The Alternative Press

SUMMIT, NJ - As society evolves technologically, non-profits are changing, as well. Today, many people are addicted to their Ipads, BlackBerries or laptops and rarely talk with others face to face. But, communication is still vital in society and particularly in the world of non-profits.

On Tuesday morning, the Junior League of Summit held a Community Leadership Forum at Temple Sinai in Summit at which individuals from non-profits in the community gathered to discuss different ways to improve communication at their organizations.  According to its website, the Junior League is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.

The event featured keynote speaker Jacquelyn Wieland of Solutions Provided, who has spent the majority of her career in sales and training. The title of her presentation was "Communicate, Motivate, and Connect: Moving Your Organization Forward."  Wieland said even with the majority of communication taking place through texting or e-mail, it is imperative to know how to speak with co-workers. She said 87 percent of the issues in business are related to conflict and people.  

“We’re so unique. Everyone looks at things from a different plate,” she said. 

Each table had colored cards, which had different reactions to conflicts and each person took the ones with which they most identified. They were also given an outline packet on how to relate to the cards and colors.  

The packet contained a circular model, which is used to help people more effectively communicate. It contained the following words that describe people at work: people focused, inspiration driven, big picture thinking, extraverted, outcome focused, discipline driven, down to earth and introverted.

The packet also allowed participants to select three top qualities that each individual uses most often and some of the words available were: demonstrative, empathetic, imaginative, competitive, flexible and adaptable. It also allowed people to focus on how they react when their project or proposal is de-railed. 

There was also a model circle on the floor where a few individuals stood depending how they felt they corresponded to the colors of the circle. Wieland said learning how to speed read someone’s personality is important and their body language, tone, workspace and content of conversation are things to consider.

Everyone wears blinders and sees things from a different perspective, Wieland said. If people don’t have the ability to understand other individuals, then not only will they fail in the workplace, but in life as well, she said.   

“We have to work at making it okay for people to unveil who they are,” she said.

Each day billions of e-mails are sent, but often they are hard to interpret. Wieland said they are simply too informal because recipients have no way of understanding the tone and sometimes, the message. Some emails are direct and others are indirect, but it’s really better to be clear in the email, she said. Its import to always start the e-mail with the "what" and then say "why," she said.    

“The reality is people still do business with people that they have relationships with,” Wieland said.

President of Temple Sinai, Steven Greenblatt, was impressed with the presentation. Volunteer reorganization could always use more training, he said.

“It is an invaluable kind of training and it’s wonderful to take advantage of something like this,” Greenblatt said.

Grant Van Eck, from the Patriots' Council of the Boy Scouts of America, who attended the event last year as well, said he had a great time and found it very informative.

“I’m definitely going to apply some of the time management applications.  Also I'm going to try to implement some of the ideas regarding how we compare people in a team with personalities that support each other,” Van Eck said.