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Career Development Skills & Workshops

Management Modules Team Communication Skills

Employee name: Pub:

1 Development Skills & Workshops/MNGT/Team Communications

Career Development Skills & Workshops

The skills and knowledge you will gain:

Short training activities to carry out with your teams.

Introduction

To engage with customers our team need to have great communication skills. And these skills are not all about talking or having a detailed knowledge of the menu. Reading a customer as they enter the restaurant, managing and meeting a customer’s expectations or simply making that lone diner feel safe and comfortable when they enter the pub can all be done using effective communication skills. However, the importance of strong Internal communication is often overlooked and sometimes forgotten. For the team to work harmoniously together clear and effective communication skills matter equally as much as if dealing with a customer. As a manager it’s important to carry out regular on-going training to build on what the team will have already learnt during their Core Team module M14 “Great Customer Conversations” and also refresh their knowledge and focus. What to expect:

This workbook contains two training sessions you can use to refresh your teams focus on the value of communication skills.

There are two activities to choose from; ideally use one per session to keep the refresh training engaging and focused.

How to get the best out of the training session:

Make sure you are prepared for the group training by having all the materials to hand that you need e.g. paper, pens, flip chart.

Allow enough time to carry out the session. Choose a suitable place to hold the session with no external distractions. Arrange the room in a u shape rather than rows so everyone can see you and each other. Prepare your intro and a 10 minute refresher by using the refresh material within this workbook or by

viewing M14 for information. Choose one of the group activities within this work book to add into the session. Make sure you have

read it through so you can deliver it with confidence.

Remember out team value … “Preparation is the key. Always prepare for success.”

Team Communication Skills


Communication skills - refresher training

Welcome the team warmly and introduce the training session…

Tell them… “All of you will have completed the GCC module during your training period. Today’s session starts with a quick refresher of what we learnt about the ways in which we communicate.” There are three main ways we communicate with one another: Body Language, Listening Skills and Verbal Skills Ask them…“Can you give me some examples of positive verbal communication skills you have used at work today or recently?” Listen for examples such as:

1. Using customer’s names when seating or greeting them.

2. Saying Hello from the pass and engaging in conversation when customers walk past.

3. Heads up acknowledgement – welcoming customers even if they are not in your section.

4. Using the correct tone and pitch of voice and the appropriate language. “Non-verbal communication is used all the time. Can you think of some ways you have communicated so far today using non-verbal communication skills?” Listen for examples such as:

1. Nodding a head to say hello across the road.

2. Raising a hand to say thank you to the car driver who let you across the road or the delivery driver who left the veg delivery.

3. Waving goodbye.

4. Holding a door open and smiling with a hand gesture to let someone through the door before you.

5. Smiling at the customer entering the pub whilst you are serving and talking to another customer.


State that … “In module 14 Good Customer Communication skills we talked about using listening skills when engaging with our customers. “ “But we also need to have good and accurate listening skills when we work together as a team to deliver a great service or customer experience.” We use listening skills all the time; Ask… “Can you give me some examples?” Listen for: at work, at home, in the car, in the supermarket, to answer the telephone … practically all the time. How much do we really hear? And how often do we take the time to double check what we think we have heard is in fact correct? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Activities

Choose one of the following activities to bolt onto your training session.

The Goldilocks activity Managers notes: This activity takes 30 minutes Materials you will need:

Flip chart, paper and pens, pens and paper for all trainees

A copy of the Goldilocks story

A copy of the statements and answers

A small prize for the winner Introduce the activity to the group… “The purpose of this activity is to assess the teams listening skills and to illustrate the dangers of making assumptions. I’m now going to read you a story…” Step 1 - Read the story. Step 2 – After reading the story hand out a piece of paper and a pen to each person. Step 3 - Read out the statements provided on pg. 5 to the group asking them to write down if they think each one is true or false. Step 4 – Ask the team members to swap their answer papers with one another. Read the first statement and ask for a show of hands for those who think it is true. Ask one of the team who thought it was true why they thought this? Ask a team member who thought it was false why they thought this? Explain that the statement is NOT TRUE. Run through the rest of the statements, providing the answers. Discuss reasons for mistakes as you go along. NB – at some point during the session it is likely that someone will refer to the baby bear as “He”. Ask them why they assume that baby bear is a “He” – it doesn’t say that he is male in the story.


