MOST Analysis

Mission Statement

Mission: Advanced Communication – Communicating with Diplomacy, Tact and Credibility – The root cause of most problems at work is lack of communication (not being honest or holding back information). This can lead to curbed teamwork, it stunts innovation, wastes millions in productivity and restricts the ability to generate new business. When the leader can clearly identify their role within the company, they will feel more secure in their value they bring allowing them to confidently speak out. In this powerful workshop, you will gain clarity on your role in the company, align with your company’s mission, create a supportive environment that welcomes employees honestly, ideas, thoughts and feedback allowing the employees to effectively communicate, use their skills and shine! As a result, you will experience increased performance, more fulfilled employees, increased teamwork, increased levels of customer service, increased leadership effectiveness and increased inter-intra departmental communication.

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Objectives

01. Communication Meaning: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
02. Business Communication: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
03. Conflict to Creativity: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
04. Communication Process: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
05. Types of Communication: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
06. Communication Styles: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
07. Barriers to Communication: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. 1 Month
08. Language Skills: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
09. Oral Communication: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
10. Written Communication: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
11. Interviewing Skills: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
12. Improve Communication: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month

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Strategies

01. Communication Meaning: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
02. Business Communication: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
03. Conflict to Creativity: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
04. Communication Process: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
05. Types of Communication: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
06. Communication Styles: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
07. Barriers to Communication: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
08. Language Skills: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
09. Oral Communication: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
10. Written Communication: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
11. Interviewing Skills: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
12. Improve Communication: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.

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Tasks

01. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Communication Meaning.
02. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Business Communication.
03. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Conflict to Creativity.
04. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Communication Process.
05. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Types of Communication.
06. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Communication Styles.
07. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Barriers to Communication.
08. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Language Skills.
09. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Oral Communication.
10. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Written Communication.
11. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Interviewing Skills.
12. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Improve Communication.

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Introduction

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We use communication every day in almost every situation, especially in the workplace. Communication is essential when building relationships, sharing ideas, delegating responsibilities, managing a team, and much more, whether you give a slight head nod in agreement or present information to a large group.

Learning and honing good communication skills can help you advance in your career, make you a more competitive job candidate, and expand your network. While it takes time and practice, communication and interpersonal skills can be developed and refined.

On a daily basis, we use four types of communication:
• Verbal
• Nonverbal
• Written
• Visual

It is most effective to actively listen, observe, and empathize when using any of these communication styles.

A successful delivery of our messages necessitates careful formulation and selection of the appropriate communication channel. The easier it is for the receiver to “decode” information that is “coded” in a clear and simple manner. In my experience, face-to-face communication is the most preferable channel when in a leadership position and not only.

However, regardless of the channel, we must keep our messages as brief and straightforward as possible. Because of the speed of the apprehension process, the more complicated the words we use, the less effective our delivery.

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In today’s world almost everyone has a device with them at all times, and the new ways technology is presenting dialogue are what are taking away our face-to-face contact. Texting, calling, and video chatting are just a few of the many ways to communicate. People nowadays would rather text someone about something than speak to them in person. It is simpler, less stressful, and requires less thought while in the process. This appears to some to be a good thing, but it has a significant negative impact. Because of the anxiety of not knowing what to say or expect in response, this can harm socialization and make it more difficult for people to cooperate and discuss issues. When, on the other hand, over a phone, people are basically shielded from that.

Another disadvantage of texting is the frequent miscommunication that occurs between receiving and sending messages. When you speak with someone in person, you can see their expression, feel their mood, and understand their tone. You can only interpret what they are saying and how they are saying it over texting, which often leads to false assumptions and unwelcome conflict. When you lose communication with another person, you may begin to lose communication with yourself. Meaning, the ability to self-reflect, think, and come up with a reason for something can deteriorate. When used incorrectly, texting erodes those cooperative skills.

In business today, it is difficult to communicate in a direct, short, simple, and clear manner. One of the main reasons for this is that we try not to offend our communication partner especially when we have to share information with a negative connotation, or we believe, usually subconsciously, that being indirect, verbose, complicated, and vague will somehow lessen the impact of the bad news.

For us, as leaders, it makes no difference how we label the information we share with our team members – whether we label it as “Good” or “Bad” – the most important thing was, is, and always will be that it is correctly processed and understood. That is why we need processes and a communication system within the organization that allows for the delivery and receipt of information to be clear and effective – leaving no room for misunderstandings.

In the Advanced Communication Workshop, we will dive deep into what communication is, how it differs for you as an individual and within the workplace. You will learn the different types and styles of communication and how to breakthrough common barriers that hinder effective communication. When the leader can clearly identify their role within the company and their personal style of communication, they will feel more secure in their value they bring allowing them to confidently speak out. In this powerful workshop, you will gain clarity on your role in the company, align with your company’s mission, create a supportive environment that welcomes employees honestly, ideas, thoughts and feedback allowing the employees to use their skills and shine! As a result, you will experience increased performance, more fulfilled employees, increased teamwork, increased levels of customer service, increased leadership effectiveness and increased inter-intra departmental communication.

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Executive Summary

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Effective communication requires more than just exchanging information. It is necessary to comprehend the emotion and intentions underlying the information. In addition to being able to clearly convey a message, you must also be able to listen in such a way that you grasp the full meaning of what is being said and make the other person feel heard and understood.

Effective communication appears to be instinctive. But all too often, something goes wrong when we try to communicate with others. We say one thing, but the other person hears something completely different, resulting in misunderstandings, frustration, and conflict. This can disrupt your relationships at home, school, and work.

We live in an information-driven society in which communication dictates how quickly we learn.

Cooperation and collaboration are the foundations of how we collaborate, and when done brilliantly, they can determine our competitive advantage.

At the human level, our social resources have a significant impact on our happiness and well-being at work.

We can dismiss it all as too soft and fuzzy, or we can see communication as one of the keys to creating an emotionally intelligent workplace. However, because how we get along is so important to organizational success and human flourishing, many more businesses are focusing on the latter.

Many of us will need to learn some new skills in order to communicate more clearly and effectively. Learning these skills can deepen your connections to others, build greater trust and respect, and improve teamwork, problem solving, and your overall social and emotional health, whether you’re trying to improve communication with your spouse, kids, boss, or coworkers.

There are 12 courses (or focus areas) in the Advanced Communication Workshop that will assist in acquiring these skills.

Here’s what we’ll be covering:

1. Communication Meaning – A person with effective communication skills can convey their message without misunderstanding, lowering the likelihood of errors and conflict. Effective communication increases your chances of getting exactly what you need. So. what exactly constitutes effective communication? In this course we will uncover the definition of communication and why it’s so important in the workplace.
2. Business Communication – Effective communication has an impact on processes, efficiency, and every level of a business. In this course, you will learn how to set up an effective business communication process for increased productivity, higher revenue, happier customers, and increased profits.
3. Conflict to Creativity – Conflict is an unavoidable part of life. When cultures collide, opinions diverge, and priorities clash, tensions inevitably rise. Part of our success as humans can be attributed to our ability to effectively manage bad conflict and then transform it into creative conflict through great communication tactics. Dealing with conflict in a healthy and constructive way can result in better workplace outcomes and idea generation. You can actually drive more creativity, productivity, and efficiency for your company by tapping into the potential goldmine that is workplace conflict — but only if you do it correctly. In this lesson we will share how to specifically overcome conflict by use of creativity.
4. Communication Process – The Communication Process Model is one of the most important theories to learn because successful management is ultimately determined by effective communication. As a team leader, it is critical that you communicate thoughts, feelings, and information on a regular basis in a way that motivates your team, allows for growth in learning, and provides a clear understanding of objectives and “need-to-knows.” In this course we will identify the 8 most common communication models, learn the 8 steps in the communication process and the 5-step rule when designing your own process.
5. Types of Communication – We share information with one another in a variety of ways. When delivering a presentation to a group, for example, you might use verbal communication. When applying for a job or sending an email, you may use written communication. In this course we will reveal the 4 major types of communication and tips for maximizing the efficiency for each.
6. Communication Styles – Everyone has their own communication style, and people may switch between them depending on the situation and their audience. Nonetheless, we all have communication styles that come naturally to us. Recognizing the fundamental differences between various styles will enable you to effectively reach out to anyone, regardless of their—or your—instinctive style. Understanding the four different styles and when and how to use them will enable you and your team members to collaborate more effectively and efficiently for the benefit of all.
7. Barriers to Communication – In business, miscommunication can be disastrous. From missed deadlines, lost opportunities and loss of time or money. In this course, we will look at each of the 6 major barriers to effective communication—what they are, how they manifest themselves in practice, and how to overcome them.
8. Language Skills – Language skills are the abilities, experiences, and knowledge that allow a person to communicate. This includes both native and second language skills. The core languages of a native language are reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Things that are automatically learned in a native language can be difficult to learn in a second language. Grammar, vocabulary pronunciations, and idioms are all included. Language skills are abilities that allow you to express yourself clearly and precisely. In this lesson we will dive deep into the 4 Key language skills and how to use them effectively.
9. Oral Communication – The verbal and visual transmission of information from one person to another is known as oral communication. Oral communication includes things like presentations, speeches, and dialogues. In a professional setting, effective oral communication is essential because it is based on transparency, understanding, and trust. Employee morale, performance, and cooperation can all benefit from improved oral communication skills. This is our focus in this lesson.
10. Written Communication – The most common and effective mode of business communication is written communication. When the information to be transmitted is lengthy and includes some complex terms that cannot be explained verbally, this type of communication is used. Organizations keep their documents in writing so that they can be used as a reference and proof of any future transaction. As a result, it is critical for every business organization to develop effective writing skills and instill them in all of its employees which we will uncover in this lesson.
11. Interviewing Skills – Having the necessary interviewing skills to attract the best talent is unquestionably critical to a company’s success. Excellent interviewing skills indicate that the company can hire the right people to move the organization forward. Excellent interview skills will help you succeed in your career or help your company hire the best people. In this course, you will discover the top interview skills whether you are the interviewer or the interviewee.
12. Improve Communication – Successful organizations maintain open lines of communication at all levels, including the top. According to research, leaders who are effective communicators are five times more likely to be high performers than those who are only marginally effective. Similarly, improved communication means fewer company dollars are at risk. Also, while encouraging communication is an important goal for businesses, ensuring it is done in a productive professional manner is key. In this final course of the workshop, we will share the best practices for executive and leader communication, the 5 steps to improve departmental communication and how to implement a social collaboration solution to improve internal communication.

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Curriculum

Women Empowerment – Workshop 1 – Advanced Communication

1. Communication Meaning
2. Business Communication
3. Conflict to Creativity
4. Communication Process
5. Types of Communication
6. Communication Styles
7. Barriers to Communication
8. Language Skills
9. Oral Communication
10. Written Communication
11. Interviewing Skills
12. Improve Communication

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Distance Learning

Introduction

Welcome to Appleton Greene and thank you for enrolling on the Women Empowerment corporate training program. You will be learning through our unique facilitation via distance-learning method, which will enable you to practically implement everything that you learn academically. The methods and materials used in your program have been designed and developed to ensure that you derive the maximum benefits and enjoyment possible. We hope that you find the program challenging and fun to do. However, if you have never been a distance-learner before, you may be experiencing some trepidation at the task before you. So we will get you started by giving you some basic information and guidance on how you can make the best use of the modules, how you should manage the materials and what you should be doing as you work through them. This guide is designed to point you in the right direction and help you to become an effective distance-learner. Take a few hours or so to study this guide and your guide to tutorial support for students, while making notes, before you start to study in earnest.

