Technical professionals build, deliver, and support technology solutions. Hence, they possess technical, analytical, and logical skills required for solving finite problems.

 

These skills are essential. However, in today’s workplace, they are inadequate.

 

This is because, today, teams rather than individuals are doing more work. And to succeed in this type of environment, technical professionals need effective communication skills to accompany their technical prowess.

 

The ability to communicate, cooperate, coordinate, resolve differences and persuade others effectively will determine success as much as (if not more than) the technical professionals’ ability to perform the technical aspects of their job.

 

But, due to the specificity of their education, many technical professionals do not have these abilities, which communication skills encompass. And this deprives them of the interpersonal vehicle needed for performance enhancement.

 

As a result, the technical professionals have typical shortcomings. Some of them are as follows:

 

- Reluctance to share information with others thereby creating an environment of secrecy.

- Lack of patience when dealing with individuals who don’t get the technical aspects of a situation.

- Ideas or solutions are rejected because people simply don’t understand them.

- View people and meetings as interruptions.

- Rapport with coworkers may not be built and without rapport, trust will not come easily.

 

These subtle shortcomings can have damaging effects on business results. And we have designed this training to curb them.

 

It will equip technical professionals with communication skills that will complement their technical skills and improve their overall expertise for optimum productivity in today's workplace.

 

---

The Learning Journey

---

First, we explore the common strengths and weaknesses of technical professionals’ communication skills, helping the participants to see themselves from another point of view.

 

We then go to the fundamentals of communication. These include levels of meaning, purposes of communication, and the process of sending, encoding and decoding communication.

 

Then, we explore various communication filters and the differences in communication based on key filters.

 

Next, the participants, in a revealing and engaging exercise, explore personality types and clarify their personality preferences by administering a self-scorable assessment using Myers-Brigg Type Indicator®.

 

With these as the launch pad, the participants, in the last segment of the training, go on to learn rapport building, communicating with critical stakeholders in the workplace, writing business documents, electronic communication, and the concepts of conflict and how to avoid the unnecessary.

 

---

Training Objectives

---

After completing this training, participants will be able to:

 

- Understand strengths and shortcomings of technical professionals’ communication skills

- Determine various levels of meaning and identify the subtleties of communication

- Assess the impact of various communication barriers and apply for effective communication

- Monitor interpersonal interactions based on personality preferences

- Successfully build rapport with a wide variety of individuals

- Communicate effectively with coworkers, customers, teams and managers

- Prepare effective and appropriate business documents

- Establish protocol for electronic communication

- Prevent unnecessary conflict and rectify conflict that does occur

 

---

Training Outline

---

Session 1: Overview

 

- Learning Objectives

- Pre-Course Assessment

 

Session 2: Characteristics of Technical Professionals

              

- Strengths and Shortcomings of Technical Professionals

- The Reality of the Matter

- Fluff or Key Skills?

- Do You Speak Techie?

 

Session 3: Communication Basics

 

- Levels of Meaning

- The Communication Process

- Levels of Communication

 

Session 4: Communication Filters

 

- Identifying Filters

- Age

- Ethnicity

- Culture

- Gender

 

Session 5: Personality Types

 

- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

- Self Assessment

- Benefits of Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

- Interpretation and Validation

- Type Distribution

- Team Type

- The Need For Opposites

 

Session 6: Building Rapport

 

- The Way Humans Connect

- How Do You Rate Your Listening Ability?

- Active Listening Skills

- Tips for Becoming a Better Listener

- What Is Said and What Is Heard

- Communication Situations

- Paraphrasing Statements

- Encouragement

- Non-verbal and Subtext Messages

 

Session 7: Who Are You Talking To?

 

- Communicating with Your Customers

- Communicating with Your Manager

- Communicating with Your Team

- Communicating in Meetings

- Reinforcing Feedback

- Corrective Feedback

 

Session 8: Writing Business Documents

 

- What Should You Include?

- What Action Do You Want Readers To Take?

- Putting Pen to Paper

- Use the Active Voice

- Don't Let Writers Block Bog You Down

 

Session 9: Electronic Communication

 

- E-writing

- Netiquette

- The Shape of Email

 

Session 10: Avoiding Unnecessary Conflict

 

- Misunderstanding or Disagreement?

- Sources of Conflict

- Preventing Conflict

- Handling Conflict

- Better Next Time

 

Session 11: Personal Action Plan

 

- Starting Point

- Where I Want to Go

- How I Will Get There

- Summary