Communication, Conflict & Morale

This is not just a technical "learn how to communicate" workshop. People will be challenged to think differently about many issues.    

This needs to be explored on two levels - the organizational level, and the person-to-person level.  Sometimes in the organization there is a problem where lines of communication have not  been thought out carefully, and people get missed in the chain.  There can also be a timing problem in the organization where people are not informed of important information in a timely manner.  Occasionally, the problem is a hardware problem where the phones or computers or pagers are not working the way they should.

On a person-to-person level, it is very common to have individuals who have very different ways of communication with their tone of voice, choice of words, body language, etc.  Sometimes the differences alone can cause conflict.

At the same time, there is no doubt there can be some people who have developed very inappropriate way of communicating that may get them what they want, but can cause a great deal of trouble for others.  Sometimes they're aware of this and don't care, and sometimes they aren't aware of how they're coming across.

Finally, it would probably not be inaccurate to say there is an epidemic of poor listening skills.  People either don't listen at all, or hear what they want to hear.

Usually, however, by the time the situation has turned into a morale issue, the problem has become much deeper than a simple communication one.  In fact, my experiences has been that the communication problem is hardly ever about software, hardware, or style as such.

It is almost always about respect.

When people don't feel respected or acknowledged by either the company or other individuals, conditions become ripe for conflict.

What makes it more complicated is that when organizations and people don't list, it becomes more likely that fewer people will actually communication with them so the problems fester.

When organizations and people talk to others in a way that could easily be seen as condescending, patronizing, or even hostile, people, at best, will stop listening, but much more likely, they will become breeding grounds of conflict.

When that starts to happen, is that the individuals who feel slighted start talking to others who perceive themselves in the same situation and they feed off each other's frustrations.  The victim mentality grows and then communication gets really bad.

This presentation is designed first to remind management that the best way to know how their communication network is working is to listen to their workers, and second to remind individuals they they must accept some responsibility for effective person-to-person communication.

Part of the presentation is breaking down the actual elements of communication and exploring the differences between styles.  The most important part of the presentation, however, is exploring what people bring to the communication process; their own bias, assumptions, thinking processes and other personal traits and how those things affect the communication process and the conflict level.

This is not just a theoretical presentation.  Specific situations are presented that are very typical in the work place and in conflict situations. All the elements involved are explored as to how they help or hinder the process.  When possible, roleplaying is utilized to practice different approaches.

This is a program that is most effective when it is is done in the context of a training program over a period of time. However, even a single presentation can bring in a lot of material, and give a great deal of food for thought for the participation.

The main goals are to raise awareness in the participants as to what is involved in the communication process, and in conflict situations, give them strategies to change behaviors or patterns that aren't working effectively, and challenge them to take responsibility for improving the situation.