Why Do Soft Skills Matter Anyways?
Foundational Communication Skills for Long-Term Success
This program provides a deep-dive into the communication skills needed to transform participants’ ability to coexist with less stress.
Duration: 4 half days plus 1 1-hour session
Certification awarded: Foundational Communication Skills for Professionals Certificate
Participants will learn problem-solving techniques that will foster collaboration and will practice fostering relational trust to improve team and organizational alignment. They will improve their ability to truly listen to others and to communicate assertively, respecting both their needs and the needs of their others. Finally, they will develop the ability to proactively de-escalate conflict so that everyone can do their best work – regardless of external stressors.
Upon completion of this program, participants will be equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to work successfully with internal and external stakeholders with diverse personalities, and to successfully navigate interactions up, down and across the organization.
This training will enhance the job satisfaction and well-being of participants, promoting a strong employer brand and employee retention. It will also provide the foundation for an inclusive workplace culture where everyone experiences a sense of purpose and belonging, thereby improving employee relations and workplace health and safety.
COURSE OUTLINE
Training Day 1
Instructor Led from 9am to 12pm
Activities & Exercises from 1pm to 4pm
- Discuss the role of brain plasticity in adult learning
- Explore factors that hinder or enhance long-term professional growth and learning
- Using curiosity to uncover barriers to growth
- Discover different communication styles (authority, harmony, trust and respect) and how each impacts collaboration
- Identify your predominant communication style and the associated benefits/challenges in relation to workplace communication
- Recognize the role of positional power in interpersonal dynamics and how this shows up in your professional interactions
- Learn the characteristics of weak, rigid and healthy boundaries
- Understand the relationship between communication style, boundaries, and respect of self and others
- Learn to set effective boundaries that enhance collaboration and reduce conflict
- Set professional learning goals for this program
- Complete a leadership communication skill profile to identify personal areas of strength and weakness
- Daily guided self-reflective log of interactions to recognize patterns
*Each element of individual work is led by a video training module that participants must watch prior to completing assigned activities and exercises
Training Day 2
Instructor Led from 9am to 12pm
Activities & Exercises from 1pm to 4pm
- Learn the difference between stress and a stress response
- Explore the interrelationship between stress, emotional regulation and conflict
- Identify early physiological and cognitive signs of an activated stress response
- Learn how to build positive working relationships with diverse personalities through psychologically safe professional relationships
- Recognize early signs of lack of trust
- How to build trust with someone new and how to repair trust when collaboration is broken
- Building on Day 1, recognize communication styles and situational factors that activate your stress response
- Learn how to match strategies to the right level of stress activation and conflict
- Develop a proactive approach to stress management
- Discover workplace adaptations that can be implemented into your daily routine to foster well-being and harmonious relationships
- Explore behavioural cueing techniques to enhance implementation of daily mindful moments
- Set professional learning goals for self-management
- Create a personalized roadmap of signs of escalating stress activation
- Build a de-escalation plan to reduce reactive communication
- Design a simple daily practice and build in related behavioural cues
- Self-reflection on implementation and proposed modifications
*Each element of individual work is led by a video training module that participants must watch prior to completing assigned activities and exercises
Training Day 3
Instructor Led from 9am to 12pm
Activities & Exercises from 1pm to 4pm
- Learn to tune into the message behind the words for better understanding
- Practice a 3-step process that will resolve conflict before it escalates
- Learn key techniques and phrases to enhance your active listening so people will feel heard
- Develop awareness of the early signs of resistance in interactions
- Learn a process that will help you uncover the true cause of resistance
- Discover how to influence change through change management skills applied to 1-on-1 interactions
- Strategies to successfully navigate differences of opinion
- Building on Unit 1, apply listening skills to problem-solving during tense interactions
- Recognizing and addressing signs of problematic boundaries during conflict
- Fostering a sense of connection and agency in self and others
- Set professional learning goals in relation to communication with others
- Complete example of when the 3-step process was used successfully
- Practice active listening techniques during professional interactions
- Completed example of when conflict de-escalation was used successfully
- Daily self-reflection on goals and progress
*Each element of individual work is led by a video training module that participants must watch prior to completing assigned activities and exercises
Training Day 4
Instructor Led from 9am to 12pm
Activities & Exercises from 1pm to 4pm
- Develop an understanding of executive function skills
- Learn how each different executive function skill can impact workplace performance
- Uncover how to match responsibilities to executive function strengths for optimal performance and well-being
- Learn strategies and adaptations to optimize executive function skills
- Fostering psychological safety in group dynamics
- Contributing to a culture where people can verbalize what they need to be successful
- Bottom up vs. top-down change management, benefits and limitations, and what you can do to influence change
- Principles of capacity-building in individuals
- Applying a strengths-based approach to team collaboration
- Using communication skills learned in previous models to work in partnership with and to coach others
- Set professional learning goals in relation to team dynamics
- Complete a self-assessment of your executive function skills and relate to professional responsibilities
- Guided self-reflection on areas of growth through this program and skills to continue to develop
*Each element of individual work is led by a video training module that participants must watch prior to completing assigned activities and exercises
Training Day 5
Instructor Led from 9am to 10am
- Review of guided self-reflection from Day 4
- Understanding principles of successful long-term behavioural change
- Setting up systems and strategies to promote growth and change
- Strategies for when growth becomes stagnant
Investment: $2500 + tax (per participant)
Your organization may be eligible to receive reimbursement of 83%-100% of the entire course costs by applying to the Canada Ontario Job Grant. Fast approval and simple application process.
instructor bio
Lindsay Lapaquette, M.Sc.(A)
Lindsay works with leaders and teams who want to communicate authentically so they can create a workplace culture where everyone can communicate their needs effectively while also respecting the diverse needs of others.
As a former Speech-Language Pathologist, Lindsay applies her expertise in the neuroscience of communication and connection to help others foster a deeper connection to both themselves and others, enhancing resilience and overall well-being.
Lindsay’s approach has been profoundly influenced by her work with Indigenous organizations, her experience as a disabled parent to two disabled children, and the premature loss of both of her parents.
With a thirst to learn that can never quite seem to be quenched, Lindsay brings extensive experience in emotional regulation, trauma-informed de-escalation, collaborative problem-solving, cultural proficiency, mindfulness and nonviolent communication to her work today.
