BA411 Final Project Training Needs Assessment
(All 3 Parts Available
with Presentation of 13 Slides, APA Format, References )
______________________________________________________________________
Final Project
Now it’s your turn! Below is all the information given on a training
program needed, called Effective Communication. You are a trainer in the given
situation. Please submit the following:
1. Training Needs Assessment (refer to previous assignment DST
Systems for assessment template)
2. Powerpointcovering information provided and your own
research, no less than 10 slides, bullet format
3. 700 word minimum paper
summarizing how this training will be effective and how it should be evaluated.
Situation:
Tim Smith the IT manager comes to you and says “My project
coordinators are in a slump; they just are not producing their usual caliber of
work. I need to find out what the problem is. No one on the project team knows
what is going on. The communcation my project coordinators are giving is coming
across as rude, which in turn keeps moral low and the teams are not doing the
work. I was hoping you would be able to put together an Effective Communication
training for them to help get everyone back on the right track.” There are
10 project coordinators in the IT department. Two of the project coordinator’s
are in the organization’s Bangkok office. Tim wants the training to last no
longer than 4 hours and wants it to be face to face in a class room with you,
the trainer. He does not want to fly the Bangkok assoicates in and would like
you to set up a Skype session with them during your training. He also wants you
to set up weekly coaching sessions with each project manager and himself for a
month after the training is completed.
Training Purchased from USA Training: Effective Communication
You are to use this information, but are not limited to it. Tim wants to
make sure this information is covered in the training as he went online and
bought it from USA Training, however he is open to what research you find. He
wants the training to be interactive and requested that you included at least 1
activity around communication in the training.
Effective Communcation:
Introduction
People in organizations typically spend over 75% of their time in an
interpersonal situation; thus it is no surprise to find that at the root of a
large number of organizational problems is poor communications. Effective
communication is an essential component of organizational success whether it is
at the interpersonal, inter-group, intra-group, organizational, or external
levels.
In this chapter we will cover the basic process of communication and
then we will cover some of the most difficult communication issues managers’
face-providing constructive and effective feedback and performance appraisal.
The Communication Process
Although all of us have been communicating with others since our
infancy, the process of transmitting information from an individual (or group)
to another is a very complex process with many sources of potential error.
In any communication at least some of the “meaning” lost in
simple transmission of a message from the sender to the receiver. In many
situations a lot of the true message is lost and the message that is heard is
often far different than the one intended. This is most obvious in
cross-cultural situations where language is an issue. But it is also common
among people of the same culture.
Communications is so difficult because at each step in the process there
major potential for error. By the time a message gets from a sender to a
receiver there are four basic places where transmission errors can take place
and at each place, there are a multitude of potential sources of error. Thus it
is no surprise that social psychologists estimate that there is usually a
40-60% loss of meaning in the transmission of messages from sender to receiver.
It is critical to understand this process, understand and be aware of
the potential sources of errors and constantly counteract these tendencies by
making a conscientious effort to make sure there is a minimal loss of meaning
in your conversation.
It is also very important to understand that a majoring of communication
is non-verbal. This means that when we attribute meaning to what someone else
is saying, the verbal part of the message actually means less than the
non-verbal part. The non-verbal part includes such things as body language and
tone.
Barriers to Effective Communication
There are a wide number of sources of
noise or interference that can enter into the communication process. This can
occur when people now each other very well and should understand the sources of
error. In a work setting, it is even more common since interactions involve
people who not only don’t have years of experience with each other, but
communication is complicated by the complex and often confliction relationships
that exist at work. In a work setting, the following suggests a number of
sources of noise:
· Language: The choice of words or language in which a sender encodes a
message will influence the quality of communication. Because language is a
symbolic representation of a phenomenon, room for interpretation and distortion
of the meaning exists. In the above example, the Boss uses language (this is
the third day you’ve missed) that is likely to convey far more than objective
information. To Terry it conveys indifference to her medical problems. Note
that the same words will be interpreted different by each different person.
Meaning has to be given to words and many factors affect how an individual will
attribute meaning to particular words. It is important to note that no two
people will attribute the exact same meaning to the same words.
· Defensiveness, distorted perceptions, guilt, project, transference,
distortions from the past
· Misreading of body language, tone and other non-verbal forms of
communication
· Noisy transmission (unreliable messages, inconsistency)
· Receiver distortion: selective hearing, ignoring non-verbal cues
· Power struggles
· Self-fulfilling assumptions
· Language-different levels of meaning
· Assumptions-eg. assuming others see situation same as you, has same
feelings as you
· Distrusted source, erroneous translation, value judgment, state of mind
of two people
· Perceptual Biases: People attend to stimuli in the environment in very
different ways. We each have shortcuts that we use to organize data. Invariably,
these shortcuts introduce some biases into communication. Some of these
shortcuts include stereotyping, projection, and self-fulfilling prophecies.
