Overview
People witheffective communication skills have a real advantage in the workplace. No matter what you do, communication plays an important role. Good communicators can exchange ideas and information effectively through writing, listening, and speaking. This course focuses on speaking, listening, and nonverbal communication. It provides you with the information and practice you need to communicate successfully in a business setting.
After completing this course, you will have the necessary tools to communicate successfully in a variety of professional situations. The course is divided into six lessons and an Appendix. Lesson 1 explains the ORATOR principles of effective communication and demonstrates their usefulness. Lesson 2 identifies the basic skills necessary for successful communication. Lesson 3 discusses group dynamics and diversity in the workplace. Lesson 4 discusses how to communicate effectively in team situations. Lesson 5 describes ways to communicate when you experience workplace conflict. Lesson 6 introduces advanced communication skills,whichcan lead to higher levels of responsibility within an organization.The Appendix, which is a separate component, provides a copy of the ORATOR principles, which you will need throughout the course and to complete assignments.
The lessons include section reviews and practice exercises. The section review questions and practice exercises are for your personal development only. Do not send your responses to your Hadley instructor. Rather, check your comprehension by comparing your answers with those provided. The practice exercises focus on real-life professional situations,allowing you to practice the communication skills presented in the lesson. The more you practice the skills and techniques orally, the more you will benefit from the lesson material.
As you progress through the course, remember the following steps for turning information into actions:
1.Master the lesson content. Know the information well enough that you could explain it to other people.
2.Master the skills. Practice using the skills in ways consistent with the lesson content, through role-play and in low-risk settings such as with friends and family.
3.Support your commitment. To change your manner of communication, you have to really want the change. Celebrate small improvements, as change is difficult and slow. Increase your chances of success by telling others about what you are doing and explaining your goals to your supervisor.
To complete the course, you are required to submit six assignments, one at the end of each lesson.Review each question carefully. When a question has several parts, answer each part as presented. Refer to your instructor's Welcome Letter for information about submitting assignments. Assignment 6 requires you to submit an oral response in addition to your other answers. Find related information for completing the oral portion of Assignment 6 in the accompanying document "Preparing Oral Assignments."
If you are ready to learnhow to communicate effectively within business situations, begin Lesson 1: Effective Communication.
Overview1
Lesson 1: Effective Communication
This lesson presents very simple techniques for communicating more effectively. Recognizing and applying these techniques often separates excellent communicators from average communicators. The lesson first discussesthe six ORATOR principles of effective communication.Then it describes the components of effective work relationships and includes suggestions for applying the lesson's information. The ability to apply the principles of effective communication will enable you to communicate successfully in a variety of professional situations.
Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to
a.explain the principles of effective communication
b.describe the components of effective work relationships
c.apply ORATOR to your business communications
Principles of Effective Communication
Six principles of effective communication form the acronym ORATOR. This acronym is appropriate because orators are known for their speaking skills. You will use these principles frequently throughout this course. Moreover, you will learn how to incorporate the principles in your communications.
ORATOR stands for
- Ownership
- Respect
- Alliance
- Truthfulness
- Open-mindedness
- Responsibility
Think about your own experiences while you read each principle's description. Reflect on the relationship between the principles and your own positive and negative communications.
Ownership
The principle of ownership is significant because people communicate more effectively when they "own," or share, a common goal.Other terms that indicate ownership are win-win and mutual interest. When colleagues own a common goal, it gives them a concrete reason to work together and communicate effectively. One reason employees often work in teams is it supports ownership: one person's success depends upon the success of others.
Although mutual interest is a strong motivator, you can actively encourage a win-winattitude with certain techniques. To ask others for help is one way to promote mutual interest. Even better is to ask others how you can help them. Doing so encourages teamwork. Examples of questions that support ownership include
1.How can we work together so you can do your job more effectively?
2.What are we trying to accomplish?
3.How will we reach our goal?
4.What obstacles do we have to overcome to accomplish our goal?
5.What resources do we need to accomplish our goal? Do we have the resources? If not, how will we get them?
6.How will we measure whether our goal has been reached?
