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Improving Organizational Communication Skills

May 8, 2012 By Shirley Caruso Comments

Creating a dialogue is much more than simply having a conversation. It means you are fully engaged with the other person, giving him or her your full attention, and paraphrasing to check for understanding. It is being non-judgmental and open.

Assertive Communication

Assertive communication is based on the belief that you and others have the responsibility to ask for what you want or need. Be sure the following assertion skills are in your communication toolbox:

Acknowledgment: Let the other person know he or she was heard. For example, in talking with an employee about a chronic tardiness problem, acknowledge the employee’s explanation: “So it sound like you were late because your alarm clock didn’t go off this morning.”
Use “I” statements as opposed to “you” statements: Instead of saying “you need to show up for work on time”, say “I need to be able to rely on you to be here by 8:30.”
Repetition: Keep coming back to your statement of what you need or want. “I understand you had a reason for being late. I need to be able to rely on you to be here by 8:30.”
Validation: Let the other person know you value them. “Your work is excellent, and I enjoy working with you. I need you to do whatever it takes to be here on time, and if you are going to be late, call me so I can get your phone covered.”

Giving Feedback without Blame or Finger-Pointing

Know the results you want to achieve. Encourage change by looking for patterns. What is the other person doing when the problem doesn’t happen? Search for patterns in other settings, and apply them to this situation. Don’t ask, “Why do you have this problem?” Fix situations, not people.

Receiving Feedback Without Becoming Defensive

Receiving feedback can be hurtful and demoralizing. These tips will help you reframe it, so you can use it to help you and not upset you:

Actively invite it. This eliminates the unexpected aspect of it and enables you to be better prepared for what you may hear. Remember, it’s better to hear it directly than have the other person talking behind your back.
Listen to understand. Assume the other person has good intentions for telling you. his will help you to remain open and non-defensive.
Ask questions. This enables you to get specifics, focus on behaviors you can change, and guide the conversation to be useful to you, not a venting session for the other person.
Assess validity and importance. Ask yourself, “is this valid? Is this important?” Obviously, your response to something that is not valid or not important will be different than if it is valid and important. Understanding the difference among disapproval, disagreement, and direction will help you disengage from subjective interpretation and focus on common goals.

Filed Under: Adult Learning, Employee Performance, featured Tagged With: assertive communication, feedback, organizational communication

Laying the Groundwork for a Team Foundation

April 30, 2012 By Shirley Caruso Comments

Characteristics of effective teams include:

well-defined goals and priorities
Team goals override individual goals
Cooperation, not competition
Deal with conflict effectively
Listen to varying points of view
High level of morale
Practice open and frequent communication

Characteristics of ineffective teams include:

Cliques or subgroups
Unequal distribution of resources
Uneven participation levels
Dysfunctional process
Lack of creative problem solving
Miscommunication
Avoid conflict
Domineering personality

Team Values

Before you can build a cohesive team, individual team members must understand their own team values. When values are not in alignment, individuals feel uncomfortable and conflicted. The more your values and behavior are in alignment, the less internal conflict you’ll feel.

Honesty, Trust, and Respect

Honesty, trust and respect are foundational values for most teams. Emotional safety, credibility, dependability, and predictability are all characteristics of honesty, trust and respect. Emotional safety means addressing problems as they happen, acknowledging your feelings, and taking others’ interests and concerns to heart and conveying that message to them. Credibility means admitting you don’t know something, or not saying anything rather than stating half-truths. Dependability means commitments are backed by actions, you make good on your promises, and you can put aside self-interest for the good of the team. Predictability means clearly establishing and publicizing a system for responding to other team members.

Celebrating Diversity

We all have unique qualities that makes us who we are. Diversity is defined as the state or instance of being different, having variety, or being dissimilar. Celebrating diversity means:

Valuing each team member for his or her uniqueness
Appreciating different backgrounds, styles, values, and attitudes
Fostering an environment in which every team member feels valued

Summary

Laying the groundwork for a team foundation means identifying the characteristics of effective and ineffective teams, understanding your own team values, incorporating honesty, trust, and respect, and celebrating diversity.

Filed Under: Adult Learning, Audio/Video Presentations, Career Development, featured Tagged With: Diversity, Team, Team Values

E-learning: Web-Based Training

February 24, 2012 By Shirley Caruso Comments

Web-based training, also referred to as e-training or e-learning, is a tool that allows learning to occur anywhere in the world with the help of the Internet and the use of a computer. Web-based training is self-paced, according to the speed at which the learner can learn. The material presented is live, and so it is current. Today’s technology allows web-based training to simulate classroom training. Web-based training can include three-dimensional conferencing and interaction and discussion. These techniques allow web-based training to be an effective form of teaching for today’s workforce.

Different Types of Web-Based Training

Different types of web-based training can be used in different circumstances and conditions. Facilitated online learning is a type of web-based training where there is a facilitator who guides learners and provides them with support during the training course. This type of training is usually used at universities. Self-paced, web-based learning includes formal lessons which are delivered at a pace determined by the learner. There is no facilitator to guide the learning process. Online tutorials consist of documents that are available on the Internet which can be downloaded and read by the learners. Web-based electronic performance support systems teach material through visual simulation rather than written material. It is similar to an online tutorial except that the material is shown rather than written.

Some Advantages of Web-Based Training

Web-based training allows employees to learn new things at their own pace and convenience. Employees can access training programs from anywhere in the world. With the help of web-based training, organizations can train their employees with minimal cost and lost work time.

Some Disadvantages of Web-Based Training

The only interaction that is taking place is through the computer. As humans, we feel more comfortable when we are in the company of people and it also enhances our learning, as others ask questions which might answer things for us. Developing web-based training takes time, technical requirements, and expert knowledge.

By Shirley J. Caruso, M.A., Human Resource Development

Filed Under: Adult Learning, E-Learning, featured, Web Based Training Tagged With: Different Types of Web-Based Training, Some Advantages of Web-Based Training, Some Disadvantages of Web-Based Training

Employee Training and Development

January 4, 2012 By Shirley Caruso Comments

Training and development is one of the most important investments an organization can make for its growth. The quality of the employees is determined by their experiences and exposure within the organization. When these experiences are restricted in terms of time or opportunity for development, then employees cannot be expected to excel.

Employees rely on training and development to improve their expertise in their current positions and help them prepare for advanced positions. An organization must provide its employees with opportunities for learning and growth. Jobs must be able to enhance skills, incorporate a variety of tasks and responsibilities, and include autonomy and feedback. Jobs that are unrewarding lead to job dissatisfaction.

Employee resignations and turnover is also increased when people are denied opportunities for learning and development. Employees begin to feel that the demands made on them cannot be fully delivered without proper training.

Training and development initiatives raise existing skills and competences among employees to expected standards, while increasing their morale and confidence.

Filed Under: Adult Learning, Career Development, Employee Performance, featured Tagged With: Learning and Development, Training and Development