One22 Professional Communications - 9/16/24

 

Professional Communications Training - Part 2

September 16, 2024

 

REVIEW & REFLECT

The Pause - 

  • What did you notice in your communications with pausing? What did you notice in other people's communication about pausing?
  • What did you practice? 

Assumptions - 

  • What did you notice about the assumptions you make every day? 
  • How do these assumptions impact your communication? 

 

 LEARNING GOALS

  1. Understand the impact of assumptions on building professional & positive relationships
  2. Identify how your assumptions impact the clarity of your communication 
  3. Answer key questions in your written communication for clarity and conciseness

 

ASSUMPTIONS CAN BE A COMMUNICATION WRECKER

  • Effective communication requires a safe and trusting environment. 
  • Effective communication builds professional and positive relationships.
  • Making assumptions does not foster safety and trust. Assumptions do not build professional and positive relationships. 

 

ACTIVE LISTENING CAN DEFEND AGAINST ASSUMPTIONS

 Active Listening is listening to understand, not to respond.  

Active Listening helps to discover a person's underlying needs.

 Making assumptions is not active listening and not learning about a person's underlying needs.

Common Underlying Needs:

  • Respect
  • Honesty
  • Trust
  • Acceptance
  • Consideration
  • Understanding
  • Support
  • Patience
  • Fair treatment
  • Safety
  • Acknowledgment
  • To be heard
  • Positive Experiences
  • Communication
  • Order/Strucutre
  • Collaboration / Assistance
  •  To be valued

 ACTIVITY 

Find a recent written communication (email, text, case notes) or recall a work conversation and identify what assumptions you made. Think about the recipient of this message. What underlying needs did this person have in this situation? What underlying needs did you have?


WRITTEN COMMUNICATION REVIEW

  • Double check your grammar
  • Consider your word choice
  • Choose best format for your message
  • Keep paragraphs short
  • Evaluation how much detail is needed for the reader
  • Ensure your tone is aligned with your message


KEY QUESTIONS FOR WRITING CLEARLY & CONCISELY

 Considerations

How much information/context does the reader have on this topic? 

What is the appropriate length for this type of communication? 

What is the purpose of this communication? 

What is the best organization for the information?

 EMAILS & NEWSLETTERS

Key Question: 

  • What do I want this to person to KNOW or DO by the end of the message?
    • 1 -3 paragraphs in length
    • Use lists / bullet points with details 
    • Highlight the most important information (what you want the reader to know or do) at the START of the message and the END of the message
    • Be explicit in your "ASK"

 

CASE NOTES

What is the right level of detail? What info do I include in detail? What should I summarize? What information is already shared earlier in the case note template?

How should I organize all this information so it is easy to understand?

Key Questions:

  1. What is the person's situation that is creating the need for assistance?
  2. Why do they need assistance? (Are they receiving other assistance?)
  3. How will this assistance help this person in this situation? (How will this result in self-reliance?)
  4. What follow up will occur?

 

ACTIVITY

Choose a case note or email/newsletter you recently wrote. Check for the answers to the key questions.

Did you answer each question? 

Did you include the right amount of detail so that a reader without context can understand? 

Is the message organized appropriately?  


REFLECTION

  1. What ideas/skills did you build on today? 
  2. What will you work on this next week to be a more effective communicator? 

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