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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Empathy

Empathy is also one of the most important skills in the internal and external environment of a company. Especially, empathy is the quality or process of entering fully, through imagination, into the other person’s shoes, or even getting into his or her skin, so that you understand them. There are three stages of empathy: cognitive empathy (being aware of the emotional state of another person), emotional empathy (engaging with and sharing those emotions) and compassionate empathy (involving taking action to support other people). Empathy is important for communication as it enables people to better understand the way clients and colleagues feel, think and react, resolve conflicts, build more productive teams, and improve their relationships with co-workers, clients and customers. The outcome could be that an actor can understand the meaning of empathy and the three stages of empathy and then identify the cognitive and practical skills to be empathic in a work environment and realise how empathy will help her/him to better understand the way clients and colleagues feel, think and react. But also, be in a better position to resolve conflicts, build more productive teams and express compassion. Given also the ability to exercise management and supervision with empathy for the work of others, especially in the occurrence of unpredictable change, but also demonstrate open-mindedness and give full attention to other people in the process of communication.

(Source www.sayit.com)

https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/support-colleague_5401784.htm#query=empathy&position=5&from_view=search

Interactive exercise

A female client who you have been cooperating for many years is calling you to excuse herself for delaying your payment, mentioning that she had a decrease in profits because of Covid-19. Although she has not paid you yet for the products you provided the last 3 months, she is asking you for a new order which is crucial for her business subsistence. What do you answer?

Story choices

Story feedback

a) The client will feel that you cannot understand the difficult situation she is facing. If you are that inflexible, she will be disappointed, and she will stop business with you when the covid-19 epidemic will be over.

b) You are the manager, and you are the one who makes the rules so using that excuse will not take out the responsibility from you to decide and it will not make your client feel better.

c) Great! Showing empathy to your client, she will feel that you understand her problem and she will be a loyal client forever. With your help, her company will continue functioning so she will manage to pay you in the future.

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