Introduction

Without excellent communications, organisations die. Staff loses interest, and customers dwindle from neglect. We all aspire to better communication but what exactly does that involve? Does more always mean better? And what sort of ‘communication’ does staff want from managers, or leaders from those they lead? This two day programme will explore the context for Communication Excellence in Business, and give participants the skills, frameworks and understanding they need to improve communications internally and externally.

Course objectives

By the end of the two days you will have:

• explored the context for communication in your own organisation
• reviewed some of the costs of getting things wrong
• discussed the elements of the communication channel, reviewed sources of noise and worked on ‘the lock and the key’.
• worked through your own case study, based on your pre-work
• practiced entry level skills once more: questioning, listening and summarising
• identified and practiced advanced skills and models including persuasion, influencing, being assertive under pressure, giving difficult feedback and coping with emotional situations.
• applied selected tools and skills to prepare for a complex business communication

Pre-work

Please come with brief notes (one side of A4 will do) of a communication you think could have been handled better. It could have been a difficult telephone conversation with a client or colleague, a document you sent or received, a presentation that did not achieve its objectives or a technical discussion where wires got crossed. Note briefly the context, what happened, and the consequences. What did you see and hear? Brief notes will do, and we shall not be reading them but we will ask you to discuss your notes with colleagues. We shall chose the ones that would be of most value to the group on the day for further discussion and analysis, so ensure that everything is suitable anonymous and expressed in such a way that the information can be shared in confidence and without embarrassment to others. This will give us material for real world case studies from which we can all learn.

Indicative Course Content

The framework of the two days will be as shown but the detail of each section will depend largely on the needs of the group who attend. The programme includes plenty of time for practice, reflection and discussion, and individual planning.