We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Charlotte Berry. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Charlotte below.
Charlotte, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Interpersonal skills – how many people today stand out in this area?
My first job out of college was working for a very large regional telecommunications company and most of my co-workers were at least 10 years older than me. I tried to act older, more mature, and more experienced in business that I actually was. In my early 20’s I discovered How to Win Friends and Influence People, a book written by Dale Carnegie in the 1930’s. Even many years after it was published this book offered examples of how to be more professional with co-workers and customers.
A decade later I had three children and decided to teach them at home for part of their education. Because good “people skills” helped me more confidently navigate my early adult years I focused on teaching my children how to use and practice these skills. I took a very long pause from the business world to be a full-time parent and I knew I wanted to re-enter the business world when the time was right.
When my two older children were in college and the youngest was in high school I began to search for my next career step. I had dreamed of owning a business but did not know what I was qualified to do. My college student children were creating extra opportunities with their professors and other adults on campus by communicating well with those adults. They didn’t have more intelligence or connections than their peers, but they felt comfortable and confident navigating the conversations that led to opportunities.
Since I influenced many of the skills they had developed I wondered if I could help other young adults in this area. I consulted a young adult friend who was married and working full time in business and asked her if she thought a business teaching young professionals interpersonal skills would be helpful and she said yes. I worked on its development in 2019, and tried to launch in early 2020. Because most workers began working from their homes and many companies were struggling to stay in business my original idea and company never had a chance to take off.
Fast forward to the fall of 2022, and I was still trying to determine my work plans. I began to again think about business ownership. Since many companies were requiring (or at least requesting) their employees to return to offices AND people had not been working together in offices for more than two years I wondered if there was a potential need for my services. This time I completed more initial research to learn the needs in business regarding interpersonal skills.
I interviewed 20-25 professionals from different companies, different industries, different titles, and different ages to ask what was missing. The overwhelming theme of what was lacking was communication… between managers and employees or between co-workers. Further research with published studies revealed statistics on where the biggest gaps were and how much businesses are losing each year because of it.
I have now launched The Communication Advantage to help small to mid-size companies in my area improve internal communication among employees, managers, and clients to help these companies save money, increase productivity, and improve employee engagement.
Charlotte, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I have a heart for helping young professionals succeed in their workplaces and I have the life experience to understand the responsibilities of C-suite executives.
I serve small to mid-size companies where executives, managers, and employees have differing expectations on what information needs to be shared and how and when that should occur. Different generations (and individuals) have priorities that may conflict. In a business this can create unproductive meetings, misunderstandings, missed deadlines, duplicated efforts, and often unhappy clients. I work with companies to understand their business priorities and share tools and skills that help all the employees work toward those goals.
I offer presentations (in person and remote), interactive workshops, and follow-up sessions to ensure workers are on the same page with their purpose. Having strong communication skills has been one of my priorities for 30+ years and I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned with others.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
The current business is the second version of my initial idea. I have said that the first version failed because I tried to launch first quarter 2020 and it was based on group training in offices.
In reality I had no business plan and decided what to offer without doing market research or defining a problem to solve. My current service offerings are based on research with potential customers and identifying real business problems to solve.
I once heard a coach say that a business owner should not spend too much time developing a product or service without first making sure someone will buy it! I am continuing to refine my offerings as I collect more input from potential customers.
Any advice for managing a team?
Following are several suggestions for effectively managing a team:
Establish a rapport and build trust with each employee
Meet regularly with your employees and actively listen to them
Learn employee strengths & weaknesses
Provide enough context around assignments
Consistently set expectations & follow up
Make project roles clear from the start
Give constructive and compliments feedback thoughtfully
Choose the right channels and communication tools
Seek out & accept feedback from your team members regularly
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thecommunicationadvantage.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlotte-berry-clt/