EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND INTERPERSONAL SKILLS. Communication is the art and process of creating and sharing ideas.

Effective communication depends on the richness of those ideas. Lots of jobs require strong communication skills and socially people with improved communication skills usually have better interpersonal relationships. Effective communication is a key interpersonal skill and by learning how we can improve our communication has many benefits. Skills you need to improve your Communication skills. 1. Empathise: Empathy is trying to see things from the point-of-view of others. When communicating with others, try not to be judgmental or biased by preconceived ideas or beliefs - instead view situations and responses from the other persons perspective. 2. Encourage: Offer words and actions of encouragement, as well as praise, to others. Make other people feel welcome, wanted, valued and appreciated in your communications. If you let others know that they are valued, they are much more likely to give you their best. 3. Learn to Listen: Listening is not the same as hearing; learn to listen not only to the words being spoken but how they are being spoken and the non-verbal messages sent with them. Use the techniques of clarification and reflection to confirm what the other person has said and avoid any confusion. 4. Be Aware of Others' Emotions: Be sympathetic to other people's misfortunes and congratulate their positive landmarks. To do this you need to be aware of what is going on in other peoples lives. Make and maintain eye contact and use first names where appropriate. Do not be afraid to ask others for their opinions as this will help to make them feel valued. 5. Treat People Equally: Always aim to communicate on an equal basis and avoid patronising people. Do not talk about others behind their backs and try not to develop favourites: by treating people as your equal and also equal to each other you will build trust and respect. 6. Attempt to Resolve Conflict: Learn to troubleshoot and resolve problems and conflicts as they arise. Learn how to be an effective mediator and negotiator. Use your listening skills to hear and understand both sides of any argument - encourage and facilitate people to talk to each other.

Self Mastery In order to communicate effectively it is necessary to achieve personal mastery. Achieving personal mastery would imply a change in attitude and perspective. Communication is a core component of building relationship, and the greatest relationship we can have is a relationship with our inner self. It follows then that the 1 |Page

way we communicate with the inner self would greatly impact the way we communicate with the outside world. Self mastery helps us to deal with difficult situation in a more pleasant manner. The inner relationship we have developed helps us to showcase a much more supportive communication towards others. This becomes more evident when dealing with feed back or what you may otherwise call constructive criticism. Personal mastery enables us to develop mechanism to effectively take care of our emotions such that they do not interfere with how we interpret such feedbacks; also self mastery enables us to look at things in a very objective manner. Effective communication achieved through personal mastery would assist anyone to be more adept at solving problems effectively. Self mastery thus encourages effective communication because the individual has a definite internal conversation already and can thus effectively project himself to be well understood.

Advanced Communication Skills. In the business world nothing can be achieved without effectively communicating with employers, employees, clients, suppliers and customers. Advanced communication is a true art form. It requires practice, finesse and a skill set that goes beyond those that an average person possesses. The Communication Process. It involves multiple parts and stages .These include. 1. Source: The source of the message is the sender, the sender must know why the communication is necessary and what result is needed.Inorder to be a good source you need to be clear about the message you are sending. 2. Message: The message is simply the information you want to communicate. Without a message there is no cause for communicating. 3. Encoding: It is the process of taking your message and transferring it into the proper format for sharing it with your audience. It requires knowing your 2 |Page

audience and ensuring that your message provides all of the information that they need, 4. Channel: The channel is the method of communication that you choose such as face to face by telephone or via email. 5. Decoding: This is the process of receiving the message accurately and requires that your audience has the means to understand the information you are sharing. 6. Receiver: You have expectations for a response from the receiver when you send a message.You can increase the chances of getting this result by addressing your audience and concerns or addressing specific benefits as part of your communication. 7. Feedback: No matter what channel you have used to convey your message you can use feedback to help determine how successful your communication was . 8. Context: involves things such as your relationship with your audience, the culture of your organization and the general environment.

Verbal and Non Verbal Communication Techniques Verbal Communication Verbal communication refers to the use of sounds and language to relay a message. It serves as a vehicle for expressing desires, ideas and concepts and is vital to the processes of learning and teaching. In combination with nonverbal forms of communication, verbal communication acts as the primary tool for expression between two or more people.types of verbal communication may includebinterpersonal communication and public speaking Non Verbal Communication.(Tstures bal gone of voice and Body Language) Nonverbal communication is usually understood as the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless (mostly visual) cues between people. 3 |Page

