Communication and Pyramidal Communication Flashcards
What is the purpose of pyramidal communication & visualization?
to impart information in a targeted and efficient manner based on the central message.
What is the objective of pyramidal communication & visualization?
The “pyramid principle” represents an expedient approach to effective and efficient communication
The “central message” is to be found at the beginning of the communication process
The recipient thus receives an overview of the content to come at the beginning, which enables him/her to remember it better and to place it within the overall context
What are the 4 phases of successful communication planning/
- Problem definition and solution
- Plan communication
- Develop a story
- plan/implement visulization
What is the communication structure for a TOS project?
Steering committee, extended project team, project team
What is the order of the meetings that should be conducted from daily to every 3-5 weeks?
- Lean Consultant core team
- Project team
- extended project team
- Steering committee
Who participates in the steering committee?
• head of MPS/TOS office • project manager • Lean Consultant
Who is part of the daily project team meeting?
Participants are: • Employees of the department • Project manager • Junior Lean Consultant • Senior Lean Consultant
What is the main task of a SCM?
• Making project-related decisions
What is phase 1 of successful communication planning?
Problem definition/solution
- clarify task and define problem
- keep an eye out for possible solutions
- Make decisions in favor of a solution
What is phase 2 of successful communication planning?
Plan communication
- go through checklist of communication planning
What is phase 3 of successful communication planning?
Develop the story
- use pyramid principle for structuing the messages
What is phase 4 of successful communication planning?
Storyboard for planning diagrams and principles of diagram design
In what order do you plan a successful communication?
- You consider the problem definition /solution.
- You plan the communication.
- You develop the story.
- You plan / implementthe visualization
Logical group
CI Training develops and offers inspiring learning experiences. Those experiences can be made in face-to-face-trainings, e-learnings or trainings in virtual reality
Logical chain
• The walkin distance at station 23 can be reduced by 50%. We analysed the assemblyl workers in both shifs, considered the standard TOS + principles and based on that designed a solution for improvement.
What are the 4 success factors of diagram design for conveying information in < 20 sec?
- One statement per diagram
- Statement and content fit together
- Graphical style is consistent and unique in each diagram
- Legibility is guaranteed
What is a dialogue?
A dialogue is a spoken or written conversation between two or more persons.
The contents can be information/knowledge, a stance/opinion or small-talk.
It is a synergy of gestures, facial expressions and voice and affected by
- -emotions/state of mind/posture of the involved persons
- -their relationship
- -context (e.g. workplace, politics, private conversation)
What is the 4-sides model of communication?
Communication model to describe how misunderstandings occur.
Every message has four aspects.
Depending on the sender and the receiver one aspect is emphasized but it might not be the same for each of them.
This is how misunderstandings occur.
What are the 4 aspects of the 4-sides model?
- Factual Info
- Self-Revelation
- Appeal
- Relationship
What is factual information in the 4-sides model?
Factual information are facts and figures.
The receiver checks the message for criteria of truth (true/false), relevance (relevant/irrelevant) and sufficiency (sufficient/insufficient). Is the relationship between the sender and receiver in order, this works fine.
What are three ways to send a message with factual information?
- remain factual
- speak in a way that is easy to comprehend
- listen “analytically”
What is self-revelation in the 4-sides model?
Every statement contains conscious and intentional self-presentation and unconscious and involuntary self-revelation at the same time.
Every message can be used as interpretation about the sender’s personality.
How would you send a message of self-revelation?
- use I-messages
- express your own opinion
- clarify intentions/objectives
What is appeal in the 4-sides model?
If somebody voices a statement they usually want to achieve something.
With a message of appeal the sender wants the receiver to do or refrain from doing something, openly or subtly.
Requests are open whereas hidden requests are considered manipulation.
The receiver always asks themself: “What am I supposed to think, do or feel?”
How would you send a message of appeal?
- argue convincingly
- ask questions
- do not manipulate
What is relationship in the 4-sides model?
The relationship side indicates how the sender and receiver relate to each other and how they value each other.
The sender is able to show appreciation, respect, sympathy, indifferencce and scorn towards the receiver - by phrasing, body language and tone of voice.
Depending on what the receiver perceives on the relationship side they feel accepted or degraded or respected or patronized.
How would you send a message of relationship?
