Enhancing interpersonal skills & mastering telephone etiquette

ENHANCING INTERPERSONAL SKILLS & MASTERING TELEPHONE

ETIQUETTEYON BAHIAH BT WAN ARIS

INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS EXCELLENCE

10& 11TH MARCH 2015

PROGRAMME OUTCOMES

• Understand the importance for interpersonal skills in both professional and personal lives

• Develop interpersonal competence to prepare for challenges at the workplace and others

• Acquire the right skills and attitudes when answering telephone

• Determine and apply key telephone etiquette and communication skills

• Handle and manage difficult customers over the telephone

INTRODUCTION

• The success or failure of an organization depends highly on the individuals working in it. Within the organizations, effective communication is required:-

• Internally

• - within the teams

• - across teams

• - within departments and across departments

• Externally

• - suppliers

• - customers

Foundations of interpersonal skills

• WHAT?• A set of skills and abilities needed to effectively

interact and communicate with others• Ability to get along with others and at the same

time getting tasks completed.• Ability to convey, translate and interpret

information.• Involves communication , listening, conflict

resolution , delegation etc• Simply put , its actually people’s skills.

• Characteristic Traits such as Attitudes, Manners, behavior, appearance when communicating with others

• WHY?

• Changing work environment requires excellent networking skills.

• Working in a team is a norm; enhance productivity

• Maintain Personal & Professional relationships

• Able to receive & give feedback

• Able to understand others better

Ratan Global Business School

activity

• Identify someone at work whom you interact frequently and you would like to improve your interpersonal communication. Analyze your relationship with this individual based on the following questions:

• - do you have a choice working with this person?• - how do you classify your relationship?• - who has more power in this relationship?• - identify the positive and negative attributes of this

person.• - has there been disagreements between the two of

you and how do you resolve it?

Self awareness

• Realisation of one’s self

• Being aware of own traits, feelings & behavior.

• Types :- Public & Private

COMMUNICATION

• Most of us use 70 to 90% of our waking time communicating..

• Aspects of communication:

• - Verbal & Non Verbal

• - Oral & Written

We need to communicate…..

• Communication is the first thing we learn as a child but as we grow older it becomes the hardest thing to do.

Effective communication is..

• Right people getting the right information at the right time.

We communicate in different ways depending on the message and the context it is being sent.

Verbal

• Choice of words used to send a message.

• Word of mouth or by writing

• For effective verbal communication, keep it simple and short.

• Involves memos, emails, faxes, blogs, Sms, watsapp, twitter etc

• Influenced by choice of words, tone of voice, speed, clarity of voice.

• Adv: fast feedback, can interpret,

Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates.

• At the first gate, ask yourself,

• ‘Is it true?’

• At the second gate, ask,

• ‘Is it necessary?’

• At the third gate, ask,

• ‘Is it kind?’

• - Sufi saying

Non Verbal

• Non Verbal communication- Communication without the use of words

• Includes

• eg Body language , gestures, postures, remaining silence, voice intonation and use of silence ---- often sends a louder message to other people than the words we say.

• Studies show that during interpersonal communication only 7% of message is verbal; while 93% is non verbal.

• Nonverbal skills must be practiced so that we can be sure that we are actually sending the message that we intend to send.

Fluency in non-verbal communication can be as powerful a tool as masterful negotiating techniques or expert salesmanship.

• Joe Navarro

listening

• One of the most important communication skill.

• Sometimes we think we are listening when in actual fact we are Not.

• Listening takes practice and requires us to be focus.

• How is listening different from hearing?

speak write listen read

Barriers to listening

• State of mind – Are you ready to listen? attitude & emotional state of mind of listener

• Bias/ Prejudices on speaker

• Languages used – slang, accent etc

• Short span of attention – “wandering mind”

• Noise

• Frequent interruptions

• Too much information – message overload

• Impatient – too eager to speak

Tips to effective listening

• Appropriate eye contact

• Open mind – willing to listen & accept ideas from others

• Empathy for speaker

• No interruptions

• Feedback (Verbal & Non verbal)

Active listening

• Involves hearing, understanding, judging and evaluating message before responding

Tips to improve interpersonal skills

• Smile ( universal languagw; one smile makes two.

• Communicate with clarity.

• Be honest when expressing your opinions.

• Compliment sincerely.

• Practice assertiveness.

End of day 1

Telephone etiquette

• Telephone is an important means of communication as most businesses are still conducted via the telephone.

• Company’s image/reputation is projected through daily telephone communications.

• As such, it is important to communicate professionally as well as effectively through the telephones.

• Need to be fully aware of how we talk& behave over the phone.

• Antonio Ejoh HR analyst at Venture Grade group

Antonio Ejoh HR analyst at Venture Grade group

• Each phone call is an attempt to communicate between 2 parties, to impart and receive information.

• Communication can be ineffective if telephone etiquette is not observed.

• Listening is an integral aspect of telephone etiquette.

• As mentioned earlier, some people have problems with listening.

• However with practice, we can get better.

• With two ears and one mouth, are we using them proportionately?

• Need to apply activelistening to tell customers that you care about what he/she has to say.

• Need to clarify what the message communicated to ensure that you fully understand it.

• This means that you confirm the message in your own words.

• Eg:

• You: May I have your telephone number please, Encik Razak?

• Caller: 50243811

• You: So Encik Razak, your telephone number is 50 243 811.. Is that correct???

When using the telephone

• Need to:

• 1. listen carefully

• 2. listen actively

• 3. reduce talking

Basic elements of professional telephone beavior

• Pay attention to caller & Stop doing whatever it is you were doing before receiving the call.

• Concentrate on what the caller is trying to say.

Golden rules when telecommunicating

• Answer within 3 rings.

• Sit with appropriate posture.

• Greet and identify yourself.

• Smile.. even if caller can’t see you.( a smile can be heard over the phone)

• Speak clearly no need to shout.

• Use proper tone of voice, should sound friendly and enthusiastic.

• Seek permission if you need to put caller on hold. (don’t put on hold for more than 30 seconds)

• Ensure that caller is aware that his call has been transferred & make sure call is answered.

• Be a good listener , don’t interrupt.

• Take messages correctly.. verify

• Personalize conversation by using the caller’s name eg: thank you Prof Mala for calling us. If caller has a title, refer to him/her by he title.

• Listen to the end.. Don’t hang up before the caller.

• End call courteously; use magic words.

Negative phrases Positive phrases

“what you want, huh?” “How may I help you?”

“En Dollah has gone back “. En Dollah is currently not in. How can I assist you?

“I don’t know..not sure lah”. “Let me check and get back to you”.

“ Who is that?” “ May I know who is on the line?”