Many of you know that I am a member of the English-speaking Rotary Club in Prague: RC Prague International. We meet for lunch or dinner every week, enjoy cycling, trips, and other casual times together; and produce fundraising events, as do other Rotary clubs. (There are 8 Rotary clubs in Prague.) 

 

Our club motto is “Having Fun Doing Good” and I would like to share three opportunities to have fun doing good that you are all also able to participate in…

 

This Friday 18 October, Rotary Praha City will be holding a charity ball to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of their club founding. The “Around the World” ball will be held at the Czech Autoclub, at Oplatova 29, Prague 1. Everyone is invited and tickets are just 950 or 750 Kc, with a musical journey around the world, tombola, dance competition and a wonderful time for sure. Dress is evening wear or exotic costumes from around the world, the ball will run from 19:00 to 24:00. For more information or tickets, please email Ilja Cocholous: iljach@volny.cz. 

 

This Saturday 19 October, at the Mosaic House (Odboru 4 at the Myslikova stop on the 14 tram), there will be a benefit concert for House of Hope. It features several bands, and our own Rachel San Luis is among the performers, on keyboards. Rachel came to the Czech Republic as a Rotary Ambassador Scholar, and decided to stay. Now she is having fun doing good for House of Hope, which helps disadvantaged children and youth in Prague. I know several Rotarians and friends will be there. You can be, too. More information is available here. 

 

Finally, here is one with more lead time for you to plan… The 2014 Rotary Dragon Boat Charity Challenge  has now been scheduled for Saturday 24 May 2014. It will be held, once again, on the Vltava river at Smichovska Plaz, which is just south of the Admiral Boatel. Teams of 16 paddlers and a drummer try to win the race, and also a costume contest and raise money for charity. It’s also a great fun day for families, and kids also get to race. If your company or group is looking for an excellent team-building activity that also satisfies CSR needs, this is it. And there is a big discount for registering your team before 30 November 2013. For more information or to register, email RotaryDragomBoats@gmail.com.

 

Last month, I mentioned that I am committed to the newest Toastmasters club in Prague: the Goood Morning Toastmasters club, which meets Tuesday mornings from 7:15 at the Paul patisserie at I.P. Pavlova. 

 

For smart people, learning never stops, and quite a few are coming to this club, grabbing coffee and a croissant, and then sharpening their public speaking skills in a friendly atmosphere among other nice people who want to get ahead. Meetings last only an hour, so we easily get to work on time, too.

 

Want to join us? Contact Anezka Novak by email, at anezkan@gmail.com or call her at 777 566 018. More information about Toastmasters in general is available in this article.

 

Effective communication is at the root of successful management. Indeed, a large part of managing a successful organization rests on a manager’s ability to provide a continuous flow of information up, down and across the organization. The ability to effectively communicate not only ensures a productive, focused workforce and satisfied stakeholders, but is ultimately also felt by the customer.

 

Think about all the tasks you accomplish on a daily basis. Whether you are meeting with your staff, writing an e-mail or lunching with a client, your professional success rests on your ability to communicate effectively.

 

Of course, if you are like most managers, you would probably assess your communication abilities very positively. However, there is always room for improvement. 

 

The following question can help you assess your communication strengths and weaknesses, and determine how effective your communication really is:

 

 

Answer all these questions honestly, and then decide if you need to make any changes or improvement to make your communication more effective.