Plays Well With Others: Introduction to Communication Skills in the Workplace
Faculty joke that their jobs would be easy if it weren’t for people, politics, and personalities. What they don’t realize is that while their degrees qualify them for their jobs, success in those jobs depends on their ability to work with people. This workshop will encourage participants to apply findings from social neuroscience research to the design of workshops that will help their faculty engage colleagues and students quickly and without anxiety, collaborate for success with ease instead of intimidation, and create mutually beneficial relationships. The lessons will also be applied to personal relationships and improved work-life balance.
Participants will learn to define and exhibit an introductory level of people skills such as:
- Listening so the others will talk and talking so that others will listen.
- Articulating your needs: self-awareness, self-expression, and assertiveness.
- Setting limits and creating healthy boundaries.
- Remembering names.
- Making conversation: self-disclosure, dialogue, and reciprocity.
- Reading others quickly and accurately.
- Thinking on your feet.
- Using humor.
- Using your network for career and personal goals.
- Saying “No” without burning bridges.
- Negotiating.
- Managing conflict creatively.
- Repairing rifts with ease and grace.
- Increasing civility in your environment.
- Staying calm in tough situations.
- Improving written communication by preparing briefing notes, letters, and reports in lightening speed.
Suggested Time Frames:
- 6 hours – workshop with mini-lectures, exercises, and deeper learning
- Other time frames -can be shortened with less content