@traceyalston53
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Registered: 8 months, 1 week ago
Why Skills Training is the Key to a More Productive Workplace
Staff communication development in the majority of Australian companies I've helped is fundamentally broken. After over 15 years of sorting out internal dialogue disasters, I can tell you that 90% of what passes for development is absolutely useless.
What really gets me - everyone thinks good communication is about saying the right words. Wrong.
Proper dialogue is messy. It's about getting to what the other person actually needs, not just preparing to talk. this extraction business in WA recently. Their safety meetings were total failures. Staff would just stare, say nothing, then continue with doing exactly what they'd always done.
The bosses kept having a go at the workers for "not listening." But when I watched these briefings, the main trouble was crystal clear. The managers were lecturing people, not engaging with them.
I remember another case when I was consulting for a small company in South Australia that was falling apart. Income was falling, client issues were rising, and team changes was out of control.
What changed everything came when we modified the whole method. Instead of one-way lectures, we started having real conversations. Team members described near misses they'd been through. Supervisors really heard and put forward more questions.
It worked straight away. Workplace accidents fell by 40% within a quarter.
It became clear to me - real communication training isn't about perfect presentations. It's about authentic dialogue.
Proper listening is probably the crucial thing you can build in staff development. But nearly everyone think paying attention means nodding and making encouraging noises.
That's complete rubbish. Actual listening means shutting up and truly hearing what the other person are telling you. It means asking questions that show you've got it.
What I've found - nearly all supervisors are terrible listeners. They're busy preparing their reply before the other person finishes talking.
I proved this with a telecommunications company in Victoria. During their staff sessions, I monitored how many occasions supervisors cut off their team members. The average was less than a minute.
It's not surprising their staff happiness numbers were rock bottom. Employees felt dismissed and undervalued. Communication had developed into a lecture series where management presented and staff appeared to listen.
Email skills is also a mess in many offices. People quickly write emails like they're sending SMS to their friends, then can't understand why confusion arises.
Digital communication tone is especially difficult because you can't hear tone of voice. What appears clear to you might come across as aggressive to another person.
I've seen numerous office disputes blow up over badly worded emails that would have been fixed with a quick conversation.
The most extreme example I saw was at a bureaucratic organisation in the ACT. An message about financial reductions was composed so badly that half the staff thought they were getting fired.
Panic broke out through the workplace. People started updating their resumes and contacting job agencies. It took three days and several clarification meetings to sort out the mess.
All because one person couldn't write a clear communication. The joke? This was in the media section.
Conference skills is where countless organisations throw away massive volumes of effort and funds. Bad meetings are the norm, and most are awful because nobody knows how to handle them well.
Proper conferences must have specific objectives, structured plans, and a person who maintains discussions on track.
Cross-cultural issues create significant influence in office interaction. The nation's varied staff means you're interacting with people from dozens of different backgrounds.
What's seen as honest communication in local society might be perceived as rude in various backgrounds. I've observed many conflicts occur from these cross-cultural differences.
Training should address these issues directly and practically. People need practical tools to manage diverse communication well.
Quality communication training acknowledges that communication is a capability that develops with use. You can't learn it from a manual. It requires ongoing practice and feedback.
Organisations that commit resources in genuine staff development experience actual benefits in efficiency, worker engagement, and client relations.
Key point is this: communication isn't rocket science, but it absolutely requires real commitment and effective development to be successful.
Investment in forward-thinking workplace development constitutes an important benefit that enables companies to thrive in continuously transforming commercial circumstances.
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Website: https://www.intensedebate.com/people/GabBel88
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