We brought back the series of meetings titled “Effective communication and well-being at work”. This is a follow up of Public Speaking sessions from 2021, where we learnt to prepare and deliver speeches and improved our improvisation skills in Table Topics and Social Role Play games.

How do we express ourselves so the other person takes away the right message we intended? We would like to explore together the means of communications in sessions through the form of fun activities and games, in combination with exciting speeches and speech evaluations. Which is why we have put together a blog that keeps you updated in case you have missed it.

6^th Part – 18^th of May with Ana Coutinho 

Ana Coutinho hosted a discussion about Relationship vs Ego – the practical side of the conflict

What is Ego? What is a Relationship? Why and how can people mess things up with one another? What can influence your judgement towards others? Our preconceptions and attitude guide the development of a conversation. What is the goal of the conversation and how do we deliver the right message?
These are few of the core questions of the meeting. Ana Coutinho touched upon the topic with a brief introduction, then explored it in an engaging discussion and through hands-on exercises with our DevAiders.

5^th Part – 4^th of May with Valentina Rusnac

Valentina Rusnac gave a speech about informal and relational function of communication when it comes to cross-cultural differences.

How our past and globalization affects our everyday communication at work, learn to distinguish and deal with individualistic vs collectivistic approaches, let’s talk real-life situations that happened and become better at communicating.

4^th Part – 20^th of April with Andrian Moraresco

Andrian Moraresco gave a speech on “How a group of dedicated Moldovan citizens can build a 2 million lei road”.

sharing his personal experience in achieving personal goals through a successful communication. Decisiveness, persistence, flexibility but also being able to give before asking are some of the takeaways from the story we heard.

3^rd Part – 6^th of April with Anya Coutinho

Anya Coutinho gave a speech about the Power of Compassion

Compassion and empathy are natural to people. Making them visible to others can turn our interaction easier and help to understand each other better, in critical situations.  Feeling angry, anxious, or blaming someone for something are mere expressions of unmet needs such as for example need for connection, autonomy, or trust. Hearing these feelings as a call for help can be the first step towards solving the situation as well as learning how to develop a relationship based on trust with less or no frictions at all.

2^nd Part – 23^rd of March with Anastasia Pendus

Anastasia Pendus gave a speech about efficient Online Corporate Communication.

Communication face-to-face is very convenient as we can use our innate skills to send non-verbal cues, with the volume of our voice or body language, but how do we effectively correspond in the online medium?  Online communication is so convenient, offering us the possibility to communicate with anyone from anywhere, anytime.

To help people, adapt to communicate more efficiently online in the corporate medium, here are some tips:

1. Online Communication Tools
   1. The subject of the email must be relevant and it is often used for generalizing the overall tone and aim of the correspondence.
   2. For quick and urgent communication, it is advised to use Microsoft Teams to address a separate employee or a group of employees.
   3. When the topic​ is more challenging, a virtual meeting via Microsoft Teams is a convenient place to discuss complex matters.
2. Following Digital Etiquette
   1. Being polite and friendly is as important as ever. It is important that everyone feels safe and welcome.
   2. Respect everyone’s time and privacy, and do not call or send messages on holidays, weekends, or late at night. If you must do not expect an immediate reply.   ​
3. Using Clear and Concise Language
   1. Improving grammar, sentence structure, and overall writing skills is very important. ​
   2. Structure long messages for a better understanding. It is critical that you compose the information in a way that will be comfortable to read. ​
   3. Avoid jargon with people who do not understand it.
   4. Avoid sarcasm especially in text communication.​

Good communication is not simply about being able to best express yourself, it’s also about understanding and learning from the person you are talking with. Communication skills are a muscle to flex, like going to the gym. It is important to develop the way you communicate across all media, from writing online via email to virtual meetings and different face-to-face interactions.

1^st PART – 9^th of March with Valentina Rusnac

Valentina Rusnac gave a speech about transactional analysis which helps examine social interactions in communication.

Communicating effectively means that an idea is passed on correctly, and is heard and people are acting upon them without interpreting. One of the theories giving explanation of why are we not successful at communication is the Transactional analysis, proposed by Eric Berne, according to him, the successful communication from person to person, lies in identifying which ego state (in the speaker) initiated the transactional stimulus and which ego state (in the receiver) provided the transactional response.

If transactions remain complementary, communication can proceed indefinitely.

When a transaction if crossed a break in communication results and one or both individuals will need to shift ego states for communication to be re-established.

When people are communicating, it is always the psychological message. To understand better how to express our message, the behavior we display must complement the psychological level of communication the other person expresses. We can determine what type of interaction we chose to act on by observing non-verbal cues, gestures, facial expressions, voice tone and muscle tension.