Learning Objectives

• Explain the critical nature of effective communication skills and how they affect professional relationships;
• Develop the skills necessary to handle difficult conversations with multiple stakeholders; and
• Identify approaches that can be used to inform, educate, and drive productive conversations.

Description
Effective dialogue is one of the single most important activities of leaders today. Whether confronting a team member who is not keeping commitments, critiquing a colleague’s work, or telling someone “no,” critical conversations are often avoided or handled in clumsy ways. The role of communications is to provide the right type of communication at the right time to the right audience. This self-paced 3-hour module details the key communications skills, approaches, and tools needed to inform, educate, and drive the relevant opinions and behaviors. It will provide the theory underpinning these conversations, diagram their structure, and provide specific strategies for approaching them successfully. Earn 3 CEUs or 3 annual training hours for USDA Professional Standards upon completion of the module.