Transcript W-48 Effective Commu.. - CHILD SUPPORT DIRECTORS

Effective Communication
Tamara Thomas, Assistant Director
Stanislaus County
Department of Child Support Services
October 2010
Overview
■ Introduction of Topic
■ Basic Communication Model
■ Understand the Impact of Nonverbal
Communication
■ Learn How to Listen Effectively
■ Communication Tools
■ Communication Network
■ Identify Various Learning Styles
■ Identify Various Communication Styles
■ Workplace Communication
Good Communicator
■ Think of someone you know who is a
good communicator.
■ What makes them a good
communicator?
■ What traits do they display?
Different Meanings
■ Communication can be both a thing
✷ Letter
✷ Email
✷ Fax
■ Communication can be a process
✷ Something you send
✷ Something you get
Ways we rely on communication...
■ Making phone
calls
■ Returning phone
calls
■ Sending emails
■ Responding to
emails
■ Writing Memos
■ Writing Reports
■ Writing Agenda
Items
■ Attending
meetings
■ Talking with coworkers and
customers
■ Making
presentations
How Much Time…
■ How much of your work day do most
employees spend in some form of
communication?
Volunteer
Activity
Miscommunication
■ Attempts at communicating can create:
Confusion
✷ Misunderstanding
✷
■ Problems can occur with one-way
communication
One-Way Communication
What is communication?
■ The process by which information is
transmitted and understood between
two or more people, usually with the
intent to motivate or influence behavior
Communication Model
Sender –
Message
encoded
Channel - message
Receiver Message
decoded
Noise
Feedback
decoded
Channel - feedback
Feedback
encoded
Communication Model
Blah, blah,
blah, blah…
Huh?
Message
Communication Barriers
■ Perceptions—Determines what messages we select or
screen out
■ Filtering—Some messages are filtered or stopped
altogether on their way up or down the organizational
hierarchy
■ Jargon—Technical language, acronyms, and words with
specialized meaning in certain departments
■ Ambiguity—Using words that convey fuzzy meanings
such as a lot, often, sometimes can result in
communication failure
Communication Out—Sending
■ What you say
—Clear and concise
■ How you say it
✷ Tone
✷ Body language
■ What they hear
—Confirm understanding
Communication Influences
■ Verbal—7% influence on message
■ Nonverbal—93% influence on message!
38% vocal tone
✷ 55% facial expressions
✷
Non-Verbal Cues
■ Even in face-to-face meetings, most information
is communicated non-verbally
■ Non-verbal cues are typically unconscious
■ We receive more formal training on how to
understand spoken words as opposed to
understanding non-verbal signals
■ Non-verbal cues are more ambiguous and more
susceptible to misinterpretation
Communication In—Receiving
■ Developing active listening skills is important for
you to be successful
■ Active listening improves relationships between
co-workers and customers
■ It also increases efficiency and productivity
through teamwork
■ Listening also helps the organization by learning
the needs of our customers
Listening and Understanding
■ Building rapport is achieved by:
✷
✷
Listening to the message
Understanding the message
■ Listening is as important as talking
■ Listening also requires more effort than most of
us realize
■ Ways to acknowledge understanding
Effective Listening
1. Respect for the speaker—be open minded
2. Attention to the speaker—requires focus on
the content and eliminating distractions
3. Appropriate body language—maintain eye
contact, lean forward, nod
4. Interaction with the speaker—repeat what
you hear to verify your understanding
Listening Techniques
LISTENING BEHAVIOR
EXAMPLES
Neutral Response
I see…
That is interesting…
Restatement
As I understand it, your plan is…
Questioning
Could you explain more about…
Do you mean that…
Summarizing
These are the key ideas you have
expressed…
Reflection
So, you are saying that you feel…
Ineffective Listening Behavior
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Interrupting the speaker
Completing the speakers sentences
Creating distraction
Daydreaming
Reacting emotionally
Making assumptions about the speaker
Being close-minded
Faking attention
Thinking of one's own response
Jumping to conclusions
Goal of communication?
■ UNDERSTANDING
✷
✷
✷
I want to hear what you have to say
I want to know what you think
I want to understand the issues through
your eyes
Quote
■ “It is a luxury to be understood.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
■ “I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from
listening carefully. Most people never listen.”
Ernest Hemmingway
■ “The most important thing in communication is to
hear what isn’t being said.”
Peter F. Drucker
Communication Tools
Communication Tools
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Fax
E-mail
Phone
Voice mail
Face-to-face
Computer conference
Bulletin boards
Group/staff meetings
Text/instant messaging
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Formal presentations
Web page
Hotlines (PD, Help Desk)
Audio and videotapes
Videoconference
Teleconference
Pager
PowerPoint
Facebook
Twitter
Effective Messages
1. Determine the message—what do you want them
to know?
