Basic Communication Skills PDF Supervisor Guidelines 2019-2020

GUIDELINES PAMPHLET (ELT SPERVISOR) ELT GENERAL SUPERVISION (2019 – 2020) ❷ Basic Communication Skills The ability to communicate effectively is an essential skill in today's world. Communication is a dynamic process and how you communicate can positively and negatively affect the relationships you...

GUIDELINES PAMPHLET (ELT SPERVISOR) ELT GENERAL SUPERVISION (2019 – 2020) ❷ Basic Communication Skills The ability to communicate effectively is an essential skill in today's world. Communication is a dynamic process and how you communicate can positively and negatively affect the relationships you have with your kids, boss, or coworkers. You can improve the communication skills that enable you to effectively connect with others, build trust and respect, and feel heard and understood. Effective Communication Communication is more than just exchanging information. It's about understanding the emotion and intentions behind the information. Effective communication isn't only how you convey a message so that it is received and understood by someone in exactly the way you intended, it's also how you listen to gain the full meaning of what’s being said and to make the other person feel heard and understood. What Is Effective Communication? More than just the words you use, effective communication combines a set of skills including nonverbal communication, engaged listening, managing stress in the moment, the ability to communicate assertively, and the capacity to recognize and understand your own emotions and those of the person you are communicating with. Effective communication is the key that helps you deepen your connections to others and improve teamwork, decision making, and problem solving. It enables you to communicate even negative or difficult messages without creating conflict or destroying trust. (Lawrence Robinson, Jeanne Segal, and Melinda Smith.2019) Communication is a key to maintaining Types of Communication: Verbal, Non-verbal and Written successful business relations. For this reason, it is paramount that professionals working in business environments have first-class communication skills. There are three basic types of communication: verbal, non- verbal, and written. If you want to succeed in business, you need to master each of these types of communication. (Kasia Mikoluk.2013) Verbal or oral communication uses spoken words to communicate a message. When most people think of verbal communication, they think of speaking, but listening is an equally important skill for this type of communication to be successful. Verbal communication is applicable to a wide range of situations, ranging from informal office discussions to public speeches made to thousands of people. (Kasia Mikoluk.2013) Verbal Communication Non-verbal communication includes body language, gestures, facial expressions, and even posture. Non-verbal communication sets the tone of a conversation and can seriously undermine the message contained in your words if you are not careful to control it. For example, slouching and shrinking back in your chair during a business meeting can make you seem under-confident, which may lead people to doubt the strength of your verbal contributions. In contrast, leaning over an employee’s desk and invading his or her personal space can turn a friendly chat into an aggressive confrontation that leaves the employee feeling victimized and undervalued. (Kasia Mikoluk.2013) Non-Verbal Communication Table of Contents 10 GUIDELINES PAMPHLET (ELT SPERVISOR) ELT GENERAL SUPERVISION (2019 – 2020) Written communication is essential for communicating complicated information, such as statistics or other data, which could not be easily communicated through speech alone. Written communication also allows information to be recorded so that it can be referred to later. When producing a piece of written communication, you need to be clear and concise in order to communicate information effectively. (Kasia Mikoluk.2013) Written Communication Rapport is getting on well with another person, or group of people, by having things in common. This makes the communication process easier and usually more effective. Sometimes rapport happens naturally without having to try, this is often how friendships are built. However, rapport can also be built and developed by finding common ground, developing a bond and being empathic. Most rapport-building happens; however; without words and through non-verbal communication channels such as non-verbal signals, including body positioning, body movements, eye contact, facial expressions and tone of voice. Building Rapport Different Types of Barriers to Effective Communication 1) Semantic Barriers There is always a possibility of misunderstanding the feelings of the sender of the message or getting a wrong meaning of it. The words, signs, and figures used in the communication are explained by the receiver in the light of his experience which creates doubtful situations. This happens because the information is not sent in simple language. (Vinod Jetley.2016) The most common language-related barriers Badly Expressed Message: This barrier is created because of the wrong choice of words, the wrong sequence of sentences and frequent repetitions. This may be called linguistic chaos. Symbols or Words with Different Meanings: Symbols or words can have different meanings and this makes the receiver misunderstand the communication. Faulty Translation: A manager receives much information from his superiors and subordinates, and he translates it for all the employees according to their level of understanding. Hence, the information has to be molded according to the understanding of the receiver. Faulty translation can be a barrier to communication. Unclarified Assumptions: It has been observed that sometimes a sender takes it for granted that the receiver knows some basic things and, therefore, it is enough to tell him about the major subject matter. Body Language and Gesture Decoding: When the communication is passed on with the help of body language and gestures, misunderstanding them hinder the proper understanding of the message. 2) Psychological or Emotional Barriers: The importance of communication depends on the mental condition of both parties. A mentally disturbed party can be a hindrance to communication. The following are the emotional barriers in the way of communication: (Vinod Jetley.2016)  Premature Evaluation: Sometimes the receiver of information tries to dig out meaning without much thinking at the time of receiving or even before receiving information, which can be wrong.  