Course Outline
Day 1
INTRODUCTION
- Background context
- Defining roles
- Soft skills overview
- Perception, numeracy challenges, and human nature
- Money, metrics, and market dynamics
1. COMMUNICATION – PARADOX, PURPOSE, AND INTENTION
- The intent and objective of communication
- To educate
- To inform
- To persuade
- Key takeaways
2. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
- Identifying your listeners
- World views, perspectives, and mental frameworks
- Managing jargon and diverse audiences
- Geographic and national contexts
- Levels of abstraction
3. COMMUNICATION METHODS AND TOOLS
- Essential tools
- Screen-based text and summarisation
- The rule of three
- Using examples and analogies
4. STORYTELLING
- Ubiquity, narrative cycles, and innate human response
- Applying storytelling in the workplace
- Techniques for effective narrative delivery
- Non-verbal cues
- The enduring impact of stories
Day 2
5. PRESENTING DATA AND INFORMATION
- Data vs. information – understanding the distinction
- Determining appropriate detail levels
- Establishing trusted sources
- Visualising data and information
6. INTERPRETATION OF DATA
- Addressing confirmation bias
- Clarifying communication intent
- Understanding communication dynamics
7. FEEDBACK
- Feedback frameworks
- Situation, behaviour and impact (SBI) model
- Sandwich feedback model
- Pendleton feedback model
- Situation, task, action and result (STAR) feedback model
- SAID feedback model
- Strategies for soliciting effective feedback
- Active listening techniques
- Methods for delivering constructive feedback
- Providing useful, critical feedback
- Summary of feedback practices
Day 3
8. COLLABORATION
- The value of collaboration
- Defining collaboration
- Fostering a collaborative culture
- Key insights
9. COLLABORATION TOOLS
- Popular collaboration platforms and suites
- MS SharePoint
- Google Workspace
- Atlassian
- Kahootz
- HighQ
- Selecting the right collaboration tool
10. ANALYSING YOUR COLLABORATION SKILLS
- Johari window model
- Conciseness
- Assertiveness
- Foundational assertion
- Empathic assertion
- Consequence-based assertion
- Discrepancy technique
- Repetition technique
- Fogging technique
11. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND COLLABORATION
- Self-awareness
- Self-regulation
- Social awareness
- Relationship management
12. PERSONAL BRANDING
- Transparency and intent
- Building your personal brand
- Step 1: Define your objectives
- Step 2: Align goals
- Step 3: Identify your audience and purpose
- Step 4: Engagement strategies
- Defining brand attributes
13. POSITIVE ATTITUDE
- The evolution of Positive Mental Attitude (PMA)
- "Can-do" spirit and confidence
- Cultivating and sustaining a PMA
- Refined positivity
- Wrap-up
14. NETWORKING
15. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Requirements
Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
There are no strict prerequisites for participation, although a degree of professional experience in any discipline is beneficial.
Target Audience
The course is typically suited to professionals with some years of experience; however, the content is fundamentally universal and applicable across most industries. It is particularly valuable for specialists who frequently need to explain complex or niche concepts to non-technical audiences.
Testimonials (3)
Managing difficult conversations
Kgaogelo Ratau - City Lodge Hotels
Course - Effective Communication in the Workplace
Meeting efficiency is something that's fairly "basic", but not thought about a lot and with really large implications on people/company time. Understanding these best practices and keeping them top-of-mind will be of immediate help.
Dan Moffatt - Chris Courtemanche
Course - Personal Efficiency and Managing Meetings
interaction and discussion with each other in different groups, together with some games.