Study environment

You will need to locate a quiet and private place to study, preferably a room where you can easily be isolated from external disturbances or distractions. Make sure the room is well-lit and incorporates a relaxed, pleasant feel. If you can spoil yourself within your study environment, you will have much more of a chance to ensure that you are always in the right frame of mind when you do devote time to study. For example, a nice fire, the ability to play soft soothing background music, soft but effective lighting, perhaps a nice view if possible and a good size desk with a comfortable chair. Make sure that your family know when you are studying and understand your study rules. Your study environment is very important. The ideal situation, if at all possible, is to have a separate study, which can be devoted to you. If this is not possible then you will need to pay a lot more attention to developing and managing your study schedule, because it will affect other people as well as yourself. The better your study environment, the more productive you will be.

Study tools & rules

Try and make sure that your study tools are sufficient and in good working order. You will need to have access to a computer, scanner and printer, with access to the internet. You will need a very comfortable chair, which supports your lower back, and you will need a good filing system. It can be very frustrating if you are spending valuable study time trying to fix study tools that are unreliable, or unsuitable for the task. Make sure that your study tools are up to date. You will also need to consider some study rules. Some of these rules will apply to you and will be intended to help you to be more disciplined about when and how you study. This distance-learning guide will help you and after you have read it you can put some thought into what your study rules should be. You will also need to negotiate some study rules for your family, friends or anyone who lives with you. They too will need to be disciplined in order to ensure that they can support you while you study. It is important to ensure that your family and friends are an integral part of your study team. Having their support and encouragement can prove to be a crucial contribution to your successful completion of the program. Involve them in as much as you can.

Successful distance-learning

Distance-learners are freed from the necessity of attending regular classes or workshops, since they can study in their own way, at their own pace and for their own purposes. But unlike traditional internal training courses, it is the student’s responsibility, with a distance-learning program, to ensure that they manage their own study contribution. This requires strong self-discipline and self-motivation skills and there must be a clear will to succeed. Those students who are used to managing themselves, are good at managing others and who enjoy working in isolation, are more likely to be good distance-learners. It is also important to be aware of the main reasons why you are studying and of the main objectives that you are hoping to achieve as a result. You will need to remind yourself of these objectives at times when you need to motivate yourself. Never lose sight of your long-term goals and your short-term objectives. There is nobody available here to pamper you, or to look after you, or to spoon-feed you with information, so you will need to find ways to encourage and appreciate yourself while you are studying. Make sure that you chart your study progress, so that you can be sure of your achievements and re-evaluate your goals and objectives regularly.

Self-assessment

Appleton Greene training programs are in all cases post-graduate programs. Consequently, you should already have obtained a business-related degree and be an experienced learner. You should therefore already be aware of your study strengths and weaknesses. For example, which time of the day are you at your most productive? Are you a lark or an owl? What study methods do you respond to the most? Are you a consistent learner? How do you discipline yourself? How do you ensure that you enjoy yourself while studying? It is important to understand yourself as a learner and so some self-assessment early on will be necessary if you are to apply yourself correctly. Perform a SWOT analysis on yourself as a student. List your internal strengths and weaknesses as a student and your external opportunities and threats. This will help you later on when you are creating a study plan. You can then incorporate features within your study plan that can ensure that you are playing to your strengths, while compensating for your weaknesses. You can also ensure that you make the most of your opportunities, while avoiding the potential threats to your success.

Accepting responsibility as a student

Training programs invariably require a significant investment, both in terms of what they cost and in the time that you need to contribute to study and the responsibility for successful completion of training programs rests entirely with the student. This is never more apparent than when a student is learning via distance-learning. Accepting responsibility as a student is an important step towards ensuring that you can successfully complete your training program. It is easy to instantly blame other people or factors when things go wrong. But the fact of the matter is that if a failure is your failure, then you have the power to do something about it, it is entirely in your own hands. If it is always someone else’s failure, then you are powerless to do anything about it. All students study in entirely different ways, this is because we are all individuals and what is right for one student, is not necessarily right for another. In order to succeed, you will have to accept personal responsibility for finding a way to plan, implement and manage a personal study plan that works for you. If you do not succeed, you only have yourself to blame.

Planning

By far the most critical contribution to stress, is the feeling of not being in control. In the absence of planning we tend to be reactive and can stumble from pillar to post in the hope that things will turn out fine in the end. Invariably they don’t! In order to be in control, we need to have firm ideas about how and when we want to do things. We also need to consider as many possible eventualities as we can, so that we are prepared for them when they happen. Prescriptive Change, is far easier to manage and control, than Emergent Change. The same is true with distance-learning. It is much easier and much more enjoyable, if you feel that you are in control and that things are going to plan. Even when things do go wrong, you are prepared for them and can act accordingly without any unnecessary stress. It is important therefore that you do take time to plan your studies properly.

Management

Once you have developed a clear study plan, it is of equal importance to ensure that you manage the implementation of it. Most of us usually enjoy planning, but it is usually during implementation when things go wrong. Targets are not met and we do not understand why. Sometimes we do not even know if targets are being met. It is not enough for us to conclude that the study plan just failed. If it is failing, you will need to understand what you can do about it. Similarly if your study plan is succeeding, it is still important to understand why, so that you can improve upon your success. You therefore need to have guidelines for self-assessment so that you can be consistent with performance improvement throughout the program. If you manage things correctly, then your performance should constantly improve throughout the program.

Study objectives & tasks

The first place to start is developing your program objectives. These should feature your reasons for undertaking the training program in order of priority. Keep them succinct and to the point in order to avoid confusion. Do not just write the first things that come into your head because they are likely to be too similar to each other. Make a list of possible departmental headings, such as: Customer Service; E-business; Finance; Globalization; Human Resources; Technology; Legal; Management; Marketing and Production. Then brainstorm for ideas by listing as many things that you want to achieve under each heading and later re-arrange these things in order of priority. Finally, select the top item from each department heading and choose these as your program objectives. Try and restrict yourself to five because it will enable you to focus clearly. It is likely that the other things that you listed will be achieved if each of the top objectives are achieved. If this does not prove to be the case, then simply work through the process again.

Study forecast

As a guide, the Appleton Greene Women Empowerment corporate training program should take 12-18 months to complete, depending upon your availability and current commitments. The reason why there is such a variance in time estimates is because every student is an individual, with differing productivity levels and different commitments. These differentiations are then exaggerated by the fact that this is a distance-learning program, which incorporates the practical integration of academic theory as an as a part of the training program. Consequently all of the project studies are real, which means that important decisions and compromises need to be made. You will want to get things right and will need to be patient with your expectations in order to ensure that they are. We would always recommend that you are prudent with your own task and time forecasts, but you still need to develop them and have a clear indication of what are realistic expectations in your case. With reference to your time planning: consider the time that you can realistically dedicate towards study with the program every week; calculate how long it should take you to complete the program, using the guidelines featured here; then break the program down into logical modules and allocate a suitable proportion of time to each of them, these will be your milestones; you can create a time plan by using a spreadsheet on your computer, or a personal organizer such as MS Outlook, you could also use a financial forecasting software; break your time forecasts down into manageable chunks of time, the more specific you can be, the more productive and accurate your time management will be; finally, use formulas where possible to do your time calculations for you, because this will help later on when your forecasts need to change in line with actual performance. With reference to your task planning: refer to your list of tasks that need to be undertaken in order to achieve your program objectives; with reference to your time plan, calculate when each task should be implemented; remember that you are not estimating when your objectives will be achieved, but when you will need to focus upon implementing the corresponding tasks; you also need to ensure that each task is implemented in conjunction with the associated training modules which are relevant; then break each single task down into a list of specific to do’s, say approximately ten to do’s for each task and enter these into your study plan; once again you could use MS Outlook to incorporate both your time and task planning and this could constitute your study plan; you could also use a project management software like MS Project. You should now have a clear and realistic forecast detailing when you can expect to be able to do something about undertaking the tasks to achieve your program objectives.

Performance management

It is one thing to develop your study forecast, it is quite another to monitor your progress. Ultimately it is less important whether you achieve your original study forecast and more important that you update it so that it constantly remains realistic in line with your performance. As you begin to work through the program, you will begin to have more of an idea about your own personal performance and productivity levels as a distance-learner. Once you have completed your first study module, you should re-evaluate your study forecast for both time and tasks, so that they reflect your actual performance level achieved. In order to achieve this you must first time yourself while training by using an alarm clock. Set the alarm for hourly intervals and make a note of how far you have come within that time. You can then make a note of your actual performance on your study plan and then compare your performance against your forecast. Then consider the reasons that have contributed towards your performance level, whether they are positive or negative and make a considered adjustment to your future forecasts as a result. Given time, you should start achieving your forecasts regularly.

With reference to time management: time yourself while you are studying and make a note of the actual time taken in your study plan; consider your successes with time-efficiency and the reasons for the success in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future time planning; consider your failures with time-efficiency and the reasons for the failures in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future time planning; re-evaluate your study forecast in relation to time planning for the remainder of your training program to ensure that you continue to be realistic about your time expectations. You need to be consistent with your time management, otherwise you will never complete your studies. This will either be because you are not contributing enough time to your studies, or you will become less efficient with the time that you do allocate to your studies. Remember, if you are not in control of your studies, they can just become yet another cause of stress for you.

With reference to your task management: time yourself while you are studying and make a note of the actual tasks that you have undertaken in your study plan; consider your successes with task-efficiency and the reasons for the success in each case; take this into consideration when reviewing future task planning; consider your failures with task-efficiency and the reasons for the failures in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future task planning; re-evaluate your study forecast in relation to task planning for the remainder of your training program to ensure that you continue to be realistic about your task expectations. You need to be consistent with your task management, otherwise you will never know whether you are achieving your program objectives or not.

Keeping in touch

You will have access to qualified and experienced professors and tutors who are responsible for providing tutorial support for your particular training program. So don’t be shy about letting them know how you are getting on. We keep electronic records of all tutorial support emails so that professors and tutors can review previous correspondence before considering an individual response. It also means that there is a record of all communications between you and your professors and tutors and this helps to avoid any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation. If you have a problem relating to the program, share it with them via email. It is likely that they have come across the same problem before and are usually able to make helpful suggestions and steer you in the right direction. To learn more about when and how to use tutorial support, please refer to the Tutorial Support section of this student information guide. This will help you to ensure that you are making the most of tutorial support that is available to you and will ultimately contribute towards your success and enjoyment with your training program.

Work colleagues and family

You should certainly discuss your program study progress with your colleagues, friends and your family. Appleton Greene training programs are very practical. They require you to seek information from other people, to plan, develop and implement processes with other people and to achieve feedback from other people in relation to viability and productivity. You will therefore have plenty of opportunities to test your ideas and enlist the views of others. People tend to be sympathetic towards distance-learners, so don’t bottle it all up in yourself. Get out there and share it! It is also likely that your family and colleagues are going to benefit from your labors with the program, so they are likely to be much more interested in being involved than you might think. Be bold about delegating work to those who might benefit themselves. This is a great way to achieve understanding and commitment from people who you may later rely upon for process implementation. Share your experiences with your friends and family.

