Communicating for High Performing T!eams

Communication to foster high performance within teams.

1. Communicating
for High
Performance

2. Course Goal
Develop fundamental
communication skills that
enable high individual and
team performance.

3. Course Objectives
•Enhance interpersonal verbal
communication skills to achieve
individual and team business
objectives.
•Foster productive work relationships
through giving and receiving
feedback.
•Demonstrate communication skills
consistent with EnCana’s
Constitution.

4. Your Objectives
Please take a couple of
minutes to jot down your
objectives for this
workshop.

5. Agenda
Introduction, Objectives, Agenda
Module 1–Communication and High Performance
•Setting the Context
•The EnCana Link
•Communication Success Factors
•Qualities
•Skills
•Conditions
•Trust and Credibility
•The Core Skills
•A Word about Communication Methods
Lunch

6. Agenda
Module 2–Giving and Receiving Feedback
•The EnCana Link
•Giving and Receiving Feedback –Success Factors
•Patterns of Feedback
•Assumptions
•The Feedback Process
•Practice
•Challenging Feedback Situations
•Difficult Conversations
•Practice
•Summary and Wrap-Up

7. Communication and High
Performance

8. Setting the Context
•How do you define Communication?
•How do you define High Performance?
•In communicating for high performance,
who do you communicate with?
•How does communication impact your
performance?

9. The Company Link
“ We function on the basis of
trust, integrity and
respect.”
~ The Company Constitution
How does our communication with
each other support this?

10. The Impact of
Communication
~ Adapted from The Heart of Coaching: Using Transformational Coaching to
Create a High Performance Culture, Thomas G. Crane
Beliefs
Motivations
Behaviours
Quality of Relationships
Results

11. An Inspirational Conversation…
Exercise
Remember a conversation with someone when
you were inspired to improve something
about yourself or what you were doing.
What made it inspirational? Consider the
other person’s qualities, what skills
that person used, your own qualities, and
the conditions .
Use the diagram called “An Inspirational
Conversation” to write this out.

12. An Inspirational Conversation –
Examined
My Qualities and Skills The Other Person’s Qualities and
Skills
The Conditions Present The Impact of These on the
Conversation
The Results of the Conversation:

13. Personal Qualities
Personal Qualities that Enable Effective
Communication:
Wants the best for the
other person
Has a win-win
philosophy
Shows interest and
sincere desire to listen
Is willing to take a risk
and have a ‘difficult
conversation’
Interest in two-way
conversation and
getting results
Open to feed-back
Demonstrated
willingness to listen and
talk
Trustworthy and
respectful
–Credible source
–Good communication
skills

14. Communicating for
Results
•Qualities
•Skills
•Conditions

15. Communication
Skills:
•Good active listener; can demonstrate understanding of
what has been said and felt; doesn’t interrupt
•Body language that demonstrates engagement in the
conversation; friendly, interested tone of voice
•Asks effective questions; can live with silence and read
it
•Communicates information using 5Ws and How
Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood.
Stephen R. Covey author of “ The Seven Habits of Highly Effective
People.”

16. The Conditions
•Time and Setting
•Context Understood
•Trust and
Credibility
•Positive Intentions
Openness to Suspending
Assumptions
Win-Win Approach
Assertiveness

17. The Results
•Positive Work Climate
•Trust Increases
•Clarity and Alignment:
•Team Goals
•Work Processes
•Roles and Responsibilities
•Increased Engagement
•Increased Development

18. Trust –The Foundation
What words do you associate with Trust?
Why is Trust so fragile?

19. Building Trust and
CredibilityHow do we get others to trust us
and see us as credible
(believable and reliable)?

20. Enhancing Our
Core Skills

21. You Said What?
“ I know you believe that you
understand what you think I said,
but I am not sure that you realize
that what you heard is not what I
said.”
~ Richard M. Nixon,
former President of the U.S.A.
Communication is Easy;
Effective Communication is Not!

