Building Better Work Relationships: New Techniques for Results-Oriented Communication

In a complex environment, work is accomplished through the collaborative efforts of many. Differences are a positive force if you know how to harness them.

Your ability to develop good interpersonal skills and create rapport in this environment can make—or break—your career. Get set to step up and become a "conscious communicator." Develop self-awareness, analyze situations, and consciously select and use productive communication strategies. You’ll find your relationship style, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and master the winning tactics to work harmoniously to achieve your goals.

• Build better rapport and gain the trust of your colleagues
• Discover the basic competencies critical to solid work relationships
• Develop flexibility in actions, thoughts, and feelings to better handle any situation
• Avoid mistakes and conflicts that may result from misinterpreting others or ineffective listening
• Influence and motivate others to first-rate performance
• Learn how to use direct and indirect messages accurately
• Build your self-esteem as you discover a new self-awareness
• Identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities in your work relationships
• Understand values, beliefs, attitudes, and perceptual processes
• Understand emotions and how they translate into emotional intelligence
• Master the keys to excellent communication: observe, listen, analyze, plan, communicate

• How do you build work relationships
• Learn behaviors that support or undermine your relationships
• Assessing your relationships

Communication and Perceptions

• World view, perception, and work relationships
• Trust busters and how to fix them
• The five axioms of conscious communication
• Mirroring and rapport

Investigating Emotions and Emotional Intelligence

• Social intelligence and multiple intelligences
• Assessing your multiple intelligences
• Five domains of emotional intelligence
• Improving work relationships through emotional intelligence

Building Better Relationships with Ourselves and Others

• Perception, world view, emotional intelligence—and you
• Self-awareness, self-esteem, and self-concept
• Case study to understand your styles—and how to flex them

Relationship Building

• Managing assumptions in order to build trusting work relationships
• Consciously building trust at work
• Developing and showing a positive attitude

Express Needs Within Work Relationships

• Expressing needs and influencing others
• Performing an interpersonal needs inventory
• The shape and sound of assertiveness
• Completing an influential SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Profile

Relational Communication

• Identifying your communication style: how you relate most often
• Sharpening verbal and nonverbal behaviors and skills
• Applying direct and indirect messages for more flexible communication
• Using feedback and questioning skills to better understand others

Relational Listening

• Listening barriers and their impact on effective work relationships
• A listening improvement map
• Improving listening by asking good questions
• Applying active and reflective listening skills in various situations

Addressing Relational Change and Conflict

• Practicing relational change
• Addressing conflict and relational change
• Selecting your conflict-resolution style
• Planning to resolve conflicts assertively
• Resolving conflicts with work relationships in mind
• Developing and practicing a conflict-resolution plan

Learning Objectives

• Define the Fundamental Competencies Needed to Achieve Solid Work Relationships
• Identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, and Opportunities in Your Workplace Relationships
• Explain how Values, Beliefs, Attitudes, and Perceptions Impact the Establishment of Trust and Respect
• Describe the Role of Social, Multiple, and Emotional Intelligences in the Workplace
• Incorporate the Skills Needed for Effective Relational Communication

Effective Workplace Relationships

• Identify Behaviors That Help or Hinder Effective Workplace Relationships
• Assess Your Own Work Relationships and Areas in Which to Improve

Communication and Perception

• Define Worldview and Explain Its Impact on One’s Perception of Events and Experiences
• Identify How to Communicate Effectively with Others by Becoming a “Conscious Communicator”
• Describe the Implications of Communication as a Cycle of Continuous Responses That Create “Relationship Residue”
• Use Rapport-Building as a Tool to Improve Relationships

Personal Perspectives in Relationships

• Describe Your Social/Communication Style Preferences
• Identify Strategies to Improve Work Relationships Using Emotional Intelligence
• Describe the Impact of Self-Perception on Interactions with Others

Building Trust

• Describe the Role That Trust Plays in Building Work Relationships
• Identify Behaviors That Erode Trust, and Those That Build Trust
• Analyze, Assess, and Counteract People or Situations That Elicit Unproductive Attitudes

Relational Communication

• Use Assertive Verbal and Nonverbal Behaviors to Build Rapport and Influence Others
• Apply Direct and Indirect Messages to Flex Communication to Meet Varying Goals
• Apply Feedback and Questioning Skills to Better Understand Others and Their Relationship Needs

Relational Listening

• Identify Listening Barriers and Their Impact on the Development of Effective Workplace Relationships
• Ask Good Questions and Paraphrase to Improve Listening Skills and Relationships
• Apply Active and Reflective Listening Skills in Specific Types of Workplace Listening Situations
• Apply Best Practices for Giving or Seeking Feedback

Relational Change and Conflict

• Use a Combination of Strategies for Managing Change, Easing Transitions, and Redefining Relationships
• Identify Conflict Management Strategies to Fit Specific Relationships and Situations

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