Making it relevant

The key to successful learning is to make it relevant to your own individual circumstances. At all times you should be trying to make bridges between the content of the program and your own situation. Whether you achieve this through quiet reflection or through interactive discussion with your colleagues, client partners or your family, remember that it is the most important and rewarding aspect of translating your studies into real self-improvement. You should be clear about how you want the program to benefit you. This involves setting clear study objectives in relation to the content of the course in terms of understanding, concepts, completing research or reviewing activities and relating the content of the modules to your own situation. Your objectives may understandably change as you work through the program, in which case you should enter the revised objectives on your study plan so that you have a permanent reminder of what you are trying to achieve, when and why.

Distance-learning check-list

Prepare your study environment, your study tools and rules.
Undertake detailed self-assessment in terms of your ability as a learner.
Create a format for your study plan.
Consider your study objectives and tasks.
Create a study forecast.
Assess your study performance.
Re-evaluate your study forecast.
Be consistent when managing your study plan.
Use your Appleton Greene Certified Learning Provider (CLP) for tutorial support.
Make sure you keep in touch with those around you.

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Tutorial Support

Programs

Appleton Greene uses standard and bespoke corporate training programs as vessels to transfer business process improvement knowledge into the heart of our clients’ organizations. Each individual program focuses upon the implementation of a specific business process, which enables clients to easily quantify their return on investment. There are hundreds of established Appleton Greene corporate training products now available to clients within customer services, e-business, finance, globalization, human resources, information technology, legal, management, marketing and production. It does not matter whether a client’s employees are located within one office, or an unlimited number of international offices, we can still bring them together to learn and implement specific business processes collectively. Our approach to global localization enables us to provide clients with a truly international service with that all important personal touch. Appleton Greene corporate training programs can be provided virtually or locally and they are all unique in that they individually focus upon a specific business function. They are implemented over a sustainable period of time and professional support is consistently provided by qualified learning providers and specialist consultants.

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Support available

You will have a designated Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and an Accredited Consultant and we encourage you to communicate with them as much as possible. In all cases tutorial support is provided online because we can then keep a record of all communications to ensure that tutorial support remains consistent. You would also be forwarding your work to the tutorial support unit for evaluation and assessment. You will receive individual feedback on all of the work that you undertake on a one-to-one basis, together with specific recommendations for anything that may need to be changed in order to achieve a pass with merit or a pass with distinction and you then have as many opportunities as you may need to re-submit project studies until they meet with the required standard. Consequently the only reason that you should really fail (CLP) is if you do not do the work. It makes no difference to us whether a student takes 12 months or 18 months to complete the program, what matters is that in all cases the same quality standard will have been achieved.

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Support Process

Please forward all of your future emails to the designated (CLP) Tutorial Support Unit email address that has been provided and please do not duplicate or copy your emails to other AGC email accounts as this will just cause unnecessary administration. Please note that emails are always answered as quickly as possible but you will need to allow a period of up to 20 business days for responses to general tutorial support emails during busy periods, because emails are answered strictly within the order in which they are received. You will also need to allow a period of up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Please therefore kindly allow for this within your time planning. All communications are managed online via email because it enables tutorial service support managers to review other communications which have been received before responding and it ensures that there is a copy of all communications retained on file for future reference. All communications will be stored within your personal (CLP) study file here at Appleton Greene throughout your designated study period. If you need any assistance or clarification at any time, please do not hesitate to contact us by forwarding an email and remember that we are here to help. If you have any questions, please list and number your questions succinctly and you can then be sure of receiving specific answers to each and every query.

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Time Management

It takes approximately 1 Year to complete the Women Empowerment corporate training program, incorporating 12 x 6-hour monthly workshops. Each student will also need to contribute approximately 4 hours per week over 1 Year of their personal time. Students can study from home or work at their own pace and are responsible for managing their own study plan. There are no formal examinations and students are evaluated and assessed based upon their project study submissions, together with the quality of their internal analysis and supporting documents. They can contribute more time towards study when they have the time to do so and can contribute less time when they are busy. All students tend to be in full time employment while studying and the Women Empowerment program is purposely designed to accommodate this, so there is plenty of flexibility in terms of time management. It makes no difference to us at Appleton Greene, whether individuals take 12-18 months to complete this program. What matters is that in all cases the same standard of quality will have been achieved with the standard and bespoke programs that have been developed.

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Distance Learning Guide

The distance learning guide should be your first port of call when starting your training program. It will help you when you are planning how and when to study, how to create the right environment and how to establish the right frame of mind. If you can lay the foundations properly during the planning stage, then it will contribute to your enjoyment and productivity while training later. The guide helps to change your lifestyle in order to accommodate time for study and to cultivate good study habits. It helps you to chart your progress so that you can measure your performance and achieve your goals. It explains the tools that you will need for study and how to make them work. It also explains how to translate academic theory into practical reality. Spend some time now working through your distance learning guide and make sure that you have firm foundations in place so that you can make the most of your distance learning program. There is no requirement for you to attend training workshops or classes at Appleton Greene offices. The entire program is undertaken online, program course manuals and project studies are administered via the Appleton Greene web site and via email, so you are able to study at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home or office as long as you have a computer and access to the internet.

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How To Study

The how to study guide provides students with a clear understanding of the Appleton Greene facilitation via distance learning training methods and enables students to obtain a clear overview of the training program content. It enables students to understand the step-by-step training methods used by Appleton Greene and how course manuals are integrated with project studies. It explains the research and development that is required and the need to provide evidence and references to support your statements. It also enables students to understand precisely what will be required of them in order to achieve a pass with merit and a pass with distinction for individual project studies and provides useful guidance on how to be innovative and creative when developing your Unique Program Proposition (UPP).

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Tutorial Support

Tutorial support for the Appleton Greene Women Empowerment corporate training program is provided online either through the Appleton Greene Client Support Portal (CSP), or via email. All tutorial support requests are facilitated by a designated Program Administration Manager (PAM). They are responsible for deciding which professor or tutor is the most appropriate option relating to the support required and then the tutorial support request is forwarded onto them. Once the professor or tutor has completed the tutorial support request and answered any questions that have been asked, this communication is then returned to the student via email by the designated Program Administration Manager (PAM). This enables all tutorial support, between students, professors and tutors, to be facilitated by the designated Program Administration Manager (PAM) efficiently and securely through the email account. You will therefore need to allow a period of up to 20 business days for responses to general support queries and up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies, because all tutorial support requests are answered strictly within the order in which they are received. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Consequently you need to put some thought into the management of your tutorial support procedure in order to ensure that your study plan is feasible and to obtain the maximum possible benefit from tutorial support during your period of study. Please retain copies of your tutorial support emails for future reference. Please ensure that ALL of your tutorial support emails are set out using the format as suggested within your guide to tutorial support. Your tutorial support emails need to be referenced clearly to the specific part of the course manual or project study which you are working on at any given time. You also need to list and number any questions that you would like to ask, up to a maximum of five questions within each tutorial support email. Remember the more specific you can be with your questions the more specific your answers will be too and this will help you to avoid any unnecessary misunderstanding, misinterpretation, or duplication. The guide to tutorial support is intended to help you to understand how and when to use support in order to ensure that you get the most out of your training program. Appleton Greene training programs are designed to enable you to do things for yourself. They provide you with a structure or a framework and we use tutorial support to facilitate students while they practically implement what they learn. In other words, we are enabling students to do things for themselves. The benefits of distance learning via facilitation are considerable and are much more sustainable in the long-term than traditional short-term knowledge sharing programs. Consequently you should learn how and when to use tutorial support so that you can maximize the benefits from your learning experience with Appleton Greene. This guide describes the purpose of each training function and how to use them and how to use tutorial support in relation to each aspect of the training program. It also provides useful tips and guidance with regard to best practice.

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Tutorial Support Tips

Students are often unsure about how and when to use tutorial support with Appleton Greene. This Tip List will help you to understand more about how to achieve the most from using tutorial support. Refer to it regularly to ensure that you are continuing to use the service properly. Tutorial support is critical to the success of your training experience, but it is important to understand when and how to use it in order to maximize the benefit that you receive. It is no coincidence that those students who succeed are those that learn how to be positive, proactive and productive when using tutorial support.

Be positive and friendly with your tutorial support emails

Remember that if you forward an email to the tutorial support unit, you are dealing with real people. “Do unto others as you would expect others to do unto you”. If you are positive, complimentary and generally friendly in your emails, you will generate a similar response in return. This will be more enjoyable, productive and rewarding for you in the long-term.

Think about the impression that you want to create

Every time that you communicate, you create an impression, which can be either positive or negative, so put some thought into the impression that you want to create. Remember that copies of all tutorial support emails are stored electronically and tutors will always refer to prior correspondence before responding to any current emails. Over a period of time, a general opinion will be arrived at in relation to your character, attitude and ability. Try to manage your own frustrations, mood swings and temperament professionally, without involving the tutorial support team. Demonstrating frustration or a lack of patience is a weakness and will be interpreted as such. The good thing about communicating in writing, is that you will have the time to consider your content carefully, you can review it and proof-read it before sending your email to Appleton Greene and this should help you to communicate more professionally, consistently and to avoid any unnecessary knee-jerk reactions to individual situations as and when they may arise. Please also remember that the CLP Tutorial Support Unit will not just be responsible for evaluating and assessing the quality of your work, they will also be responsible for providing recommendations to other learning providers and to client contacts within the Appleton Greene global client network, so do be in control of your own emotions and try to create a good impression.

Remember that quality is preferred to quantity

Please remember that when you send an email to the tutorial support team, you are not using Twitter or Text Messaging. Try not to forward an email every time that you have a thought. This will not prove to be productive either for you or for the tutorial support team. Take time to prepare your communications properly, as if you were writing a professional letter to a business colleague and make a list of queries that you are likely to have and then incorporate them within one email, say once every month, so that the tutorial support team can understand more about context, application and your methodology for study. Get yourself into a consistent routine with your tutorial support requests and use the tutorial support template provided with ALL of your emails. The (CLP) Tutorial Support Unit will not spoon-feed you with information. They need to be able to evaluate and assess your tutorial support requests carefully and professionally.

Be specific about your questions in order to receive specific answers

Try not to write essays by thinking as you are writing tutorial support emails. The tutorial support unit can be unclear about what in fact you are asking, or what you are looking to achieve. Be specific about asking questions that you want answers to. Number your questions. You will then receive specific answers to each and every question. This is the main purpose of tutorial support via email.

Keep a record of your tutorial support emails

It is important that you keep a record of all tutorial support emails that are forwarded to you. You can then refer to them when necessary and it avoids any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation.

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Individual training workshops or telephone support

Please be advised that Appleton Greene does not provide separate or individual tutorial support meetings, workshops, or provide telephone support for individual students. Appleton Greene is an equal opportunities learning and service provider and we are therefore understandably bound to treat all students equally. We cannot therefore broker special financial or study arrangements with individual students regardless of the circumstances. All tutorial support is provided online and this enables Appleton Greene to keep a record of all communications between students, professors and tutors on file for future reference, in accordance with our quality management procedure and your terms and conditions of enrolment. All tutorial support is provided online via email because it enables us to have time to consider support content carefully, it ensures that you receive a considered and detailed response to your queries. You can number questions that you would like to ask, which relate to things that you do not understand or where clarification may be required. You can then be sure of receiving specific answers to each individual query. You will also then have a record of these communications and of all tutorial support, which has been provided to you. This makes tutorial support administration more productive by avoiding any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation.