Lack of Attention: When the receiver is preoccupied with some important work he/she does not listen to the message attentively. For example, an employee is talking to his boss when the latter is busy in some Table of Contents 11 GUIDELINES PAMPHLET (ELT SPERVISOR) ELT GENERAL SUPERVISION (2019 – 2020) important conversation. In such a situation the boss may not pay any attention to what the subordinate is saying. (Vinod Jetley.2016)  Loss by Transmission and Poor Retention: When a message is received by a person after it has passed through many people, generally it loses some of its truth. This is called loss by transmission. This happens normally in case of oral communication. Poor retention of information means that with every next transfer of information the actual form or truth of the information changes.  Distrust: For successful communication, the transmitter and the receiver must trust each other. If there is a lack of trust between them, the receiver will always derive an opposite meaning from the message. Therefore, communication will become meaningless. (Vinod Jetley.2016) We all have difficult people we need to deal with in our lives daily. Psychological research has suggested several ways of coping with difficult people in life. Difficult Types of People and How to Deal with Them 1) Hostile People Dealing with hostile people requires both tact and strength. Since persons who feel they have been wronged are more likely to be belligerent and violent, it would be wise to avoid interactions with them that encourage intense emotions or threats of violence. In most cases, strong retaliation against an aggressive person is the worst thing you can do (Tucker-Ladd, 2018). 2) The Chronic Complainer They are fault-finding, blaming, and certain about what should be done but they never seem able to correct the situation by themselves. Often they have a point, there are real problems, but their complaining is not effective (except it is designed to prove someone else is responsible). Coping with complainers involves, first, listening and asking clarifying questions. Secondly, as you gather facts, create a problem-solving attitude. Be serious and supportive. Acknowledge the facts. Get the complaints in writing and in precise detail; get others, including the complainer, involved in collecting more data that might lead to a solution. Thirdly, plan a specific time to make decisions cooperatively that will help the situation and do it. (Tucker-Ladd, 2018). 3) The Super-Agreeable: What about the persons who are super nice and smilingly agree with your ideas until some action is required, then they back down or disappear? Such people seek approval. They have learned that one method for getting love is by telling people (or pretending) you really care for and/or admire them. Similarly, the super-agreeable will often promise more than they deliver. (Tucker-Ladd, 2018). 4) The Know-It-All Expert: Know-it-all experts are of two types the truly competent, productive, self-assured, genuine expert and the partially informed person pretending to be an expert. Both can be a pain. The true expert may act superior and make others feel stupid; they may be bull headed and impatient with differing opinions; they are often self-reliant, don’t need or want any help, and don’t want to change. If you are going to deal with the true expert as an equal, you must do your homework thoroughly; otherwise, they will dismiss you. First, listen to them and accurately paraphrase their points. Don’t attack their ideas but rather raise questions that suggest alternatives. Secondly, show your respect for his/her competence but don’t put yourself down. Lastly, if the expert cannot learn to consider others' ideas, you may be wise to graciously accept a subordinate role as his/her helper. True experts deserve respect. Table of Contents 12 GUIDELINES PAMPHLET (ELT SPERVISOR) ELT GENERAL SUPERVISION (2019 – 2020) The pretentious-but-not-real expert is relatively easy to deal with because he/she (unlike liars or cons) is often unaware of how little he/she knows. Such a person can be gently confronted with the facts. Do it when alone with them. Help them save face. They simply want to be admired. (Tucker-Ladd, 2018). 5) The Pessimist: The person who always says, it will not work or we tried that. These angry, bitter people have the power to drag us down because they stir up the old pool of doubt and disappointment within us. So, first of all, avoid being sucked into his/her cesspool of hopelessness. Don’t argue, don’t immediately offer solutions to the difficulties predicted by the pessimist, instead, make optimistic statements showing that change is possible — and encourage the group to brainstorm leading to several possible alternatives. Then ask what the worst possible consequences of each alternative are (this gives the negativist a chance to do his/her thing but you can use the gloomy predictions in a constructive, problem-solving way). Finally, welcome everyone’s help but be willing to do it alone because the pessimist won’t volunteer (Tucker-Ladd, 2018). 6) The Staller: A person who puts off decisions for fear someone will be unhappy. Unlike the super-agreeable, the staller is truly interested in being helpful. So, make it easier for him/her to discuss and make decisions. Try to find out what the staller’s real concerns are. Don’t make demands for quick action. Instead, help the staller examine the facts and make compromises or develop alternative plans (and decide which ones take priority). Give the staller reassurance about his/her decision and support the effective carrying out of the decision (Tucker-Ladd, 2018). 13 References  Clay Tucker-Ladd (2018) 6 Difficult Types of People and How to Deal With Them. Retrieved from:https://www.fastcompany.com/3036026/5-ways-to-improve-your-listening-skill  Harvey Deutschendorf (2014) 5 Ways to Improve Your Listening Skills. Retrieved From: https://www.fastcompany.com/3036026/5-ways-to-improve-your-listening-skills  Kasia Mikoluk (2013) Types of Communication: Verbal, Non-verbal and Written. Retrieved from: https://blog.udemy.com/types-of-communication/  Lawrence Robinson, Jeanne Segal, and Melinda Smith (2019) Effective Communication. Retrieved from: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/relationships-communication/effectivecommunication.htm  SkillsYouNeed (2017) Barriers to Effective Communication. Retrieved from: https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/barriers-communication.html  Vinod Jetley,(2016) What is the definition of other communication barriers?. Retrieved from: https://specialties.bayt.com/en/specialties/q/175540/what-is-the-definition-of-othercommunication-barriers/ Table of Contents