Improving Organizational Communication Skills

May 8, 2012 By 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:

  1. 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.”
  2. 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.”
  3. 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.”
  4. 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: , ,

Three Significant Factors in Developing an Effective Team: Temperament, Active listening, and Feedback

December 3, 2010 By Comments

Temperament

Temperament information could be utilized in an organizational setting to form effective groups in order to better accomplish organizational tasks.  Potentially, groups can outperform individuals in doing similar work, make better decisions because they generate more information, and are more productive because synergies develop. 

However, many factors such as group structure, the actions of the group leader, and diversity influence the performance of a group.  Awareness, through temperament information, of the individual tendencies of each group member could assure that the team is working to their fullest potential.

Active Listening

When people interact, they often tend to be distracted and do not listen to one another attentively.  They may have other things on their minds, be thinking about how they are going to respond (especially in a confrontational situation), be listening to more than one conversation at the same time, or the environment may be too noisy or in some other way not conducive to an attentive conversation.

Active listening occurs when the attention is on the speaker, and one’s own feelings or judgments are withheld.  The listener may then paraphrase the speaker’s words or describe the speaker’s observed emotion (“in other words” or “that pleases you!”). 

When people contradict one another, an argument often arises.  In such confusion, each of their positions is now deprived of the opportunity to be acknowledged.  If, on the other hand, one person understands and acknowledges the other’s position, the two can work toward resolution of the argument.

Active listening is necessary to communicate to the speaker that you are listening; to encourage the speaker to share information, ideas or feelings; to allow yourself to be used as a sounding board; when conflict management is needed; or where a person needs to hear how he/she is coming across.

Active listening is beneficial in avoiding misconceptions, resolving conflict, building trust, and encouraging people to share their feelings.  It may help groups reach a compromise.  It may also be utilized in informal conversation to build understanding.

Feedback

Feedback is a way of learning more about ourselves and the effect our behavior has on others.  If given skillfully, feedback increases our self-awareness and encourages our personal development. 

Feedback should be given timely using clear, direct requests. It is important that your thoughts, feelings, and opinions are expressed with ownership (“when you interrupt me, I lose my concentration” rather than “you make me lose my concentration when you interrupt me”).  Descriptions should be factual to avoid exaggeration.  Feedback should reference behaviors that can be changed, and should be descriptive rather than evaluative.

When receiving feedback, listen carefully and completely.  Check for clarity, and solicit another source of feedback if the statements are unclear.  Ask for assistance if you need help in changing your identified behavior, and decide on an action plan.

Summary

Recognition of your own temperament, learning to recognize the temperaments of others, and practicing active listening and feedback will certainly prove to have a positive impact on group performance. 

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

Filed Under: Adult Learning, Career Development, Resources & Tools Tagged With: , ,
 
In case you missed it, Beginning Spanish for the Native English Speaking Adult Learner, Lesson 2: Pronunciation http://t.co/hydJ9COdy42 months ago