Communication Masterclass

You could safely wager your first-born-child that the majority of problem situations in any workplace (or personal relationship) have their source in human misunderstanding.  

What would it mean for your business culture and financial success if poor communication practices were eradicated?

Image attribution Mike Quinn

The effective transfer of our thoughts to another (or to a group of others) is the aim of communication and achieved by using all of our senses. As humans we develop and learn the techniques of complex communication as we mature through the lifecycle.  
 
Basic skills training most of us would acquire through childhood, we hope.... It includes active listening, empathy and non-verbal communication.  
Advanced skills include ethics, ambiguity, negotiation and conflict resolution. Teenagers and young adults learn as they assume responsibilities, and test risk and boundaries. They learn other ways of communicating too which might not be as helpful or mature… 
Mastery is the adult phase. It builds on the architecture of our younger selves but not in a linear way.  In maturity we draw on our acquired skills to design individualised communication techniques suitable for the diversity of situations, responsibilities and relationships we encounter. Life as an adult dishes up these experiences but mastery comes only if we are sufficiently emotionally competent to learn from each experience. 
 
By the way, have you noticed that formal adult training in ‘communication’ is largely limited to the basic and advanced levels described above? Sourcing a formal masterclass opportunity is not that easy. 
 
Any Communications Masterclass and/or Leadership Development Program, should, predictably, include many of the following topics that as adults we will need to have expertise in (circle those you might add to your own professional development list):  

• critical thinking  
• synthesising information to make (more accurate) sense 
• facilitation techniques to effectively engage others eg Affinity process; The Future, Backwards; Ritual Dissent; the list goes on… 
• experiential exchange  
• the art of storytelling  
• strategic enquiry  
• public speaking  
• running meetings (and I mean running them well!)  
• conflict resolution and mediation  
• tools to effectively facilitate gender and personality differences 
• coaching to bring out the best in others 
• the best-ever interviewing techniques 
• using interpreters 
• communication in a global context across cultures 
• receiving feedback graciously 
• giving feedback mindfully and kindheartedly 
• prompting questions 
• working with (and against) your conscious and unconscious biases and mental models 
• communication within a 4-generation workforce 
• the impacts and uses of technology in communication 
• mind mapping for better understanding 
• negotiating with a 3-year old adult 
• negotiating with a 15-year old adult 
• how to ‘tell’ with compassion 
• communicating with challenging personalities, including your own 
• understanding and communicating complexity, complication, chaotic and simple problems 
• appreciating the value and limitations of social processes 
• designing communication strategies and processes 
• ‘I heard what you said but I knew what you meant’ – using intuition accurately 

And, thanks to pandemics, let's add the art of video communication to the list!

Life teaches us many things and Leaders who are able to fast-track mastery in sophisticated aspects of communication are more likely to be successful in a world of growing complexity.   Hence the need for a Master(y)class!
 
So, if you’re a Leader who is serious about business success and growth through understanding rather than contributing to misunderstandings, we can offer you a no obligation quote for your own ‘in-house’ Communication Masterclass. We’ll scope and design a workshop program that will minimise communication problems and enhance the human capability of you and your Leadership Team.