PROFESSOR: Welcome to open campus, soft skills
course, module nine, part two, communication barriers.
In this module, you will learn the definition
of constructive feedback and its use in the workplace,
as well as the definition of conflict resolution
and the different types of conflict management styles.
As a recap, what are communication barriers?
Communication barriers are anything
that prevents the exchange of information
from being transferred from one person, known as the sender,
to another, known as the receiver.
Our focus areas for this module will
be on constructive feedback and conflict resolution.
Well, what is constructive feedback?
Constructive feedback is a type of communication
that brings attention in a specific and direct way
to an action or skill, not the person, that could be improved.
Well, how to use constructive feedback in the workplace?
Here are seven tips that can really be effective when
implemented in the workplace.
First, whenever there's a conflict or an issue
or a disagreement on the job, you
want to be positive in your communication regarding
that issue.
Second, you want to stay focused on the behavior or the action,
not the person.
That is key when you are offering specific information
or insight regarding a performance
and action or a skill set, to bring all of the focus
onto the action or the behavior and to separate the individual
from the discussion.
Third, you want to make sure that your feedback is
objective.
Try not to be biased or impartial.
You want to be as open and have a sense of purpose
and be very focused on the matter.
So try not to slant your discussion or your comments
one way or the other.
Next, you want to be able to make use of specific examples.
Make sure that you use specific examples when you're providing
constructive feedback.
The more specific you can be about a concern, the better,
because then it keeps the individual
from having to guess on exactly what you're referring to.
If there are key examples, just two, maybe
three examples that you can offer up that
can be of benefit to the individual
so that they can grow and know how to make
the necessary adjustments.
Next, you want to keep it short and concise.
You don't want to go on and on about the particular issue
when you're giving constructive feedback.
You want to make it short and sweet,
because you don't want to weigh the person down,
make them feel terrible about whatever
the issue or the concern is.
You want to just be short, sweet,
and very clear and concise on what you're sharing.
Also, you want to be able to focus on the issue and not
the person.
We wanted to reiterate that, because it's
the issue at hand and not the individual
that you're providing constructive feedback to.
And last but certainly not least,
be timely in sharing your input.
When offering up constructive feedback,
the sooner is oftentimes the best,
because if you wait and stretch out your comments
and your feedback, then the momentum and the opportunity
to address an issue in the moment can be lost.
So if you're going to be providing
constructive feedback, make certain that you're
going to do it as soon as possible
because time can certainly be of the essence
and of a benefit to the individual
so that they can recall what you're sharing
and know how to make the adjustments.
Well, what is conflict resolution?
Conflict resolution is simply a peaceful solution
to a disagreement.
Now, there are five types of conflict management styles.
And we're going to look at them in detail.
First, we have the accommodating style,
where you are kind of giving in to maintain a relationship.
Secondly is the avoiding style.
This is a non-confrontational approach
to conflict management.
It is the least effective type of conflict management,
because you're not dealing with the issues or the matters
at hand.
You're just not confronting it.
You're avoiding it.
You're acting as if it never happened.
Collaborating style, where you're
looking where problems are solved
in ways in which an optimum result is provided for all
involved.
This is the most ideal type of conflict management style.
Collaborating style-- it provides a win-win
for all parties involved.
And this is the particular management style
that you want to utilize when dealing
with conflict resolutions or problems on the job.
Competing style-- it's a very authoritarian approach
to dealing with conflict management.
It's sort of like my way or I'm the better way
and we're going to go with this way.
And it does not leave a whole lot of room for flexibility
with regards to making it win-win for both parties.
And last, but certainly not least,
we're dealing with the compromising style.
It's sort of a middle of the road, a middle ground approach,
where everyone is giving a little to get a little,
or giving a little to maintain the peace.
Now, I want to share with you a very respected and popular
chart.
This is the Thomas-Kilmann conflict mode instrument .
And this is a direct instrument that
is used for handling conflict.
And if you notice, it shows all five
of the conflict management styles,
but they're looking at each style based on two dimensions--
assertiveness, which is going on the left hand side, kind
of going up and down, placed vertically,
and corporativeness, which you're
looking at from a horizontal perspective.
You're looking at the highs, as well as the low ranges
for the two dimensions.
Again, if you'd notice, avoiding,
it has lower assertiveness and low corporativeness,
whereas competing, you're looking at low assertiveness--
competing-- I'm sorry-- you're looking at low corporativeness
and high assertiveness.
Then if you look over to the other side, to the right side,
you'll notice that accommodating,
you have a very high level of corporativeness
with low assertiveness, whereas collaborating
is the most ideal type of conflict management style,
because you have high corporativeness
and a high level of assertiveness.
If you noticed on the chart, compromising
is right in the middle and it crosses
all four quadrants, all four areas, because in each
of the other conflict management styles,
there can be an overlap of compromise
when dealing with that specific style when you're
dealing with trying to find conflict resolution
for a matter on the job.
Well, there are ways to improve difficult communication.
First, you want to gather all the facts
and don't jump to conclusions.
Two, you want to be assertive in communicating
and remember assertiveness is very high
when you're trying to have a specific type
of effective communication.
You're wanting to have high assertiveness when you're
trying to implement a collaborating style of conflict
management.
Three, you want to be understanding of others.
Be empathetic to what's going on,
because put yourself in someone else's shoes.
You still want to stay calm and stay
focused on the matter at hand, not
dealing with the individuals, but just the issues.
Five, you want to relax and listen to what's being said.
Six, you want to use the appropriate conflict management
style.
And again, we can refer back to the Thomas-Kilmann conflict
mode instrument.
And seven, you want to use appropriate language,
both verbal and nonverbal, when you're working on improving
difficult communication.
This concludes module nine, part two.
We are now up to our quiz for communication barriers.
I also want to invite you to go over to the resources section
and click on the conflict management styles quiz.
It's a quick assessment for you to be
able to identify what your particular conflict management
style is.