Most people think communication is a broad category of
interaction that tends to be riddled with problems,
gaps, and pitfalls. This generalization does not solve
the very real problems of organizational work. Productive
communication is made up of four distinct types of
conversation, each with a set of necessary ingredients,
which can be deployed to solve workplace problems and
increase trust, accountability, and teamwork:
- Initiative conversations
– How to create a future with positive focus on a worthwhile
goal
- Understanding
conversations – How to include and engage the people
who will make the future real and achieve the goal
- Performance
conversations – How to ask for - and promise – on-time
and on-budget results
- Closure conversations
– How to create accomplishments and build accountability
Most people also think that communication
problems are caused by “other people”. In fact, we all
need to take responsibility for improving the accuracy,
completeness, and effectiveness of our conversations. Communication
is everybody’s business.
The Four Conversations programs address the daily and persistent
problems people encounter at work, and ways they can be
resolved in communication. These programs also show people
how to use their conversation to accomplish objectives,
expand personal effectiveness, and improve workplace relationships.
Some modules are also designed to impact organizational
patterns of communication and productivity, with ideas
on ways to change organization communication. The programs
have been tested by practicing managers and include useful
take-home materials to help participants put new ideas
to work immediately.
• Syllabus/Course Outline • Day
1
The Four Conversations Foundations
Modules
- Introduction to the Four Conversations
- How to Use the Four Conversations
- Improve Workplace Communication
1. Introduction to the Four Conversations
SYLLABUS,
LEARNING OBJECTIVES, LEARNING OUTCOMES (click for details)
Syllabus: Participants
learn all the ways that their workplace communication
matters. This session is a valuable introduction to the
role of talk at work, with plenty of substance and interactions
to make the value of communication real and relevant
for participants.
Topics include:
• The importance of conversations
• What is a “productive” conversation?
• Six common workplace problems that are related to
conversations
• Four types of productive conversations and the ways
each can:
• Support vision
• Create trust and relationship
• Increase commitment and accountability
• Improve leadership credibility.
Learning Objectives: Participants
will learn that their workplace communications are
linked to six distinct workplace problems including
lateness, low quality, and difficult people. They will
see that when people are missing – or misusing – four
different types of productive conversations, they are
also missing an opportunity to be better leaders.
Learning Outcomes: Participants will create
a checklist of communication needs for their unique
work environment, including the types of conversations
to be improved, the changes they want to make in
their communications, and the specific conversational
ingredients they will begin to practice.
2.
How to Use the Four Conversations
SYLLABUS,
LEARNING OBJECTIVES, LEARNING OUTCOMES (click for details)
Syllabus: Participants
learn how and why to use four distinct conversations
that get results, with practical tips to show, (A) which
conversations they need to strengthen and (B) how to
do it. The value of each type of conversation is demonstrated
with examples from real organizational situations.
Topics
include:
• Initiative conversations – How to create a future
with positive focus on a worthwhile goal
• Understanding conversations – How to include and
engage the people who will make the future real and
achieve the goal
• Performance conversations – How to ask for - and
promise – on-time and on-budget results
• Closure conversations – How to create accomplishments
and build accountability
Plus:
Guidelines for using the four conversations
Necessary conversational ingredients
Pitfalls, practices, and implementation tips
Learning Objectives: Participants will learn the specific
ingredients for each of the four types of productive conversations, and will
learn how and when to use them to create and communicate goals, engage others
in participating powerfully, increase accountability and teamwork, and strengthen
workplace trust and sense of accomplishment. They will also learn the top ten
conversations for resolving “people problems”.
Learning Outcomes: Participants will create at least one new
goal for their unique workplace, and practice using
the four conversations to clarify its intended objectives and the resources
required. They will create a checklist of people to talk to, what to say to
engage them in reaching the goal, and specific ways to create agreements with
other people for action, results, and accomplishment.
3. Improving Workplace Communication
SYLLABUS,
LEARNING OBJECTIVES, LEARNING OUTCOMES (click for details)
Syllabus:
When people know how to use the four conversations,
they will be able to assess which communication improvements
will be best for their organization. This session supports
a conversational assessment, and identifies appropriate
solutions and how they can be implemented.
Topics
include:
• Conversational tendencies in the workplace and how
to alter them
• How the four conversations work together to resolve
workplace problems
• Putting your conversational expertise into practice
• Ways to support the conversational workplace
Learning Objectives: Participants will learn two skills
to strengthen their own value in the workplace: how
to improve their own work quality, and how to improve
work relationships. They will also learn three skills
for improving their work with others: how to delegate
effectively, how to turn complaints into action, and
how to help other people be more reliable and accountable.
Learning Outcomes: Participants will create a “map”
of their immediate work environment, and will identify
the situations they are targeting for specific improvements.
