The analysis of the last quarter’s performance outcomes showed that the company failed to achieve its planned sales level despite long negotiations between the representatives of the marketing and sales departments and with partners. Many hours spent on meetings and negotiations did not produce planned results and cost the company significant direct monetary losses and problems with our overseas partners. Therefore, to address the poor quality of communication in the company, I have arranged a day-long training session to develop specific communication skills in the staff members. A professional consultant will be conducting the training session under my supervision to improve the staff’s capability to apply communication skills to workplace situations.
This training initiative is aimed at addressing the weaknesses of our workplace communication and strengthening the skills to benefit each employee’s individual accomplishments and overall company performance. Your growth as a professional prompted by the proposed communication training will be worthwhile due to the contribution to your skill set and the improvement of workplace culture. Therefore, the training will be implemented in five stages, each devoted to the development of one communication skill listed below in the order of their importance (from least to most important):
1. Non-verbal communication. This communication skill is decisive when connecting with the audience and exchanging important information without using words. The development of this skill focuses on the understanding of the effects of posture, gestures, and facial expressions on the delivered message. The congruency of words and non-verbal communication facilitates negotiation success and the efficiency of message exchange. Therefore, it is essential not only to be able to use proper non-verbal elements when interacting with colleagues, partners, and customers but also to identify these signals in others to improve mutual understanding.
2. Active listening. The capability not only to listen but to hear and comprehend the interlocutor is essential for success-driven communication. The improvement of this skill enriches one’s effectiveness as a communicator and equips one with techniques for facilitating conversations. To upgrade their active listening skills, the employees will be instructed on how to ask proper questions to achieve clarity and mutual understanding in an efficient manner.
3. Effective speaking. Another crucial aspect of successful communication is effective speaking. The effectiveness of speaking is evaluated not by the quantity or duration but by quality or preciseness. For that matter, the development of this skill involves addressing such elements as planning, preparing, connecting with the audience, using appropriate language, and prioritizing the purpose of communication. All these techniques are helpful in making one’s communication clear and to the point.
4. Identifying and avoiding fallacies. Fallacies are some of the most disturbing and deteriorating factors in communication that obstruct its effectiveness. The ability to detect fallacies in others’ arguments and eliminate them from one’s communication style is essential to maintaining clear and truthful interaction, as well as trustworthy relationships. Thus, it is vital to learn about such fallacies as a generalization, false cause, false authority, and others to build objective and appealing arguments without deception or misleading.
5. Cross-cultural communication. One of the most important communication skills for employees in accompany cooperating with foreign partners is cross-cultural communication. Ranging from mere language differences to more in-depth dissimilarity in worldviews, traditions, and values, cross-cultural discrepancies constitute a core of sensitive communication aimed at mutual understanding. Therefore, it is essential to learn and research the culture represented by the interlocutors to set a relevant context and avoid inter-cultural conflict in communication, which might lead to impaired cooperation.
The training session will be held in the conference hall on Monday, 4 July 2020. The presence of all staff members is mandatory. The training will involve group work, role-playing, collective discussions, and case analyses guided by the consultant. You are encouraged to ask questions and engage in the training process to maximize the benefits of the intervention. I strongly believe that this training session will contribute to the strengths of our workplace community and helps us work as a functional team capable of achieving common goals.