Interpersonal Communication & Liaison 2 Days
Unit Standards	110506 NQF Level 4 Credits 4
Short description	Your ability to communicate effectively is your most powerful resource for succeeding in your business and personal life, yet you or your colleagues may have the natural "human" tendency to only listen well when you happen to already agree, to say exactly what you mean only to friends or one-on-one, or other unfortunate side-effects of stress, old habits, or lack of time.   Delegates will come away with a real understanding of what effective communication is and how it works in practice. There is practical work on listening and response skills; an introduction to rapport-building and the opportunity to practice core communication skills and techniques for working more effectively on a daily basis.
Target Group	All staff

COURSE OUTLINE

Module 1

What exactly is Communication?

• Elements of communication
• Understanding the communication process
• Analysing the different types of information
• Researching your audience
• Deciding what exactly you wish to communicate and why you need to communicate it
•  How to get your communication across effectively

Practical Exercise:

• Was this what you intended to communicate?
• How well have you “read” your recipient audience?
• Presenting a prepared piece (each delegate will present a piece they have prepared e.g. opening a meeting, feedback on a project)
• PLEASE NOTE: all the practical sessions will be recorded visual and audio and played back for constructive feedback purposes, and flashback at the end to see how far the communicator has come during the training.

Module 2

The four basic communication styles

• Examine your own personal communication style - both under normal and stress conditions Each person gives a summary of their personal communication style, in terms of what they know is working for them. Then they then receive feedback from their colleagues on what else they see working and what seems to comprise their uniqueness.
• Adjust your communication style to better communicate with specific people, based on your observations.
• Impact of body language. A simple exercise to demonstrate the power and control the listener has, through body language and attitude

First Impressions. A simple group exercise where people get the opportunity to practice making a predetermined first impression.

Assumptions. An exercise to demonstrate how every one of us makes assumptions, often without realising it. The issue is not that assumptions are made, but that we act on those assumptions without finding out how accurate they are (making it up and then acting as though what we made up was true). There are also times when it's good to let other people keep the assumptions they have about you.

Terms of Reference. Here we look at how important it is to be sure we are all 'speaking the same language' and how easy it is to misinterpret and misunderstand what others are saying. We explore the idea that everyone sees the world differently. Not that, they think their view is the right one, and can't understand when someone does something that is completely different from their own way of doing things.

Joining and leaving groups. This lively set of exercises covers how physical boundaries work and how even the shyest person can greet people well. It includes approaching complete strangers and introducing yourself, joining and leaving groups easily, let someone else join the group and then leave yourself, leaving a group when you feel cornered. Essential skills for both Social and professional gatherings

Module 3

The  four levels of listening

• Use improved active listening skills - Listening with Empathy. In discussion with others, we often get so focused on what we are trying to get across (as well as hoping to persuade the other person about our point of view), that we miss opportunities to use empathy, understanding and find common ground.

Module 4

The two levels of communication that are always occurring

• Communication Games People Play – with themselves and with others. Here we look at the dynamics that can happen when people get together, whether at team meetings and one-to-ones. People often play 'games' either consciously or unconsciously that can get in the way of effective communication. We look at techniques to cut through the game playing without alienating people.

Module 5

Use the skills of personal genuineness: "I" statements, feeling statements and statements of pure observation

• Blame vs. Effect of behaviour. Effectively dealing with blame and conflict to alleviate rather than amplify the already existing tension. Understanding the difference using You, I or We statements makes in order to get away from blame and making someone wrong. Moving towards a place where people can mutually find solutions, rather than go around in circles around the problem with no resolution as a result.
• Having difficult conversations
• In this session, we practice delivering bad news and managing difficult feelings in others. We look at the importance of setting boundaries for other people, so they know where they stand. We work strongly here with modifying behaviour rather than what is the "right thing to say", in order to keep things from getting out of hand
• Emotion vs. Objectivity. Helping other people when they are too steeped in emotion to see what to do next. This is both a very important listening and reflecting back skill  
• Other Communication Issues. Participants examine any real life experiences when they were unsatisfied with the outcome of a specific communication.

Module 6

What takes your Communication from mediocre to excellent?

• The difference between powerful speaking and simple communication
• A series of exercises to look at simple behavioural techniques affecting communications, including listening, encouragement or blocking of new ideas, and defusing conflict and arguments.

Module 7

Build an action plan for identifying your own next steps for improving your communication skills

Action Plans

Each delegate will devise a personal Plan of Action, identifying their personal take-out of the programme, where they know what to more, and areas for further development using the techniques they have learnt.

Practical Exercises:

• Enacting actual situations for practice
• Prepared communication (e.g. – a formal meeting with your boss)
• Unprepared communication (example – intervening and resolving a heated argument between 2 colleagues in the passage)

Wrap-up and Support

Finally we have people identify what will stop them putting this into practice and what support they need to help themselves put the course work into practice.

Benefits 

• Comprehensive scope
• Expert facilitation
• Extremely practical

Facilitators