Supportive communication is a very important aspect of both
personal and professional communication. On a professional level, communication with
colleagues should be handled so that both sides feel as though their feelings
about an issue are validated and addressed appropriately. The guidelines in the
textbook can be helpful in many ways. The bulk of the contact that I have with
faculty members is via email. However, there are times when I speak to faculty members
on the phone, as well. When instructors call me, they usually have a problem
with the training materials and are looking to have the issue handled quickly
and clearly.
The first step for me when fielding a call is to determine
what type of counseling to give to instructors. I need to be able to describe
or restate the issue so that they know I am listening and understand their
needs. Focusing on the problem rather than what the person’s skills are is also
important. For example, many of the issues that my colleague and I are
confronted with are related to technology. Sometimes the problem is user error;
however, focusing on that aspect of the issue doesn’t solve the problem and it
can actually make it worse. Instead I have to explain how to resolve the
problem clearly enough so that it doesn’t happen again. Along with being
descriptive and problem-oriented, it is also necessary to validate the
statements that the instructors are making. By the time they call one of us,
they are usually frustrated and feeling anxiety over their decision to go
through our training. Making sure that the other person feels respected and
understood can go a long way to promoting successful two-way communication.
When providing solutions to problems that are presented to
me, it is imperative that I am specific in my responses. I want to be sure that
the faculty member has a clear solution to the problem at hand that will allow
him or her to complete the process. Detailing the exact steps that the faculty
member can take in order to proceed is important to the success of our program
and their certification. Included in providing clear resolutions is the
importance of taking ownership of the materials and solutions that I provide.
Instructors are busy people, like the rest of us, and want to be sure that they
can trust the information that you are providing for them.
Finally, I think that all of the steps mentioned above are
part of supportive listening. Although I am not looking these instructors in
the eye, I need to be sure that, in addition to providing assistance to them, I
listen to them attentively and supportively. I do my best to make the faculty
members I work with happy…and that makes me happy, too.
As I mentioned previously, I have a colleague that I work
with who has the same responsibilities that I do. We use supportive
communication with each other, too. We talk through issues that faculty present
to us to evaluate if there is anything we can do to improve. We help each
other, listen to each other, and counsel each other so that, as a team, we can
be successful.
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