Communicating with others: Understanding the process

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Communicating with othersUnderstanding the
process

• First there is the SPEAKER this is the person
  who is sending out the message
• It could be you explaining a new IT system
• It could be your client telling you they do not
  understand something.

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Understanding the process (cont.)

• Second, there is the MESSAGE
• This is whatever the speaker communicates.
• It can be YOU with instructions on operating a
  system correctly.
• It can be the client who has a list of issues to
  report.
• Whether it is you or the client who initiates the
  process, there needs to be proper tone,
  appearance, gestures, facial expression and eye
  contact to convey non-verbally what you are
  trying to say verbally

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Understanding the process (cont.)

• CHANNEL
• This means the way in which your message is
  communicated. When you pick up a phone to call a
  friend, this is channeling.
• Examples of other kinds of channeling are
  texting, emails, face-to-face, web, etc.

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Understanding the process (cont.)

• LISTENING
• This is the person or persons who receive the
  communicated message
• This receiver (the person who should be
  listening), whether it is you or the client, has
  to be actively listening for the process to work
  successfully.

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Understanding the Process (cont.)
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Understanding the process (other things you
should know about communication)

• Many things can interfere with communication.
  Here are a fewFEEDBACK This is usually a
  non-verbal message sent from the listener to the
  speaker.
• EXAMPLES Listener makes no eye contact slumps
  in chair yawns a lot taps pencil or doodles
  leans head into hand
• Listeners may look confused or unconcerned

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Understanding the process (other things you
should know)

• INTERFERENCE This is anything that can impede
  the communication of the message. In business,
  there are two obvious kinds of interference
• EXTERNAL traffic noise people talking in the
  office or hall coughing cold or hot room
  temperatures, talking cell phone rings
• INTERNAL Listener is sick has leg cramp has to
  go to the bathroom romance problems

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Lets talk about listening
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Listening

• HEARING is defined as the vibration sound waves
  on the eardrums and the firing of electrochemical
  impulses in the brain
• LISTENING is defined as paying close attention to
  and making sense of what we hear.
• NOTE Listening is important and most companies
  believe strong listening skills rank as high as
  writing and speaking skills. People spend more
  time listening than doing any other communicative
  activity.

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ListeningWhat kind of listener are you?

• There are four kinds of listeners
• Appreciative Listener
• This is listening for pleasure or enjoyment as
  when we listen to music, to a comedy routine or
  to an entertaining talk
• 2. Empathetic Listener
• This is listening to provide emotional support
  for a speaker as when a psychiatrist listens to a
  patient or when we lend a sympathetic ear to a
  friend in distress

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ListeningWhat kind of listener are you?

• 3. Comprehensive Listener
• This is a listener who understands the message of
  a speaker, as when we attend a classroom lecture
  or listen to directions on how to get someplace.
• 4. Critical Listener
• This person evaluates the message for purposes of
  accepting or rejecting it as when we listen to
  the sales pitch of a used car salesperson, the
  campaign speech of a politician or the closing
  arguments in a trial.

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Poor Listening

• So what kind of listener are you?
• While you are thinking about that, lets look at
  four causes of poor listening
• Not concentrating
• We can talk 120 to 150 words per minute but our
  mind can process 400 to 800 words per minute so
  we have spare brain time. Although this may seem
  like a good thing, it actually works against us.
  We begin to think about other things and then we
  loose track of what the speaker is saying.

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Listening

• 2. Listening too hard
• These are people who listen to every word the
  someone says. In an effort to remember
  everything, we end up confusing the facts and
  important things the person who is talking wants
  us to know.

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Poor Listening

• 3. Jumping to Conclusions
• This is a two-parter
• Listeners sometimes assume they know the answers
  or comments before they are said and in doing so,
  miss the point
• Another way is to prematurely reject a a
  speakers ideas as boring or misguided. (You are
  there to fix an IT problem and the speaker goes
  on and on about their opinion of what is wrong
  you may jump to conclusions and pre-judge the
  speaker and their message)

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Poor Listening (cont.)