22. Active Listening
•Hears both words, feelings, silences
•Positive body language to indicate
openness, engagement
•Reflects understanding
•Able to minimize barriers, noise
that interfere
•Enables speaker to feel heard,
understood
•Uses techniques such as
•Paraphrasing, effective questioning,
summarizing,

23. Barriers to Active
Listening
Exercise

24. How We See the World
Differently
Our Observations
Our Interpretations
Our Conclusions
Our Beliefs
Available
Information

25. Ways of Communicating
Communication is…
•55% non verbal, body language
•38% how we say words and sounds
•7% words we say

26. Ways of Communicating

27. Positive Body Language
•Leaning forward –interest,
listening
•Eye Contact –respect cultural
differences
•Open hands –agreement, careful
listening
•Smiling, nodding

28. Types of Questions
•Open Questions
requires more than one word answer; promotes
discussion e.g. “ What other factors should we
consider?”
•Closed Questions
seeks specific answer, closes off discussion e.g. “
What time was the shipment received?”
•Clarifying Questions
ensures understanding through more information “What
else is important to add to this situation?”
•Probing Questions
“ What specifically is the problem with the report
format?”

29. Your Personal “Hooks”
What are the communication
behaviours or statements that
cause you to:
FIGHT? FLIGHT? FREEZE?

30. Explain Yourself
Exercise:
To practice simple verbal communication. 10 min
per scenario. Each person will play all three
roles.
Work with two other people. One person is the speaker, one is the
listener and one is the observer. The speaker will talk about
something that is important that should include both thoughts and
feelings (2-3 min.)
The second person will listen actively, to show interest and
understanding of the thoughts and feelings. Questions and
reflection of what the speaker has said will demonstrate this. (1-2
min.)
The speaker and listener will debrief their experience in their roles.
(2-3 min.)
The third person will observe and give feedback to each of them.

31. The Aggressive Communicator
The Aggressive
Communicator:
Does not consider
others’ feelings,
rights.
Attacks, blames, hurts,
humiliates, threatens,
is sarcastic, hostile,
yells.
Achieves goals at
expense of others.
“I’m okay, you’re not
okay.”

32. The Passive
Communicator
The Passive
Communicator:
Does not express
thoughts, feelings,
needs.
Feels badly about not
expressing self.
Feels anxious, guilty,
lets others speak up,
make decisions.
Puts self down, is
apologetic.
Attitude is “I’m not

33. The Assertive
Communicator
•Directly expresses
needs and wants without
punishing.
•Respects self and
others “ I’m okay,
you’re okay” –equal
rights for both
parties.
•Communicates directly
and honestly.
•Uses “I” statements;
makes direct eye
contact, is confident.

34. Assertive Communication
and High Performance
•Expectations are clear; problems
are addressed.
•Minimizes build-up of tension,
resentment.
•Avoids blaming; seeks win -win; is
confident and wants other person
to be successful.

35. Communication Methods
When should we use voicemail,
email, meetings and face -to-face
communication?

36. Communication Action Planner
I need to
Do More:
Do Less:

37. Giving and
Receiving
Feedback

38. Quotable Quotes
Giving Feedback:
•“I hate giving
feedback. I remember
when…”
•“Feedback never helps.
Why don’t I just
transfer or quit?”
•“I’m no good at this. I
never say what I mean
or mean what I say,
even when it’s
positive.”
•“It’ pointless to give
feedback. People don’t
change.”
Receiving Feedback:
•“I must defend myself.
I have to be perceived
as perfect or darn
close to it.”
•“She doesn’t like me.
She is biased.”
•“He just doesn’t
understand what I do.
•“I feel very
uncomfortable when I
receive feedback of any
kind. ”
Your Favourites:

