Our last part of our Communication Skills Masterclass highlights how to be the type of communicator that people remember…for the right reasons!

Many people assume that because they have spoken, the other person has heard them, interpreted them correctly and understood them. Well, remember that the quality of our communication is judged by the response we receive. So if the other person does not respond in the way we envisaged, the first question we need to ask is, was my communication as clear as it could have been?

In Part 3, we determined that creating a purpose and intention was instrumental to putting the message across and ensuring the meaning gleaned by the other person was effective, clear and efficient.

Well, it needs more than just words and logic to ensure the message is useful and purposeful. Most people assume that just because their message is rational and logical, it is also inspiring and motivational. Well, that’s only half the message, because it is only appealing to half the brain.

Yes, unless the message gets to the whole brain, it may well not be assimilated and taken in fully.

You will be aware that the left side of our brain caters for logical, process, rational, step-by-step thinking. That’s fine. And many messages you give will appeal on that basis.

But what about when you want to motivate someone to carry out a task or inspire them through your words? Then the right brain has to be involved, too.

This is because our right brains see the big picture, are linked to emotions, images and feelings, and build on creative thoughts. Think of the left brain as being the robotic, process-driven, rational-thinking interpretive side, and the right brain being the opposite, that is, creative, initiative-driven, motivation, big picture side.

If your communication is basic (do this, do that, get this done, etc), then it may well appeal to certain people who need that purpose-driven, rational reasoning induction and direction. But for the rest of us who need to feel the emotion behind ‘why’ we are doing something, or identify the motivation behind the communication, the right brains need to be brought into play.

You can do this by appealing to the emotional side of the person, adding values and beliefs to the communication, detailing the benefits of what might happen (linked to the intention) and driving the person forward with ideas, creativity, initiative and purpose.

That way, you are appealing to the ‘whole’ person and can get them specifically involved in finding the answers for themselves, determining how their thinking processes can be driven forward. This will provide them with meaning that they can attach to their communications with you, and you start identifying ways that results can be achieved in the future.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

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Take a moment and write down what you think I mean when I mention the word ‘Quality’.

Go on, get a pen and write down your definition of the word.

Now do the same for the words ‘Customer satisfaction’.

Done it? Good.

Now ask yourself how other members of your team would define the words. Would there be a correlation or would there be distinct differences?

When we communicate with others, we often think that because we know what we are talking about, everyone else will too. But it may be possible that others have a different understanding of the meaning of what you said. If we can’t clearly define and agree upon the meaning of terms we use in our particular business, our communications become very fuzzy, as our expressions are mistranslated in their minds to mean something else.

So, how can you make sure every understands everyone else in the business (or at least has a good shot at it?) Here are some ways:

1) Carry out an exercise with your team where you mention some buzzwords you often use in your company or industry and get people to write down their understanding of them. Compare if you really are close in your interpretation of the meanings

2) Decide on a group definition of the buzzwords that every team member can buy into. This ensures consistency.

3) Have team members give ideas on how the meanings can be displayed so everyone is in agreement and singing the same song in harmony

4) Decide what the meanings of these terms mean to us as a business and how we can utilise this agreement with prospects and clients alike

5) Determine how you will measure the effectiveness of everyone who matters knowing the definitions, the application of the definitions and what the end results will be.

This exercise will ensure your team is coherent and in-line with each other when it comes to understanding what everyone means in relation to buzzwords. It will then make sense to everyone and you reduce the risk of misinterpretation of ideas and the incidents of misunderstandings should go down.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

Follow us here on Twitter

The feedback we receive from our Advanced Communication Skills
course is just awesome. This is because it goes beyond the
normal communication techniques that you use on any other course.

Instead, you delve into how people behave, understand why they
do what they do, you understand how others think and what
makes up their personality so that you can communicate, build
rapport and influence them at a different level.

All of the delegates come off the course thinking like
Hannibal Lector!

No, not that way!

Instead, delegates come off the course really understanding what
makes people tick and what makes them what they are.

Let’s look at what we mean…

Appreciate that not everyone likes to achieve and move towards
goals. Some would rather avoid pain far more than to gain
pleasure

Let’s take a look at this.

All human behaviour is centred around gaining pleasure or
avoiding pain!

You go out for a nice meal with friends to gain pleasure. You
run away from a poisonous snake to avoid pain!

Someone goes to the gym to work out because THEY WANT to look
fabulous, have a hot body and feel more attractive. Others may
go to the gym because they DON’T WANT to look fat, ugly and
feel out of place in society.

Notice above that some people go to the gym because “THEY WANT
TO HAVE…” and others go to the gym because “THEY DON’T WANT
TO HAVE…”

This is interesting…

By the way, not everyone acts in the same way here, everyone
moves toward some things and away from others. But overall
everyone has a dominant preference.

