Course Description

In business, relationship management is the key to your success. If you have strong relationship-building skills, you can work cooperatively with colleagues, resolve conflict and create a great impression on your customers.

Find out what it takes to achieve relationship success in this introduction to positive workplace communication. Hear how to build constructive relationship dynamics, actively shape positive conversations, build trust and sort out disagreements collaboratively.

This introductory level communication course is suitable for anyone who wants to contribute positively to a team or build effective client relationships. The overall aim of this course is to provide you with a toolkit for shaping positive relationship dynamics. The techniques covered in the program are evidence-based tools from positive psychology.

Target Student

This introductory course is suitable for team members, frontline supervisors, customer service professionals, and individuals wishing to enhance their relationship-building skills.

Pre-requisites

• None

Core Learning Objectives

• Create healthy relationship dynamics by boosting the positivity ratio of your interactions
• Avoid four behaviours which negatively impact relationships
• Take a strategic approach to fostering positive relationships at work
• Take an 'active constructive' approach to communicating with your peers and contacts
• Build trust by adopting behaviours that boost credibility, reliability and intimacy
• Use a four-step process to sort out conflicts, disagreements or difficult situations

Course Outline

1. Building Healthy Relationship Dynamics

• Explore a model of relationships developed by John Gottman
• Discover which behaviours can damage a relationship and how to avoid these
• Learn to use three key elements – autonomy, respect, and attentiveness – to build a foundation for relationship success
• Assess your own behaviours and develop a plan for building positive relationships – even when you don't experience a natural 'click' with someone else

2. Taking a Constructive Approach to Relationships

• Learn to deepen connections by using active constructive responding techniques
• Track and improve your 'positivity ratio' – so you can build and sustain healthy and constructive relationships in a range of professional contexts

3. Building Trust

• Assess your own ability to build trust using the trusted advisor model
• Apply behavioural strategies for increasing credibility, reliability, and intimacy in professional relationships
• Develop the behaviours that lead to being perceived as a trusted advisor or associate

4. Improving Difficult Relationships

• Reframe your thinking about 'difficult people' so you can set appropriate boundaries
• Use a four-step model to focus on the issue, not the person
• Uncover and address the issue which is triggering challenging behaviour
• Explore the other person's needs, as well as explaining yours
• Use solution-focused questions to sort out problems
• Create an agreement so you can move forward after conflict