Communication Skills for High Pressure Teams

ANALYTICAL

- Support their need to process information slowly
- Be armed with facts to back up opinions
- Allow time for questions
- Provide detail
- Be patient in decision making

DRIVER

- Support their goals and objectives
- Be precise, efficient, brief and goal-orientated
- Present summary information
- Explain what’s in it for them

TEAM PLAYER

- Support their need for warmth, sincerity and trust
- Express an interest in how they feel about things
- Keep discussions informal and relaxed

INNOVATOR

- Be a patient listener
- Show interest in their ideas and dreams
- Ask questions to focus ideas
- Summarise for clarity

Tailoring your communication

- Who are you talking to?
- What do they already know?
- What do they need to know?
- What is the right language to use?
- Finding the way to collaborate

Barriers to Communication

- Language, culture
- Learning styles
- Behaviour styles
- Personal preferences
- Physical discomfort
- Expectations
- Emotions
- Timing

Characteristics of an Excellent Communicator

- Confidence
- Good listener
- Knows audience
- Clear and concise
- Regulates unhelpful emotions
- Prepared
- Empathy

Unspoken communication

Active Listening

- Indicates understanding, attentiveness, engagement, empathy, interest

Pauses & silences

- Occasional verbal encouragement
- Clarify, confirm and summarise regularly

Body language

- Gestures, eye contact, facial expressions
- Reflects feelings, attitude, confidence, belief, nerves, sincerity, commitment, honesty, boredom

Listening Skills

Attention

- Take a pause from anything else you are doing

Concentration

- Listen carefully to the feelings behind the words

Total

- Ask for clarification if you don’t understand

Interested

- Only ask the question if you are genuinely interested in what they have to say

Valuing

- Give them the time they need and don’t rush

Empathetic

- Put your own feelings on hold, they need someone to listen not give advice

Communication considerations

- Have a framework to smooth communication (RACI)
- Preferred communication methods
- Consistent standards
- Do you really need a meeting?
- Transparency of communications
- Document sharing and storage

Speaking up assertively

- I have an idea or something to add
- Present your idea clearly and concisely …..
- …..Because……
- Explain how it will work and the benefits

E&C Feedback Model

Example

- Richard, I noticed there were several moments in that meeting where you spoke over everyone else

Effect

- This was quite disruptive and meant several people didn’t get to share their ideas

Check?

- Were you aware that this was happening?

Change/Coach

- Next time, I’d like to make sure others can have their input too
- What can you do to make sure that happens

Consequences

- So we can all work more effectively as a team

EEC/K

Example

- Andy, I noticed you forgot to take all the contact details of that customer you were talking to

Effect

- With only an email address it will be hard to follow up the lead, meaning we might lose them as a customer

Keep/Change

- What other contact details do we need?

The Disagreement Process

The Affirmative Statement

- Yes, I’d love to help you with that

The Softening Statement

- I can see that you’ve got a lot on your plate

State Reasons

- Looking at my schedule though, I’m in back to back calls until the end of the day

Disagree

- So, I won’t have time to help you today

Compromise/Alternatives

- I could fit in some time tomorrow morning if that works?