Communication is very important in all aspects -- to address a problem, to make clarification, to build relationships and for a hundred other reasons. But communication won’t be successful if we don’t communicate effectively. That, precisely, is what we addressed during one of the series of trainings at KSearch, one of the leading executive recruitment firms in the Philippines.

KSearch employees attended a whole day workshop facilitated by Ms. Balma Nandwani of Optimized Solutions Training.  Entitled Effective Listening and Communicating Skills Workshop, the training was designed to unblock the communication barriers that hamper most of us and to replace them with active listening and communicating skills.

The program was divided into five modules. The first module was about Building Interpersonal Relations. In this module, Ms. Nandwani discussed how our values and beliefs affect our communication and what causes the communication barriers. After the module, most of us were enlightened that communication barriers were, in most cases, the reasons that cause failure in communication.  Assuming too much even before knowing enough about a situation is one example of what causes a communication barrier. It is better to pose the right questions first before proceeding.

The second module was about the Art of Asking Questions. In this module, we appreciated it as akin to the Targeted Selection Methodology that we are already practicing. It was emphasized here that if you ask the right question, you would get the right information. The difference of asking open-ended questions versus the close-ended questions was also discussed, as well as the art of probing.

In the third module, Listening Skills was covered.  A skill that is often ignored, Ms. Nandwani emphasized how effective listening becomes a key to establishing the rapport with those you are discussing with.  In this module, she covered the typical barriers to being able to listen well, including, among others, our tendency to mentally formulate our questions even as the other party is still talking.

In the fourth module, it was about Communicating Clearly. Ms. Nandwani discussed the difference between active listening versus deep listening. She also shared information on how to “deep listen” and ways how to deep-listen. We realized in this module that we should even push ourselves to listen and be tightly focused on what is being said to us.

The last module was about Setting Our Listening Goal. It was discussed here how your mind can be your enemy or your friend in different instances.  She challenged us to be honest with ourselves by admitting to ourselves as to how we stack up in terms of listening skills and what we can do to improve ourselves.

Overall, the workshop jolted us to a self-realization on how we have taken for granted something so critical as listening effectively to be able to communicate effectively.  She added that its importance cannot be overemphasized especially for a consulting service company that we are.

Ms. Nandwani, true to character, was so competent with her topic and always thoroughly engaging.  It was a very productive Saturday for us who were there. Indeed, there is no substitute to communicating and listening effectively.