Also, you can encourage ownership by using indicators that support a common goal. The most effective indicators address both professional and personal goals. For example, professional indicators are mission statements, written descriptions of the goal, lists of deliverables (i.e., outcomes or products), due dates, and quality standards. Personal indicators of a common goal focus on the benefits that everyone with a mutual, or shared, interest receives upon achieving thatgoal. Personal indicators include salary increases, bonuses, recognition, and advancement.
Respect
The principle of respect is significant because people communicate more effectively when they feel respected by others. When a person is respected, it means others hold a high opinion of that person and value that person as an individual. People are more cooperative when they feel their ideas and feelings are considered equal to those of others.
You have probably heard the saying, "Do unto others as you would wish them to do unto you." Treating other people the way you yourself like to be treated is an essential part of respect. Furthermore, respect promotes a sense of trust between individuals. It creates a climate where learning from mistakes is acceptable.
Certain techniques encourage respect. Maintaining or enhancing the self-esteem of others is one technique. You can do this by being positive when you communicate. For example, the expressions "Please," "Thank you,""I appreciate," and "I was really impressed," all contribute to self-esteem because they indicate that you value theother individual.
You maintain a coworker's self-esteem when you give constructive feedback. This is NOT the same as constructive criticism. Constructive feedback uses the word and instead of the wordbut. For example, if you say, "Lee, you did a good job on the project, BUT you could do a better job if you checked your facts," the word but negates the praise. If you say, "Lee, you did a good job on the project,AND if you check your facts carefully next time the project will be even better," you are giving helpful feedback to rather than criticizing the other person.
You enhance people's self-esteem when you acknowledge their good ideas, recognize their accomplishments, and show confidence in their abilities. Notice how the following statements demonstrate respect and ways to enhance self-esteem:
- "Asking several key people for their input really helped you develop a solid plan. Everyone was impressed."
- "Your knowledge and experience will be very valuable in the development of this plan."
- "We almost got off track on two unrelated problems during that meeting. When you suggested that the problems be covered at a separate meeting, it helped everyone refocus."
Alliance
The principle of alliance is significant because people communicate more effectively when they are involved with their organization's decisions. Other terms that indicate alliance are consensus and collaboration. Examine the following definitions of these three terms.
- Allianceis "an association to further the common interests of the members."
- Consensus is "the judgment arrived at by most of those concerned."
- Collaboration is "to work in cooperation with others."
These definitions describe the overall principle of alliance in business communications.
In any collaborative situation, where people work in cooperation with others, understanding the points of view of others is important. Sometimes people struggle with understanding another person's point of view because they do not share that point of view. Remember that understanding something is not the same as agreeing with it.
A good strategy to use when working toward consensus is to first look for points of agreement. Acknowledge those points, and then add elements that may have been left out of the discussion. If significant differences remain, try comparing the different viewpoints and look for other areas of mutual purpose rather than suggesting that other people are wrong. The section on open-mindedness further discusses ways to understand the points of view of others.
Not including people in relevant business decisions is the opposite of alliance, and it often has a negative impact on employees and organizations. For example, when decisions are forced on people, they can react by criticizing and resisting the decision. To quote theseventeenth-century English poet Samuel Butler, "A man convinced against his will is of his own opinion still." Therefore, alliance is essential to effective business communications.
Some examples of communication that expresses alliance include
- "We are all in this together."
- "As a team, let's all work together to solve the problem."
Truthfulness
The principle of truthfulness is significant because people communicate more effectively when they are honest with each other.Truthfulness helps people concentrate on the real issues.
Focusing on the facts, recognizing feelings, and sharing one's thoughts involve the principle of truthfulness in business communications.Many people believe that if a person communicates an opinion rather than a fact, it should not be considered as "truth." However, most work-related communications deal with both facts and opinions. Recognizing feelings is important because when people feel vulnerable, their ability to successfully communicate disappears. Sharing thoughts or opinions suggests revealing prior knowledge, reactions, opinions, and observations. Sharing opinions does not violate truthfulness when one recognizes an opinion and labels it as such.