So, looking at this then – some people like to move towards
things and others like to move away from things.

How do you know who is which?

Well, this is easily done by listening out to the way that
they respond.

When you ask people or staff about what they want in a job,
this project, their work, their relationships and so worth – do
they tell you WHAT THEY WANT or WHAT THEY DON’T WANT?

Listen to everyday conversations.

Are people moving towards things?

“I want to achieve a 234% increase in sales next month”

“I want us to dominate the widgets market”

“We are going to make this happen so we look the best team in
the department.

Or are people moving away from things?

“We need to increase sales because I don’t want our department
to be bottom of the league tables”

“If we do not dominate our market XYZ competitor will overtake us
and I do not want that to happen”

“If we do not improve we are going to look the worst team in
the department”

Can you see the differences?

They are all stating the same thing but in a different way!

Which ones would you be more motivated to achieve?

WORKING HARDER TO BE THE BEST TEAM?

WORKING HARDER TO AVOID BEING THE WORSE TEAM?

Think about this….it is really important how you communicate
to people.

USING THIS IN THE WORKPLACE

I am sure you have some ideas of your own of how to use this
in the workplace.

Here are some of my tips where this can be very useful.

#1 MOTIVATING STAFF

Are you trying to “achieve” all of the time with everyone or
are you modifying your approach with different people depending
on how they think?

Stress to “MOVE TOWARDS” people what they will get out of a
situation and they will be motivated. Do this to “AWAY FROM”
people and you are wasting your time.

You need to be flexible and change your approach.

I am sure that you “Just can’t seem to get through to some
people”. Well, the first thing you should look at is whether
you are moving them TOWARDS something when they want to move
AWAY FROM or vice-versa.

Not everyone are goal seeking machines you know. Even though
we are taught that they are!

#2 SELLING YOUR IDEAS OR PRODUCTS

If you are selling an idea or a product you can promote it
by:

WHAT IT DOES
or
WHAT IT DOESN’T DO

You can try to sell a motorbike by explaining that it is fast,
cool and hip and trendy or you can stress that it does not use
much petrol, has low insurance premiums and will not break
down on you.

The approach that you would use depends on the person.

Think about this when you need to influence or sell something.

USING THIS AT HOME

For those of you that have kids or want to communicate better
with your spouse think of this…

How many times have you told your kids “Do your homework or you
will fail your exams” or “You’d better study hard because you
don’t want to end up like me” or “You’d better work hard at
school or you will not get into XYZ University”

Have you noticed something?

These are all MOVE AWAY from statements. What response are you
getting?

What about if your children are more motivated about MOVING
TOWARDS things? Yes, what you have just said to them will go in
one ear and out the other.

Let’s just reframe those statements so that they would appeal
to a MOVE TOWARDS child:

Instead of:

“Do your homework or you will fail your exams”
USE
“Do your homework Sam so you will get the best grades, get a
great job and have loads of money when you are older!”

Instead of:

“You’d better study hard because you don’t want to end up like me”
USE
“Study hard Sam so you can get that big house, flashy sports
car and have great holidays”

Instead of:

“You’d better work hard at school or you will not get into XYZ University”
USE
“If you work hard Sam you will be able to take your pick of the
Universities in the country!”

I hope you’ve enjoyed these ideas; if you want more information on
our communication skills courses, just click here.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

Now that we’ve established how important it is to recognize organizational control, let’s take a closer look at the types of control that occur within the workplace.

To start, there are four main categories that control falls into:

• Physical control – the amount of inventory you have on hand, your quality control guidelines, and how well your equipment and facilities are maintained;
• Human control – including human resource functions such as placement, training, benefits, and appraisals;
• Information control – considers how well you can analyze sales trends, your ability to track the economy, and public relations; and
• Financial resource control – which involves avoiding debt, managing cash reserves, and paying bills,

These categories aren’t presented in any specific order, but perhaps it’s important to note that without proper financial control you won’t be able to organise any of the other areas on the list. Financial control is the foundation for any successful business.

Some organisations break their levels of control down a little bit differently, but they still cover the main categories. In some cases you may see them listed as operations control, financial control, structural control, and strategic control. In short, we’re attempting to achieve the same high level of functionality.

As a manager you will have responsibilities that reach into each category, but you likely won’t be responsible for any in their entirety. For example, as a team leader you’ll have to hire and manage your employees (human control); balance your department’s individual budget (financial control); make sure your equipment is in working order and that projects are completed on time (physical control); and communicate your results to other people within the organisation, your clients, or to the public (information control).

Juggling these responsibilities will take advanced communication skills on your part, but I think that once you understand how your tasks fit into the overall picture you’ll have an easier time accepting how important your role is to your organisation!

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”