers and inquire of their line of work is an effective way to expand your sphere of influence and prospect for new business. You can even qualify prospects deftly while schmoozing.

How Effective Are Your Communication Skills?

- Can You Give A Prepared Speech?

- Can You Speak Extemporaneously?

- Can You Make A Sales Presentation?

- Can You Interview Someone Else? Be Interviewed?

Some basic communication tenets to keep in mind in public speaking situations:

1. Speak clearly and audibly at all times.

2. Don’t rush your presentation. Pare its content down if you have too much to cover in the time given.

3. Enunciate effectively. For many, English is a second language. Focus on the consonants of each word.

4. Employ vocal variety to keep people paying attention. Avoid sing-songy patterns of speech.

5. Learn all about interview dynamics

How Versatile A Communicator Are You?

- Can You Make A Cold Call?

- Can You Train Others?

- Can You Conduct A Meeting As Its Leader?

- Can You Constructively Critique Another’s Performance?

I help small business owners take the chill out of cold calls. Once you understand the rules of the game, develop your script, learn to bypass gatekeepers and handle objections adeptly you will find cold calling to be better than going to the dentist.

(For more information on cold calling instruction: http://www.ExpressionsofExcellence.com/cold_calling.html)

• Sometimes the true test of your understanding something is the challenge of training others. How well can you communicate your knowledge to others? Do they “get” it? Are you sure? Training requires its own approach.

• Taking the lead in conducting meetings and discussions can be a delight once you understand how best to apply your leadership. You don’t have to master Robert’s Rules of Order to be able to fairly and ably conduct meetings.

• Constructively critique another’s performance can be one of the hardest things to do. Learn to separate performance from person, to get specific and also offer remedies or corrective plans, as well as benchmarks for success.

• Employ active listening techniques to insure you are hearing the other party and they are feeling heard as well. Many professional and interpersonal difficulties arise from a feeling of not being heard. Learn ways of insuring that you are hearing correctly and similarly being heard.

When The Going Gets Tough…

- Can You Handle Constructive Criticism?

- Can You Assert Yourself When Necessary & Speak Up?

- Can You Negotiate Effectively?

- Can You Co-exist With Diverse Personality Styles?

See Hecklers, Hardliners, and Heavy Questions for tips on this difficult area of communications.

Many of us shy away from speaking up and speaking our for fear of negative feedback or political ramifications. In our quest to be liked or avoid “making waves” we bite our tongue and look the other way instead of righting wrongs and correcting improprieties. Yet there are times when speaking up and speaking out is the right thing to do. Learn to speak your mind when it’s time, professionally and with precision, to get the results you desire.

Negotiating effectively can involve different types of communication skills. You may actually want to induce silence, or to repeat yourself, reiterating your stance or stipulations, for effect. Listening skills and creative problem solving skills are also involved. Learn to speak the language of win-win and be able to reiterate your adversary’s perspective so as to build consensus.

There is no right way to speak. Each of us speaks in our own communication style. Some of us use long sentences and many words, others are short winded and direct. Learn recognize how best you communicate and how to best communicate with others.

How Effectively Can You Communicate in “One-on-One” Situations

- Can You Instill Trust in Others? Engender their Support?

- Can You Diffuse Verbal Criticism and Maintain Control?

Learn coaching and training techniques for speaking one-on-one with co-workers, subordinates and superiors. Learn to communicate with others so as to build trust and confidence in others.

Where Do You Go From Here?

We’re all developing our Communication Quotient on the job. Learn to recognize how different forms of communication require different skills. Make a point of analyzing your style and the results it engenders. Where can you improve? Can classes, practice or coaching help? Become a student of improved communication. As for feedback. Study those whose communication style you respond to. Seek to raise your own CQ!

(c) 2008 Pat Brill

Do you ever find yourself confused on how to best communicate changes to your employees? Here is where you need to do some serious brainstorming. Why? Because it takes a lot of communication to make a change successful.

As soon as you know that you will be creating change in your department, you must communicate to your employees so they know what is happening. You are probably thinking…why get them anxious about the change when you don’t know all the details yet. They sense it already…as if the walls in the conference rooms have ears. It’s much better to hear from you and not from someone outside the department or company.

Your communication plan needs to start right alongside the strategic planning. Aligned your communication plan along with all the steps of the project. Even if the change is relatively small, communicate throughout the whole process.

You will make changes as your receive feedback from employees and others, but if you have a solid communication plan in place already, making minor changes is easier. You and your employees have to feel as much in control as possible…so no surprises if possible. This plan will not guarantee there are no surprises but will reduce the possibility.