Goldilocks – The story One day Goldilocks decided to go for a walk in the forest. Pretty soon she came upon a house. She knocked on the door and when no-one answered, she walked right in. At the kitchen table Goldilocks saw some bowls of porridge. Goldilocks was hungry. She tasted the porridge from the first bowl. "This porridge is too hot!" she exclaimed. So she tasted the porridge from the second bowl. "This porridge is too cold." she said. So she tasted the porridge in the next bowl. "This porridge is just right," she said happily and she tucked into it. After she had eaten her fill of porridge she decided she felt a little tired so she walked into the next room where she saw some chairs. Goldilocks sat in the first chair to rest her feet. "This chair is too big!" she exclaimed. So she sat in the second chair. "This chair is really too big!" she cried. So she tried the smallest chair. "Ah, this chair is just right!" she sighed. But as she settled into it, it broke into tiny pieces. Goldilocks was very tired by this time so she went to the bedroom. She lay on the first bed but it was too hard. She lay on the second bed but it was too soft. Then she lay on the third bed. It was just right. Goldilocks fell asleep. While she was sleeping the three bears came home. "Someone's been eating my porridge!" said Papa Bear. "Someone's been eating my porridge!" said Mama Bear. "Someone's been eating my porridge too!" cried Baby Bear. "Someone's been sitting in my chair!" growled Papa Bear. "Someone's been sitting in my chair!" said Mama Bear. "Someone's been sitting in my chair," cried Baby Bear, "and they have broken in all to bits!" The bears decided to look around some more and when they got to the bedroom Papa bear growled "Someone's been sleeping in my bed!" "Someone's been sleeping in my bed too!" said Mama Bear. "Someone's been sleeping in my bed and she's still there!" cried Baby bear. Goldilocks woke up and when she saw the bears she jumped up and ran out of the room. Goldilocks ran downstairs, opened the door and ran away into the forest.


Goldilocks Activity - Statements and Answers Step 3 - Read out the statements 1 – 12 first. Step 4 – Refer to the notes under step 4 before reading the answers to the group

STATEMENTS ANSWERS

1. Goldilocks was a little girl. False – The story does not mention either Goldilocks age or physical size.

2. Goldilocks knocked on the door before entering the house.

True

3. The bears had porridge for breakfast. False – we don’t know if the porridge was for breakfast and we don’t know if the bears ate what was left.

4. Papa Bear’s porridge was too hot. False – We only know that the first bowl of porridge that Goldilocks tried was too hot. We don’t know whos porridge it was.

5. There were three bears.

True

6. Goldilocks ate all of the porridge in one bowl. False – The story says she ate her fill which may or may not mean the whole bowl.

7. There were three chairs in the lounge. False – we don’t know that the next room was the lounge or how many chairs were in the room. The story says there were some chairs.

8. Goldilocks broke the baby bear’s chair.

True

9. Goldilocks went upstairs to the bedroom. True – When the bears discovered Goldilocks in the bedroom she ran down stairs.

10. Mama Bear’s bed was too soft. False – we know it was the second bed but we don’t know whose bed this was.

11. When Goldilocks saw the bears she was frightened.

False – we don’t know that she was frightened. She might have been feeling guilty or ashamed!

12. Goldilocks ran off into the forest.

True


Paper folding activity

Managers notes: This activity takes 15 minutes Materials you will need:

Sheets of A3 or A4 size paper, preferably not too thick.

The team members may wish to use a table top when carrying out this activity.

Introduce the session…”The purpose of this activity is to assess your listening skills and to illustrate how as

individuals we don’t always here or interpret the same details.”

Give everyone a sheet of paper.

Tell everyone… “Now please close your eyes. Listen carefully and follow my instructions. I will not be able to

repeat any instruction but will give you time to complete the task”

Start giving the following instructions about what to do with the piece of paper… only say the instruction once.

1. fold the paper in half

2. fold the right edge over to meet the left edge

3. turn the paper 90 degrees to the left

4. fold it again

5. rip a half-circle in the middle of the right side

6. rip a half circle on the top edge of the page

7. rotate the paper by 45 degrees

Tell everyone to open their eyes and look at their paper and open it up.

Even though they all received the same instructions and had the same starting material, pretty much everyone

will have a different result.

Get every team member to show their paper creation.

Ask the group “why do you think there are so many variations given you all followed the same instructions?”

Listen and look for:

1.We didn’t all start with the same base (some held their piece of paper vertically or horizontally) so we don’t all

have the same results

2.Some interpreted to rip a piece of paper as removing a big piece, some as a small piece

3. Having eyes closed means that that we couldn’t pick up the skill or steps to complete the task easily.

4. Not receiving any feedback throughout the task on our performance or how we are doing didn’t help us.

5. Some instructions may have appeared vague to some and clearer to others which give different results.


Wrap up the training session

Recap by talking about:

1. The importance of using good clear communication skills when working within the team to allow efficient and effective team work especially during busy challenging shifts.

2. Making sure your communication is polite and understood – remember those new to the team may still

be in training so demonstrating instructions helps affirm what they are hearing.

3. Remember assumptions can be dangerous and not always accurate – some people may look like they are more than fine under pressure but don’t assume they wouldn’t value a helping hand.

4. If you can’t remember that detail given out in brief then double check, no one got hurt for asking a question twice but taking a guess or assuming could be detrimental.

Well-done! All that is left is to complete is the questions below and discuss your answers with your General Manager.

Refresh Training Mop Up

Overall how do you think the training session went? How did you prepare for the training session today? What did you observe when watching the team work through the activity? Were there any obstacles you faced during the session? What do you feel you could improve on when running a similar session?

General Managers Comments: Operations Manager Comments:

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