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Tutorial Support Email Format

You should use this tutorial support format if you need to request clarification or assistance while studying with your training program. Please note that ALL of your tutorial support request emails should use the same format. You should therefore set up a standard email template, which you can then use as and when you need to. Emails that are forwarded to Appleton Greene, which do not use the following format, may be rejected and returned to you by the (CLP) Program Administration Manager. A detailed response will then be forwarded to you via email usually within 20 business days of receipt for general support queries and 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Your tutorial support request, together with the corresponding TSU reply, will then be saved and stored within your electronic TSU file at Appleton Greene for future reference.

Subject line of your email

Please insert: Appleton Greene (CLP) Tutorial Support Request: (Your Full Name) (Date), within the subject line of your email.

Main body of your email

Please insert:
1. Appleton Greene Certified Learning Provider (CLP) Tutorial Support Request
2. Your Full Name
3. Date of TS request
4. Preferred email address
5. Backup email address
6. Course manual page name or number (reference)
7. Project study page name or number (reference)

Subject of enquiry
Please insert a maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)
Briefly outline the subject matter of your inquiry, or what your questions relate to.

Question 1

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Question 3

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Question 4

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Question 5

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Please note that a maximum of 5 questions is permitted with each individual tutorial support request email.

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Procedure

* List the questions that you want to ask first, then re-arrange them in order of priority. Make sure that you reference them, where necessary, to the course manuals or project studies.
* Make sure that you are specific about your questions and number them. Try to plan the content within your emails to make sure that it is relevant.
* Make sure that your tutorial support emails are set out correctly, using the Tutorial Support Email Format provided here.
* Save a copy of your email and incorporate the date sent after the subject title. Keep your tutorial support emails within the same file and in date order for easy reference.
* Allow up to 20 business days for a response to general tutorial support emails and up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies, because detailed individual responses will be made in all cases and tutorial support emails are answered strictly within the order in which they are received.
* Emails can and do get lost. So if you have not received a reply within the appropriate time, forward another copy or a reminder to the tutorial support unit to be sure that it has been received but do not forward reminders unless the appropriate time has elapsed.
* When you receive a reply, save it immediately featuring the date of receipt after the subject heading for easy reference. In most cases the tutorial support unit replies to your questions individually, so you will have a record of the questions that you asked as well as the answers offered. With project studies however, separate emails are usually forwarded by the tutorial support unit, so do keep a record of your own original emails as well.
* Remember to be positive and friendly in your emails. You are dealing with real people who will respond to the same things that you respond to.
* Try not to repeat questions that have already been asked in previous emails. If this happens the tutorial support unit will probably just refer you to the appropriate answers that have already been provided within previous emails.
* If you lose your tutorial support email records you can write to Appleton Greene to receive a copy of your tutorial support file, but a separate administration charge may be levied for this service.

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How To Study

Your Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and Accredited Consultant can help you to plan a task list for getting started so that you can be clear about your direction and your priorities in relation to your training program. It is also a good way to introduce yourself to the tutorial support team.

Planning your study environment

Your study conditions are of great importance and will have a direct effect on how much you enjoy your training program. Consider how much space you will have, whether it is comfortable and private and whether you are likely to be disturbed. The study tools and facilities at your disposal are also important to the success of your distance-learning experience. Your tutorial support unit can help with useful tips and guidance, regardless of your starting position. It is important to get this right before you start working on your training program.

Planning your program objectives

It is important that you have a clear list of study objectives, in order of priority, before you start working on your training program. Your tutorial support unit can offer assistance here to ensure that your study objectives have been afforded due consideration and priority.

Planning how and when to study

Distance-learners are freed from the necessity of attending regular classes, since they can study in their own way, at their own pace and for their own purposes. This approach is designed to let you study efficiently away from the traditional classroom environment. It is important however, that you plan how and when to study, so that you are making the most of your natural attributes, strengths and opportunities. Your tutorial support unit can offer assistance and useful tips to ensure that you are playing to your strengths.

Planning your study tasks

You should have a clear understanding of the study tasks that you should be undertaking and the priority associated with each task. These tasks should also be integrated with your program objectives. The distance learning guide and the guide to tutorial support for students should help you here, but if you need any clarification or assistance, please contact your tutorial support unit.

Planning your time

You will need to allocate specific times during your calendar when you intend to study if you are to have a realistic chance of completing your program on time. You are responsible for planning and managing your own study time, so it is important that you are successful with this. Your tutorial support unit can help you with this if your time plan is not working.

Keeping in touch

Consistency is the key here. If you communicate too frequently in short bursts, or too infrequently with no pattern, then your management ability with your studies will be questioned, both by you and by your tutorial support unit. It is obvious when a student is in control and when one is not and this will depend how able you are at sticking with your study plan. Inconsistency invariably leads to in-completion.

Charting your progress

Your tutorial support team can help you to chart your own study progress. Refer to your distance learning guide for further details.

Making it work

To succeed, all that you will need to do is apply yourself to undertaking your training program and interpreting it correctly. Success or failure lies in your hands and your hands alone, so be sure that you have a strategy for making it work. Your Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and Accredited Consultant can guide you through the process of program planning, development and implementation.

Reading methods

Interpretation is often unique to the individual but it can be improved and even quantified by implementing consistent interpretation methods. Interpretation can be affected by outside interference such as family members, TV, or the Internet, or simply by other thoughts which are demanding priority in our minds. One thing that can improve our productivity is using recognized reading methods. This helps us to focus and to be more structured when reading information for reasons of importance, rather than relaxation.

Speed reading

When reading through course manuals for the first time, subconsciously set your reading speed to be just fast enough that you cannot dwell on individual words or tables. With practice, you should be able to read an A4 sheet of paper in one minute. You will not achieve much in the way of a detailed understanding, but your brain will retain a useful overview. This overview will be important later on and will enable you to keep individual issues in perspective with a more generic picture because speed reading appeals to the memory part of the brain. Do not worry about what you do or do not remember at this stage.

Content reading

Once you have speed read everything, you can then start work in earnest. You now need to read a particular section of your course manual thoroughly, by making detailed notes while you read. This process is called Content Reading and it will help to consolidate your understanding and interpretation of the information that has been provided.

Making structured notes on the course manuals

When you are content reading, you should be making detailed notes, which are both structured and informative. Make these notes in a MS Word document on your computer, because you can then amend and update these as and when you deem it to be necessary. List your notes under three headings: 1. Interpretation – 2. Questions – 3. Tasks. The purpose of the 1st section is to clarify your interpretation by writing it down. The purpose of the 2nd section is to list any questions that the issue raises for you. The purpose of the 3rd section is to list any tasks that you should undertake as a result. Anyone who has graduated with a business-related degree should already be familiar with this process.

Organizing structured notes separately

You should then transfer your notes to a separate study notebook, preferably one that enables easy referencing, such as a MS Word Document, a MS Excel Spreadsheet, a MS Access Database, or a personal organizer on your cell phone. Transferring your notes allows you to have the opportunity of cross-checking and verifying them, which assists considerably with understanding and interpretation. You will also find that the better you are at doing this, the more chance you will have of ensuring that you achieve your study objectives.

Question your understanding

Do challenge your understanding. Explain things to yourself in your own words by writing things down.

Clarifying your understanding

If you are at all unsure, forward an email to your tutorial support unit and they will help to clarify your understanding.

Question your interpretation

Do challenge your interpretation. Qualify your interpretation by writing it down.

Clarifying your interpretation

If you are at all unsure, forward an email to your tutorial support unit and they will help to clarify your interpretation.

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Qualification Requirements

The student will need to successfully complete the project study and all of the exercises relating to the Women Empowerment corporate training program, achieving a pass with merit or distinction in each case, in order to qualify as an Accredited Women Empowerment Specialist (APTS). All monthly workshops need to be tried and tested within your company. These project studies can be completed in your own time and at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home or office. There are no formal examinations, assessment is based upon the successful completion of the project studies. They are called project studies because, unlike case studies, these projects are not theoretical, they incorporate real program processes that need to be properly researched and developed. The project studies assist us in measuring your understanding and interpretation of the training program and enable us to assess qualification merits. All of the project studies are based entirely upon the content within the training program and they enable you to integrate what you have learnt into your corporate training practice.

Women Empowerment – Grading Contribution

Project Study – Grading Contribution

Customer Service – 10%
E-business – 05%
Finance – 10%
Globalization – 10%
Human Resources – 10%
Information Technology – 10%
Legal – 05%
Management – 10%
Marketing – 10%
Production – 10%
Education – 05%
Logistics – 05%
TOTAL GRADING – 100%

Qualification grades

A mark of 90% = Pass with Distinction.
A mark of 75% = Pass with Merit.
A mark of less than 75% = Fail.
If you fail to achieve a mark of 75% with a project study, you will receive detailed feedback from the Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and/or Accredited Consultant, together with a list of tasks which you will need to complete, in order to ensure that your project study meets with the minimum quality standard that is required by Appleton Greene. You can then re-submit your project study for further evaluation and assessment. Indeed you can re-submit as many drafts of your project studies as you need to, until such a time as they eventually meet with the required standard by Appleton Greene, so you need not worry about this, it is all part of the learning process.

When marking project studies, Appleton Greene is looking for sufficient evidence of the following:

Pass with merit

A satisfactory level of program understanding
A satisfactory level of program interpretation
A satisfactory level of project study content presentation
A satisfactory level of Unique Program Proposition (UPP) quality
A satisfactory level of the practical integration of academic theory

Pass with distinction

An exceptional level of program understanding
An exceptional level of program interpretation
An exceptional level of project study content presentation
An exceptional level of Unique Program Proposition (UPP) quality
An exceptional level of the practical integration of academic theory

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Preliminary Analysis

Opportunity for Change

As women continue to advance their careers and take on more leadership roles, they must be able to communicate effectively so they can share their ideas, effectively lead, influence, and inspire their team.

The Women Empowerment Leadership Program is a method of accelerating women’s professional development at work. Women have made significant strides in the workplace, but there is no doubt that they continue to face challenges in climbing the corporate ladder. This program provides the necessary support and tools to ensure that these women have everything they need to succeed. This will in turn benefit the overall growth and profitability of the company.

Workshop 7- Advanced Communication – is part of the fourth step in the Women Empowerment Transformation Process – Advanced Communication and Presentation Skills. In this workshop, you will gain clarity on your role in the company, align with your company’s mission, identify your personal communication style, as well as your team members, and create a supportive environment that welcomes employees honestly, ideas, thoughts and feedback allowing the employees to communicate effectively, use their skills and shine! This is exactly what you will accomplish in this powerful workshop. As a result, you will experience increased performance, more fulfilled employees, increased teamwork, increased levels of customer service, increased leadership effectiveness and increased inter-intra departmental communication.

Preparing for the Workshop

Participants are encouraged to continue to show up with an open mind and be ready for a transformation from the inside out. Once again, there will be a lot of mindset work that involves being open to change. You will also need to be ready to learn new skills and start adopting them into your current role in the company.

