EMOTIONAL Intelligence - Being Better :: Aware of SELF

BACHELOR OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

Osmania University - SYLLABUS (2011-14) -- 1st Year – 2nd  Semester (206)   BMS  (2012-2015) at SFC, Begumpet

CORPORATE SOFTSKILLS

& 

COMMUNICATION

INTRODUCTION

0.1.        Objectives

0.2.        Learning Outcome

0.3.        Relevance

0.4.        Hard Skills Vs Soft Skills

0.5.        Enhance Your Soft Skills

0.6.        Tips To Enhance Your Soft Skills

0.7.        Aec Of Soft Skill

0.8.        Are Technical/ Job-Related Skills Enough?

0.9.        Formal Training To Enhance Soft Skills

0.10.            Getting Tough With Soft Skills

0.11.            Knowledge Vs. Skills

0.12.            Behavioral Indicators

0.13.            Etiquette

0.14.            Who Needs The Trained & Why ?

0.1.               OBJECTIVES

1.  Develop effective presentation and business communication skills.

2.  Become self-confident individuals by mastering inter-personal skills, team management skills, and leadership skills and develop all-round personalities with a mature outlook to function effectively in different circumstances.

Syllabus covered in five Units.

Unit 1-   Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

Unit2-    Brand You Better Under Corporate Culture

Unit 3-   Public Relations Corporate Style

Unit 4-   Public Relations Business Style

Unit 5-   Reporting And Documentation

Unit -1 concentrates on the Self Development towards making the individual fit for the corporate, Business and such Social requirements. Interpersonal, Team, Leadership Skills are to be developed in giving confidence to the individual. This Self Deverlopment gives confidence in them to Communicate and Brand them better.

Unit -2 is to mold the self under the corporate culture. Human Relation, Social Skills Customer Relationship, Listening, Negotiation, Presentation Skills and Conducting Meetings to Media Correspondance are the Tasks.

Unit-3 is more to get into the learning of Public Relation as a Corporate Executive. This is mostly for internal upward and downward correspondence, Conducting Meetings etc.

Unit -4 is on the Business Relationship culture. Dealing on Quotes, Banks, Insurance Claims are dealt. Talks about work ethics, responsibility etc.

Unit -5 is on Reporting and documenting. Conduct of Meetings, Negotiations, Interview and Group Discussion is also included.

0.2.               LEARNING OUTCOME

·        The main objective of this subject is to learn how to communicate in a corporate environment.

To achieve this a broader perspective; related issues are discussed to get into specific etiquettes.

Communication (from Latin "communis", meaning to share) is the activity of conveying information through the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, visuals, signals, writing, or behavior within and outside a community. Communication depends upon the situation. Communication can be verbal, non-verbal and written. Communication requires a sender, a message, and a recipient. Transmission and understanding of the message are parts of communication. Listener is more important than the speaker. The sender therefore, needs to analyze the level of understanding and mannerisms of the receiver. Anything can be interpreted in multiple ways. Hence it is essential to convey the right thing, at the right time, right way, right place and right people. Written Communication should be mastered to convey right meaning. Perfect communication occurs when the intended meaning is received in the same manner it is transmitted. Sometimes not communicating is better than communicating.

Attitude is a way of thinking or feeling, typically reflected in a person’s behavior and body language. A person’s attitude is determined by his observation, past experiences, beliefs and environment. Attitude differs from place to place. A police officer behaves different at the police station and at home. We need to develop a realistic and positive attitude in life.

Behavior is the range of actions and mannerisms made by organisms in response to various stimuli or inputs. Our manas is a mirror. Behavior is a reflection. That is why the way the other speaks we respond back. It is influenced by culture, emotions, values, ethics, and social norms.

Soft skills are personal attributes that enhance an individual's interactions, job performance and career prospects. Unlike hard skills, which are about a person's skill set and ability to perform a certain type of task, soft skills are interpersonal and broadly applicable. It's often said that hard skills will get you an interview but you need soft skills to get (and keep) the job.

The idea is not to learn it theoretical, more practical oriented learning through different innovative group activities. More than Soft Skill, the learning has to be a LIFE Skill orientation. Thus the learning for the Corporate LIFE will also make the LIFE otherwise too interesting and self-contained with a feeling of dignity and achievement.

