Sloan Course: "Communication for Managers"
The MIT OpenCourseWare site recently added materials for a Sloan School of Management course in Communication for Managers, taught by Neal Hartman during the Fall 2008 semester.Though the materials are not complete — lecture notes for nine of the fourteen class meetings are missing — there are a number of items that anyone interested in this particular skill area will find helpful, even if only as a refresher.
I'd suggest starting with the notes for the course wrap-up (pdf), which provide an overview of the principles Hartman emphasizes in the course:
- Four types of leadership:
- Visioning.
- Relating.
- Inventing.
- Sensemaking.
- How to do a situation analysis as the basis for devising a communication strategy:
- Define your purpose.
- Analyze your audience.
- Assess your credibility.
- Analyze the cultural context.
- Factors to consider in deciding on your communication strategy:
- Managerial style — distinguished in terms of writer/speaker control and the degree of audience involvement.
- Structure of the communication — direct statement of your main points or recommendation, followed by rationale vs. indirect approach that begins with subsidiary points or with arguments that set the stage for your recommendation.
- Content.
- Communication channel.
- Robert Cialdini's six principles of persuasion:
- Liking — People are inclined to say yes to requests of a person they know and like.
- Reciprocity — People repay in kind.
- Social proof — People follow the lead of others who are similar to them.
- Consistency — In response to personal and interpersonal pressure, people tend to follow through on their clear commitments.
- Authority — People defer to experts.
- Scarcity — Opportunities seem more valuable when their availability is limited.
- The Minto Pyramid (see graphic below, which you can click to enlarge) is a good device for organizing your ideas when you are recommending a change of some sort.
- Principles of effective design of visual aids:
- Consistency in formatting.
- Appropriate titles.
- Purposeful use of color and special effects.
- Clear and uncluttered layout.
- Principles of effective document design:
- Use of subheads to show structure.
- Use of lists to highlight important and conceptually parallel information.
- Use of white space to highlight material and to create transitions through indenting, columns, and lines.
- In-text highlighting of key words and phrases.
- Use of tables and graphs to make evidence more legible.
- Principles of effective cover letters for resumes.
- Importance of awareness of values and perceptions that differentiate cultures around the world.
- Developing your ability to listen actively.
Labels: Communication, Documentation, Hiring and getting hired, Leadership, Learning resources, Persuasion, Upward influence
posted by Karen Nelson @ 11:09 PM
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