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A. RATIONAL
It is my experience that communication skills are becoming more not less important in the new economy. Today’s global organisations have flatter structures, shorter spans of control, more focus on working across departmental boundaries, more time working with different cultures, and more leader’s who need to lead without formal authority – all situations which demands first class communication skills.
At the same time that personal influence and communication is becoming more important – there seem to be more managers who do not have these important skills!
Most people get to be leaders because they are excellent at the technical aspects of their old job – and it is mistakenly assumed that once promoted they will become successful leaders of people just because they were technically good. I often come across senior leaders who have never had critical feedback about their communication skills. They fail to understand that good leaders are those who are able to “get their message across” – and that communication and influencing skills are linked closely to successful business leadership. The consequences of not getting the message across are many –
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Poor influence
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Great ideas are not shared
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Wrong decisions are made
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Leader is seen as a poor communicator
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Avoidance of giving the “bad news” and poor performance not dealt with
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Conflict is avoided
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People are not empowered
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Team atmosphere is affected
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Inter-departmental communication is poor
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Input from other cultures is not as high as it could be
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Leadership potential is not realised
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Business effectiveness is compromised
B. OUTCOMES
This workshop will enable every participant to face and deal with their
Personal Discomfort Zone, take stock of and enhance their communication and influence skills, and thus become a leader with more personal effectiveness.
At the end of the workshop participants will be able to understand: -
- Their own “Personal Discomfort Zone”
- How to confront and deal more effectively with their
“Personal Discomfort Zone”
- How to present themselves more effectively in : -
- formal situations
- informal meetings - "off the cuff" presenting
- a variety of one to one encounters
- Their personal impact – what others think of
- how they look
- what they say
- how they sound
- The positive and negative implications of their current style
- How to build credibility
- How to influence others when you don’t have role power
- How to be straightforward when necessary
- How to be tactful when necessary
- How to indicate active listening
- The three styles of influence
- The importance of body language and non verbal communication
- How to give bad news
- How to disagree and say no without offending
- Giving critical feedback and ensuring you are heard
- How to promote win-win situations
- Conflict management
- The five styles of managing conflict - personal assessment
- How to adapt communication style to different cultures
- How to put their learning into immediate practice
C. PRE-WORK, CORPORATE PERSONAL IMPACT INTERVIEWS
(a) Corporate Leadership Profile
Most organisations have a profile of the sort of leadership behaviour that most effectively carries the company culture. Interviews are done with key personal who understand the behaviour that cause success, and these qualities will be reinforced during the workshop.
(b) Dealing with the Corporate Leadership “Shadow”
It is our experience that there are “shadow” behaviours that the organisation as a whole finds difficult e.g. organisations which have a corporate style which encourages teamwork and collaborative behaviour often find “being tough” difficult. Participants will be encouraged to develop these “shadow” qualities.
(c) Situational Influence
It is also important that the workshop reflects the sort of realistic situations over which the leader needs to have influence within the organisation. The interviews enable these situations to be included in the workshop.
D. WORKSHOP METHOD
Methods will include a combination of presentation, group discussion, group exercises, personal and video feedback, and self-assessment techniques. The workshop style will be interactive, and theories presented link directly to the day to day practical situations that the participants face at work.
“Personal Discomfort Zone”
Leaders often avoid the situations that cause them “discomfort”. The managers, colleagues and peers of participants will be asked before the workshop to hi-light the situations and relationships that participants are currently finding difficult. These relationships and situations will stay at the centre of participants practical work during the workshop so that they leave having discussed and practised improving the actual problems they face in their work. Participants will be encouraged during the workshop to enter their
Personal Discomfort Zone and deal with their own problems by receiving feedback from other participants and tutorial staff and developing usable new ways of dealing with them.
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