They will create a checklist of the specific conversations
and communication ingredients they plan to upgrade
in each situation, and a summary plan for improving
communications in their workplace using meeting agendas,
measures, and visual displays.
• Syllabus/Course
Outline • Day 2
Advanced Leadership
and Management Communication Modules
- Organizational Impact: Culture and
Change
- Personal Effectiveness — Scheduling
and Communication
- Performance Management and Meeting
Effectiveness
4. Organizational Impact: Culture
and Change
SYLLABUS,
LEARNING OBJECTIVES, LEARNING OUTCOMES (click for
details)
Syllabus: Are you making substantial changes in your
organization? Then be sure people’s communication skills
can support the change implementation and change goals
– preferably with maximum partnership and minimum resistance.
All organizations are changing, but if you have a complex
or vital change to implement, then everyone needs to
be on board and responsible for supporting favorable
outcomes. Communication within and between teams is
critical. The ability to add velocity, momentum, and
closure to projects and assignments will help you produce
the changes you need quickly and easily.
Topics include:
• Your organization’s conversational profile for:
• Individual performance and personal effectiveness
• Work relationships
• Momentum and keeping everything moving
• The perils of vague communication and other limits
and pitfalls
• Four communication skills to increase momentum
– how to:
• Acknowledge the facts
• Appreciate the people
• Apologize for mistakes and misunderstandings
• Amend broken agreements
• Ways to support the conversational workplace
Learning Objectives: Participants
will learn how to create a profile of their organization’s
communication tendencies, and identify the cultural
characteristics associated with their profile.
They will learn how to support an upgrade in the
quality, completeness, and effectiveness of communication
in their workplace to improve work relationships
and the pace and success of organization changes.
Learning Outcomes: Participants
will create a profile of their organization’s
productive (and non-productive) communication
patterns, and will develop a plan of action for
improving communications in their workplace.
5. Personal Effectiveness — Scheduling
and Communication
SYLLABUS,
LEARNING OBJECTIVES, LEARNING OUTCOMES (click for details)
Syllabus: When people
are overwhelmed, they may become ineffective. Scheduling
and communication, the two tools that help people coordinate
their work efforts and maintain good productivity, are
often the first to go. Key people in your organization
must know the rules of managing time and accomplishment,
including how to schedule work, assign work to others,
and support the communications that keep schedules in
synch. Learn the four stages of scheduling and ways to
deal with the trickiness of time in the workplace.
Topics
include:
• Dealing with accomplishment in a world of overwhelm
• Saying yes, doing no
• We can’t do everything
• Four stages of scheduling
• Scheduling your work: Appointments with others, Appointments
for doing work
• Things due and things to do
• The ways we fool ourselves about time and work
• Interruptions and recurring events
• What we are not doing
• Your schedule as a tool for managing your commitments
and accomplishments
• The recurring role of communication in your personal
effectiveness schedule
• Personal effectiveness tips and techniques
Learning Objectives: Participants will learn about
their personal conversational tendencies and productivity
habits, and how they influence their effectiveness
at work. They will learn the rules of scheduling conversations,
and how to improve their own work performance while
also improving their conversations with others about
time and results in their workplace.
Learning Outcomes: Participants
will develop a specific plan
of action for managing their
commitments and for communicating
with others about getting work
done and producing results.
6. Performance Management and Meeting
Effectiveness
SYLLABUS,
LEARNING OBJECTIVES, LEARNING OUTCOMES (click for details)
Syllabus: Are there
big results that your team or department simply must
produce on schedule? Do you want a fast upgrade in everyone’s
management skills and communications? This program has
proven to be a valuable resource for executives, project
managers, and staff who are working for breakthroughs
in organizational performance.
One premise of this module: Organizations look like hierarchies,
but they operate like networks. This fact calls for management
communication skills that recognize the rules of a network,
where every action has effects in many places, and where
a missing communication can be very costly. When people
see their organization’s network, they can use the four
conversations to get results while simultaneously enhancing
the success of the whole organization. Topics include:
Your organization as a network of deliverables, communications,
and agreements
How to:
• Ask people to commit to action and results
• Create agreements within and between groups
• Manage agreements, even where you have no authority
• Deal with complaints and inaction
• Implementing good communication practices in the conversational workplace
Learning Objectives: Participants will learn how to
see at least one of their workplace goals, changes,
or projects as a network of agreements involving
other people, groups, and organizations. They will
learn the principles of conversation for results
in a network and how to accelerate change, improve
management and timeliness, and reduce costs due to
errors and missed communications.
Learning Outcomes: Participants will create a map of
their organization’s performance network non-productive)
communication patterns, and will develop a plan of
action for coordinating communications and agreements
to reach at least one complex objective.
ISBN title and number on the courseware being used for content delivery:
The Four Conversations: Daily Communication That
Get Results
ISBN-13: 978-1-57675-920-2
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