Communication in the Workplace
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Professional Skills and Core Leadership Competencies 3
Communication in the WorkplacePre-Module Materials 4
Learning Objectives: 4
Assignment 4
Communication 5
Interpersonal Communication 5
Elements of Communication 5
The Communication Process 5
Effective Communication 6
Tips for Improving Communication 7
Listening 10
How Do You Listen? 10
Active Listening 10
Tip: Practice Active Listening 10
Activity: 11
Interpersonal Communication Awareness 11
Matching the Message 12
Communication Habits 14
Listening Self-Assessment 15
Virtual Communication 16
E-mail 16
Text Messaging 17
Instant Message (IM) 17
Leadership 18
Leading in Today’s Organizations 18
Responsibilities of Today’s Leaders 18
Leadership Roles 19
Characteristics of a Good Leader 20
Performance Coaching Skills 21
Fundamentals of Coaching 21
Promoting a Learning Environment 21
Performance Management 22
Establishing Trust with Associates or Employees 23
Coaching Diverse Associates or Employees 24
Four Major Styles of Interacting 24
Personal Influence 26
Three Types of Influence 26
Effective Interpersonal Influence 28
Understanding How You Think 29
Ladder of Inference 29
Creating an Environment of Leadership 31
Tips: Using the Ladder of Inference to Create an Environment of Leadership 31
Inquiry vs. Advocacy 32
Tips for Balancing Inquiry and Advocacy 33
Activity 34
Ladder of Inference 34
Your Inner Leader 35
Case Study 37
What Did I Do Wrong? 37
Interpersonal Style 39
Understanding Interpersonal Styles 39
Common Interpersonal Styles Profile Categories 39
The Case for Self-Knowledge 40
Benefits of Increased Self-Knowledge 40
The Johari Window 41
Ways to Increase Self-Knowledge 43
Self-Reflection 44
What Is Psychological Type? 45
What Are Preferences? 45
Using Type Inventories to Determine Preferences 45
Activity Self-knowledge 47
Resolving Workplace Conflicts and Negotiating Successfully 48
What is Conflict? 48
Content Conflicts 48
Process Conflicts 48
Interpersonal Conflicts 48
Theories of Conflict 48
Methods of Resolving Conflict 49
Should Team Conflict Always be Avoided? 49
Approaches to Conflict Resolution 50
Case Study 50
Mixed Signals 50
Negotiation 52
Basic Concepts of Negotiation 52
Terms You Should Know 52
Activity 53
What are the four categories of objectives in negotiating? 53
Facilitating an Agreement 54
Supplemental Materials 56
Job Aids 56
What are Job Aids? 56
Job Aid - Tips to Reduce Fear of Public Speaking 58
Job Aid: Preparing an Oral Presentation 59
Speech Construction 61
Job Aids 62
Components of a Plan of Action 66
Recommended Readings and Resources 67
For More Information 68
Summary and Transition 68
Glossary 69
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Professional Skills and Core Leadership Competencies 3
Communication in the WorkplacePre-Module Materials
Learning Objectives:
· Work actively in multi-disciplinary teams to complete projects, as demonstrated by meeting the instructor’s criteria for successful completion of those projects.· Demonstrate effective skills for interpersonal communication in the workplace through in-class group meetings, transcripts of online dialogs, and evaluations of self and peers.
· Exhibit professionalism by demonstrating respect for business culture and manners in class, presentations, and discourse.
Assignment
Team Project Presentation #1Communication in the Workplace: Resolving Interpersonal Conflicts
The goal of the case is to present a scenario of how to resolve conflict with individuals or groups in a typical workplace setting who are not meeting performance expectations. Assume in the scenario that you are the leader of a work team that is experiencing interpersonal conflicts and not performing to the organization’s expectations. Your job is to resolve conflicts, build positive working relationships, as well as meet performance expectations. The presentation should include a performance coaching session that includes communicating negative feedback, but in a positive way.
The intent is to have your team conduct a role-play in front of the class that would demonstrate some potential areas of conflict and present acceptable ways of dealing with performance issues and conducting performance coaching sessions. The case scenario is to include appropriate research into conflict resolution strategies and how to conduct performance coaching and counseling sessions in a workplace setting.
