VOIS - Area 2 - Module 4

  1. MODULE TITLE

Module 4: Communication and Networking
  1. AUTHORS

Evangelia Chatzikonstantinou, Panagiotis Kallianis, Maria Symeonidou, Stylianos Portokalidis
  1. SHORT DESCRIPTION

Effective communication is a critical tool for building relations not only between individuals but also between companies. It is the connecting link and key factor influencing success in any collaboration, partnership, or transaction.

Communication is also a key element for Collaborative innovation and its supporting activities.

By acquiring communication skills, you can:

  • identify the right partners
  • share ideas
  • share innovative marketing efforts
  • apply effective management

To increase the effectiveness of your communication, in this module it is important to learn about the most important  communication skills:

Verbal communication can be any written or spoken communication where a message is transmitted through words and gets across to the receiver.

Active listening is the ability to focus completely on the speaker, understand their message, comprehend the information, and respond thoughtfully,

Empathy is also one of the most important skills in the internal and external environment of a company. It means  the quality or process of entering fully, through imagination, into the other person’s shoes.

2 Teamwork skills are also important for communication and networking:

Management of people, is the process of training, motivating and directing employees to optimise workplace productivity and promote professional growth

Adaptability is the ability to be flexible and adjust to changing factors, conditions or environments

(Source www.sayit.com)
  1. LEARNING OBJECTIVES

    Upon completing this module, you should be able to:

  • identify the cognitive and practical skills you must have to communicate and network in a work environment,
  • know how to select, as well as apply basic methods, tools, materials and information for better internal communication (with colleagues, and superiors) and communication outside the company (with partners, clients, and suppliers).
  • exercise management and supervision using active listening, but also demonstrate patience and openness to dialogue, understanding body language and accepting feedback.
  • manage complex technical or professional activities or projects, take responsibility for integrating empathy in the communication strategy of the company
  • apply decision making in the process of people management
  1. Training Content
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Skills’ importance in the development of Open Innovation Idea

The Open Innovation Idea forces firms to redesign their organisational models to find more efficient ways to develop the skills of their employees. This is necessary for their adaptation to the open innovation changes and results in their expected economic return from their investment in knowledge. In other words, they could leverage innovation networks to their advantage because of their internal innovation capabilities. As a result, innovative firms need to learn how to manage more complex situations regarding the nature of modern markets and technological know-how. Achieving this requires a broader understanding of the changing innovation management processes and consequently a more efficient human resources management. Human resources management includes a good understanding of the skills which are necessary for companies to keep momentum for sustainable economic growth and success in the context of innovation. The flexibility of the employee’s s behaviour is a signal of the company’s flexibility. Therefore, broadening skills leads companies into new paths, which is crucial.[1]

In addition, the skills which are beneficial for the employees are called soft skills. These kinds of skills are also crucial assets for employers. What employers expect from their employees through learning soft skills is to broaden their horizons through communication and cooperation with other employees and employers from other companies. Moreover, if the company’s aim is to change an existing “silo mentality” within its human resources, they must seek more sophisticated subject-related skills, which need to be complemented with soft skills.[2]

Source: https://pixabay.com

Some of these types of skills which are necessary for communication and networking skills development are the following:

  • team-working ability,
  • critical thinking,
  • taking initiative,
  • working under pressure,
  • digital thinking,
  • multitasking ability,
  • self-motivation etc.[3]

Improving skills means that

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