10-11-2024
What we say at work and how we say it not only impacts our own work productivity and the quality of our work life, but also the work productivity and the quality of the work life of others.
The Daniels School of Business’ Dr. Kasie Roberson shares five people-first communication skills we can use to level up how we communicate and lead. Dr. Roberson is a clinical assistant professor of Business Communication, an associate director of outreach and coaching for the Center for Working Well (CWW) at the Daniels School, and author of Strategic Business Writing: A People-First Approach, published earlier this year.
Key People-First Communication Skills
- Know Your Audience: Aristotle once said, “The fool tells me his reason; the wise man persuades me with my own.” If you want to influence a manager, colleague, direct report, or client, you need to think about what the audience needs from the exchange. What do they care about?
- Lean Into Your Emotional Intelligence: Emotional intelligence is like two sides of a coin. On one side is you and your emotions, and the other side is your audience and their emotions. Learn how to understand both sides.
- Be a Critical Thinker and a Problem Solver: Be a leader who can reactively solve work-related problems (typically created by other people) and proactively work to keep problems from occurring in the first place. Pay attention to both the bigger picture and details to keep the organization running effectively and efficiently.
- Build Connection and Trust: This involves developing your credibility. To develop credibility, you want to practice strategic thinking, effective listening, setting healthy boundaries (know what is appropriate and what isn’t in the workplace), and practicing message discipline (be clear and concise in your communication).
- Be Honest, Transparent and Reliable: Think of a person you work with who is honest, transparent and reliable. Who would not want to work with them, particularly when things are challenging? A colleague you can trust who gets things done is always someone you want on your team. They help make the organization or company thrive. That is the kind of colleague you want to be as you establish and build your professional reputation.
Find more details about each of the above people-first communication skills on the CWW's research blog.