What you need to do is create a communication template and use it diligently in all of your significant changes. Here are some ideas to creating your communication plan

==>Communication Plan

-What is the goal of the change?

-Who are the stakeholders? (who is driving the change and/or benefiting from it?)

-Who is the project leader for your communication plan?

-What changes will need to occur in the department in order for you to meet your objective(s)?

-How long will it take to implement the change?

-What are the tangible results you would like to see from the communication plan?

-Who will need to change in order to insure the results will occur? Critical to know who will be most impacted as they are the individuals who you will need to insure fully understands the change.

When planning your communication events you need a solid foundation for all messages to your employees. Your communication must include clarity, consistency of messaging, continuous communications, and a forum for feedback. You want to insure that the information is received correctly and you are providing the necessary details for the employees to understand and accept the change.

Note: Before you send out your messages, test the message with a few people to get their feedback. You probably have worked on the message numerous times and can’t see the more obvious missing points. You need to provide information in a language that people will understand. A fresh pair of eyes will be helpful.

Build a master list of communication activities that make up your plan. Here are some sample headings.

-Create a list of communication events organizing them in the order that you will distribute. Include date and how you will communicate the message. These communication events will be aligned with milestones of the project.

-For each communication event, create a list of details. For example, who will write it, what is the topic, how will it be distributed, and how will you follow up.

-Create a Calendar with Planned Events - you can visually see all of your communication events and plan accordingly.

-How will you communicate the message? (verbal and written)

-Who is responsible to communicate the message

-Pretest message

-Actual Delivered Date

Note: Communication Calendar - have one on the wall or close by so you can see visually all of your planned communication events.

==>Verbal communication

Make sure you mix verbal as well as written communication so that the employee gets an opportunity to ask you questions and come away with more clarity around the change. Create a script for your verbal messaging so you are consistent with the written message.

==>Receiving Feedback

Create several ways to receive feedback and let the employees know how they can share their thoughts, concerns or suggestions. People handle their concerns differently, some more outspoken, others more reluctant to speak in a large group. If you have several venues for them to give you feedback, you will have more information and fewer surprises. Here are some ideas to use for gathering feedback:

-Focus groups

-1:1 meetings with managers

-Create a separate website for employees to ask their questions.

Note: A separate website can also hold past communications and FAQs for repetitive questions.

Employees feel more comfortable when a manager informs them throughout the process. They may still feel anxious about the upcoming change, and yet if you are open, you build a lot of trust with them. When an employee trusts their manager, they are more open to the change.

As you can see in today’s modern World, Globalization is the main factor considered in every walks of life. Starting from small businesses to International trade organizations, Globalization plays an important role in the growth of the firm. As a result of Globalization, these organizations are in need of effective communication with the clients, suppliers and employees worldwide. This is where the intercultural communication comes into play. The need of intercultural communication is indispensable in the Globalized world. Just keep reading on to know more about the need of Intercultural communication.

What is Intercultural communication?

Intercultural communication can be defined in many ways. Basically Intercultural communication refers to the effective communication between people/ workers/ clients of different cultural background. People have a misconception that intercultural communication is all about dealing with different languages. Though Intercultural communication deals with handling different languages, it also includes managing thought patterns and non verbal communication too.

What is the Need of Intercultural communication?

It is a well known fact that the success of any International business depends upon the effectiveness in Intercultural communication. Though communicating with people of different cultures and languages will be very much interesting, the intercultural communication skills are hard to come by. Thankfully, with the advancements in technology, there are many kinds of translation services available today. These translation services help people to decode the message given in a different language. You can also opt for cross cultural training if you wish to develop intercultural skills and don’t wish to depend on anyone else for effective Intercultural communication. In the highly completive business world, Intercultural communication is also becoming competitive. As the success in International business depends on the Intercultural communication, the International businesses work hard in making their communication right. Delivering a presentation or negotiating with a supplier or providing assistance to a client, Intercultural communication has to be done right.

Developing Intercultural Communication skills

Starting from books to e-learning, the sources to develop Intercultural communication skills are unlimited. If you don’t wish to learn Intercultural Communication but still want to effectively communicate with people world-wide, the electronic translators are made for you. As the name indicates, these electronic translators decode the message into your native language for better understanding. With the help of these electronic translators, you will also be able to pass messages to the people around the planet in their language itself. You should remember that you’ve got only one shot to effectively communicate with the International clients/ suppliers for making a fair deal. Hence you shouldn’t take any risk in Intercultural communication for business. For accurate Intercultural communication you should always go with the professional translation services available out there.

Bottom Line

The success in Intercultural Communication depends on how people negotiate, meet, greet and build relationships worldwide. With the advancements in translation services and cultural awareness, International borders are not even speed bumps today.