2. Prepare the message—target the message to
your audience
3. Deliver the message—tell people how they can
benefit from listening to your message
4. Confirm the message—confirm your audience
received the message you intended
Designing Clear Messages
“Effective immediately, all employees must take
their breaks, for that matter a morning and
afternoon break. There have been numerous
complaints coming from managers, supervisors and
employees about employees not taking their breaks
and where they take their breaks. Breaks are
required and this is negatively affecting morale and
productivity, and is a violation of the law as well.
From here on out, if anyone doesn’t take their break
this could result in disciplinary action up through
and including the possibility of termination of their
employment.”
Communication Networks
Formal Networks
■ Follows organizational structure defined
by organizational charts
■ Formal communication flows within the
chain of command as defined by the
organization
Informal Networks
■ A communication channel that exists outside
formally authorized channels without regard for
the organization’s hierarchy
■ Coexists with formal communications but may
skip hierarchical levels
■ Can cut across vertical chains of command to
connect virtually anyone in the organization
Informal
■ Importance of the grapevine
■ Grapevine participants
■ Pitfalls of the grapevine
■ How can management control the
grapevine?
Learning Styles Inventory
Learning Style One—Imaginative Learners
■ These are your people, people
■ They will talk your ear off
■ Like to express their beliefs, feelings, and
opinions
■ They like cooperative activities, discussions and
meetings
Learning Style Two—Analytic Learners
■ They are really good at thinking things through
■ Deal in facts and right answers
■ They like complex problems
■ They are organized, sequential, and orderly
■ They wish the 1s in the room would shut up so they
can think
Learning Style Three—Common Sense Learners
■ They are fascinated by how things work
■ They have a hands-on approach
■ Focus on the practical application of new
information
■ Want ideas to be clear, understandable, and useful
■ They get their work done expediently
■ Many of the conveniences of modern civilization
have been created by 3s who were trying to solve
practical everyday problems
Learning Style Four—Dynamic Learners
■ They are comfortable with change
■ They are great innovators
■ They are not afraid to be in charge of
others
■ Act on intuition and hunches
■ Love to try new things—risk takers
■ Trust the world of their own experiences
more than they trust the world of theory
Learning Styles Influence Communication Styles
Communication Styles
MORE EMOTIONAL
4
IDEAS
1
RELATIONSHIPS
MORE
DIRECT
LESS
DIRECT
3
ACTION
2
FACTS
LESS EMOTIONAL
Modify Communication…
■ One style does not fit all!
■ You need to modify your communication style and
approach depending on the preferences of the person
you are communicating with
■ Some prefer a quick and straightforward approach
■ Others prefer a more casual pace and less assertive
words
■ Some prefer revealing emotion or feelings, others
prefer not to let them be known
Communication Styles
■ Maybe the person you thought was difficult to
communicate with isn’t difficult at all…just a different
style than you
■ Important to understand the strengths and weaknesses
of each communication style
■ Just as it is important to recognize different ways of
learning, it is also important to understand and value
each communication style so we can become more
efficient communicators
Communication Strategy
■ “If there is any great success in life, it lies
in the ability to put yourself in the other
person’s place and to see things from his
point of view—as well as your own.”
Henry Ford
Workplace Communication
Styles of Communication
Respectful
Disrespectful
Descriptive
Showing regard
Connected
Critical
Showing disregard
Disconnected
Communication Goals
■ Solve the communication problem
■ Strengthen the work relationship
■ Improve your Interpersonal Skills
Why Improved Interpersonal Skills?
■ It is the one predominant skill people
are least prepared to tackle
■ It is the least practiced skill
■ It is one of the most feared skills of
people
■ Deficits in this area almost always
lead to other performance concerns
that affect efficiency and
effectiveness
The Need for Improved Interpersonal Skills
■ Assume Positive Intent
■ Deliver the Message
■ Stay Focused and Not
Defensive
■ It’s Not Personal
■ Choose the Correct
Language
Turn Conflict into Conversation
■ Affective Conflict
✷ Poorer Decisions
✷ Decreased
Commitment
✷ Decreased
Cohesiveness
✷ Decreased Empathy
✷ Reduced Progress
■ Cognitive Conflict
✷ Better Decisions
✷ Increased
Commitment
✷ Increased
Cohesiveness
✷ Increased Empathy
✷ Increased
Understanding
How can we all get along?
• Make time to discuss the situation
• Explore differences
• Encourage respect
• Take personal responsibility to help
resolve issues
Closing
■ Steven Covey wrote:
✷
“In the last analysis, what we are
communicates far more eloquently than
anything we say or do.”
Questions?
Evaluation Sheet
Thank you for attending!