Be sure to assess your organizations current stance on communication channels within your company this will be helpful before you start making significant changes to its structure.

Take a look at your current processes and infrastructure.

Participants should also ensure that they are familiar with the major people-related processes of the company. All participants should be familiar with the processes of performance management, recruitment, talent assessment, and talent development. The workshop’s goal is not to change these processes, but rather to supplement them with the 5 Step Women’s Empowerment Business Transformation Process (Mindset Shift, Leadership Development, Personal Presence, Advanced Communications Skills and Creating and Implementing an Action Plan) to improve their effectiveness. Participants compile a list of their most recent successes and failures in each of these processes. The list will be useful later on when discussing how to integrate the process into the existing model.

It may be advantageous to the participants if these processes are also examined from the perspective of the employees. One or two of the participants should meet with a few key employees to discuss the success of the processes. The effectiveness of these processes, rather than the method itself, should be the focal point of these discussions. When discussing the efficacy of the process, it is critical to consider the outcomes from the perspective of the people it is supposed to help. Ineffective processes, regardless of their efficiency, fail to meet the expectations of the customer. The Women’s Empowerment Business Transformation Process will be able to fill in the gaps discovered by identifying flaws in these procedures.

The seventh workshop in our Women Empowerment Program – Advanced Communication will assist in increased performance, more fulfilled employees, increased teamwork, increased levels of customer service, increased leadership effectiveness and increased inter-intra departmental communication.

How this will be achieved, is by implementation of the following strategies:

1. Build a communication system that works for your organization.
2. Learn strategies to turn conflict to creativity.
3. Identify 4 types of communication and how to use them.
4. Tips for maximizing communication efficiency.
5. Learn the 8 steps in the communication process and the 5-step rule.
6. Discover the 8 most common communication models in business communication.
7. Identify the 4 key language skills and how to use them.
8. Gain access to the 5 components to oral communication and 9 critical components to effective written communication.
9. Learn top interview skills.
10. Discover best practices for executive and leader communication.
11. 5 Steps to improve departmental communication.
12. How to implement a social collaboration solution to improve internal communication.

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Course Manuals 1-12

Course Manual 1: Communication Meaning

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You will be successful in many areas of life if you can master the art of effectively delivering and receiving messages. A person with effective communication skills can convey their message without misunderstanding, lowering the likelihood of errors and conflict. Effective communication increases your chances of getting exactly what you need.

But what exactly constitutes effective communication? The keys to effective communication are in the hands of both parties. The expresser must deliver messages clearly, and the receiver must pay close attention. When the correct purpose of the message is sent and understood, effective communication occurs. Active listening is required of both speakers and listeners.

What exactly is communication? Communication is the sending and receiving of information, which can take place one-on-one or in groups, and can take place face-to-face or through communication devices. Communication necessitates the transfer of thoughts or the encoding of a message by the sender, the person who initiates communication. This message is delivered to the receiver, a person who receives the message, and the receiver must then decode or interpret the message. This appears to be simple, but it is not.

Language is made up of symbols and signs that are unique to the culture that speaks and writes in that language. Effective communication necessitates the use of a common language and an understanding of basic concepts. It’s also important to remember that a receiver’s interpretation of what the sender sends out may differ from what the sender intended, which is less likely if the two share the same culture and language.

History of Communication

The evolution of communication technologies (media and appropriate inscription tools) has paralleled shifts in political and economic systems, and thus power systems. Communication can range from very subtle exchanges to full-fledged conversations and mass communication. The history of communication can be traced back to the origins of speech around 100,000 years ago. The use of technology in communication can be traced back to the first use of symbols around 30,000 years ago. Cave paintings, petroglyphs, pictograms, and ideograms are among the symbols used. Writing, as well as printing technology and, more recently, telecommunications and the Internet, were significant innovations.

Primitive

Human communication began around 100,000 BC with the invention of speech. Symbols appeared around 30,000 years ago. Speech impurity facilitated the spread of ideas and eventually led to the development of new forms of communication, increasing both the range at which people could communicate and the longevity of the information. All of these inventions were founded on the fundamental concept of the symbol. The earliest known symbols for communication were cave paintings, a type of rock art dating back to the Upper Paleolithic period.

Petroglyphs

The next step in the evolution of communication was the creation of petroglyphs, which were carvings into the surface of a rock. It took approximately 20,000 years for Homo sapiens to progress from the first cave paintings to the first petroglyphs, which date to the Neolithic and late Upper Paleolithic boundaries, approximately 10,000 to 12,000 years ago.

It is possible that Homo sapiens (humans) of that time used other forms of communication, often for mnemonic purposes – specially arranged stones, symbols carved in wood or earth, quipu-like rocks, tattoos – but little has survived to modern times, and we can only speculate about their existence based on our observation of still existing ‘hunter-gatherer’ cultures such as those of Africa or Asia.

Pictograms

A pictogram (pictograph) is an illustration of a concept, object, activity, place, or event. Pictography is a type of proto writing in which ideas are communicated through drawing. Pictographs were the next step in the evolution of communication: the main difference between petroglyphs and pictograms is that petroglyphs simply show an event, whereas pictograms tell a story about the event, so they can be ordered chronologically, for example.

Pictograms have been used by various ancient cultures all over the world since around 9000 BC, when tokens marked with simple pictures were first used to label basic farm produce and became increasingly popular around 6000–5000 BC.

They served as the foundation for cuneiform and hieroglyphic writing systems, and they began to evolve into logographic writing systems around the same time.

Ideogram

Pictograms evolved into ideograms, which are graphical symbols that represent an idea. Their forefathers, the pictograms, could only represent things that looked like them: a circle could represent a sun, but not concepts like ‘heat,’ ‘light,’ ‘day,’ or ‘Great God of the Sun.’ Ideograms, on the other hand, can convey more abstract concepts.

Because some ideas are universal, many different cultures developed ideograms that are similar. In Native American ideograms in California, for example, an eye with a tear represents ‘sadness,’ as it did for the Aztecs, early Chinese, and Egyptians.

Writing (Early Scripts)

The earliest forms of writing were primarily logographic, with pictographic and ideographic elements. Most writing systems can be broadly classified into three types: logographic, syllabic, and alphabetic (or segmental); however, all three can be found in varying proportions in any given writing system, making it difficult to classify a system uniquely.

The first writing systems were developed roughly contemporaneously with the beginning of the Bronze Age in the late Neolithic of the late 5th millennium BC. The first writing system is thought to have been invented in prehistoric Sumer and evolved into cuneiform by the late 4th millennium BC. Egyptian hieroglyphs, as well as the untranslated Proto-Elamite writing system and Indus Valley script, date from this time period.

Alphabet

The first pure alphabets (properly, “abjads,” mapping single symbols to single phonemes but not necessarily each phoneme to a symbol) appeared in Ancient Egypt around 2000 BC, but alphabetic principles had already been incorporated into Egyptian hieroglyphs for a millennium before that (see Middle Bronze Age alphabets).

By 2700 BC, Egyptian writing had developed a set of approximately 22 hieroglyphs to represent syllables that begin with a single consonant of their language, plus a vowel (or no vowel) supplied by the native speaker. These glyphs were used to write grammatical inflections, loan words, and foreign names, as well as pronunciation guides for logograms.

Despite their apparent alphabetic nature, the original Egyptian uniliterals were not a system and were never used to encode Egyptian speech on their own. Some believe that in the Middle Bronze Age, around 1700 BC, an apparently “alphabetic” system was developed in central Egypt for or by Semitic workers, but we cannot read these early writings, and their exact nature remains unknown.

Storytelling

The oral tradition of storytelling dates back to various times in history and is one of the earliest forms of human communication. The evolution of oral communication can be classified according to historical periods. The complexity of oral communication has always been reflective of the time period in question. Verbal communication was never limited to one area; rather, it was and continues to be a globally shared communication tradition. [8] Song, poetry, and chants were some of the ways people communicated. People would gather in groups to share stories, myths, and history.

Oral traditions were also used by nomadic people to pass down stories about their people’s history to the next generation.

Nomadic tribes have carried the torch of oral storytelling. The Arabian nomads are one of many nomadic tribes that have used oral storytelling throughout history to tell their histories and the story of their people. Because of the nature of nomadic life, these people were frequently left without architecture or possessions to call their own, and they often left little to no traces of their existence. Poems written by these Arabic nomads are passed down through generations by specialists known as sha’ir. These individuals spread the stories and histories of these nomadic tribes, and often in times of war, these stories would strengthen morale among members of specific tribes.

Oral communication was and continues to be one of the best ways for humans to spread their message, history, and traditions around the world in its natural form.

Tele-Communication

Telecommunication – the transmission of signals over a long distance for the purpose of communication – began thousands of years ago in Africa, America, and parts of Asia with the use of smoke signals and drums. The first fixed semaphore systems appeared in Europe in the 1790s, but it wasn’t until the 1830s that electrical telecommunication systems appeared.

The Importance of Communication

Communication’s significance cannot be overstated. After all, culture, society, and civilization cannot exist without the ability to communicate with one another. Good communication prevents wars and misunderstandings, assists us in meeting our needs, establishes rules and laws that aid in the structuring of society, assists people in finding and keeping jobs, provides information and guidance, and passes down cultural traditions, norms, and values.

Two adages to remember when communicating:

• You can’t not communicate (that is, we are constantly communicating, even subconsciously).
• You can’t take back what you’ve said once it’s been broadcast into the universe (i.e., be careful how and what you communicate)

For all fields of endeavor, communication skills are more important than ever. Whether you’re an engineer or a communication scholar, mastering communication will undoubtedly be critical to your success. Because of their inability to communicate effectively, people with excellent technical skills frequently find themselves at a point in their careers where they are no longer promoted. Professors frequently tell anecdotal stories about students who were extremely successful in landing jobs right out of college but then struggled to advance into management and leadership roles beyond their technical responsibilities. This is because they lacked one fundamental skill that would have allowed them to stand out from the crowd: communication.

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Case Study on Communication

According to a University of Texas at Austin study, we speak approximately 16,000 words per day on average. Nonetheless, we continue to misuse these words. In today’s world of cell phones, texting, tweeting, and emails, the need for effective communication has never been greater, because many people have forgotten what verbal communication is, let alone how to do it correctly. While it is critical to be able to communicate effectively through our devices, we must also remember how to speak professionally if we are to survive.

“One of the biggest issues in the last five years is employees e-mailing instead of going to talk with, or at the very least picking up the phone to call, the person they need to communicate with,” says Patti Wood, professional speaker, and trainer. “People don’t know how to make a request face to face, and they avoid difficult or emotional conversations.”

“I will have college audience members say, ‘how do I start [and end] a phone call?’” Wood says. “They don’t know the dynamics of that. It’s that turn taking and initiating conversation, [which] is a skill set that you learn over time.”

These issues are being recognized by the business and educational communities. In a Wall Street Journal article, General Mills stated that their 50 or so MBA graduates hired each year excel at data but fall short at communicating their market research.

Schools have heard this complaint and are now increasing, sometimes even doubling, their communication coursework, as the University of Pennsylvania has done.