0.3.               RELEVANCE

World is witnessing a major change in communication and working culture, with expanding social spheres, openness in communication and professionals working in multicultural corporate environments. India's workforce have to be world-class, to be competent, competitive and successful. To create and nurture successful professionals learning corporate soft skill and communication is essential. Acquisition, cultivation and fine-tuning of soft skills are the key to professional success.

Soft Skills and Communication is part of educational process that produces top-notch professionals with Attitude, Communication and Etiquette. Foundations of soft skills and communication lie in a strong attitude. Attitude gets manifested as communication, which gets further refined as etiquette.

Soft Skills covers a variety of intra-inter-personal skills including personal accountability, listening skills, business proposals, formal and informal relation at workplace etc.. Learning in this course is to give insightful, practical and all-round perspective into soft skills through entertainment.

Learning though this course is though for coaching for corporate values and career development; it gives a holistic personal view towards a life. Thus it is more a Life Skill Training that can be experienced by a good learner enabling a change. Age 18 is the peek in life when one has to get to a maturity change which gives them a turn from teen to twenty. Special are Girls who need a real molding for a better social life that determines the self and family life ahead.

Soft Skills as opposed to hard skills (such as technical skills) greatly impacts the emotional intelligence of employees. Making them better leaders require a good soft skill culture inculcated in all in the office. Professional development of employees is important in maintaining relationships with their customers and developing a successful business. Continuous training provided in 'soft skills' for workforce is necessary to improve  business, professional development of their employees, which in turn leads to higher employee retention. Most of the organizations realized the importance of soft skills and communication training for global business. They found that soft skills such as Cultural Sensitivity, Business Etiquette and good Communication Skills (telephone etiquette, email etiquette, information gathering and listening skills) make a greater impact on clients from across the world rather than a high degree of technical skills.

0.4.               HARD SKILLS VS SOFT SKILLS

In the world of work, “hard skills” are technical or administrative procedures related to an organization’s core business. Examples include machine operation, computer protocols, safety standards, financial procedures and sales administration. These skills are typically easy to observe, quantify and measure. They’re also easy to train, because most of the time the skill sets are brand new to the learner and no unlearning is involved.

By contrast, “soft skills” (also called “people skills”) are typically hard to observe, quantify and measure. People skills are needed for everyday life as much as they’re needed for work. They have to do with how people relate to each other: communicating, listening, engaging in dialogue, giving feedback, cooperating as a team member, solving problems, contributing in meetings and resolving conflict. Leaders at all levels rely heavily on people skills, too: setting an example, teambuilding, facilitating meetings, encouraging innovation, solving problems, making decisions, planning, delegating, observing, instructing, coaching, encouraging and motivating.

Obviously, people come to organizations with interpersonal behavior patterns already thoroughly ingrained, and they weren’t learned in a classroom. Instead, individuals learn how to deal with relationships and other life challenges “on the street” at a very early age. They observe how the people around them do things, they experiment, and they stick with what works for them.

So everyone ends up with a unique portfolio of people skills; some behaviors may be effective, but others cause problems. By the time employees get to a training room, they’ve already worked hard for decades to reinforce the way they deal with people.

Like all behavior patterns, interpersonal skills are “hard-wired” in the neuronal pathways of the cerebral cortex. This means that at some point a behavior was repeated often enough that neurons grew dendrites that reached out to other neurons to make the connections needed to make behavior pattern automatic. A myelin sheath coated the cells like electric wire insulation, making the connection extremely efficient. The end result: these ways of behaving now feel natural, easy and comfortable.

0.5.               ENHANCE YOUR SOFT SKILLS

Four out of 10 employers expect to struggle to fill graduate vacancies because of a shortage of applicants with the right skills, a survey says. These employers feel most graduates lack in ‘soft skills’ such as communication as well as verbal and numerical reasoning.

Soft skills is a term used related to a person’s EQ (emotional intelligence quotient) the cluster of personality traits, social graces, communication, language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that characterise relationships with other people. These skills are considered important by many recruiters as they believe that soft skills complement hard skills (part of a person’s IQ), which are the occupational requirements of a job and many other activities.