Deliverables: 10 minute (maximum) role play or skit describing a workplace conflict situation between parties with different interpersonal styles and demonstrating how a leader should conduct a performance coaching session. Three page (maximum) summary team research paper outlining approaches for resolving workplace conflict and conducting effective performance coaching sessions.
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Professional Skills and Core Leadership Competencies 3
Communication in the WorkplaceCommunication
Interpersonal Communication
What is communication?Communication is the sharing of ideas, opinions, or information between at least two people by verbal or nonverbal means. Communication is a process of creating shared meanings to bring people and ideas together (Hoover, 2002).
What is effective communication?
Effective communication occurs when the receiver accurately interprets the sender's information. Employees depend on the ability of managers to transfer necessary information to them and must have the skills to communicate accurately with one another as well.
Elements of Communication
In order to better understand the communication process, it is helpful to break it down into its various components. While the person sending the message and the intended receiver make up the core of communication, there are a variety of other elements to consider.Activity: What are the elements of communication?
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The Communication Process
The process of communication can be broken down into three steps:Know Your Audience – Will you be speaking to a superior, a peer, or someone you are leading? Does the person you will be communicating with differ from you in terms of culture, background or education? Knowing your audience will help you craft your message to fit the receiver’s specific needs.
Select a Channel(s) – You must choose a channel that best fits the circumstances. Important information should be sent along a speedy channel (e.g. telephone, e-mail or fax), whereas information that isn’t critical can be sent via slower means (e.g. letters, memos or reports).
Allow for Feedback – You should give the receiver the opportunity to make comments or ask questions about your message. This not only lets the receiver clarify any points that were confusing, it gives you the opportunity to see whether or not your message was properly understood. While listening, be open-minded and objective.
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Professional Skills and Core Leadership Competencies 3
Communication in the WorkplaceEffective Communication
In order for effective communication to occur, the right people must receive your message; they must receive it in a timely manner, and they must accurately interpret the information you are sending. If the information is sent to the wrong person, is received late, or is misunderstood, then your message will not be effective. Anything that keeps your message from being clearly understood or received is known as interference.Environmental – This type of interference comes from distractions in the environment, such as loud noises, interruptions, visual distractions, etc.
Personal – Personal factors may interfere with communication, such as feeling ill or tired, being emotionally distraught, feeling defensive or stressed, etc.
Verbal – If the language used is unfamiliar to the receiver or perceived as being condescending, this can cause a barrier to communication.
Nonverbal – This type of interference occurs when your body language does not match your spoken words. People usually view nonverbal cues as a true reflection of the speaker’s feelings.
Intellectual – Differences in levels of education, experience and training can interfere with effective communication.
How to Effectively Communicate with Associates
Get to know your associates or employees – If you can establish a relationship with your associates or employees, they will not only feel more at ease with you, they will be much more likely to respect what you have to say. Build rapport with your associates, asking about their day and how they are doing rather than just talking business all the time.
Send clear messages – Be clear and concise regarding what you expect of your associates. If they do not understand what you want, this will create and air of confusion and mistakes are likely to be made.
Use active listening skills – Pay attention to what your associates have to say. When someone comes to you with a concern, avoid doing things that make you appear uninterested such as shuffling through papers or avoiding eye contact. Give the person time to complete what he or she has to say before asking any questions for clarification.
Use the technique of paraphrasing – Once an associate has finished discussing an issue with you, paraphrase the person’s thoughts to ensure that you have understood the message clearly. The same technique can be used when you are trying to communicate a point to an employee. Asking the person to paraphrase what you have said can let you know that he or she is clear about what to do.
Remain objective – It is your job as a leader to consider all points of view and remain professional. While you do not want to seem cold, it is important to not become emotional because this can cloud your judgment.
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Tips for Improving Communication
ü If possible, select an environment devoid of distractions when delivering a message.ü Consider who you will be communicating with, and use your knowledge of that person or group to help you decide on the content of your message.
ü If you are in a different location than the person you need to reach, make sure that you both have access to the same channels of communication. Sending an e-mail won’t do much good if the other person can’t get to a computer.
