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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People Management’s s role gives the opportunity to build trust in their partnerships and respect them to achieve the best results and common goals, as well as to optimise workplace productivity and promote professional growth. Without respect and trust, achieving good results will be difficult. The effect could be to help to collaborate with other partners who are very different from each other, have different cultures, different ways of thinking or different working techniques, to result in an effective working environment. To identify and allocate the duties in a team to deliver all tasks. (Source www.sayit.com)

https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/asian-businessmen-businesswomen-meeting-brainstorming-ideas-about-creative-web-design-planning-application-developing-template-layout-mobile-phone-project-working-together-small-office_10075056.htm#query=working%20together&position=18&from_view=search

Interactive exercise

You are the manager of a big food company and you get informed about a new innovative technology that your company can use in the production department. To apply that technology you will need staff with specialised knowledge that your current staff does not possess. What do you do?

Story choices

Story feedback

a) If you fire the current staff your company will lose the experience that the staff has and it will take time for the new staff to incorporate into the rest staff, and you will spoil the mood of the team.

b) By training the old staff you will improve your organisational climate, but you will not have the chance to have new staff and new ideas.

c) By compiling both actions you will have the chance to have new staff and new technology and a good mood in your company.