Speaking on the importance of soft skills, a HR professional says a candidate with proper soft skills has an edge over others in this competitive world. “It is essential to gauge a person’s soft skills before recruiting because behaviour is often associated with one’s thought process,” he adds.

Employers are now realising the need to hire the right talent as they feel hiring staff strictly on the basis of skills and expertise may provide an answer to tactical needs. However, if the employee is technically inclined and deficient in communication and people skills, the ability of an organisation to execute its strategy is often compromised.

Speaking to the media, CVK Maithreya, a business advisor and behaviour consultant, says, “Communication is a holistic subject and soft skills are an important subset. Without soft skills, there could be misunderstanding, particularly when people are from different backgrounds.”

One of the most important aspects of soft skills in professional world is relationship management: the ability to inspire, influence, and develop others while managing conflict.

0.6.               TIPS TO ENHANCE YOUR SOFT SKILLS

Awareness: You need to begin by making a list of skills that you lack by discussing with your close friends, co-workers etc. Awareness is the first step in building up your soft skills forte.

Interact: To build an understanding with your teammates, you should interact more with them. Also take up projects and get involved in some voluntary work.

Be optimistic: Exude that positivism and spread the infectious optimism.

Self-motivating: Set personal goals to reach new highs and keep targets for yourself.

Possess a forgiving and benevolent ego – Humble oneself, accept and learn sincerely from criticism.

Be a team player – Learn to trust, build comradeship, set common goals, provide support, friendship& get your hands dirty!

Communicate effectively – Be clear, tactful, diplomatic & pace the conversation.

Think out of box: Be creative and hone your innovative and creative skills

Look at the Big Picture – Consider all aspects, potential opportunities, threats & contingencies

Learn how to multitask and prioritise – Practice empowerment and delegation, mange time well when multitasking and prioritizing.

0.7.               AEC OF SOFT SKILL

(ATTITUDE, COMMUNICATION AND ETIQUETTE)

Our world is witnessing a major change in communication patterns, with expanding social spheres, openness in communication and professionals working in multicultural environments. It is crucial, therefore, that India's workforce remains world-class, through re-training and continuous improvement, to remain competent, competitive and successful. To create and nurture successful professionals, the acquisition, cultivation and fine-tuning of soft skills are highly essential in the given business paradigm.

The ACE of Soft Skills is a part of this educational process that produces top-notch professionals. Divided into three parts-Attitude, Communication and Etiquette-this unique book provides a broad-based coverage of what constitute soft skills. The foundations of soft skills lie in a strong attitude; this attitude gets manifested as communication, which gets further refined as etiquette.

0.8.               ARE TECHNICAL/ JOB-RELATED SKILLS ENOUGH?

Technical and job-related skills are a must, but they are NOT sufficient when it comes to progressing up the ladder.

With the traditional paternalistic style of leadership becoming passé, professional managers expect their teams to be proactive and communicate openly.

"Soft skills are very important in business. It is essential to be technically sound, but one should also have the ability to convey the idea to the masses in the simplest possible manner," says Mayurkumar Gadewar, an ERP consultant with Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

With the boom in outsourcing taking root across industries, many professionals and subject matter experts directly deal with their clients on a regular basis.

Their approachability and people skills are what ultimately sustain the contract their employers have bagged.

"Planning is necessary but execution is also equally important. And it takes soft skills to execute any idea because it involves dealing with people directly," says Gadewar.

0.9.               FORMAL TRAINING TO ENHANCE SOFT SKILLS

There is a lot of argument in the industry as to whether it is possible to enhance soft skills in a few hours of training, especially when one considers the fact that a person has lived with those traits all his life. To this, the answer is harsh but real -- a professional who wants to do well in his/ her career does not really have a choice.

In the initial years of your career, your technical abilities are important to get good assignments. However, when it comes to growing in an organisation, it is your personality that matters, more so in large organisations where several people with similar technical expertise will compete for a promotion.

Training on soft skills becomes all the more relevant in a country like India where the education system does not delve into personality development. Though some part of the syllabus cover the theory part ands nothing is done for the skill development.

Be your own trainer!

While organisations are definitely investing in augmenting their staff's people skills, here are some inputs for professionals and students who would like to initiate the process themselves:

i. Be a part of team activities

It could be either as a part of your church choir, or an NGO, or your local youth circle.

