communications management part 1

1 ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005

Communications ManagementPart 1

Diana Adorno

d.adorno@murdoch.edu.au 0419 428 881

2 ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005

Communications

• What is communication?

• What is a good/poor communicator?

• Skills (questioning, listening, rapport,)

• Techniques (presentations)

• Communicating within a team

• Planning communications

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What is communication?

• Come up with your own definition of what communication means.

• Is it important?

• Why, or why not?

• In what situations do you communicate?

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Communication styles

• What is your preferred way to communicate?

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What is a good communicator?

• List the attributes of a poor communicator?

• Work in pairs.

• List the attributes of a good communicator?

• Work in pairs.

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Skills

• Good communications skills:• Listening (actively)• Speaking (clear)• Writing (clear)• Non-verbal • Eye-contact• Feedback• Asks questions• Allows time to speak• Does not interrupt

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Questioning

• Closed• Yes, No answers• E.g. Do you like Sundays?

• Open• More information• E.g. What do you use your mobile for?

• Probing• When do you get poor reception?

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Listening

• Interview your neighbour.• Find out their name• Ask 3 questions to find out as much as you can

about a favourite hobby or interest.

• Review• Did you listen?• Did you have to ask for anything to be

repeated.

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Building rapport

• Listen

• Mirror

• Feedback• Verbal• Non-verbal

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Active listening

• Listening + rapport

• Ask confirming questions

• Mirror

• Non-verbal feedback

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Techniques

• Speaking• Conversation• Phone• Interview• Meeting• Presentations (short, long, formal, informal)

• Writing• SMS• Post-it note• Email• Letters• Documents

Which technique to use when?

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Phone

• What is good phone manner?

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Running Effective Meetings

• Determine if a meeting can be avoided• Define the purpose and intended outcome of the

meeting• Determine who should attend the meeting• Provide an agenda to participants before the

meeting• Prepare handouts, visual aids, and make logistical

arrangements ahead of time• Run the meeting professionally (to time & the

agenda)• Build relationships

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Using E-Mail Effectively

• Make sure that e-mail is an appropriate medium for what you want to communicate

• Be sure to send the e-mail to the right people• Use meaningful subjects• Limit the content to one main subject, and be as clear and

concise as possible• Limit the number and size of attachments• Delete e-mail you don’t need, and don’t open it if you

question the source• Make sure your virus software is up to date• Respond to and file e-mails quickly• Learn how to use important features

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Presentations

• What is a good presentation?

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Different ways of communicating

• Person-to-person

• In small groups

• In large groups• E.g. training, presentations

• In a meeting

• In an organisation• Memos, letters, repots etc.

• Mass media

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The Impact of the Number of People on Communications Channels

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Working in teams

• Different personality types

• Different social styles

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Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

• MBTI is a popular tool for determining personality preferences and helping teammates understand each other

• Four dimensions include:• Extrovert/Introvert (E/I)• Sensation/Intuition (S/N)• Thinking/Feeling (T/F)• Judgment/Perception (J/P)

• NTs or rationals are attracted to technology fields• IT people vary most from the general population

in not being extroverted or sensing

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Social Styles Profile

• People are perceived as behaving primarily in one of four zones, based on their assertiveness and responsiveness:• Drivers• Expressives• Analyticals• Amiables

• People on opposite corners (drivers and amiables, analyticals and expressives) may have difficulties getting along

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Social Styles

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General Advice on Teams

• Focus on meeting project objectives and producing positive results

• Fix the problem instead of blaming people• Establish regular, effective meetings• Nurture team members and encourage them to

help each other• Acknowledge individual and group

accomplishments

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Importance of Good Communications

• The greatest threat to many projects is a failure to communicate

• Our culture does not portray IT professionals as being good communicators

• Research shows that IT professionals must be able to communicate effectively to succeed in their positions

• Strong verbal skills are a key factor in career advancement for IT professionals

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Communications Planning

• Every project should include some type of communications management plan, a document that guides project communications

• Creating a stakeholder analysis for project communications also aids in communications planning

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Sample Stakeholder Analysis for Project Communications

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Conflict Can Be Good

• Conflict often produces important results, such as new ideas, better alternatives, and motivation to work harder and more collaboratively

• Groupthink can develop if there are no conflicting viewpoints

• Research by Karen Jehn suggests that task-related conflict often improves team performance, but emotional conflict often depresses team performance

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Using Templates for Project Communications

• Many technical people are afraid to ask for help• Providing examples and templates for project

communications saves time and money• Organizations can develop their own templates,

use some provided by outside organizations, or use samples from textbooks

• Research shows that companies that excel in project management make effective use of templates