• 4. Focusing on delivery or appearance
• We are a society that judges a book by its cover.
  Some of us may look at the person who is talking
  and determine they are not worth listening to
  because of how they dress or look. We may also
  find their delivery boring, funny or poor.
  Focusing on these things causes us not to listen
  to the message which may be very good and
  important.
• EXAMPLES Imagine not listening to Chris Farley,
  John Goodman or Kevin James because they are
  large. Or how about not listening to Oprah
  Winfrey, Alicia Keys or Jackie Chan because they
  are minorities.

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How you should listen

• Here are some tips on being a better listener
• Take listening seriously (We arent born good
  listeners, it is a skill we must work at and
  improve)
• Be an active listener give your undivided
  attention to the speaker
• Resist distractions
• Dont be diverted by appearance or delivery

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Listening (tips cont.)

• Suspend judgment (wait until the person is done
  to make up your mind)
• Focus your listening on main points listen for
  evidence and listen for technique
• Develop note-taking skills

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Lets take a listening survey

• You have to work at being a good listener.
• In business and technology, you need to pay
  attention to instructions from your manager, from
  the client or from co-workers.
• This survey will give you an idea of what kind of
  listener you are.
• TAKE 10 MINUTES to do the survey.

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MulticulturalismSome points to ponder

• There are 215 nations in the world and there is
  someone from each one of them living in the
  United States
• New York City has 170 distinct ethnic communities

• More than 32 million people in the US speak a
  language other than English in their homes

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Multiculturalism

• We just cant assume everyone is the same.
• As future IT specialists of the world, we have to
  realize the diversity in front of us.
• Not only do we need to recognize different
  cultures but also different abilities.

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Ethnocentrism

• Ethnocentrism is the belief that our own group or
  culture is superior to all other groups or
  cultures.
• Ask yourself these questions
• Are you better than someone who is Asian,
  Nigerian or Hispanic?
• Are you better than someone who has less money or
  personal possessions than you?
• Are you better than someone who has a hearing,
  sight, mobility or size problem?

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Ethnocentrism

• Ethnocentrism is not just about us as
  individuals. Look around and ask
• What is the normal work week?
• What calendar do schools and colleges follow?
• What holidays do most people observe?
• Do airports, malls and athletic complexes
  consider those who have difficulty walking?

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Ethnocentrism (cont.)

• Can everyone climb steps?
• Does one size fit most?
• Do restaurants accommodate diabetics, lactose
  intolerant people, those with gluten or shell
  fish allergies? How many menus are in Braille?
• As IT professionals, you need to be able to
  design to meet accommodations of others, whether
  there are language, physical or mental barriers
  in front of you. You do this by making that human
  connection.

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Ethnocentrism

• Lets talk
• Tell me what Google has done to address
  ethnocentrism
• How have phone companies addressed differences in
  people
• How has educational institutions recognized such
  issues.

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Ethics

• ETHICS is defined as the discipline dealing with
  what is good and bad and with moral duty and
  obligation2 a a set of moral principles or
  values b a theory or system of moral values
  ltthe present-day materialistic ethicgt c plural
  but singular or plural in construction the
  principles of conduct governing an individual or
  a group ltprofessional ethicsgt d a guiding
  philosophy
• SOURCE Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

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Ethics as IT professionals

• You should be fully prepared to give honest and
  truthful reports of work that is your own and
  credit that which is not yours
• You should always consider the needs of the
  people who use the systems
• You should not assume different cultures are more
  or less capable in what they do and treat all
  people the same

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Ethics as IT professionals

• You should not plagiarize or steal the work of
  others
• Global stealing your entire proposal or idea
  and passing it off as your own
• Patchwork - Stealing from two or three sources
• Incremental When you fail to give credit for
  parts of what you do

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Ethics in Listening

• Yes, you must be ethical when you listen as well
• Dont pre-judge someone (a colleague, manager,
  designer or client) based on ethnocentric issues
• Maintain a free and open expression
• Be courteous and attentive