Observe your own behaviour in the group and how you relate to others.

ii. Ask family members or close friends to write down your best and worst traits.

Ideally, have at least four to five people do this for you.

Evaluate the common traits all of them have mentioned. Thus, you can be aware of your strengths and work improving your weaknesses.

iii. How well do you manage your time?

Think.

Can you do more in life? Or is your day too crammed with activities? Effective time management is very essential in the corporate world.

iv. Introspect on how you react to feedback.

In organisations, people skills mostly come into the picture when there is feedback given -- be it for an idea, an executed project or a presentation.

You are judged by the way you respond to feedback.

Do you get defensive?

Do you insist you were right?

Do you meekly accept criticism?

Remember, people tend to be judged and stereotyped according to their responses. You will, too.

v. How good are you at critiquing?

While responding to feedback is one side of the coin, giving feedback is the other side.

Are you aggressive? Pessimistic? Do you believe in constructive criticism? Or prefer to be the yes-man?

vi. Live consciously

Any organisation is manned by people, therefore soft skills are all about how you deal with people and present yourself.

Though it may be easier said than done, soft skills can be enhanced simply by being aware of oneself and living consciously.

0.10.         GETTING TOUGH WITH SOFT SKILLS

Teaching to impart a skill is inherently different than teaching to impart knowledge. With an eLearning course, designers have the added challenge to create a course that allows learners to practice behavioral skills, also known as soft skills, in a medium that does not always lend itself to interpersonal interactions. By employing the tips below, you can facilitate the process of learning behavioral skills online. These tips will help you to ensure that your course motivates your learner, that you’ve made the material relevant to the learner by providing examples of behavioral indicators they can observe and detect, and that you’re enabling learners to apply the material to their own lives by structuring assessments and feedbacks throughout the course and by including take-home messages.

Businesses have long used online courses to teach “hard skills,” such as typing and software development. But increasingly they’ve also turned to eLearning to impart “soft skills” (also known as behavioral skills)—people-oriented capabilities like project management or conflict resolution, which traditionally have been taught in the classroom. Online training provides a handy solution for imparting behavioral skills to the fresh crop of young, inexperienced workers entering the job force, reducing the time it can take to learn those skills in the “real” world.

Often, online soft skills courses can be less expensive than those offered in a classroom. A virtual environment also allows learners to make consequence-free mistakes—if the employee makes a flub, your business won’t lose clients/customers/money. However, simulating interpersonal skills in a virtual environment can be tricky, because many of these skills by definition require human interaction. You can ensure you get the most out of your soft skills course design by keeping in mind the tips mentioned here.

0.11.         KNOWLEDGE VS. SKILLS

Designing a course to impart knowledge is different than developing a training to impart a skill. Think of all the tasks an employee would complete in a typical workday—for example, logging hours in a time sheet, helping customers select a product suitable to their needs, programming a widget, sending an email. Which of these tasks are skills and which simply require knowledge of the task to complete?

According to instructional designer Julie Dirksen, the way to differentiate between a skill and knowledge is simple: ask yourself, “Is it reasonable to think someone can be proficient at this task without practice?”  If the answer is yes, then that task is not a skill.

Practice

We’ve hit on a key distinction between knowledge and skills. Many learning courses are designed strictly to communicate information to learners. But just having knowledge doesn’t mean learners will be able to apply it. The process of designing to impart knowledge poses a challenge. You have to:

• Keep your content concise
• Build on the learner’s prior knowledge
• Be sure to address any misconceptions the learner may have

To keep the learner engaged, introduce some “friction”—that is, control the course’s flow so learners don’t barrel through the content they think they already know.

For learners to master a skill, the key is to design opportunities for practice, practice, and more practice. Space the skills practices throughout the course and manage the flow of the content so there is an engaging interplay between ability and challenge for the learner.