39. Possible Responses to
Feedback Conversations
Learn
DefensiveAngry
Withdrawal
Discount

40. The Constitution and
Feedback
•Treat each other with respect
•Integrate disciplines, skills and ideas to make
the team stronger
•Contribute to the success of other team members
•Communicate freely and openly, exchanging views,
ideas, and lessons learned
•Have joint accountability and ownership for team
objectives
•Have a clear focus on objectives and results.
•Assess results honestly and professionally.
•Learn from every experience and celebrate
successes together
Expectations of Team Members

41. Feedback –A Definition
Comments in the
form of opinions
about and
reactions to
something,
intended to
provide useful
information for
future decisions
and development.
~ EnCarta Dictionary

42. The Right
Environment
The Right
Words
The Right
Time
The Right
Way
Giving and Receiving Feedback
Success Factors
Toward a clear objective, outcome or goal
Effective
Feedback

43. The Right Environment
•The Business Context
and Impact
•The Physical
Environment
•Level of Trust
•Balanced between
Positive and
Constructive
The Right Environment

44. The Right Words
•Ensure the feedback
is relevant and
specific (provide
examples)
•Owned with “I
statements”
•Provide context and
impact
•Check out assumptions
The Right Words

45. Check Your Assumptions
•Think of an employee or
supervisor you really
admire. How would you
describe this person?
•Now, think of someone who
irritates you or whose
competence you do not
respect? How would you
describe this person?
•How might your overall
impressions of these
people impact the
assumptions you might
make?

46. The Right Way
•Two-way dialogue
•Directly –to the
right party
•Intentions
•Respect
•Tone and body
language
•Personality
differences
The Right Way

47. The Right Time

48. Patterns of Feedback
Persecutor
VictimRescuer

49. The Flow of a Feedback
Discussion

50. Positive Feedback
Exercise:
•Ask the person beside you to take on
the role of someone you work with
and give them some positive
feedback.
•Switch roles.

51. Let’s Practice
“Whether you believe you can do a thing
or not, you’re right.”
~ Henry Ford

52. Feedback Case
Study
•Read the Case Study
•Prepare and conduct the Case Study
feedback discussion
•At the end of the feedback discussion,
the person playing the supervisor will
self assess:
•Here’s what I did well
•Here’s what I could do better
•The person playing the employee
provides you the same feedback:
•Here’s what you did well
•Here’s what you could do better

53. Key Learnings from the Practice
•What went well?
•What would you do differently next
time?
•What did you learn about yourself in
providing feedback?
•How can you apply this “back on the
job”?

54. Effective Feedback -Guiding
Principles
•Have the courage to hear and speak
the truth.
•Focus on facts and impact.
•Assume good intentions.
•Take personal accountability and
ownership.
•Provide or receive only feedback that
can be understood, accepted and acted
upon.
•Don’t take it personally.

55. Challenging Feedback Situations
What challenging
feedback situations do
you face?

56. Receiving Feedback
1.Confirm your understanding and ask
questions. (examples, observations)
2.Listen intently without judging,
interrupting or discounting.
3.Understand the impact on others.
4.Have the courage to agree with what
is true.
5.Do not feel compelled to respond on
the spot.
6.Ask for suggestions on how to improve
or do things better.

57. Communicating For High Performance –
Summary
Consistency between our
words and actions
Give and receive
objective feedback
Build Trust and Credibility
Qualities, Skills, Conditions
Communicate Using
5Ws and How

58. Next Steps

59. Applying the Learning:
What You Can Do
•Review course content; reflect on learning
•Keep a reflections and application notebook
•Start application of learning immediately, even if
it’s not 100% accurate
•Ask for feedback; provide helpful guidelines
•Link with a colleague to discuss learning, provide
feedback on your new performance
•Establish personal performance expectations
informally or formalize them through your HPC
•Identify support that will help promote new
behavior
•Establish recognition or rewards system ( personal
and organizational)
•Celebrate small wins; change is usually incremental
•Establish a mentoring relationship
•Anticipate relapses of behavior and try again