Communications and interpersonal skills

The following 3 techniques are invaluable for your work and personal lives-

 Appropriate Self-Disclosure

I was introduced to and practised appropriate self-disclosure in a Psychology subject. You will find in a new relationship if you reveal a little bit of you (provided it is appropriate)the other party will reveal a little bit of them(provided it is appropriate), if you then reveal a little bit more of you(provided it is appropriate) they will reveal a little bit more of them (provided it is appropriate), and so the cycle goes on. This is very simple, incredibly effective and I use it all the time to build relationships. Of course if you really hang all your dirty washing out it will probably stuff up the process.

 Reflective Listening

On a counselling subject I was introduced to and practised reflective listening. This is a very powerful technique to get to the core beliefs of those around you. Someone says something, you may say “If I understand you properly you think x” ,this gives the other party the opportunity to expand on their view or “Correct me if I am wrong but I think you are saying y”  I suggest everybody reads up on this technique, it can make your life much easier.

 Reflective Journal

When I did my Bachelor of Education (Adult & Workplace Education) we had to do a reflective journal on the placements we did in company’s doing practical learning work, when I did the assessment to be admitted to Chartered Fellow of the Safety Institute of Australia I had to do a reflective journal for 3 months on my work experience, I am involved in a adventure-based training program for “at risk” youth and the young people have to do a reflective journal and I have maintained a personal reflective journal for the last 8 years.

One of the prime ways adults learn is through critical reflection and the reflective journal is ideally suited to this. To write the journal you describe what happened or what you or others did and then critically reflect on what went well and what opportunities for improvement were presented. This can be a very powerful personal learning tool. Generally the mere act of writing down your thoughts on most things helps you to clarify those thoughts.

Look the above 3 techniques up on the internet, they can make quite a difference to you life.

There will be times others do things that annoy you, often they will have what they think are good reasons for what they are doing and they will have no idea they are annoying you. A good formula for these situations is to express your feelings as follows-

“When you A, I feel B, because C, and I would like you to do D, because E”

The only person who knows how you feel is you and most people will not know how you feel and  many will be happy to adjust their behaviour accordingly. I this does not happen at least you have the basis for ongoing discussion. This is a very powerful technique!