Stereotyping is one of the most common. This is when we assume that the other
person has certain characteristics based on the group to which they belong
without validating that they in fact have these characteristics.
· Interpersonal Relationships: How we perceive communication is affected
by the past experience with the individual. Perception is also affected by the
organizational relationship two people have. For example, communication from a
superior may be perceived differently than that from a subordinate or peer
· Cultural Differences: Effective communication requires deciphering the
basic values, motives, aspirations, and assumptions that operate across
geographical lines. Given some dramatic differences across cultures in
approaches to such areas as time, space, and privacy, the opportunities for
mis-communication while we are in cross-cultural situations are plentiful.
Reading Nonverbal Communication Cues
A large percentage (studies suggest over 90%) of the meaning we derive from
communication, we derive from the non-verbal cues that the other person gives.
Often a person says one thing but communicates something totally different
through vocal intonation and body language. These mixed signals force the
receiver to choose between the verbal and nonverbal parts of the message. Most
often, the receiver chooses the nonverbal aspects. Mixed messages create
tension and distrust because the receiver senses that the communicator is
hiding something or is being less than candid.
Nonverbal communication is made up of the following parts:
1. Visual
2. Tactile
3. Vocal
4. Use of time, space,
and image
Visual:
This often called body language and includes facial expression, eye
movement, posture, and gestures. The face is the biggest part of this. All of
us “read” people’s faces for ways to interpret what they say and
feel. This fact becomes very apparent when we deal with someone with dark
sunglasses. Of course we can easily misread these cues especially when
communicating across cultures where gestures can mean something very different
in another culture. For example, in American culture agreement might be
indicated by the head going up and down whereas in India, a side-to-side head
movement might mean the same thing.
We also look to posture to provide cues about the communicator; posture can
indicate self-confidence, aggressiveness, fear, guilt, or anxiety. Similarly,
we look at gestures such as how we hold our hands, or a handshake. Many
gestures are culture bound and susceptible to misinterpretation
Tactile:
This involves the use of touch to impart meaning as in a handshake, a pat on
the back, an arm around the shoulder, a kiss, or a hug.
Vocal:
The meaning of words can be altered significantly by changing the intonation of
one’s voice. Think of how many ways you can say “no”-you could
express mild doubt, terror, amazement, anger among other emotions. Vocal
meanings vary across cultures. Intonation in one culture can mean support;
another anger
Use of Time as Nonverbal Communication:
Use of time can communicate how we view our own status and power in relation to
others. Think about how a subordinate and his/her boss would view arriving at a
place for an agreed upon meeting…
Physical Space:
For most of us, someone standing very close to us makes us uncomfortable. We
feel our “space” has been invaded. People seek to extend their
territory in many ways to attain power and intimacy. We tend to mark our
territory either with permanent walls, or in a classroom with our coat, pen,
paper, etc. We like to protect and control our territory. For Americans, the
“intimate zone” is about two feet; this can vary from culture to
culture. This zone is reserved for our closest friends. The “personal
zone” from about 2-4 feet usually is reserved for family and friends. The
social zone (4-12 feet) is where most business transactions take place. The
“public zone” (over 12 feet) is used for lectures. Similarly, we use
“things” to communicate. This can involve expensive things, neat or
messy things, photographs, plants, etc. Image: We use clothing and other
dimensions of physical appearance to communicate our values and expectations
Nonverbal Communication:
A “majority” of the meaning we attribute to words comes not from the
words themselves, but from nonverbal factors such as gestures, facial
expressions, tone, body language, etc. Nonverbal cues can play five roles:
1. Repetition: they can
repeat the message the person is making verbally
2. Contradiction: they
can contradict a message the individual is trying to convey
3. Substitution: they
can substitute for a verbal message. For example, a person’s eyes can often
convey a far more vivid message than words and often do
4. Complementing: they
may add to or complement a verbal message. A boss who pats a person on the back
in addition to giving praise can increase the impact of the message
5. Accenting: non-verbal
communication may accept or underline a verbal message. Pounding the table, for
example, can underline a message.
Skillful
communicators understand the importance of nonverbal communication and use it
to increase their effectiveness, as well as use it to understand more clearly
what someone else is really saying.
A word of warning: Nonverbal cues can differ dramatically from culture to
culture. An American hand gesture meaning “A-OK” would be viewed as
obscene in some South American countries. Be careful.
