Building Effective Professional Relationships

There are two fundamental kinds of communication that take place among people in all work settings: those that promote connection and relationships (intimate), and those that serve to get things accomplished (strategic or task-oriented). One way of communicating emphasizes mutuality and interest in knowing the other more — “I like or care about you as another human being.” The other involves the use of hierarchical power or influence in the service of getting things done — “This has to be done this way in this time frame.” All communication requires the right balance of both, and many difficulties in working with others result from not finding that balance.

Through lectures, videotapes, demonstrations, and practicum experiences, participants will learn a powerful model for improving relationships in the organizational setting. The
program is designed to heighten participants’ awareness concerning use of these two interaction modes, understand their preferred mode, and to explore the ways in which difficulties in relationships are often a function of inadequate use of one of the modes. The program’s structure provides multiple opportunities to practice how to use both modes in a balanced and integrated way, as well as time to explore specific individual experiences.

Benefits

Participants will:

• Learn to distinguish and utilize both modes of interaction, thereby increasing the effectiveness of their communication.
  
• Gain insight into where and why they experience difficulty in working with certain colleagues or clients, and improve their communication skills with those people.
  
• Understand and appreciate their own communication style and preferences, and become more flexible in their ability to balance attending to task and attending to relationship.
  
• Increase their ability to hold difficult conversations with others.
  

Participants

This program is open to anyone seeking to improve their ability to manage relationships in a professional setting, whether as a coach, consultant, executive or manager.

Continuing Education Credits - ICF has certified this course for 6 CC hours and 25 other hours. Please call the office for full details or visit the Continuing Education page on our website.

Dates and Fees:

“My experiences at GISC have helped me become more aware of how and why I tend to react the way I do in certain situations. It has also given me a better sense of how others react to me, and how my actions could have the unintended impact of shutting out others. While difficult at times, such realizations have no doubt made me better in my leadership role at work as well as in my everyday interactions with family, friends, and new acquaintances.”

Lorna Thomas
Bank of Canada