Unit 4: Week 1: Communication Skills

Potential Resources

HDI-Customer Service Representative Competencies

Communication Essentials

To establish and maintain effective relationships with stakeholders:

• Manage their expectations
• Build rapport with effective communication skills
• Practice empathy
• Provide consistent service
• Understand how the systems or technology impacts the school system
• Publicize the service and support center’s accomplishments
• Maintain a service attitude
• Meet the customer’s psychological needs first, and then their school system needs
• Take ownership
• Display a confident attitude

A filter is an internal bias or personal viewpoint based on one’s experiences, values, culture, education level, language difference, or geography. Filters often lead to miscommunication and can affect communication negatively.

The communication process consists of six steps:

1. Idea/Concept— feelings, emotions, or a motivation to act
2. Encoding—the selection of the appropriate words to best express a given thought or concept
3. Transmission—the brain sends a signal to the vocal cords and the mouth to speak
4. Receiving—sound waves are received as electrical impulses by the receiver
5. Decoding—the brain processes the message
6. Interpretation—the most critical step in the process, this is when the person receiving the message puts meaning behind it

To minimize and reduce miscommunication:

• Improve your efficiency by becoming more aware of how the brain composes and sends messages and how we receive and digest messages from others
• Be aware of personal biases and filters that could affect the way you formulate or interpret a message; and make a conscious choice to mitigate the effect of such biases
• Understand the other components of successful communication such as: being sensitive to other cultures, digesting the full message (not pieces of information), active listening skills when appropriate, and word choice

Active Listening

The principles of active listening include:

• Be emotionally and physically prepared to listen
• Do not interrupt
• Pause before replying
• Minimize distractions
• Document and reference notes
• Acknowledge and focus on the speaker with verbal prompts (e., yes, uh-huh)
• Paraphrase for clarification
• Repeat for verification
• Listen for ideas and images, not just words

Benefits of active listening include:

• More effective analysis of issues
• More effective response and resolution
• Increased customer satisfaction
• Established credibility for service and support professionals
• Reduced stress for service and support professionals and the customer

Paraphrasing means to repeat what the customer said in your own words in order to:

• Understand what the customer is saying from their point of view and check for clarity
• Give the customer the chance to agree or disagree with your understanding
• Show the customer that you are listening and that you understand

The following can be barriers to active listening:

• Pace and rate of speech that is too rapid
• Previous poor experience with the service and support center or customer
• Background, education, and training
• Accent
• Language
• Asking the wrong questions
• Using inappropriate terminology
• Background noise
• Conversing about outside distractions such as weather or current events

Voice Components

• Tone is a pitch in language to distinguish meaning
• Inflection is the wave-like movement of vocal tones and pitches, used to convey interest in a conversation
• Pace of speech is how fast or how slowly you talk
• Intensity is the strength of emotion that is projected along with the words you are saying, used to convey your level of concern
• Volume is the degree of loudness in your voice and can be used to instill confidence

Effective Word Choices

Positive language has the following qualities:

• Tells the listener what can be done
• Suggests alternatives and choices available
• Sounds helpful and encouraging
• Stresses positive actions and positive consequences

Negative language has the following qualities:

• Tells the listener what cannot be done
• Has a subtle tone of blame
• Includes words like can’t, won’t, unable to, you must, you said, you did, etc.
• Has the potential to lead to conflict

Best practices for e-mail may include:

• Understand your audience and tailor the message
• Personalize the conversation
• Label your message with a subject line that speaks to the message’s content
• Structure your message so that it is easy and quick to read and understand
• Proofread your message before sending
• Use plain text and avoid fancy fonts, colors, and RTF or HTML formatting
• Include the original message/request with replies to provide context
• Use appropriate punctuation and capitalization
• Avoid abbreviations and emoticons
• Attach relevant visuals, charts, and diagrams where possible to further illustrate your points
• Provide a link to more detail instructions, processes, etc.

Written Communications

Using proper grammar and spelling when documenting requests or incidents:

• Reflects well on the organization and support professionals
• Contributes to the capturing and reuse of knowledge in knowledge article
• Demonstrates professionalism
• Provides clarity in the event other support professionals need to work on the request or incident
• Reduces misunderstandings and distractions

When documenting incidents, record the facts without adding personal opinions that do not add value. Write as if the customer will read what you’ve written.

When documenting incidents, avoid:

• Using acronyms
• Using emoticons, such as 🙂
• Using slang or regional phrases
• Documenting negative references about customers

Professionalism is expressed in a friendly, but formal writing style.

• Always use the customer’s formal name in the greeting
• Always end each message with a closing
• Use formal language—not slang, abbreviations, or acronyms
• Reduce the use of negative inference words such as: no, can’t, won’t, don’t, unfortunately
• Avoid filler word—like, basically, essentially, but, however, etc.
• Use courtesy phrases—thank you, may I, please, it’s my pleasure, etc.

Literacy is a matter of grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and vocabulary.

• Use clear, simple words and use a common language
• Always check messages for grammar, spelling, and accuracy
• Avoid large words—short words are often more precise
• Be concise—use as few words as possible to accurately convey your meaning in a complete thought

Effective Cross-Cultural Communication

To effectively communicate cross-culturally:

• Listen actively for what is and is not being stated
• Use standard English language and short sentences. If a translator application is used for electronic communication, the result will be more accurate.
• Let the customer know if you are having difficulty understanding them
• If communicating via telephone, moderate the pace of the conversation to accommodate the customer
• If communicating via telephone, switch to writing
• If using e-mail, web chat, or within an online community support, use standard English—no slang, acronyms, or abbreviations
• Encourage the customer to ask for clarification throughout the conversation
• Kindly ask the customer to rephrase his/ her question/response and paraphrase back to the customer to confirm understanding

ITProTV

• Tips to Improve Verbal and Written Communication Skills | Beyond Tech (5:29)
• 10 Tips to Improve Interpersonal Communication Skills | Beyond Tech (5:25)
• Tips to Improve Body Language | Beyond Tech (5:08)
• How to Communicate with End-Users | How to Get Started in IT Show (7:09)
• IT Soft Skills: Speaking Confidently | How to Get Started in IT Show (7:09)

Effective Cross Cultural Communication 101 (4:06). A short video with five tips for improving cross-cultural or intercultural communication.

Grammarly is a free browser plug-in that reviews your writing and suggests improvements, even in online forms.

WebFX.com, formerly Read-able, is an online tool that will evaluate the readability of your writing, whether it’s a website or text you enter directly into the site.

Cliche Finder is a simple online tool that can help students analyze their own writing for their use of cliches.

Word processing tools, whether standalone or online, usually include grammar and spelling tools that can improve your writing. Did you ever notice those squiggly lines in a Word document or Google Doc? They’re telling you to check on what you’ve written. Sometimes the automated suggestions aren’t appropriate, but generally they are worth investigating as they can help improve your spelling and grammar.

• How to check grammar, spelling, and more in multiple versions of Word.
• Check your spelling & grammar in Google Docs whether you are using a computer or mobile device.