The April 2022 edition of the Change Champions Chat series facilitated by Miss Marian Osaro was an impactful peer mentoring session. She shared her knowledge on the topic: How to Communicate Effectively.
She explained that communication can be verbal and non-verbal and effective communication skills entails active listening, polite response, sharing feedback, clarity, empathy, responsiveness, non-verbal cues and so on.
She listed the following steps to effectively communicate in the workplace:
OBSERVE, DOCUMENT AND REVIEW: She admonished her peers to be very observant when working in a team and always document requests, conversations, emails which can be referred to later.
BUILD HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS: Marian explained that building healthy relationships implies building trust in the workplace, communicating respectfully and positioning oneself as a problem solver.
PRACTICE DIALOGUE OVER DEBATE:
She suggested words than can be used like: I suggest…, I wish…,What if we… etc.
RESEARCH YOUR AUDIENCE:
Marian explained that one’s audience can be a new client, colleagues, a partner or even a customer (as a business owner) and there is a need to know more about them.
AVOID BULLIES IN THE WORKPLACE:
She encouraged the participants to refrain from having a heated confrontation or argument with people who are bullies, and also avoid being a bully themselves.
TAKE ONLINE INTERACTION AND VIRTUAL MEETINGS SERIOUSLY:
She emphasized that we are in a digital age and communication now extends beyond physical interaction to virtual conversations and to excel at it specific guidelines must be adhered to.
In conclusion, she urged her peers to properly handle relationships especially on social media because it can birth great opportunities and avoid giving out sensitive information about themselves.