- listen actively
- address feelings directly
- give and receive feedback
What are open questions?
Open-ended questions that cannot be answered with yes and no
**Open questions are just one of the different concepts of question techniques you can apply in your work as a consultant.
When asking questions, what are the 3 different perspectives?
Past, present, and future
What are rational questions?
Questions around facts
ex. What has happened? What should happen in the future?
What are emotional questions?
Emotional/ feelings; better understand partners and stakeholders and their relationship
ex. Who is to blame? What do I wish for in the future?
What are examples of past questions?
Why did the last project fail?
What happened in the last project?
What are examples of present questions?
Who is the project lead?
Why should we do the project now?
What are examples of future questions?
How will you measure the success of the project?
What will change after the project?
What does it mean to funnel questions?
Funnel questioning helps to narrow down a problem by specifying the issue.
- First, ask general questions that help you to name the problem or to reveal goals and questions.
- Step by step scrutinize by asking more specific questions. Examine also small details.
- The more information and details of an issue you inquire the easier it is to understand the problem and find a solution for it.
The questioning funnel only contains open questions. Asking w-questions is a good start.
What questions should be asked first? Put the questions in an order from very open to very detailed.
- What is the problem?
- What was done so far?
- How should the problem be analyzed?
- Who needs to be involved?
- Is he/her already informed about working with us?
What are the 11 types of open-ended questions?
- outcome oriented questions
- Questions about relevant context
- Defining the problem or the plan of action
- Rating questions
- Exception questions
- Hypothetical solution-oriented questions
- circular solution-oriented questions
- resource-oriented questions
- problem-escalation questions/status quo questions
- survival questions
- alternative-oriented questions
Outcome-oriented questions are?
Clarifying objectives, interim outcomes and the task
hat would be a good outcome for you from this discussion?
Imagine we have concluded the discussion and you have the impression: “That was a useful discussion!” – how will you/others realize this?
What needs to have happened here?
What would be an initial sign of a positive development for you/others?
What could be contributed to this today?
What are the most important objectives? Are they compatible?
What are the objectives (values) behind the objectives?
Who is involved, who is affected?
What other impacts does achieving the objectives have?
Questions about relevant context are?
Here, the focus is on the surrounding environment, which can have an indirect effect even if it has no direct influence.
Who else here is still interested in the outcomes?
Let’s imagine I ask X what he wishes to come out of this discussion, what would he say?
What would need to happen here today in order for X come out of the discussion satisfied?
Defining the problem or the plan of action questions are?
Clarify the plan and explain the issue with the previous (problem) circumstances.
What is of key importance? Is this a move away from a bad situation or, hopefully, a move towards a situation that will be better?
You say, X is … What does X do (where, when, how, with whom), for you to characterize his behavior in this way? How do others see it? Who views it differently?
What explanations are there for this?
When was the last time that you reached a mutually satisfactory agreement?
What is the difference between the situation now and the situation then?
Rating questions are?
Rating questions offer a scale for measuring changes.
Let us assume that ‘zero’ is the situation before the project and ‘ten’ would mean the problem has been solved. What’s our score today?
Who agrees with that score? Who would give us a different score?
Exception questions are?
Exception questions make it clear that there are context-dependent differences at this stage already.
When was the last time it was slightly different / better / worse?
What was different then?
When was the last time the score was higher than it is at present?
Who did something differently then and how?
What else was different?
What impact did that have?
How can others recognize this?
What do the others involved do in this case and how? With what impact?
Who would have to do what, so as to ensure it happens more often?
Hypothetical questions are?
Expand
Hypothetical questions are the most constructivist questions. You ‘play’ with the possibilities.
magine you would decide to react differently next time, what impact would that have?
What would need to happen for X to be prepared to react differently?
What would he do/say/think then?
Who would be most likely to notice that?
Circular solution-oriented questions are?
Here the focus is on how the interaction of two participants impacts on a third.
How would your supervisor react if you were to decide to take matters that concern you into your own hands?
Who would be most surprised of your decision?
If you and Mr. X were to decide to cooperate with each other, what impact would this have on your team colleagues?
How would your line manager notice this? How would he react?
Resource oriented questions are?
Resource questions relate to the available skills that could be used for the solution.
What are you good at?
