SKILL NUMBER 5: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION PART 2

THE BOOK OF MANAGEMENT

THE TEN ESSENTIAL SKILLS FOR ACHIEVING HIGH PERFORMANCE

SKILL NUMBER 5: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION PART 2 (pg. 320 - 349)

 

Communication is the most valuable skill.  It is the link between ideas and action.  It is the process by which people interact with each other, a way of seeking information.  Communication is the emotional glue that binds humans together in personal and professional relationships.

Communication is a process involving senders and receivers who encode and decode messages transmitted by various media that might have been impeded by noise.

 

COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR TEAM

A team is only as good as its communication.  Misunderstandings can cause a huge amount of extra work and lost time.  When managing a team, focus on three things:

• Giving constructive feedback
• Thorough briefing
• Effective dealing with conflict

Being able to listen effectively and understand others is at the heart of creating a team that performs to the best of its ability.  Listening is a skill you acquire naturally, but can be improved.  You need to learn to stop talking, and stop interrupting.  Let the other person speak.  Try to see things from the speaker’s point of view and show interest with your body language.  Communication is a shared responsibility, so it’s up to you to ensure that you understand the message.

Good feedback doesn’t just happen.  It is the product of careful, deliberate communication strategies coupled with good interpersonal communication skills.  Feedback is vital to any organization committed to improving itself.  Giving and receiving feedback should be a part of the whole organization’s culture.  Providing constructive, useful feedback involves more than simply responding to people as they speak to you.  Three important things to remember when giving feedback:

• The right timing
• Understand the context
• Give both positive and negative feedback

Learning to read, understand, and use nonverbal communication isn’t easy, but is essential for effective communication.  Nonverbal cues are often difficult to read because there are few body movements or gestures that have universally agreed upon meanings.  Body language can sometime contradict the verbal messages sent.

Briefings and meetings are an inescapable part of business life.  They are means of:

• Sharing information
• Initiating strategies
• Perpetuating a culture, and
• Building consensus

Be clear about the purpose of any meeting before you start planning.  Invite only those people who are directly related and include all the key decision makers.  Briefing on the other hand is a process by which information is provided to those needing it.  There are three forms of delivery:

• Memorized presentations
• Gives total control over material
• Scripted  briefings
• Rehearse carefully and look up frequently, making regular eye contact
• Extemporaneous briefings
• Delivered without notes or with visuals aids

Most successful attempts at persuasion involve four steps:

1. Get their attention
• Use physical stimuli
• Present stimuli that relate directly to the needs or goals
2. Provide a motivation
• Provide a reason
• Identify the needs and interest of the team and connect them to your message
3. Move others to act
• Provide clear channel for action
• Take time to reassure them
• Recommend specific proposal for action
4. Keep them on side

Conflict can arise from a variety of sources.  Experts see it as a function of workplace issues:

• Personality
• Personal and professional relationships
• Cultural differences
• Working environments

Differences among team members can lead to conflict.  Not all conflict within an organization is unhealthy.  But conflict between and among people within an organization can quickly become:

• Counter productive
• Divisive
• destructive

There are five regular issues or factors that contribute to conflict in a workplace:

1. limited resources
2. values, goals, and priorities
3. poorly defined responsibilities
4. change
5. human drive for success

 

COMMUNICATING EXTERNALLY

Negotiation is a process where people attempt to persuade others to cooperate or assist in attaining goals or goods they value.  The process involves bargaining, collaboration, cooperation and compromise.  Spend time seeing the negotiation from the other party’s point of view may help to anticipate what is really important to them.  Three main points to decide before entering into negotiation:

1. Target or aspiration
2. Reservation or walk-away point
3. Best alternative to a Negotiated Agreement

Selling is both a form of persuasion and a process of relationship building.  It involves a balance of thoughtful questions, active listening and well-prepared presentations.  Selling involves actively looking for prospects.

Culture is everything that people have, think, and do as members of their society.  Culture affects and is a central part of our economy and the organizations.  It is composed of materials objects, ideas, values, attributes and expected patterns of behavior.  Dealing with people of different cultures, conducting business over international borders, travelling safely and communicating effectively are not always easy, but is essential in today’s business world.  When communicating with a culture other than your own, be sensitive about the beliefs and values as it may differ from your own.  Bear in mind three important points:

• Culture is ingrained
• Culture is universal
• Cultures allocate values

Just be aware and respect that different people in different culture do things differently.  Try focusing on:

• Developing a tolerance for ambiguity
• Becoming more flexible
• Practicing a little humility

There is a huge difference between business problems and crises.  Problems are commonplace in business.  Whereas crisis is a major, unpredictable event.  Without careful communication, crises have the potential to damage organization’s reputation.  There are two main types of crises:

• Internal crises such as accounting scandals, or labor strikes
• External crises such as natural disaster, technological disaster, or external threats

Crisis communication often offers few precedents to work from and intense scrutiny from outside.

A brand is a promise of an experience.  It is what a product, service, or company stands for in the minds of customers and prospects.  A brand is a perception or a feeling.  And it is also the basis for differentiation in the market place, a way to separate from all other competitors in the heart and mind of customers.  There are five key points to consider when defining and maintaining a successful brand:

• Vision
• Culture
• Innovation
• Action
• value

Short notes from:

THE BOOK OF MANAGEMENT

The Ten Essential Skills For Achieving High Performance

Darling Kindersley Limited (DKL), Penguin Group (UK)