Confidentiality is sometimes misunderstood when people consider truthfulness in business communications. Many times information is confidential and cannot be shared. Nonetheless, it is possible to be truthful and maintain confidentiality. One option is simply to say nothing in connection with the confidential subject matter, so it is not even a topic for conversation. On the other hand, if business reasons make it necessary that you refer to the confidential subject matter, you can handle this truthfully as well. Simply discuss all essential information, and add "I cannot say anything else, due to confidentiality." This method is completely truthful, ensures that work continues to get done appropriately, and does not violate confidentiality.
Do not, however, confuse truthfulness with saying whatever you think. These are not the same thing. To determine if truthfulness is being used appropriately, evaluate whether the truthful communication will make others feel safe or defensive. Truthfulness that expresses safety enhances communication, while truthfulness that makes others defensive prevents effective communication. In this context, safety means feeling secure from the threat of risk or harm. For example, what if someone begins with "I value honesty, so I'm going to tell you what I think ..."? The listener's initial reaction most likely will be, "Oh no, I am about to hear something that will hurt me. I do not want to listen." Truthfulness does not stand for this type of communication. On the other hand, if someone begins with "I believe that we could both do our jobs more effectively if ...," the listener is less likely to immediately feel defensive. This type of communication is an example of truthfulness that expresses safety.
Open-mindedness
The principle of open-mindedness is significant because communication is more effective when participants are open to others' ideas and opinions. Although keeping an open mind is sometimes difficult, it is possible by applying the following techniques:
- Enter a conversation without any preconceived ideas or hidden agenda.
- Listen to everyone who has a stake, or share, in the issue.
- Understand all opinions. If you feel you do not understand, ask questions for clarification.
- Weigh everyone's opinions, and be tolerant of people going off on tangents. Avoid dismissing anyone's opinions before fully considering them.
- Paraphrase all the ideas; that is, restate them in your own words.Then ask,"Am I understanding what you said?"
In summary, to be open to all ideas and opinions, do not dismiss the ideas until you fully understand them yourself.
On a final note, if you manage other people, you may already know that changing people is not a manager's job. Instead, building on employees'strengths maximizes the organization's overall performance. Employees have a much easier time being open-minded when managers adopt thisattitude.
Some examples of communication that express open-mindedness include
- "Those are my thoughts, what do you think?"
- "What are your ideas for resolving the problem?"
Responsibility
The principle of responsibility is significant because people communicate more effectively when all participants actually do what they say they will do. Responsibility means people hold themselves accountable for their actions, tasks, and assignments; they accept their roles and duties. Twentieth-century Indian leader Mahatma Ghandi's statement "You must be the change you wish to see in the world" describes this principle in a powerful way.
You may have experienced times when people failed to take responsibility for their actions and blamed everything and everyone else for the failure. How did that make you feel? What if one person's failure had an impact on your success? How would it make you feel? Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence. The result is negative feelings, which hurt effective communication.
You can accept responsibility and accountability for yourself.However, what can you do to help others do the same? You can provide support without removing the responsibility of others. For example, you could say, "How can I help you make progress with your project?" This question helps coworkers recognize the difference between empowering and enabling. When you empower people, or encourage personal responsibility, you give them the information and skills they need to successfully do their jobs. When you enable people, you take away their personal responsibility. That is, you do the task for them, but by doing so you prevent them from getting the information or skills they need to successfully do their job. Accepting personal responsibility and accountability is a skill, which means it can be learned.
Think of how the following statements communicate responsibility:
- "Did I communicate my expectations clearly?"
- "This is the approach I'll take to finish my project."
Section Review
Review the information in this section by indicating whether the following statements are true or false. An answer follows each statement.
1.Asking for help encourages ownership.
True. One way to promote ownership is to ask for help. Even better is to ask others how you can help them.
2.When a person is respected, it means others hold a high opinion of that person and value the person as an individual.
True.When a person is respected, it means others hold a high opinion of that person and value the person as an individual. People are more cooperative when they feel their ideas and feelings considered equal to those of others.
3.The principle of alliance is present in a business decision when people do not participate in the decision-making process.
False. The principle of alliance is present in a business decision when people do participate in decision making.
4.Truthfulness means saying whatever you think.
False. Truthfulness does not mean saying whatever you think. Truthfulness that expresses safety enhances communication, while truthfulness that makes others defensive prevents effective communication.
5.Open-mindedness requires that you fully understand the ideas and opinions of others.