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Having Important Conversations

Skillfully navigating important or difficult conversations with co-workers, clients, and customers is essential to your success in the workplace, requiring a range of communication and relationship skills. Too often we avoid important conversations, taking an alternate route—revamping a job description, for example, or restructuring a project—a measure that may cause more confusion or discord. Communication coaching helps you directly address uncomfortable issues and find durable solutions while strengthening working relationships

You’ll know an important conversation was successful when both parties eagerly agree to a follow-up discussion. Because you’ve established rapport, understood what’s important to all the participants, and been clear about your intentions and goals, you’ve created a transparent process with positive momentum and avoided a high-stakes event.

The coaching process takes into account your inherent communication style strengths and how you tend to get tripped up in conversation. The goal is not to establish a script, but to find an authentic process for mutual benefit. Identifying goals, motivation, and stakeholder values is at the core of this process, as you learn to take meaningful risks and discover what’s possible.

Growing personally and professionally is directly related to your success with important conversations. Good coaching will give you direction and the confidence to be yourself and accomplish your goals.

How it works: Coaching is focused on your immediate need to address an important or difficult conversation. Together we formulate a communication plan that you can implement at once. Additionally, there are times when the best option is for Bob to facilitate a discussion directly. In either case, follow-up consultation is arranged as needed.

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Aligning Leadership and Communication Style

Excellent leadership requires self-awareness—realistic self-appraisal and knowledge of the impact you have on others. The Communication Styles Framework will help you discover the direct relationship between your communication style and leadership strengths, as well as give you the communication tools best suited to your style.

Solid leadership is at the core of every successful organization. Effective leaders are successful communicators. They are clear about their vision, values, and expectations and can help others understand them. Using the CS Framework to identify your strengths and challenges will help you align your communication and leadership styles, giving you a secure foundation to be yourself, connect with others, and energize the work environment.

There is no one best leadership style or leadership personality. Knowing your strengths and challenges is essential to planning successful communication strategies and directing your team effectively. The CS Framework provides the structure and specific communication tools to achieve those ends.

How it works: We design an individual leadership development plan—a collaborative process that is directly related to your communication goals and needs. We then support that development with on-going consultation and problem-solving.

Strengthening the Team

Effective communication is essential to a high-functioning team, with all voices present, strong, and clear. Having full knowledge of each person’s strengths and challenges in a collegial environment encourages highest and best use of talents and deepens working relationships.

Management teams, boards of directors, and project teams learn to collaborate, problem-solve, and innovate by discovering and skillfully using their communication strengths. The Communication Styles Framework guides this process, offering structure and clarity to team members as they confront challenges and plan for change.

Working with the CS Framework gives team members direct access to their unique strengths and abilities. This practical approach opens the way to fuller communication, encouraging the courageous conversations necessary to invigorate growth and change.

How it works: Team development through the CS Framework combines both individual and group learning sessions. Sessions are based on the needs and goals of the individuals and the team. Activities are directly tied to the work environment—tasks that need to be accomplished—with incisive feedback to ensure success. Download Relationship Building in the Workplace for more about this 5-step process.

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Relationship Building in the Workplace

Developing Company Culture

A company culture rooted in good communication practices has a competitive edge. The Communication Styles Framework is a strength-based approach that identifies the natural talents in your workforce—encouraging individual risk taking and inspired collaboration that drives productivity.

Staff-wide communication styles workshops are designed to strengthen the company culture, establish a common language, and enhance creativity/productivity. When the organization values communication enough to offer communication styles training, it sends a strong message to employees about empowerment and responsibility. The message is: we believe in you and expect you to communicate, collaborate, and create—and here are the tools to ensure success.

When staff learn about their communication style strengths and challenges and share that information with others in the workplace, they make an investment in their working relationships. This encourages everyone to do their best work in a mutually supportive environment. The result is a happier, more productive workforce with a versatile set of problem-solving tools in a company culture that values people.

How it works: Communication styles training is adapted to the size and needs of your workforce and workplace. We develop a plan with specific goals through a collaborative process and structured follow-up to support and reinforce new learning.

I design consultations to meet particular needs and goals, with on-going evaluation to ensure success. Let’s discuss the ways we can help your team and/or management staff to work more productively together. Call me at 207-667-7735 or send email to bob@robertketeyian.com.