Aside from the workplace and personal relationships, here are some additional reasons why communication is essential:

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Understanding

Making sure you express your wants, needs, and intentions clearly can help you a lot in life. It can be the deciding factor in salary negotiations or the trajectory of a friendship or relationship. Conflicts, arguments, and disagreements are frequently caused by a failure to communicate clearly. One reason communication is important is to avoid these misunderstandings.

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Relationship Strengthening

If you’ve ever watched The Bachelorette, you’ll notice that the guys who get the most far are the ones who get to spend the most time talking with the woman. This is due to the fact that establishing a rapport with someone requires both talking and listening. Your relationship can be strengthened by getting to know each other and discovering similarities. This is true for anything in life: friendships, clients and more.

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Stress Reduction

When you’re feeling overwhelmed, talking about your problems with friends can help you get things off your chest. This discussion will also assist you in seeing your problems from new angles.

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Increasing Self-Belief

People are more likely to listen to you if you communicate clearly. You will not only sound smarter, but you will also be able to communicate more effectively. And when others appreciate what you have to say, your self-esteem naturally rises.

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Happiness

You should be happier all around if you have better upward mobility in the workplace, stronger relationships, less stress, and more self-esteem.

Effective communication is a powerful tool and honing your skills will lead to a significantly more fulfilling life, both personally and professionally. Set yourself on the path to greater happiness and prosperity by pledging to improve your communication skills on a daily basis. You’ll be glad you did.

What is effective communication?

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Many people are curious about what constitutes effective communication. There are several components to the answer. Effective communication means that your ideas and concepts are being heard and acted upon. It also implies that you can listen to, comprehend, and act on what others say. This is the definition of effective communication and how a department, team, or company achieves success by understanding and carrying out what needs to be done!

The difficult part about effective business communication is that people frequently do not realize they are not conversing clearly. Most people will tell you that they have excellent communication skills if you ask them. Misunderstandings, however, are common. As a result, you must identify and eliminate potential bad habits that will allow you to connect with others and convey your meaning more effectively.

What Is Today’s Definition of Effective Communication?

Because there are so many more ways to connect today, good communication is more difficult than in the past. You’d think that making your point would be easier, but that’s not the case. The options for texting, email, instant messaging, Slack, Teams, and cellular phones are numerous. Keeping track of and responding to so many sources complicates the process. Furthermore, the habit of multitasking has completely derailed good listening skills because people pay far less attention when attempting to do more than one thing.

With so many more ways to communicate, it is critical to choose your words carefully because they can be easily misinterpreted. If you’re unclear about a message, be sure to ask for clarification to avoid any confusion. Stay engaged and make sure to listen to understand.

Improved communication results in a variety of positive outcomes, including increased efficiency, more completed projects, and improved relationships. Effective communication is essential for collaborative work so that you can work through any difficulties as a team and emerge stronger. Workflow runs smoothly when everyone understands their own tasks and responsibilities. Furthermore, when employees feel safe speaking up and voicing their opinions, relationships improve, work ethic improves, and productivity rises.

Effective nonverbal communication skills are just as important as effective verbal communication skills. Active listening improves work culture, strengthens relationships, and increases employee effectiveness. Good listening skills ensure that departments work well both internally and with other departments. This is critical for ensuring that people feel heard and recognized.

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Exercise 7:1: Pictionary

We will be recreating the pictograph era by playing Pictionary as a group.

The instructions for playing Pictionary are easy: All you need is a dry erase board, markers, and a list of words – use the Random Pictionary Word Generator by clicking the link below.

Objective:Become a more effective communicator by learning how to communicate with pictures only.

Steps:
1. One player draws a picture without using any letters, numbers, words, gestures, or other cues.
2. Their partner (or a group) has to guess the word that the picture is supposed to represent.
3. Set a time limit, and the team that has the most correct guesses in that time limit wins!

Online word generator

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Course Manual 2: Business Communication

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We rarely think about how we communicate with others because it is such a natural part of who we are. This also applies to business communication. After all, organizations aren’t faceless entities, but rather groups of real people.

Effective communication has an impact on processes, efficiency, and every level of a business.

Organizations with connected employees experience a 25% increase in productivity.

How would a 25% increase in productivity affect your company’s success?

• Will your revenue increase?

• Improved customer service, and thus happier customers?

• Increased profits?

• All of the foregoing (and more)?

In this course, you will learn how to set up an effective business communication process within your organization.

What exactly is Business Communication? The Explanation

Business communication is the exchange of information between people both inside and outside of a company.

Employees and management interact to achieve organizational goals through effective business communication which are in alignment with the company’s mission. Its goal is to improve organizational practices and cut down on errors.

The significance of business communication can also be found in:

• Presenting alternatives/new business concepts

• Making plans and making proposals (business writing)

• Putting decisions into action

• Making decisions

• Order dispatch and fulfillment

• Selling success

• Meetings that work

The process of business communication underpins all organized activity in a company. This could range from managerial communication to vendor technical communication.

When communication breaks down, the company’s core systems are at risk of failing. According to data, 60% of internal communications professionals do not measure internal communications. Possible reasons include not knowing where to begin, what steps to take next, or how to calculate ROI.

***Consider this: Strong business communications in a company will almost certainly result in higher employee engagement.

Over a 12-month period, companies with an engaged workforce see a 19.2 percent increase in operating income. Those with low levels of engagement earn 32.7 percent less.

How much more successful would you be if your employees were more engaged?

And how can you ensure a business communication process that will allow it?

Types of Business Communication

Let us first distinguish the various types of communication that occur in a typical organization.

The first is internal business communication.

Internal business communication can take the following forms:

• Any communication from a subordinate to a manager is considered upward communication. Or from someone higher up in the organizational hierarchy.

• Anything that comes from a superior to a subordinate is considered downward communication or managerial communication.

• Lateral/technical communication: internal or cross-departmental communication among coworkers.

Then, there’s external business communication.

Any messaging that leaves your office and internal staff is considered external business communication. It entails dealing with customers, vendors, or anything else that has an impact on your brand.

All communication on this spectrum can be classified into four types of business communication.

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Business Communication Techniques

When it comes to business communication, it is either verbal or written.

Furthermore, communication occurs in person/face-to-face or remotely.

Neither of these is better or worse for your company on their own; it all depends on the circumstances.

Written communication is excellent for keeping a paper trail of decisions and actions taken, as well as for developing strategies and plans. Verbal interactions allow for the instant generation of ideas and a more open flow of thoughts.

Some businesses have a single location. Some have offices in different time zones. Others are completely remote and lack a physical location (Buffer and Zapier are great examples of location-independent companies). These are the 5 business communication methods that apply to some, or all of the scenarios listed above:

1) Internet-based communication

This includes common communication channels such as emails and instant messaging apps (such as Slack, Hangouts, or even Nextiva Chat).

The advantages of emails and messages include the ability to lead private conversations in a busy office environment, as well as share a message with a large group of people—from a few to hundreds—at the same time.

2) Conference calls

Phones removed the geographical barrier to holding productive, fast-paced meetings. It allows for more effective idea exchange due to nonverbal communication (tone of voice) as opposed to written communication. Cloud phone systems can improve team collaboration and onboarding.

3) Use of video conferencing

Excellent video conferencing systems allow people in remote locations to hold meetings that are as close to in-person meetings as possible. They take phone meetings to the next level.

4) In-person meetings

In-person meetings can help a company move ideas forward quickly. According to research, in-person meetings generate more ideas than virtual meetings.

However, for effective meetings, a solid meeting agenda is required. 46 percent of employees rarely or never know what they should do next after a meeting.

5) Official documents and reports

A well-oiled business communication system includes the documentation of activities that affect other people and departments.

The ability to refer to a written document at any time reduces the possibility of confusion or disagreement and adds clarity to communication.

6) Publications

Meetings with larger groups are frequently conducted through presentations supported by reports and PowerPoint slide decks.

These are excellent for sharing new ideas in a way that allows for questions and clarifications.

7) Discussion boards and FAQs

An internal area where employees can refer to frequently asked questions on various departmental topics and ask new ones to make them more productive and up to date on a subject.

8) Questionnaires/surveys

Internal and customer surveys are both excellent ways to collect feedback and ratings on important topics. Surveys promote a healthy cycle of feedback-supported improvements and open a channel of communication between all levels of an organization.

9) Customer service activities

This can include any type of customer service activity. Live chat support, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, the customer onboarding process, customer reviews, and other services are examples.

What Business Communication Methods Does Your Company Require?

The answer is largely determined by the size and preferences of your company. There is no one-size-fits-all answer. One thing is certain: you will set yourself up for success if you only use business communication methods that you require and will use.

As an example:

You want a forum board, so you and your team spend weeks researching and setting it up.

After a while, you realize that no one is using it because their team or documents provide them with answers faster. Unnecessary solutions have cost you both time and money.

Or you invest in a high-quality video conferencing system when all you really need is a dependable business phone system to run your remote meetings.

Web-based communication will be used by all businesses. All of the other methods, on the other hand, will be determined by the unique circumstances of each company. Take the time to consider the importance of each for your specific situation.

Problems That Can Be Solved Through Effective Business Communication

For teams, employees, managers, and executives to perform their jobs and fulfill their responsibilities, clear and effective business communication is essential.

Without the proper processes and tools in place, the flow of information is disrupted, leaving people in the dark. This can have serious ramifications for the company, ranging from dissatisfied employees and customers to lost profits.

The obvious overarching goal of a business communication process is the transparent flow of information. But what are some of the deeper issues that effective business communication solves?

1) Email overload, as well as a lack of daily productivity and clarity

Many people in the workplace are simply overwhelmed by the number of messages they receive in a single day. According to Phil Simon’s book Message Not Received, the average person receives 120 to 150 emails per day.

We frequently misplace or completely overlook important information. Companies can reduce digital distractions and create space for ideas and thinking by implementing a business communication system.

2) Communication silos, both horizontal and vertical

Teams and departments frequently fail to share critical information. When there is an issue within a team, there isn’t always an easy way to contact a department manager. These silos form quickly and often go unnoticed, but they are easily remedied with a communication plan in place.

3) Ineffective communication with remote employees

Working from home is here to stay. According to Buffer’s State of Remote Work report, the vast majority of employees would like to work remotely at least some of the time.

They rank collaboration and communication as the top three challenges of working remotely, demonstrating the importance of having the right communication systems in place.

4) Inadequate customer service

When an organization’s communication is poor, two things happen in terms of customer service. First, employees in customer-facing roles will lack the necessary information. Second, customers will have a negative experience if they detect low employee morale.

Indeed, one study discovered that improving employee attitudes affects customer satisfaction, which leads to an increase in revenue.

Your Business Communication Process

A strong business communication process is critical for the satisfaction of your employees and customers. This eventually leads to financial stability.

According to one study, 29 percent of employees believe their current internal communications tools are ineffective.

Here are a few of the reasons they gave:

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Irrelevant information, exclusion, dishonesty, and a lack of access to critical information are all likely experiences shared by your own workforce.

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Case Studies

(Studies from: https://pumble.com/learn/communication/communication-statistics/)

Proper communication within a business brings several benefits to the said business.

Studies, reports, and research show effective team communication positively affects employee productivity, retention, and trust.

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Effective communication increases productivity

According to a McKinsey report, well-connected teams see a productivity increase of 20-25%.

This increase affects task work — CMSWire reports that 97% of employees believe communication impacts their task efficacy on a daily basis.