0.12.         BEHAVIORAL INDICATORS

One way to incorporate examples into soft skills courses is to brainstorm a list of positive and negative behavioral indicators that demonstrate competency in the soft skill you’re trying to teach. For example, for selling a customer a new mobile phone, some positive behavioral indicators could be:

• Listening to the customer’s needs and evaluating those against products for sale
• Relating the product specifications to what the customer would actually use it for
• Recommending additional accessories for the product

In contrast, some negative behavioral indicators could be:

• Asking the customer only yes or no questions
• Providing a laundry list of product specifications
• Suggesting a product solution without listening to the customer’s needs

Remember that the key to learning any new skill is practicing it—repeatedly. First, however, the learner needs to see it in action. Fortunately, behavioral indicators are relatively simple to model and behavioral modeling is most effectively presented through motion or activity. Include a video with a live actor or an animation depicting both effective and ineffective behaviors. Develop a mental checklist that the learner can refer to when practicing the skill, focusing on demonstrable behaviors like body language or active listening. Ask the learner to dissect the behavior in an essay, or include a checklist or assessment of key behavioral indicators and instruct the learner to note which are demonstrated effectively.

To make your media more interactive, try a spin on the usual format of user-generated content. For example, for managers who need to deal with customers making a product return, a course needs to accomplish a few tasks. First, the manager needs to be aware of the ins and outs of their store’s return policy, which is the course’s knowledge component. But more importantly, the manager needs to learn to strike a careful balance in refusing a customer’s return when necessary without offending them and potentially losing their business in the future.

Try constructing a role-play scenario that includes a video of a customer who wants to return an item and give the learner—who’s playing the role of the manager—options for how to reply. Based on the learner’s response, the scenario may continue onto multiple paths with different developments—for example, the customer becomes distressed or demands special treatment, and so on. These types of role-plays let the learner practice the skill in a risk-free, virtual environment.

Social media can also be used as a social simulator, a step beyond the eLearning course’s fabricated environment. Through social media, learners can practice core skills together regardless of how geographically dispersed they are. Learners can also seek advice and tips from other learners or an expert.

As with any eLearning course, be sure to employ a variety of media—videos, audio narrations, and interactive elements. Not only will the learner be more engaged, but you are also more likely to hit on multiple levels of learning, making the learner more likely to absorb and apply the soft skills.

0.13.         ETIQUETTE

Historically Etiquette is all about good manners and how we make people around us feel comfortable from our general behavior. Etiquette itself defines that good behavior. Proper exhibition of etiquette determines what is specifically expected of us which we could term respectful.

The word etiquette stems as far back as 1600 s – 1700s in the French royal courts under the reign of King Louis XIV. The true meaning emanating from the word “ticket” or “placard” in French. This was devised where rules (manners) were posted to be followed seriously. It was then adopted by the English in 1750 translated into a code of social behavior or regulation among the elites.

During the reign of Queen Victoria etiquette was connected to sophisticated behavior, where the wealthy were ostentatious and cut a class that would distinguish them by their behavior and social activities. Today’s 21st Century has changed the manner of etiquette due to lifestyle, multicultural differences, globalization and urbanization.

Etiquette today is seen as:

1.  Set rules of precedence

2.  Custom of salutation

3.  Norms for body carriage

4.  Facial expression

5.  Communication of status

ETIQUETTE AND TODAY’S YOUTH

According to Maura Graber - ‘Teens need manners as a social tool, to navigate their way through the differing social events they will encounter as they grow up into mature adults.’
Etiquette must be encouraged right from youth years to become success in life.

0.14.         WHO NEEDS THE TRAINED & WHY ?

• Corporate Organizations: aspiring to create and promote loyalty, team spirit, department cohesiveness and corporate image
• Senior Management:  wishing to improve soft skills to excel in the business arena
• Middle and Junior Management: lacking protocol skills essential for career advancement
• Front Line Personnel: i.e personal / executive assistants, receptionists, client service personnel who are in dear need of essential polish
• Marketing and Sales Force Team: who represent the corporate brand during and after work hours
• Corporate Executives: requiring the essential polish and social graces
• Expatriate Personnel:  engaged in business in other countries
• New Hires: To induct them into the organization to ensure that proper manners, behavior, corporate style and expectations are adhered to
• Professionals:  in the field of Law, Medicine and Finance
• Diplomatic Personnel:  looking to improve soft skills to excel in the International and Business arena
• Women: looking to improve soft skills and entertaining with grace
• Bride and Grooms to be: Looking into the bright future ahead
• Entrepreneurs: looking to improve soft skills to excel in the local and global market
• Today’s Youths: looking to boost confidence and Self Esteem