Communicating through technology

Welcome to this training package from Global Integration, specialists in people management in complex, matrix, virtual and global organizations.

As organizations become larger and more complex, more communication has to be done through technology rather than face to face. Communication technologies are essential to any complex organization but how well they are used can make a huge difference to our effectiveness and satisfaction with communication.

This package is about taking control of the communication technologies we use every day. It will help you choose and use the right technologies for the right task in the way you communicate. It will also stimulate a team meeting discussion on the way you use these technologies in your team.

These tools should help you to reduce the volume and improve the quality of communication through technology.

This package will take you through a two-part process.

1. Choosing the right technology for the right task – will introduce a framework for distinguishing between the technologies and what they are good – and bad – for. We will explore how we select, combine and escalate between different forms of communication technology. You can use this framework to build a communication plan based on which technologies are most effective for a range of your team communication tasks.
2. Using the technologies effectively – in this section we will explore principles and practices for the effective use of each of the communication technologies that we use every day. Some of these you will recognise: the challenge is in applying them in a disciplined way across the team.

Applying this methodology will improve the way your virtual team uses these common tools.

In each part of the package you will have access to either a video or podcast giving information about the concepts and tools and exercises to work through for your team.

The content in the podcasts and videos are the same: they are provided in different formats as some countries and organizations do not allow access to YouTube, which hosts the videos. The podcasts may be listened to live on this site or downloaded to your computer or MP3 device for your personal use only.

Do this now:

Before listening to the first video or podcast please download and print off a copy of the participant log by clicking here (.PDF file). You will need a copy of this in front of you as you access the video or podcast as we refer to this document throughout.

Please read the introduction on Pages 3 to 5 of the participant’s log before you progress any further.

PART ONE – Choosing the right technology the right task

After downloading the participants guide above and reading the introduction, please either watch the video by clicking the link below, which will take you to YouTube. or listen to the podcast below. They run for approximately 11 minutes.

If you cannot access YouTube then you will find the same content as a podcast (Communication Through Technology – Part 1, below) that you can listen to live on this site or download to your own computer, or any device that can play MP3 files. Note: for your personal use only.

Please complete the exercises in these materials before moving on to Part 2.

PART TWO  – Using the technologies effectively.

After you have completed the exercises in Part 1, please turn to page 11 of your participant’s log before watching the second five-minute video or podcast content below.

Again, if you cannot access YouTube, you can get the same content in the podcast, Communication Through Technology – Part 2, below

Please complete the exercises in these materials as you view the video or listen to the podcast.

Please prepare and take your ideas along to the meeting or call scheduled by your manager to discuss this topic.

THE PODCASTS

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Good luck applying these ideas – all of the value is in the implementation! We love to hear your comments, questions and experiences of applying these materials. Please leave us a comment below – we will always respond. You can also contact us direct at admin@www.global-integration.com

Copyright- the PDFs, video and audio materials are copyright Global Integration and are only for use by people who have purchased a  license for their use. Please respect our copyright by not circulating links or these materials to anyone who has not purchased a license. If you think these materials would be useful to a colleagu,e please ask them to contact admin@www.global-integration.com for details on how to use this package.