Organised by The School of Life
Good communication skills are indispensable in the modern workplace. The nature of work itself has changed over recent decades to become more collaborative and team-based than ever before, whilst organisations themselves are increasingly more networked, democratic and less hierarchical. This puts an ever higher premium on the ability to communicate with honesty, charm and clarity.
Studies have found that highly effective communicators are 32% more likely to meet the goals of a major project, and yet another recent study found that 69% of managers were generally uncomfortable communicating with employees. This is why communication shouldn’t be overlooked when assessing individual career prospects and the overall health of an organisation’s culture.
At The School of Life we believe that greater training around Emotional Intelligence is key to establishing these effective habits of communication. Our focus is on those psychological barriers – the defence mechanisms and ego-driven responses, the insecurities and anxieties – which keep people from interacting in a direct, honest but ultimately helpful fashion.
In this two-hour session we will:
Consider the obstacle of assumptions, and the difficulty of knowing whether we are communicating effectively
Practise “teaching” others effectively, getting beyond emotional barriers and resistance to new information
Practise “learning” effectively, parsing out what others are really trying to convey
Practise listening deeply and showing that we are paying attention