Developing Communication Skills: Listening Skills
There are a number of situations when you need to solicit good information from
others; these situations include interviewing candidates, solving work
problems, seeking to help an employee on work performance, and finding out
reasons for performance discrepancies.
Skill in communication involves a number of specific strengths. The first we
will discuss involves listening skills. The following lists some suggests for
effective listening when confronted with a problem at work:
· Listen openly and with empathy to the other person
· Judge the content, not the messenger or delivery; comprehend before you
judge
· Use multiple techniques to fully comprehend (ask, repeat, rephrase,
etc.)
· Active body state; fight distractions
· Ask the other person for as much detail as he/she can provide;
paraphrase what the other is saying to make sure you understand it and check
for understanding
· Respond in an interested way that shows you understand the problem and
the employee’s concern
· Attend to non-verbal cues, body language, not just words; listen between
the lines
· Ask the other for his views or suggestions
· State your position openly; be specific, not global
· Communicate your feelings but don’t act them out (eg. tell a person that
his behavior really upsets you; don’t get angry)
· Be descriptive, not evaluative-describe objectively, your reactions,
consequences
· Be validating, not invalidating (“You wouldn’t understand”);
acknowledge other’s uniqueness, importance
· Be conjunctive, not disjunctive (not “I want to discuss this
regardless of what you want to discuss”);
· Don’t totally control conversation; acknowledge what was said
· Own up: use “I”, not “They”… not “I’ve heard
you are non-cooperative”
· Don’t react to emotional words, but interpret their purpose
· Practice supportive listening, not one way listening
· Decide on specific follow-up actions and specific follow up dates
A major source of problem in communication is defensiveness. Effective
communicators are aware that defensiveness is a typical response in a work
situation especially when negative information or criticism is involved. Be
aware that defensiveness is common, particularly with subordinates when you are
dealing with a problem. Try to make adjustments to compensate for the likely
defensiveness. Realize that when people feel threatened they will try to
protect themselves; this is natural. This defensiveness can take the form of
aggression, anger, competitiveness, avoidance among other responses. A skillful
listener is aware of the potential for defensiveness and makes needed
adjustment. He or she is aware that self-protection is necessary and avoids
making the other person spend energy defending the self.
In addition, a supportive and effective listener does the following:
· Stop Talking: Asks the other person for as much detail as he/she can
provide; asks for other’s views and suggestions
· Looks at the person, listens openly and with empathy to the employee; is
clear about his position; be patient
· Listen and Respond in an interested way that shows you understand the
problem and the other’s concern is validating, not invalidating (“You wouldn’t
understand”); acknowledge other;’s uniqueness, importance
· Checks for understanding; paraphrases; asks questions for
clarification
· Do not control conversation; acknowledges what was said; let’s the
other finish before responding
· Foucus on the problem, not the person; is descriptive and specific, not
evaluative; focuses on content, not delivery or emotion
· Attend to emotional as well as cognitive messages (e.g., anger); aware
of non-verbal cues, body language, etc.; listen between the lines
· React to the message, not the person, delivery or emotion
· Make sure you comprehend before you judge; ask questions
· Use many techniques to fully comprehend
· Stay in an active body state to aid listening
· Fight distractions
· Take Notes; Decide on specific follow-up actions and specific follow up
dates
Constructive Feedback: Developing Your Skills
“I don’t know how to turn her performance around; she never used to have
these attendance problems and her work used to be so good; I don’t know why
this is happening and what to do.”
This manager is struggling with one of the most important yet trickiest and
most difficult management tasks: providing constructive and useful feedback to
others. Effective feedback is absolutely essential to organizational
effectiveness; people must know where they are and where to go next in terms of
expectations and goals-yours, their own, and the organization.
Feedback taps basic human needs-to improve, to compete, to be accurate; people
want to be competent. Feedback can be reinforcing; if given properly, feedback
is almost always appreciated and motivates people to improve. But for many
people, daily work is like bowling with a curtain placed between them and the
pins; they receive little information.