Messages can be communicated through gestures and touch, by body language or posture, by facial expression and eye contact, which are all considered types of nonverbal communication. Speech contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage, including voice quality, rate, pitch, volume, and speaking style, as well prosodic features such as rhythm, intonation, and stress. MEETINGS Characteristics of effective meetings: as described by Douglas McGregor. An atmosphere without tension or boredom The discussion involves all members The discussion is relevant to the task Members understand team/meeting goals Members are committed to the team goals Disagreements are aired without ill feeling from members Consensus is sought on all decisions Criticism is constructive and freely given Feelings are expressed as well as ideas Clear assignments are made and agreed Leader/chairperson does not dominate There is no undue deference to the leader Creating an Actionable Agenda The agenda is the framework that supports the meeting. Agendas have been compared to road maps, blueprints, flight plans, recipes and musical scores. These all suggest that the agenda helps a group achieve a desired outcome. Leading a meeting-from the chair or from the floor. 1. Start the meeting on time: Start the meeting promptly on schedule and do not wait for others to arrive. 2. Ensure quorum: For committees and groups using Robert's Rules of Order to guide their procedures, ensuring that a quorum is present is the chair's responsibility. Under Robert's Rules of Order, a quorum is the number of members entitled to vote who must be present in order that business can be legally transacted. For more information on quorum procedures, see the 1990 (9th edition) Robert's 4 |Page

Rules of Order Newly Revised (Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.) 3. Review the agenda: Always briefly review the agenda including the aims and purposes as the meeting gets started. This helps participants focus their attention and understand what will be required of them 4. Keep the discussion focused: Focus on agenda items. Even if these items are clearly listed and emphasized, creative, intelligent and committed people may stray from the topic. 5. Encourage Participation: Effective meetings are participatory and good leaders try to get everyone involved. 6.Help group come to decisions. A group reaches consensus when it finally agrees on a choice and each group member can say:I agree. 7.Summarise on Decissions: When a group seems to have come to a consensus or decision, restate and summarize what the final decision(s) is. This helps to ensure that all members hear the same thing 8. Agree on action Plan: An action plan outlines the specifics that must be done. Not every goal needs an action plan, but for goals that involve more than one person, it's usually helpful to be specific about who will do what by when 9.Draft agenda for next meeting: Ask for agenda items for the next meeting from the floor or ask a small group of 2 or 3 members to work on creating agendas. 10. Evaluate the Meeting: Before the meeting adjourns, try to do a brief evaluation. Ask some informal questions such as, "Do you feel like we accomplished what we needed to today? Did everyone participate?" The meeting leader can ask the questions with group members answering in turn, round-robin style, or the questions can be asked for anyone to answer

NEGOTION What is Negotiation? Negotiation is simply the process of getting what you want from another person. As you read the following examples of how everyone negotiates in their everyday lives, think about what approach you take to get what you want. Also think about what others do in negotiation to get what they want. How to Negotiate 1. Control Your Emotions:The first step to effective negotiation is to not let the other side get under your skin. They may be ranting and raving, foaming at the mouth, throwing insults and names at you, and pounding on tables, but you need to recognize these tactics for what they are. 2. Be on Their Side:Effective negotiation requires a welcoming environment. To create the right kind of negotiating atmosphere, you need to change your opponent's assumptions about how you will behave. Instead of reacting, you need to be reasonable. 3. Change the Rules of the Game:This third step is the key to effective negotiation. Negotiation often fails because both sides only present their positions 5 |Page

and don't pause to ask the reason why the other side has taken such a position. Because they do not ask, and instead only assume why the other side is interested in such a position, both sides continue to restate their positions, but fail to open up the discussion to other options that may be agreeable to both sides. 4. Make Agreement with you Irresistibly Attractive:Your opponent may have his own mental reservations or other parties that he has to satisfy. You need to make agreeing with you irresistibly attractive in comparison to not agreeing. The key is to not push hard, in fact don't push at all. This is truly a situation where slow and steady wins the race. 5. Use Reality to Educate:Finally, if your opponent is still not agreeing. Do not push harder. Do not make threats or back them into a corner. The key is to use reality and facts to educate. If your opponent does not agree, will they incur costs or other hardships? You not only point these out but delineate them on paper. NEGOTION AND BARGAINING Bargaining is perhaps more akin to haggling, the kind of thing you'd do in a bazaar when trying to knock down the price of some tacky souvenir. You think youve got a bargain, but the trader always smiles when you leave. Negotiation is the kind of thing at which Henry Kissinger was a good exponent. Negotiation involves making zero concessions to your opposite number until and unless (s)he concedes something that you value in return. For example, you might concede the free delivery of goods in a contract, but only if the customer agreed to order a minimum quantity, per year, in each year of the agreement. NEGOTION STYLES Negotiation styles vary with the person, their beliefs and skills, as well as the general context in which they occur. Here are a number of different styles considered from different viewpoints. Belief-based styles There is a common spectrum of negotiation that ranges from collaborative to competitive. The approach taken is generally based on beliefs about peopleand how selfish or generous they are. Professional styles Professional styles are those use by people who have a significant element of negotiation in their roles. Contextual styles Negotiation often happens within non-professional contexts, where the people either do not know that they are negotiating or they are not skilled at it. Source: http://www.cooperworldwidecoaching.com/agreeing.jp...

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