“No-one ever listened themselves out of a job.” Calvin Coolidge, US President

Interpersonal skills

Nobody works in a vacuum. We teach the skills needed to gain the support of others.

Some managers are surprised, confused, or even irritated when met with hostility, indifference or even passive resistance. Of course there are those who simply rely on their authority to order people about. They will rarely make effective leaders, and besides that won’t work with peers, line managers or external clients. Co-operative strategies are vital.

Objectives

To broaden participant’s understanding of why people react positively or negatively
To provide pragmatic means to improve relationships with colleagues, customers or clients

Approach

Use of interactive theatre to energise and illuminate topics in an entertaining way
Activities, case studies and exploration of participants’ experience
Feed back, facilitation and constructive debate
Use of visual aids, music and accelerated learning
Tips and techniques embedded within practical exercises throughout
Establishing key learning points and action plan for each individual

Content

Recognising the interpersonal needs of others
Building relationships with different kinds of people
Establishing trust
Creating confidence, the importance of attitude and commitment
Solving communication and motivational challenges
Overcoming difficulties that can arise within teams
Identify the key factors in motivating or persuading others
Networking and using social skills to business advantage

Outcomes

Participants will be able to:

Appreciate and recognise

why people behave towards others the way they do
behaviours which demonstrate how people wish to be treated

Behave flexibly

modifying behaviours to meet the interpersonal needs of others
adopting the middle ground - fight or flight are not the only options

Demonstrate empathy & engender trust

knowing the elements that lead to ‘trust’
actively listening and giving feedback
understanding a mentor’s role
action planning to build trust with a wider group of people

Handle others effectively

finding common ground
influencing them in a way they respond to

Tackle difficult situations

practical models for communicating with people you find difficult