What content and solution patterns can you transfer?
What needs to remain as it is? What would you like to preserve?
What available skills can you use now?
Problem escalation questions are?
Problem-escalation questions assume that a person who is able to escalate something is part of the stabilizing feedback loop and is therefore not without influence.
What would you / would X need to do for the situation to get worse?
Imagine the situation is to remain as it is now, what would things be like in one year’s time?
Survival questions are?
Survival questions look for ‘the good in the bad’, in other words, the hidden win in the current situation.
How have you previously dealt with this problem?
What was helpful? What was not helpful?
How did you manage to prevent the problem from becoming much more worse?
Was it perhaps even a good thing that the problem came up?
What would be different if the problem were resolved?
What difference would that make?
Alternative-oriented questions are?
Alternative-oriented questions offers two opportunities.
What do you prefer, option A or B?
Who would be a better fit for the project, John or Sarah?
Who are the main players within communication?
The sender and the receiver
When sending a message, you are responsible for what two parts of the communication?
Content and quality
To achieve this you should structure your message in a way so
- it is tailored to the receiver
- -the receiver gets the key message right from the start
–in a short time
What is the pyramid principle?
Triangle:
Top- main message/conclusion
Middle- Analysis
Bottom- Single statements or arguments
What are the benefits of the pyramid principle?
- People have a short attention span, so it is good to say what you want to say before they start asking questions
- Very easy to follow your logic
- Keeps the audience focused on the most interesting areas
What is the rule of three?
People remember three things better and for longer.
- Your argument gets their attention and is memorable
- You are forced to choose the three most important reasons
- You sound more structured, confident and decisive when you speak
Active listening is about?
understanding how the sender is feeling or what their message is saying.
How do you achieve active listening?
- build trust
- get the dialogue partner to think and talk
- analyze problems
- understand the dialogue partner’s point of view
- listen and show appreciation
Why is active listening important?
- It builds trust
- It show appreciation to the sender
- I can show that I understand the sender
How do you apply active listening?
- I look at the other person
- I make a sounds that shows I understand the sender
- I make sure I understand correctly by repeating the main fact with my own words
- I nod occasionally
What is non-verbal communication?
These are messages that you transmit with your body.
What are some basic non-verbal rules for a consultant?
- Display friendly and open facial expressions and physical gestures
- Stand facing the people listening
- Maintain eye-contect with the listeners
- Speak clearly and at the appropriate volume
- Stand still
** following the rules will …avoid irritation of your partners
…make sure to be regarded as a competent and trustful partner
A good presentation is made up of what four elements?
- Preparation
- Applying pyramidal communication and proper visualization in presentations
- First impression
- Oral presentation techniques
What are the 5 phases of a TOS project?
- Prepare
- Diagnose
- Implement
- Stabilize
- Rollout
Why is pyramidal communication important for you in the Steering Committee?
- Steering committee needs to get the key messages with all the needed facts in an effiecient way
- Devlop story
What are the questions you should ask yourself in order to plan a storyline?
What is your Main Message of the presentation, what do you want to deliver or what do you want to achieve with the presentation?
What decisions are needed to go ahead with the project?
What information does the management need to come to a decision? Which data is required to support this arguments? What Analyzes have I done to prove the data?
How can I design the storyline to support the decision making process?
What is the purpose of the 1st Steering Committee?
to show the results of the diagnose phase, recommend improvement steps and get decisions
How do you treat data in your presentation for the Steering Committee?
I support the decision making process by presenting relevant data in a simple and smart way.
“So What” boxes are used for?
describe concisely what the statement of a picture is
It summarizes what is shown in the picture.
synthesizing and gives a clear statement.
A good “So What” entails which 3 characteristics?
- What’s the most important
take-away? - What are the root causes?
- What’s the implication?
How would you structure the “so what” box using the logical chain?
- situation
- complication
- question
- answer
Before choosing a chart, what shoudl you ask yourself first?
"What do I want to show?" Comparison? Distribution? Composition? Relationship?
**The right Chart will help you to communicate your data very quickly
Your Audience should be able to understand what you want to tell them in how many seconds?
1 second
What are the 4 main categories for smart visualization?
- Action titles
- Design
- Content
- Organization
Where do I get the Steering Committee templates?
LeanWiki
