Following a successful session last year, Helen Wood, CEO of TMS Consulting, was again invited to present at the annual professional development day for in-house lawyers at K&L Gates offices in Brisbane.
K&L Gates is a fully integrated law firm representing leading global corporations in a range of industries and companies. It is committed to providing its lawyers with valuable training opportunities and this year Helen presented on ‘Effective Communication – the good, the bad and the ugly’ was well received by all in attendance.
This year’s presentation focused on understanding the role of communication in the workplace and as an essential skill to be effective as an in-house consultant. Areas covered included a number of factors essential to good communication including our individual communication styles, personality traits and the 80/20 rule whereby 80% of our communication should be devoted to listening with just 20% dedicated talking or providing direction.
Participants were led through several different models that support effective communication including checking assumptions, understanding perspectives and behavioural drivers, the brain’s need to seek answers to questions and how non-verbal cues (i.e. body language) are far more powerful than the words we say.
In addition to developing important skills in the art of effective communication, participants also discussed techniques for meaningful feedback and a model for its practical application. This topic is particularly important when delivering difficult/bad news effectively as well as managing negativity in the workplace.
The presentation was very well received. As Helen Wood explains “effective communication in the workplace is essential for overall team performance and productivity, but also for cohesion and morale between employees and management.”