ü Watch your body language during face-to-face interactions. Avoid crossing your arms or clenching your fists, and try to appear relaxed.
ü Do not use a tone of voice that could be perceived as hostile.
ü Be open-minded and considerate regarding the viewpoints of others.
ü When communicating with a single individual, ask that person to paraphrase what you have just said to ensure that your message was clearly received.
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Professional Skills and Core Leadership Competencies 3
Communication in the WorkplaceHumor
Using humor in speeches is a long-standing tradition. You can probably remember many times when you heard a speaker open a presentation with a joke. Most likely, you smiled at the jokes, settled in to listen to the messages and cannot remember any of the jokes that were told. However, if you can, it is probable that the joke offended you in some way. Why?
When you hear humor successfully integrated into a presentation, it can enhance your reception to the speaker and message. You are relaxed by amusement and open to listening. Hence, the successful use of humor lies in eliciting a smile from the audience with a joke that is unlikely to offend.
Humor used wisely may:
§ Establish commonality.
§ Increase trust.
Reduce anxiety.
§ Provide relief.
§ Pace the delivery of complicated information.
Effects of Failed Humor
/ When humor misses its mark, it can forge a terribly memorable link between you, your message, and personal offense.
Using humor is risky because what we may and may not find humorous is extremely personal. Our sense of what is funny reflects our culture, values, life experience, fears, and imagination. Remember that when you tell a joke, no two people hear it exactly the same way.
Consider the childhood joke below, told by a young boy, and heard very differently by three adults: Jane, Charlie, and Natasha.
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Ivan.
Ivan who?
Ivant to suck your blood (delivered with vampire body language).
Jane has two 6-year-old sons. This joke makes her groan with fond recognition. She tousles the child’s hair.
Charlie smiles at the child, but as a vegetarian he finds the joke a little uncomfortable and he finds a reason to move away from the child.
Natasha, a recent immigrant from the Ukraine, feels hurt by what she perceives to be a joke at her expense. She patiently explains to the child that it is rude to make fun of her accented English.
If humor is so risky, why use it? Because when you can make someone smile or laugh, you make a powerful connection.
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Professional Skills and Core Leadership Competencies 3
Communication in the WorkplaceListening
How Do You Listen?
When you focus only on yourself, you often forget to listen, and as a result, the chances for successful communication are poor. Listening is the basis of effective communication and entails much more than just hearing sound.Think about the last time you noticed someone obviously not paying attention when you were trying to communicate. What specific behaviors did the person exhibit that led you to believe that he or she was not attending to you? What impact did the person’s behavior have on you? Perhaps you felt alarm that your important message was not getting through properly, or frustrated that your audience was not “getting it.” You may have been offended by your listener’s inattention or felt an urge to repeat your message.
You can learn more about listening behavior by examining the type of listener you tend to be. Use the following activity to learn more about your listening style.
Active Listening
When you listen empathically, you don’t just hear words. You hear thoughts, beliefs and feelings. Empathic listening is highly active and requires hard work. Following the steps below will help you to improve your listening skills.1. The first step is to decide to listen and concentrate on the speaker.
2. Then, use your imagination and enter the speaker’s situation.
Concentrate and try to imagine his or her frame of reference and point of view.
3. Observe the speaker’s vocal inflection, enthusiasm or lack of it, and style of delivery. These are essential components of the message. If you are speaking face-to-face, pay attention to the speaker’s facial expressions and other nonverbal cues for more insight into the message.
4. Listen without interruption. Note key phrases or use word associations to remember the speaker’s content.
5. Use paraphrasing or clarifying questions to confirm that you received the intended message. Check your perceptions of how the speaker is feeling to put the text of the message in emotional context.
6. Finally, provide feedback to the speaker.
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Tip: Practice Active Listening
Like other skills, listening skills improve with practice. Ask a trusted friend to rate you honestly on the listening self-assessment that you conducted earlier in this unit. Then, the next time someone comes to you with a problem, work on the listening skills that need improvement. Practice empathic listening by attending, paraphrasing, and asking questions.______