A few years back, I participated in a workshop on 'Mastering Effective Team Communication'. The workshop was conducted by a professional trainer with years of experience in teaching large companies how communication should happen between teams and team members. In this post, I’ll share some of the key takeaways from the workshop on how to improve team communication and collaboration.

For your information, I didn’t actually apply the knowledge I gained from the workshop on a daily basis, which caused me to forget almost everything. However, I managed to find my notes and decided to share them here.

Objectives

  • Explore Tuckman's stages of group development and their impact on team communication.
  • Learn strategies for effective communication between team members and leaders.
  • Emphasize the importance of results over goals and ways to communicate goals effectively.
  • Develop self-awareness and understand it's role in positive team communication.
  • Identify your personal style as a team player and how it affects team dynamics.
  • Recognize the significance of positive workplace relationships for creating a productive work environment
  • Develop skills in giving and receiving constructive feedback through peer learning and reflection

Team Communication Framework

  1. Seek to Understand
    • Listen actively and ask questions to clarify.
  2. Seek to Contribute
    • Share your thoughts and ideas openly.
  3. Build Trust
    • Be honest and transparent in your communication.
  4. Not Making Assumptions
    • Clarify information and avoid jumping to conclusions.
  5. Allow All Possibilities
    • Be open to new ideas and perspectives.
  6. Listen Actively
    • Pay attention to what others are saying and ask questions to clarify.

Tucker's 5 Stages of Team Development

  1. Forming
    • Establish expectations
    • Identify similarities
    • Agree on common goals
  2. Storming
    • Identify power and control issues
    • Gaining skills in communication
    • Identify resources
  3. Norming
    • Agreement on roles, processes and problem-solving
  4. Performing
    • Achieving effective and satisfying results
    • Finding solutions using appropriate tools
  5. Adjourning
    • Celebrating Successes
    • Reflection on Lessions Learned

How to communicate like a team

  • Set a clear purpose and mission and revisit it throughout the process.
  • Set ground rules and make sure they are followed.
  • Let other members act as leaders or facilitators.
  • Don't try to avoid conflict, It is normal and can be healthy. Allows use to grow.
  • End each meeting with insightful and constructive feedback that improves the group process.
  • To progress, everyone must contribute and participate.

5 habits of highly effective communicators

  1. Mind the say-do gap
    • Ensure your actions match your words to build trust and credibility.
  2. Make the complex simple
    • Break down complex ideas into simple terms to ensure everyone understands.
  3. Find your own voice
    • Be authentic and true to yourself when communicating with others.
  4. Be visible
    • Make yourself available and approachable to team members.
  5. Listen with your eyes as well as your ears
    • Pay attention to body language and other non-verbal cues during conversations.

These are the notes I took from the workshop. As you may have noticed, one of the points is to understand your personal style as a team player. But how do you do that? This brings us to another topic related to different type of personal profiles like Coach, Counsellor, Driver, and Advisor.