Moreover, a report by Think Talent shows that employees working in organizations with effective communication plans — ones that manage to minimize the silo effect and centralize communication — are 3.5 times more likely to outperform their peers.

Effective communication increases retention

According to the Bit blog, effective team communication, and the steps that lead to it, help businesses retain their top talent.

This employee retention increases 4.5 times, compared to businesses that lack effective communication in the workplace.

Effective communication facilitates trust

As showcased by Lexicon, a high percentage of more than 80% of Americans believe employee communication is crucial for developing trust with employers.

An article in the International Journal of Business and Management titled “Communication, Commitment, and Trust: Exploring the Triad” also connects trust and effective communication: Trust and commitment do not just happen; they are forged and maintained through effective communication.”. This finding was based on previous studies and data from an original survey that included 244 employees.

On the other hand, the lack of open and honest communication that facilitates trust tends to hurt employee morale — at least according to a third of employees who responded to one Accountemps survey.

According to a Salesforce study, 86 percent of executives, employees, and educators blame workplace failures on ineffective communication.

5 Steps for Establishing Your Business Communication Process

We can no longer ignore the impact of teamwork and chemistry on employee productivity, engagement, and advocacy. Here are some steps you can take to ensure a smooth business communication process.

1) Assess your current state of business communication and set objectives.

A business communication plan is required regardless of the stage of your company.

However, you will get the most out of it if you concentrate on the areas that need the most improvement right now and work your way down to all other areas later.

For example, the following could be some of the reasons your communication needs to be revisited:

• Employee dissatisfaction or turnover

• Outputs are lower than expected across the board.

• Rapid expansion results in information loss.
• Due to remote work, there is a lack of information transparency.

You may encounter more than one of these, or you may encounter a completely different scenario. Identify it and base your business communication process goals on it. For example, your objectives could be:

• A specific rate of employee turnover or satisfaction

• Rate of customer satisfaction

• Total number of completed projects

• The number of interactions that occur between departments

…and much more.

2) Identify your organization’s core groups and their relationships with one another.

Examine your organization’s structure and all of the groups involved in its ability to function.

Take note of any organization that relies on information to function. This should include the following:

• Departments are classified horizontally (operations, marketing, design, human resources, sales, customer support, finance, and more)

• Professionals in teams, team leaders, department managers, and executives are classified vertically.

• Customers, suppliers, partners, and others are examples of external groups.

From here, consider the ongoing work they do, and the results expected of them. Plan how they will communicate in order to complete their tasks.

Allow plenty of time for this task, depending on the size of your company. Some of the most important questions to answer are:

• Which teams and individuals must communicate with whom on a daily basis? What about once a week, twice a week, and once a month?

• What kind of communication occurs only when there is an ongoing crisis?

• How do managers and team leaders keep their departments moving forward? What is the procedure for reporting?

• Is there a knowledge library that could reduce the number of unnecessary meetings and conversations.

• Which projects and processes require approval from other employees? How are approvals requested and processed?

At the very least, these responses should provide you with an idea of how many emails, messages, phone calls, meetings, and documents are required for everything to happen within the time frame specified.

3) Specify communication methods

Next, select communication methods that align with your business communication goals as well as interactions between core groups in your organization.

Examine the list of communication methods we discussed earlier and make sure to include any that are unique to your company:

• Communication via the internet

• Telephone conferences

• Conferencing via video

• Meetings in person

• Official documents and reports

• Presentations

• FAQs and message boards

• Surveys

• Customer service activities

Which of these are required for your organization to achieve its objectives? What is optional and may face adoption resistance? Which ones put too many tools at risk and should be simplified?

Be honest with yourself about your specific requirements.

A five-person startup, for example, where everyone works in the same office, will most likely concentrate on:

• Communication via the internet

• Meetings in person

• Customer service

A fully remote 50-person company will devote more resources to:

• Conferencing via phone and video

• Document organization in order to meticulously track their processes.

A large global enterprise will almost certainly use all of the listed communication methods and will have dedicated teams for many of them.

4) Select the appropriate tools

There is no manual that specifies which tools are absolutely necessary for each task.

Gmail vs. Outlook Dropbox vs. Google Drive Nextiva Chat vs. Slack.

The battles continue, but your choice is entirely up to you and your workforce.

While we can’t just hand you a list of software tools and leave you to it, we can give you some pointers on how to choose the right tools:

• Use cloud storage to keep important documents and data safe. Enable automatic sync and backup to avoid human error and forgetting to save data manually.

• Use a single platform for email and calendar management.

• For chat messaging, use a single tool. If some people use Slack and others use Hangouts in their Gmail, it will cause friction and slow down communication.

• If many of your meetings are held remotely, invest in an easy-to-use, dependable VoIP phone system.

• Create brand and editorial guidelines that specify the tone of voice and how to use brand elements. This way, all communication, both internal and external, is unified.

5) Document the process

Finally, document everything you do throughout this setup and make it available to the entire organization.

This way, each employee can refer to a carefully crafted communication plan to determine the best course of action for the situation at hand.

The document will also assist newly hired employees in quickly grasping all of the tools and best communication practices.

Create a recurring calendar reminder for yourself and your team to go over the document once a quarter. This way, you can ensure that the plan is still serving its intended purpose and, if necessary, update it.

Communication is the foundation of your company’s success.

Poor communication exposes an organization to far too many risks to count.

Great communication, on the other hand, opens the door to exceptional employee and customer engagement. It results in greater clarity, more significant outputs, and increased revenue and profit.

What Is a VoIP Phone and How Does It Work?

Whether you already have a business communication system in place or are just getting started, remember to:

• Set and revisit your company’s communication goals based on the current state of communication in your organization.

• Identify everyone involved in the processes that allow your company to function on a daily basis. Analyze their communication needs and identify methods that allow information to flow.

• Look for the best tools and platforms to enable the methods you’ve identified.

• Share this configuration with the entire organization in a transparent manner.

As a result, you’ll see happy, productive people who are eager to work on projects and produce meaningful results for the benefit of all parties involved.

“An organization with excellent internal communication will run smoothly, allowing its members to progress toward a mutual goal, which will ultimately affect the quality of external communication.” ― Scribendi

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Exercise 7:2: Pass the Hoop

What you will need:
• Hula Hoop
• Large space to gather

Instructions:

1. Having the group stand in a circle and hold hands.
2. One of the people in the circle has a hula hoop around their arm.
3. Now, try to pass that hula hoop all the way around the circle.

Objective: You can see what this activity works to strengthen, right? Certainly, teamwork, is crucial for any leader, as they’re not working in a vacuum. There’s problem-solving, too. But most importantly, communication, might be the most fundamental skill for any successful leader to have.

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Course Manual 3: Conflict to Creativity

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Many people will tell you that conflict is code-red for any organization in any industry, stalling projects and creating an uncomfortable environment for employees.

However, conflict is an unavoidable part of life. When cultures collide, opinions diverge, and priorities clash, tensions inevitably rise. Part of our success as humans can be attributed to our ability to effectively manage bad conflict and then transform it into creative conflict through great communication tactics. Correct, creative conflict.

According to research (see study below), dealing with conflict in a healthy and constructive way can result in better workplace outcomes and idea generation. You can actually drive more creativity, productivity, and efficiency for your company by tapping into the potential goldmine that is workplace conflict — but only if you do it correctly.

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Case Study – Conflict and Creativity in Interdisciplinary Teams

Corresponding Author: Kevyn Yong, Department of Management and Human Resources, HEC Paris

Abstract: We examine the effects of conflict and conflict asymmetry on creativity in interdisciplinary teams. Testing our hypotheses on teams working on graduate-level nanobiotechnology projects, we found task conflict to have a positive relationship with creativity whereas relationship conflict had a negative relationship with creativity. Our results also revealed that relationship conflict asymmetry had a positive effect on creativity. Examining the two components of creativity separately, we found that relationship conflict asymmetry explained variance in the novelty component, whereas task conflict, team size, and functional diversity explained variance in the usefulness component.

Research advocates that interdisciplinary teams, comprised of specialists from different functional areas, possess the potential for creativity (Keller, 2000; Lovelace, Shapiro, & Weingart, 2001). Interdisciplinary team members can generate and exchange diverse ideas to develop solutions that are novel and useful, two components necessary for creativity (Amabile, 1996; Oldham & Cummings, 1996). This exchange of diverse ideas is purported to lead to creativity when team members engage in productive task conflict (De Dreu, 2006; Neale, Mannix, & Chen, 2006). Moreover, because relationship conflict has been shown to accompany task conflict (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003; Simons & Peterson, 2000), interdisciplinary teams that can enhance task conflict while keeping relationship conflict in check will be most creative. The link between any sort of conflict and actual creative outcomes, how-ever, has been difficult to clarify. To disentangle conflict types, researchers have been careful to link only certain conflict types to certain types of performance, such as quality of production or negotiated outcomes (e.g., De Dreu & Weingart, 2003). Here, we explore an alternative approach to addressing the conflict–creativity debate. We consider how conflict asymmetry as a property of the team might explain creativity in interdisciplinary teams. Rather than a focus on what is shared or similar within teams (e.g., Klimonski & Mohammed, 1994), a focus on what is dissimilar or inconsistent among team members has emerged in recent years (e.g., Cronin & Weingart, 2007). One of the most promising ideas in this approach is that members’ perceptions of conflict are asymmetric, and this asymmetry may explain important team processes and outcomes (Cronin, Bezrukova, Weingart, & Tinsley, 2011; Jehn, Rispens, & Thatcher, 2010). Conflict asymmetry refers to the degree to which team members differ in their perceptions of how much conflict there is in the team (Jehn et al., 2010). For example, although some members perceive a high level of task conflict within the team, others may perceive a low level; this dispersion of conflict perception is the team’s task conflict asymmetry. Previous work has drawn on shared mental models and collective cognition to understand and explain the effects of conflict asymmetry (e.g., Cronin et al., 2011). For instance, research on shared mental models has shown that consistency increases team performance (e.g., Marks, Sabella, Burke, & Zaccaro, 2002). To achieve superior performance, team members must share a common understanding of the information and goals of the team (Hinsz, Tindale, & Vollrath, 1997). However, it is not clear whether the same results will be found in interdisciplinary teams that may be more likely to experience conflict asymmetries due to their functionally diverse nature and whether these asymmetries are beneficial for interdisciplinary teams striving for creativity. To address this research question, we studied interdisciplinary teams work on graduate-level projects to design nanobiotechnology devices. We used online surveys to collect data on team conflict at different points during the semester and gathered expert ratings of creativity at the end of the project. In at CORNELL UNIV on March 6, 2016sgr.sagepub.com Downloaded from 268 Small Group Research 45(3) so doing, we contribute to the study of conflict and creativity by showing that both conflict and conflict asymmetry explain variance in creativity and have different effects on the novelty and usefulness components of creativity.

Creativity in Interdisciplinary Teams Creativity involves combining diverse perspectives to generate novel and useful solutions (Amabile, 1996; Sutton & Hargadon, 1996). Organizations often rely on interdisciplinary teams to work on projects that require creativity because such teams are equipped with a diverse pool of knowledge, skills, and expertise (Keller, 2000; Lovelace et al., 2001). Researchers in this area typically study interdisciplinary teams under the rubric of functional diversity (Bunderson, 2003), a phenomenon that has been studied in both the laboratory and the field. For instance, early research conducted on ad hoc laboratory teams demonstrated that expertise diversity improved problem solving (Hoffman & Maier, 1961).

