Project Management Newsletter
 
NEWSLETTERS
 

CIO.com updates, insights and advice on technology, management and your career.

 CIO BlackBerry News and Tips
 CIO Research and Analysis
 CIO Microsoft
 CIO Insider
 
 
 
LEADERSHIP
 
CIO Executive Programs
The Leader in Face-to-Face Education for Senior Executives

Offering regional and national programs, CIO (and CSO) events bring together some of the most respected names and thought leaders in information technology and security. Presented by CIOs and other senior level executives, these invitation-only programs offer timely topics and strong networking. Learn More »

 
CIO Executive Council
A Peer-Advisory Service and Professional Association for CIOs

Webcast: In the Google Apps Cloud: How to Achieve Your Business Objectives

Dec 3rd, '09, 1 - 2 pm US/Eastern (GMT-5)

Join Council member Brent Hoag, Director, Global IT, at JohnsonDiversey, as he discusses the adoption of Google Apps which has helped meet four corporate goals; sustainability, simplification, increased employee productivity and global collaboration.

Webcast: Collaboration Initiatives: Benchmarks & Best Practices

Dec 15th, '09, 4 - 5 pm US/Eastern (GMT-5)

Join Council members Ruth Thorpe, VP & CIO at the U.S. Pharmaceutical Operations of Sanofi-Aventis, and Gary Kuyper, CIO at Bethany Christian Services, as they speak about their collaboration initiatives and experiences in how and why they chose the social networking and collaboration tools they are using and their business goals for collaboration, and facing culture change challenges.

Data Overview: Collaboration Initiatives Field Guide: Benchmarks & Best Practices

This appendix to the Council Field Guide provides an analysis which discusses benchmarks for collaboration IT implementation costs, adoption rates and payoffs. The overview identifies top IT and business goals and satisfaction rates for collaboration initiatives as well as best practices and lessons learned for implementing collaboration IT.

More / Register »

Learn more about the CIO Executive Council »



 
 
RESOURCE CENTER
 
 
 
 

How to Be a Mind Reader: The Art of Deciphering Body Language

Learning how to accurately interpret facial expressions isn't easy, but it can make you a more effective leader.

 

April 10, 2007CIO

Eric Goldfarb knows that tuning into body language and facial expressions can indicate the thoughts and feelings that remain unspoken. He also knows how difficult those nonverbal cues can be to interpret. During a budget meeting with a direct report while working for Global Knowledge, Goldfarb noticed that his vice president kept toying with her necklace. He thought this mannerism was an indication of her discomfort with the financial target he was proposing. He also noticed her eyes and thought they expressed worry over the budget target. He repeatedly asked her during the meeting if she thought she could meet the budget, and even though she consistently answered yes, Goldfarb didn't believe her. So he scheduled a follow-up meeting with her to dig deeper. She ended up meeting the target without a problem, and Goldfarb realized that he wasted his and her precious time by scheduling the follow-up meeting and by dragging out the first one with repetitive questions. What could Goldfarb have done differently to more accurately size up his vice president?

 
Mind Test
 
Take a short, interactive quiz to see how adept you are at reading facial expressions.
 

Goldfarb, now the CIO of auditing firm PRG-Schultz International, was astute to tune into her body language and facial expressions. However, because body language can be misleading and because facial expressions can be hard to read if you're not practiced at it, Goldfarb needed to more pointedly probe his direct report. Instead of continually asking her, "Are you comfortable?" he might have said, "It's really important for me to have your buy-in on this target. I don't mean to pry but I just want to know if the discomfort you appear to be showing is a result of this budget target or something else. If it's the target, we can work something out." Had Goldfarb taken this tack, he wouldn't have had to worry that his incessant questioning sent a message to this individual—one of his key lieutenants—that he didn't trust her, or that he temporarily lost some credibility in her eyes.

Accurately interpreting the meanings of nonverbal communications, especially facial expressions, can make CIOs more effective leaders and managers, says Paul Ekman, noted psychologist and author of Emotions Revealed: Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and Emotional Life. Reading facial expressions is a particularly useful skill for business executives because, so often in business settings, people don't say what they really think. If CIOs could recognize how different emotions manifest themselves on the face, they'd be able to discern much more quickly, for example, when an individual is starting to get angry. They'd also be able to identify when people are trying to conceal their emotions—such as fear, contempt, disgust or surprise. This knowledge and ability can make CIOs more aware of unspoken political tensions in board or executive committee meetings. It also better equips them to handle sensitive staffing situations such as performance reviews. Ekman points to research indicating that managers who seem responsive to the unspoken emotions of their staffs are more successful in the workplace than managers who don't.

 
 
Loading...
 
WHITE PAPERS

The CIO Calls the Shots

Learn how a selective sourcing model can deliver services in a flexible, efficient manner.
 