Be aware of the many reasons why people are hesitant to give feedback; they
include fear of causing embarrassment, discomfort, fear of an emotional
reaction, and inability to handle the reaction. It is crucial that we realize
how critical feedback can be and overcome our difficulties; it is very
important and can be very rewarding but it requires skill, understanding,
courage, and respect for yourself and others. Withholding constructive feedback
is like sending people out on a dangerous hike without a compass. This is
especially true in today’s fast changing and demanding workplace. Why managers
are often reluctant to provide feedback? As important as feedback is, this
critical managerial task remains one of the most problematic. Many managers
would rather have root canal work than provide feedback to another-especially
feedback that might be viewed as critical. Why are managers so reluctant to
provide feedback? The reasons are many:
· Fear of the other person’s reaction; people can get very defensive and
emotional when confronted with feedback and many managers are very fearful of
the reaction
· The feedback may be based on subjective feeling and the manager may be
unable to give concrete information if the other person questions the basis for
the feedback
· The information on which the feedback is based (eg. performance
appraisal) may be a very flawed process and the manager may not totally trust
the information
· Many managers would prefer being a coach than “playing God.”
· Other factors get in the way of effective communication or feedback
sessions. Some of these reasons are:
· Defensiveness, distorted perceptions, guilt, project, transference,
distortions from the past
· Misreading of body language, tone
· Noisy transmission (unreliable messages, inconsistency)
· Receiver distortion: selective hearing, ignoring non-verbal cues
· Power struggles
· Self-fulfilling assumptions
· Language-different levels of meaning
· Managers hesitation to be candid
· Assumptions-eg. assuming others see situation same as you, has same
feelings as you
· Distrusted source, erroneous translation, value judgment, state of mind
of two people
Characteristics of Effective Feedback
· Effective Feedback has most of the following characteristics:
· Descriptive (not evaluative) (avoids defensiveness.) By describing one’s
own reactions, it leaves the individual fee to use it or not to use it as he
sees fit..
· avoid accusations; present data if necessary
· describe your own reactions or feelings; describe objective consequences
that have or will occur; focus on behavior and your own reaction, not on other
individual or his or her attributes
· suggest more acceptable alternative; be prepared to discuss additional
alternatives; focus on alternatives
· Specific rather than general.
· Focused on behavior not the person. It is important that we refer to
what a person does rather than to what we think he is. Thus we might say that a
person “talked more than anyone else in this meeting” rather than
that he is a “loud-mouth.”
· It takes into account the needs of both the receiver and giver of
feedback. It should be given to help, not to hurt. We too often give feedback
because it makes us feel better or gives us a psychological advantage.
· It is directed toward behavior which the receiver can do something
about. A person gets frustrated when reminded of some shortcoming over which he
has no control.
· It is solicited rather than imposed. Feedback is most useful when the
receiver himself has formulated the kind of question which those observing him
can answer or when he actively seeks feedback.
· Feedback is useful when well-timed (soon after the behavior-depending,
of course, on the person’s readiness to hear it, support available from others,
and so forth). Excellent feedback presented at an inappropriate time may do
more harm than good.
· Sharing of information, rather than giving advice allows a person to
decide for himself, in accordance with his own goals and needs. When we give
advice we tell him what to do, and to some degree take away his freedom to do
decide for himself.
· It involves the amount of information the receiver can use rather than
the amount we would like to give. To overload a person with feedback is to
reduce the possibility that he may be able to use what he receives effectively.
When we give more than can be used, we are more often than not satisfying some
need of our own rather than helping the other person.
· It concerns what is said and done, or how, not why. The “why”
involves assumptions regarding motive or intent and this tends to alienate the
person generate resentment, suspicion, and distrust. If we are uncertain of his
motives or intent, this uncertainty itself is feedback, however, and should be
revealed.
· It is checked to insure clear communication. One way of doing this is to
have the receiver try to rephrase the feedback. No matter what the intent,
feedback is often threatening and thus subject to considerable distortion or
misinterpretation.
· It is checked to determine degree of agreement from others. Such
“consensual validation” is of value to both the sender and receiver.
· It is followed by attention to the consequences of the feedback. The
supervisor needs to become acutely aware of the effects of his feedback.
· It is an important step toward authenticity. Constructive feedback opens
the way to a relationship which is built on trust, honest, and genuine concern
and mutual growth.
Training Need Assessment Question
Training Need Assessment
·
Department:
·
Date:
·
Department
Supervisor:
·
Desired
Program:
Goals
1. What organizational goal is driving this training?
2. What will the benefit be?
3. What is the skill gap?
4. What competencies (knowledge, skills, or attitudes)
will this program need?
5. What evaluation will be used to measure the
level of goal achievement?
Target Population
1. Who will be trained?
2. What is the estimated class size?
3. How many classes will there be and how long will
this training last?
4. What are the knowledge and skill prerequisites?
Type of Training
1. What type of program is being proposed?
2. What media, if any will be used in the
training?
Alternatives
1. What will happen if we do not delivering the
training?
2. What are the restrictions or limitations for
delivering a program?
3. What other methods may be used to reach the goal
(include limitations and advantages)?