Other research shows that team members with specific information (Gruenfeld, Mannix, Williams, & Neale, 1996) provide alternative perspectives that lead to novel solutions (Nemeth, 1986). Because interdisciplinary teams comprise members with more heterogeneous sets of skills, information, experiences, and social networks, they enjoy an enhanced capacity for creativity (Sutton & Hargadon, 1996; Taylor & Greve, 2006). Conflict and Creativity Functional diversity, however, also sets the stage for potential conflict (Pelled, 1996). As teams form and develop, members seek information about each other and demonstrate their own expertise and task competencies as they work to perform as a team (Gersick, 1988; Tuckman, 1965). In interdisciplinary teams, pride in one’s specialty can lead to protecting intellectual turf and the use of jargon can cause communication barriers between team members to the further detriment of team integration (McGuire, 1999). Moreover, social categorization can also lead to an us-versus-them mentality in which the forma-tion of subgroups can lead to exclusion and distrust (Mackie, Gastardo-Conaco, & Skelly, 1992). Thus, interdisciplinary teams must work through the conflict associated with functional diversity to realize their creative potential. Interdisciplinary teams focused on creativity must experience at least some degree of conflict to function successfully (Cronin & Weingart, 2007). Conflict emerges from different opinions and ideas that team members must share and combine to generate and select ideas as part of their creative process (Nijstad, Rietzschel, & Stroebe, 2006). Thus, conflict enables greater at CORNELL UNIV on March 6, 2016sgr.sagepub.com Downloaded from Yong et al. 269 consideration of the diverse perspectives presented by each team member. However, the type of conflict team members experience and the way they manage it are critical to their success. Specifically, team members must be able to distinguish between conflict that is task-focused and relationship-focused (Jehn, 1995).

Task (or cognitive) conflict is driven by differences in opinions or perceptions of the task being performed by the team. Moderate levels of task conflict have been shown to benefit team performance in various problem-solving and complex cognitive tasks (Jehn & Bendersky, 2003; Jehn & Mannix, 2001). In many cases, teams benefit from differences of opinion and improve their decision quality as members share and adopt each other’s perspectives (Schwenk, 1990). Research on the link between task conflict and performance in teams remains fraught with divergent findings. A large body of literature demonstrates a negative link between the two (see De Dreu & Weingart, 2003). However, other research has shown a positive link when factors such as positive team atmosphere (Jehn & Mannix, 2001), trust (Simons & Peterson, 2000), and conflict resolution strategies (Behfar, Peterson, Mannix, & Trochim, 2008) are in place. In addition, recent empirical work lends support to the proposition that task conflict will help some types of creative performance. For example, Matsuo (2006) found task conflict to positively affect innovation in Japanese sales departments, which in turn was related to increased departmental performance. De Dreu (2006) also found support for this notion by showing that a moderate amount of task conflict positively relates to innovation, where innovation is most often associated with the use-fulness component of creativity (Amabile, 1996). Thus, we expect creativity is best enhanced when task conflict is higher. Hypothesis 1a (H1a): Task conflict in interdisciplinary teams is positively related to creativity. In contrast, relationship (or interpersonal) conflict may include personality differences, annoyance, and hostility between individuals. Research has predominantly found relationship conflict to have a negative impact on performance (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003; Pelled, 1996). Team members experiencing relationship conflict can be distracted from the task at hand through an increased focus on interpersonal relationships rather than work-related issues and are therefore less cooperative and less likely to perform (Jehn & Mannix, 2001).

When members are focused on interpersonal issues, their willingness to work together for team goals may also be reduced (Jehn & Bendersky, 2003). This may be particularly true in interdisciplinary teams, where team at CORNELL UNIV on March 6, 2016sgr.sagepub.com Downloaded from 270 Small Group Research 45(3) members may be less affectively integrated (Cronin et al., 2011). Thus, we expect creativity is best enhanced when relationship conflict remains low. Hypothesis 1b (H1b): Relationship conflict in interdisciplinary teams is negatively related to creativity. This line of reasoning, however, assumes that all team members perceive the state of the team and its processes in the same manner (e.g., De Dreu & Weingart, 2003; Jehn, 1995). Yet social cognition research has long acknowledged that people have different experiences of the same reality (Searle, 1995). Management scholars have addressed these perception differences theoretically as well as empirically (e.g., Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978), but only recently have scholars begun to look at the impact of asymmetries on processes and outcomes in teams (Jehn et al., 2010; Weingart, Todorova, & Cronin, 2010). The question remains whether similarity in perceptions is beneficial for teams and their members, and on what types of outcomes. One perspective is that teams must have some level of cognitive integration—a shared representation of the task and the ability to incorporate and accept others’ perspectives—to reach optimal performance (Cronin et al., 2011). For instance, teams without cognitive integration are unable to use divergent information and as a result, performed less effectively (Cronin et al., 2011). Other work has seen mixed results. For example, Jehn and colleagues (2010) used a logic task to look at the relationship between conflict asymmetry, team performance, and self-reports of team creativity. They found that higher levels of relationship conflict asymmetry decreased objective performance in terms of errors on the logic task, but task conflict asymmetry had no effect on performance, although lower levels of task conflict asymmetry did increase self-reports of team creativity (there were no effects of relationship conflict on self-reports of creativity). However, creativity as a task outcome was not measured directly in this study because the task did not lend itself readily to an objective assessment of creativity. Therefore, it remains somewhat uncertain exactly how, and to what extent, conflict asymmetry is related to team creativity.

Although a large body of research has provided insights into how conflict fosters creativity in interdisciplinary teams, there is much we can learn about team creativity by also examining the asymmetric perceptions of conflict among team members. Specifically, our study shows that relationship conflict asymmetry is positively related to creativity and explains variance in the novelty component of creativity. That is, relationship conflict helps foster creativity as long as all team members do not perceive the same level of relationship conflict. This offers a solution to the challenge of fostering creativity by keeping task conflict high and relationship conflict low when task conflict and relationship are inextricably linked (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003; Simons & Peterson, 2000). More generally, examining the effects of conflict asymmetry on creativity in interdisciplinary teams offers insights into how team members perceive, understand, evaluate, and use functionally diverse knowledge to change their own and others’ thinking to generate new solutions that are both novel and useful.

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So, how should you handle creative conflict in your organization? With excellent communication.

Here’s why effective communication can transform workplace conflict into a creative breakthrough.

If your organization has a communication problem, it is very likely that it also has a conflict problem. Even in the most transparent workplaces, disagreements are bound to arise, but leaders who fail to communicate with the rest of their team in a timely, complete, and accurate manner are only digging themselves a deeper hole.

As a result, open, immediate, thoughtful, and inclusive communication with and among employees is the key to unlocking the creative power of workplace conflict.

Here are 5 powerful ways to avoid conflict.

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1). Open communication exposes problems.

By fostering an open communication culture in the workplace, you’re already laying the groundwork for creative conflict. Quick and casual communication channels, such as team messaging systems, can help your team feel more at ease communicating with one another on a regular basis, whether it’s about big things like major company initiatives or small things like changing the date and time of a meeting. Use these channels to share important news, documents, and ideas with your team, and encourage employees to respond honestly. Upload any relevant notes, questions, or documents to a centralized, easily accessible location, such as a team messaging solution, for your employees to review on their own time. You can overcome any communication roadblocks and facilitate a more productive discussion by providing employees with the distance and information they need to cool down their emotional responses and formulate a fact-based argument.

Employees are more likely to speak up when they notice flaws or holes in a project when they feel free to express their opinions, even if they are negative. Team messaging systems can be the ideal solution for offering constructive criticism and reaching more creative solutions for employees who are more introverted or who would benefit from stepping back and thinking more deeply about a topic.

“When the trust account is high, communication is easy, instant, and effective.” – Stephen R. Covey

2.) Immediate communication generates more creative and deeper ideas.

We’ve all had that nightmare roommate who refuses to do the dishes, pick up their clothes, or wipe their muddy shoes before walking on the carpet. We try to be polite at first. When it’s not our turn, we do the dishes or shampoo the carpet while they sleep on the couch. But after months of ignoring it, the minor annoyance grows into full-fledged resentment.

Whether that roommate is a friend, a spouse, or a child, the lesson here is that addressing conflict as soon as possible is critical to resolving the issue civilly. The same holds true at work. When tensions arise, communicate with your team as soon as possible. When half of your team is out of the country or working remotely and an issue arises, team messaging or video conferencing platforms are a great way to address the issue while it is still fresh in everyone’s minds. This will lead to more in-depth and productive brainstorming sessions, allowing you to delve deeper into the benefits and drawbacks of an idea before developing a business plan around it.

3.) Emotions are kept at bay by thoughtful communication.

You might be wondering what happens if the discussion gets too heated. Entering a difficult discussion before everyone has had a chance to learn the facts, digest the issue, and form a reasonable opinion can be a risky game. However, workplace conflict does not have to result in employees hurling their laptops across the boardroom.

When discussions are thoughtful, fact-based, and informed, workplace conflict transforms into creative conflict. Put the argument on hold for a while if it appears that employees’ emotions are clouding the discussion and preventing a timely resolution.

4.) Everyone is heard when there is inclusive communication.

“Two heads are better than one,” as the old adage goes. Teamwork is at the heart of innovation, and unless you gather all key stakeholders for an important discussion, you will never reach the creative depths that you have the potential to reach. Of course, reaching a consensus on a plan that works for everyone is a difficult process, and the only way to do so is to ensure that everyone is heard. Giving everyone the opportunity to speak can be difficult when your team is made up of introverts, remote workers, cross-functional stakeholders, and people at various levels of seniority.

Implement virtual communication tools, such as video conferencing platforms and team messaging systems, to reach employees who are unable to be physically present during discussions. These can help keep everyone on the same page by allowing you to receive comments and questions from members in different locations in real time. Some virtual communication tools enable you to host anonymous polls for a final decision, ensuring everyone’s honesty and fairness.

5.) Better communication turns conflict into a tool for success.

As Robert Townsend said, “a good manager doesn’t try to eliminate conflict; he tries to keep it from wasting the energies of his people. If you’re the boss and your people fight you openly when they think that you are wrong — that’s healthy.”

In other words, the world’s most innovative companies don’t fear conflict; rather, they embrace it. Great workplace communication allows you to challenge your employees and truly test their creative abilities. To summarize, the process for transforming workplace conflict into creativity is as follows:

Integrate honesty, civility, and open communication into the culture of your company.

When problems, disagreements, or weaknesses arise, act quickly.

Encourage your team to set aside their emotions, think deeply about a topic, and use data to back up their arguments.

Allow everyone the opportunity to express themselves, and when they do, listen!

Accept creative conflict in your organization by giving your employees the tools they need to communicate more effectively. In the end, this could mean the difference between disappointing business results and industry leadership.

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Exercise 7:3: Let’s Face It

This exercise from The Big Book of Conflict-Resolution Games is about self-awareness. How large of a role does it really play, and how does it influence our communication?

There is no limit to the group size for this game, which requires only enough pens and paper for everybody. It doesn’t take very long, either, and can be played in as little as ten to twenty minute