Effective Performance - working together

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Course Overview

Successful teams deliver more performance with less resource - the key to that synergy lies in shared vision, common goals and the support of all key stakeholders. High levels of commitment are not simply a by-product of day-to-day working; strong working relationships require planned and managed communication.!

Effective managers can listen actively, collaborate, negotiate, persuade and where necessary tell. In teams where communication is good there is less conflict, greater trust and more collaboration. The best communicators are not complacent about their communication performance but strive to improve continuously through analysis, feedback, more effective segmentation of stakeholder audiences and tailoring messages to meet the needs of recipients and the constraints of available channels. 24 hour working, global teams and home working make team management and effective communication more problematic.

This programme provides the opportunity for you to take a detailed and constructive look at your own working relationships and communication methods and build on your current skills. You will be able to add to your toolbox of techniques and methods designed to improve communication effectiveness, from building a business case to aligning team commitment and stakeholder support.

Audience

Line managers, team and project leaders who are faced with particularly difficult communication challenges such as complex stakeholders, short-term or virtual teams and who recognise that communication is key to successful performance.

Skills Gained

By the end of this programme you will be able to:

• recommend strategies for maintaining or improving stakeholder relationships
• establish the needs of others and the priorities of the team thus reducing conflict and improving collaborative working
• describe how internal teams impact on one another, build effective business cases and negotiate to establish win/win outcomes
• appreciate how language, style, tone and format can all influence how communication is received and interpreted
• recognise the possible barriers to effective communication and recommend steps to overcome these
• select from a toolbox of techniques and communication methods and create checklists of good practice
• recommend strategies for improving poor relationships and difficult people problems through appropriate and more confident use of planned communication
• complete your communication improvement assignment with the associated, immediate business benefits.

Course Outline

This is a 2 month blended learning programme of approximately 50 hours of structured learning and development comprising:

• a structured self-study guide providing underpinning knowledge, background reading, checklists and practical reference material
• an intensive one day workshop where the focus will be on skill building to ensure you move from knowing what to do, to how to do it. During this workshop you will take part in scenarios and role plays that help you build skills of analysis, decision making, negotiation and communication.
• access to a dedicated online Learner Support Site for the duration of the programme with specific resources, synchronised tutor support, online collaborative activities, discussion forums and knowledge checks
• telephone and email based tutor support and mentoring to help apply learning to your specific business context.

Assessment will be by a written assignment based on a practical work based project intended to make measurable improvements to a specific aspect of your team's communication.

The start date for this programme is 3-4 weeks before the face-to-face workshop. Before this workshop participants will be provided with a study guide which provides the underpinning knowledge and will have a tutor briefing online and/or by phone. Prior to the face-to-face workshop participants must undertake preliminary self-study and participate in online discussions and activities.

Following the face-to-face workshop participants will undertake further self-study, participate in additional online and/or teleconference discussions and complete their work-based project/assignment.

Why stakeholders matter

• techniques for consulting with and understanding the needs of stakeholder groups
• the importance of empathy
• how to segment key stakeholder audiences

Working with colleagues

• collaborative teams and internal supplier and customer roles
• satisfying service level agreements; what are the challenges and pitfalls eg language and jargon
• how line managers can work most effectively with HR and L&D colleagues

Techniques for consultation

• taking a brief and understanding needs and priorities of others
• how to build business cases and negotiate win/win outcomes with different groups
• using communication effectively to keep others appraised of progress

How to improve relationships

• assessing current performance and tackling relationship problems
• with team members, colleagues
• outside the team and third party suppliers
• How to promote a broader understanding of your team and its role in order to improve relations with others

The communication skills for a line manager

• developing checklists of good practice for:
• written communication; team briefings
• telephone conference calls; meetings
• presentations
• interviews (formal)
• one to ones (informal)

How communication impacts on relationships

• techniques for better listening and observing body language
• interpreting communication across cultures

Communication in challenging situations eg. disciplinary, grievance or negotiation scenarios.

Effective Performance - working together / MANEP