Engineering Communication

Interpersonal Communication and

Teamwork
LP Yan
laipeenyan@gmail.com

Lesson objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
Identify the components of interpersonal
communication and soft skills
Develop skills for building positive relationships
Give feedback effectively and receive it
appropriately
Develop the skills associated with leading and
participating in teams

 Lesson plan:

Class discussion: What makes a good employee

or boss?
Lecture
Teamwork games:
1. newspaper tower + post-activity discussion
2. stranded + post-activity discussion

Lack of soft skills robs Arab youth of

jobs, experts say
About 20 per cent of the most educated in the
UAE population have no jobs, and in some
countries such as Saudi Arabia the figure is
double that.
-- The National Nov 15, 2012

Soft skills?
Work ethic

Communication skills

These
capabilities
apply across
all fields.

Information-gathering
Teamwork and leadership skills
Analytical and problem-solving skills
Flexibility and adaptability

People skills or soft skills = a cluster of

personal qualities habits, attitudes, and social graces
that make someone a good employee and a
compatible coworker.

 Interpersonal communication is the term

applied to verbal and nonverbal interactions that

occur in both one-on-one and small-group
settings.
Communication climate is the quality of the

personal relationships that exist within an

organization.
Organizations that show they trust, respect, and

value their workers have a good communication

climate.

Positive Relationships
Positive relationships dont happen by chance.

Conversations
Relationships begin with cautious conversation.
The key elements are the levels of trust and
comfort.
The conversation process take place in five
stages
1) Greeting
2) Introduction
3) Exchange
4) Summary
5) Closing

Greeting It opens the channel for a conversation.

Greetings may be verbal or nonverbal
Hello
Introduction Introductions should be brief and
informative.
It may be direct or indirect.
We need to discuss your departments budget
request.
Exchange It implies the business of a conversation
is conducted in a give-and-take format.
Summary It recaps the exchange and leads to the
close.
Call me if you have questions
Closing it is the cordial conclusion to the
conversation.
It may be verbal, nonverbal or a combination of the
two.

Communication Styles
4 communications styles are used in conversations

passive, aggressive, assertive, and passiveaggressive.

Passive a passive communicator is often tentative and

lets others make choices for him or her.

Passive communicators will often:
- fail to assert for themselves
- allow others to deliberately or inadvertently infringe on
their rights
- fail to express their feelings, needs, or opinions
- tend to speak softly or apologetically

I dont care; you decide

Communication styles (cont.)

Aggressive an aggressive communicator disregards
others rights and uses intimidation to make his or her
point. They are hostile, blaming, demanding and rude.
Aggressive communicators will often:
- try to dominate others
- use humiliation to control others
- criticize, blame, or attack others
- be very impulsive
- have low frustration tolerance
You are incompetent. How can you possibly expect to be
taken seriously when you submit a report like that?

Communication styles (cont.)

Assertive Assertive communication achieves goals, is
productive, and respects the rights of all involved in the
conversation.
Assertive communicators will:
- state needs and wants clearly, appropriately, and
respectfully
- express feelings clearly, appropriately, and respectfully
- use I statements
- communicate respect for others
- listen well without interrupting
- feel in control of self
- have good eye contact
- speak in a calm and clear tone of voice

I would like to offer my suggestion without being

Communication styles (cont.)

Passive-Aggressive: The fourth communication style

Passive-Aggressive communicators will often:

Appear passive on the surface but are really acting out
anger in subtle ways
Feel powerless, stuck, and resentful.
Appear cooperative while purposely doing things to
annoy and disrupt
Use sarcasm
Deny there is a problem
I will appear cooperative but Im not.

Keys for successful face-to-face

conversations
It has an advantage over written and telephone

communication because both the sender and receiver can

use nonverbal clues to help them convey and interpret the
message.
I. Choose the location carefully
II. Minimize interruptions
III.Speak effectively
IV.Choose appropriate language

V. Send clear, appropriate nonverbal clues

VI.Ask questions closed and open-ended questions
VII.Accommodate diversity
VIII.Listen with your ears and eyes.

Choose the location and seating

arrangement carefully

Goo
d

Not very
welcoming

Listen with your ears and eyes

Hear both verbal and non-verbal cues.
Negative words / angry tone disagreement or fear

Fast pace nervousness / enthusiasm / excitement

Paraphrasing helps you clarify and retain what you

hear
So what you are recommending is
Let me see if I understood what you said

If your listener looks confused, check to see if they

have understood you.

Listen with empathy

Keys for successful telephone

conversations
Telephone conversations are important business

tools.
Use the telephone equipment and system

properly
Know how to transfer calls

Be businesslike
Identify yourself and your department / organisation

Yes, whats up

Project courtesy
Smile! The caller will hear it in your voice!