Adobe for Business Process Automation

Companies must be able to react to customer demands, competitive threats, and compliance requirements.
 

Increase Customer Satisfaction and Lower TCO

With Adobe® LiveCycle® Enterprise Suite (ES2) software, organizations can easily deploy intuitive user experiences.
 

Upgrading to VMware vSphere with vWire

Learn how vWire can help ensure the success of your upgrade from ESX 3.x to vSphere.
 

Using ERP To Gain Competitive Advantage in a Tough Economy

For midsize enterprises, now is the perfect time to invest in a significant IT expansion - despite the economic climate.
 

Powerful Software Solutions for Midsize Companies

Now, midsize firms and even start ups can benefit from Oracles Accelerate program, which is a fixed-scope/fixed-price approach that ultimately lowers your software costs and speeds time to value.
 

WEBCASTS

Extending Client Refresh - 11 Steps to Maximize Savings

11 Steps to Maximize Savings
 

The Last Software You'll Ever Buy? The Platform Approach to Development

Torn between "buy" and "build"? There is a third option that can give you the custom fit of an in-house build and t...
 

Beyond Installing ITPM Software: How a global company reduced risk and successfully implemented ITPM

Hear directly from one of your peers who has reduced risk and successfully implemented ITPM in this Live Webcast. ...
 

Informatica 9: What it means for the CIO?

Hear from Informatica's CIO on how Informatica 9 will improve...
 

The Case for Data Protection for SMBs

Every business needs a data back-up and recovery strategy. Without it, a severe storm or power outage could result ...
 

Enterprise Capture: Your Onramp to Business Process Automation

Date: Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Time: 11:00 AM PT/2:00 PM ET

Today more than ever companies are see...
 

Resource Alerts

Get instant email notifications by topic when white papers, webcasts, and case studies are added to our library.

 
FEATURED SPONSORS
 
 
 
SPONSORED LINKS
 

Upgrading to VMware vSphere with vWire

IDC White Paper: CCM for IT Compliance and Risk Management

Tolly Group Lab Test Results: Cisco vs. ShoreTel

Enterprise Capture: Your Onramp to Business Process Automation

Focus Under Pressure: Why IT Governance Becomes Mission-Critical in a Down Economy

The Total Economic Impact of Network Security Intrusion Prevention

Seven Technologies for Advanced Mail Protection

How Consumerization of IT Will Make Your Business More Productive

Adobe® LiveCycle®solutions for intuitive user experience

Mind the Talent Gap: Global Survey on IT and HR trends and challenges

Seven Ways ITIL Can Help You in an Economic Downturn

Return on Information: Google Enterprise Search pays you back. Get the facts.

VMware. The source for Business Infrastructure Virtualization.

ShoreTel tells businesses to untangle from competitors' complexity and turn to its brilliantly simple UC solution

See how AT&T can help protect your network.

Streamline IT Costs. Boost Performance with WAN Optimization.

Build your 1st app FREE with Force.com

TDWI checklist helps define data readiness for analytics. Download report.

A Clear View Toward Virtualization

Virtualization Technology as a Business Solution

The rules of infrastructure management just changed.

A Clear View Toward Virtualization

Interactive Q&A helps you discover key ways to maximize IT assets.

Ready to virtualize tier one applications? Check your virtualization maturity.

Think you can't afford a Cisco Switch? Cisco Catalyst Switches are now more affordable.

Authentication as a Service by Forrester Research

Disciplined Autonomy: Resolving the Tension Between Flexibility and Control

Build a Foundation for Unified Communications

Removing the Barriers to IT Governance: How On-Demand Software Changes the Game

Cloud Computing--What is its Potential Value for Your Company?

Seven Design Requirements for Web 2.0 Threat Protection

Learn about the growing threat of insider data theft.

Top to Bottom Performance Management Excellence at the City of Chicago

Architecting Business Intelligence Applications for Change: The Open Solution

Taking the Service Desk to the Next Level

Disciplined Autonomy: Resolving the Tension Between Flexibility and Control

AT&T Synaptic Storage as a Service. Expand on demand

Trend Micro ranked #1 against real-world malware. Read more.

Webinar: Jump-start your in-house e-discovery with Ringtail QuickCull from FTI Technology

Top Five CIO Challenges

Read the RSA report: Security for Business Innovation

64-page prescriptive guide to security, compliance, and IT operations.

Increase UPS efficiency without sacrificing protection.

eZine: A Roadmap to Reducing IT Complexity

Reduce risk, gain agility. See how Progress can help your business.

Virtualization Technology as a Business Solution

eZine: A Roadmap to Reducing IT Complexity

World-class trading technology solutions from NYSE Technologies.

If You're Paying for Telecom, You're Paying Too Much. Contact Asentinel Today.

Trade-In your old printer and save up to $1,000 plus free recycling!