Keys for successful telephone

conversations (cont.)
After the conversation has ended let the caller hang up

first.
Reinforces the impression that the caller is important
Minimizes the need for a second call
Create clear and complete voice mails.
Leave your name, phone number and purpose of your

call

Keys for successful social business

conversations
Practice basic social

conversation rules
Project confidence and a
professional image when meeting
people.
Keep conversations moving; dont
monopolize any one persons time.
Choose safe topics for
conversations
Dress appropriately for the
business situation

Keys for successful social business

conversations (cont.)
Basic social conversation rules
Wear your name tag on your upper right shoulder
When you shake hands, people can follow your right

arm straight to your name

If you are seated, stand when someone is introduced

to you
Address new acquaintances by their title and last
name (family name) until they ask you to use their
first name
Attend social business events
Part of your professional life
Employers like to see how their employees act in

Feedback
Feedback is the communication to a person or a team of

people regarding the effect their behavior is having on

another person.
Two kinds of effective feedback- positive and
constructive.
Positive feedback
Involves telling someone about good performance.
Be specificGood
when report
giving positive feedback.
Less
effective
The report you submitted yesterday
was well written and understandable;
you made your points about the
budget very effectively

Effectiv
e

Constructive feedback
Constructive feedback alerts an individual to an

area in which his or her performance could

improve.
It is not criticism.
Receiver understanding and acceptance are the
goalsreport
of constructive
criticism.
Your
is disorganised,
contains
errors and is a writing disaster
All the elements of a good report are
here; they just need to be reordered.
By placing the strongest elements
first, we can capture and hold the
readers attention. Double-check your
figures and be sure grammar and
punctuation are correct

Less
effective

Effectiv
e

Constructive feedback (cont.)

Comment on the action or issue, not the person.
Allow the receiver to absorb and respond
Accept constructive feedback without becoming

defensive
Seek more information to clarify the concern
After receiving constructive feedback, take

action to remedy.
Do you have specific suggestions that might help

me?

Teamwork
Teams are the most popular work units in the

organizations because of their flexibility and

their productivity.
Teams can be categorized as:

1) Self-managed teams
2) Process-improvement teams
3) Cross-functional teams
4) Virtual teams

Togethe
r
Everyon
e
Achieve

Types of teams
Self-managed teams they have a great deal of

autonomy. Every member have equal responsibility

Process-improvement teams they are charged with

making changes to a process. Once the changes have

been proposed or implemented the team is disbanded

Cross-functional teams members are drawn from

various functional areas and charged with accomplishing

a particular task.
Virtual teams- are current organizational reality due to

globalization.

What do you think are the pros and

cons of teamwork?
Benefits
Drawbacks

Benefits and drawbacks of

teamwork
Benefits

Negatives

Personal
Increase knowledge
Broaden perspectives
Be visible to the organisation
Learn various management
styles
Improve own management
skills

Loss of control
Pressure to conform
Uneven distribution of
workload
Free riding / social loafing

Organisational
Gain competitive advantage
Increase productivity
Improve communication
Encourage creativity
Facilitate problem solving
Quality of decisions

What can be done to

neutralise or eliminate
these disadvantages?
Effective team leadership
and participation

Communication
must be honest
and open

The team must

be cohesive

Conditions for a
team to function
effectively Accomplishments

Growth should be fostered

must be recognized

Meeting leadership and participation

Meeting leadership and

participation
Meetings are held for sharing information and solving

problems
The key for successful small-group leadership are:
1. Define the scope of the groups responsibility and

authority
2. The way a group operates is influenced by its purpose.
3. Planning, brainstorming, sharing information,

solving problems, and training are some of the

reasons for which meetings are held.
4. Hold meetings only when necessary

5. Keep groups to a manageable size.

Successful small-group leadership

(cont.)
Weigh the effects of start time, end time, and duration.
Routine meetings are held on-site.
Lead the discussion to achieve the groups purpose.
Encourage meaningful contributions.

Be aware of time without discouraging discussion

Resolve conflicts before they damage teamwork
Appropriate records must be maintained and shared in a

timely manner.
Only pertinent information should be included in

minutes.

Minutes format
Minutes are an official report of the

proceedings of a meeting.
The following parts are included in minutes:
1. Committee or organization name
2. Date, time, and location of meeting
3. List of those who attended
4. Reference to approval of last meetings
minutes
5. Chronological record of the meeting
6. Time of adjournment
7. Signature of the secretary and/or chairperson

Keys for successful small-group

participation
Participation requires preparation

Members should arrive on time and ready to

devote their full attention to the meeting.

Concentrate on what speakers say
Take notes record key words, ideas, dates,

and activities.
Be courteous and fair to speakers.

Teamwork activity 1
Newspaper tower

Things to consider.
Did your team work well in this task?

What worked well? Leadership? Delegation of

tasks?
What was lacking?
What could be improved on?
Were you motivated in this team project?

Teamwork activity 2
Stranded! A mountain survival scenario.
Each person to take a task sheet from the front of
the auditorium and read it carefully.
You have 50 minutes to complete this task.
End your discussion at 12.00pm
To present and defend your list

Things to consider.
What are the benefits of discussion, teamwork,

collective expertise, and group communication

skills in the team approach to compiling the list,
compared to each individual working alone to
establish a list?
Why is the team list is likely to be better than
each of the individual lists?