Module 3

Topic 1

Communication is the process of transferring a message from a party to another

party.

Interpersonal communication is between two people - It can be verbal or non verbal.

Effective communication involves - Effective use of questioning, identifying what is

occurring, making decisions about appropriate words, Using clarifying questions,
Responding cultural appropriately, expressing perspective, etc.

What can be interpreted by the receiver depends on self-concept, background,

language skills, values and relationship with sender.

Establishing Rapport is done by creating a safe and welcoming environment and

being amiable, Starts by developing trust, small talk, finding ways to connect,
noticing something about them and commenting, disclose some information about
oneself. Ultimately the aim is to find some common ground on a personal level that
allows you to connect in a way that is more than just professional.

Exchanging information may be done by providing some information first to

exchange.

Facilitate means to make something easy or easier to do.

Defusing potentially difficult situations is foremost about safety followed by

reducing the tension and emotion of a situation and maintaining the reputation of
the organisation and individuals. Strategies involve remaining calm, using open body
posture, be prepared to listen, resisting arguing, using humour when appropriate,
using delaying strategies, not invading personal space, being yourself, treating them
with respect.

Conducting interviews according to the established procedures. Interviews prime

purposes is to gather information. Important to ensure confidentiality is maintained.
Feedback needs to balance both negative and positive things. Describe behaviour
rather than persons as positive or negative.

Giving advice is a complex area. A better alternative is to act as a facilitator. Support

them with a number of options and ideas. Do not give advice but help people make
their own decisions.

Demonstrating Respect. Respecting differences means communicating effectively

but maintaining respect.

Discrimination is treating someone unfairly or differently because they come from a

particular culture or subgroup of society.

Predicable is a natural stereotyping we may all be subject to when we perceive

individuals simply be observation of the groups or cultures to which they belong.

Respond to enquires in a matter that promotes achievement of mutual outcome.

This requires diligence and being an effective communicator.

A belief, attitude or value is just a personal opinion or perspective.

Topic 2

It is important to facilitate access to interpretive and translation services for people

of different cultures and languages.

Steps for booking the interpreter - Establish language, booking qualified interpreter,
brief interpreter, understand how to act, arrange a room for interpretation, be
prepared for things to be slow, speak directly to client. Do not exclude the client by
talking directly to the interpreter.

Accessible communication. Write in plain English, available in alternative forms and

languages, Short and concise paragraphs, Headings that guide the reader.

Providing coaching in effective communication. Requires following skills - Asking,

listening, showing respect, being specific, obtaining agreement and using positive
reinforcement.

Networks. Can be work team, suppliers, other organisations, committees,

professional associations, lobby groups, support groups.

Topic 3

Trust takes time to grow but once established is a valuable commodity but can be
destroyed in a moment.

Some road blocks of trust are judging, sending solutions, avoiding others concerns
and noise.

Some barriers to effective communication are background, perception,

environmental factors, cultural communication styles, emotional issues, language
problems, poor communication skills, complicated messages or disabilities.

Type of questions. Open questions are best utilised early in the conversation and are
not threatening, Why questions need to be asked sensitively and can lead to a
negative response, closed questions are good to confirm details.
Body language is important to help communicate your message in a non-threatening
way. But you need to be aware of the background of that person. As certain actions
can be perceived in a different way.

Topic 4

To be an effective facilitator a leader needs to have good communication skills,

adopt a democratic style of leadership, be prepared to deal with conflict, to adapt
their style to the needs of the group.

The following tactics are good skills to adopt. Encouraging contribution,

acknowledging individuals, remaining focused, identifying priorities, identifying key
issues, time management and summarising.

Topic 5

Identifying and addressing specific communication barriers. Closed or unreceptive

attitudes - Be positive and take the time to understand their values, attitudes and
concerns. Self image - Talking to them can help you understand how they see
themselves. Past experience - Getting to know the people is critical. Cultural
background - Know about the cultures of those with whom you are communicating.
Emotional state - Recognise when someone is in this state and either give them time
and space or work through their feelings with them. Mistrust or misunderstanding -
Ask questions and be honest with them. Physical conditions or disability - Make sure
you vary your communication styles in a way that applies to their needs.

Signs of conflict is behaviours that tell us conflict is present. Obvious signs include -
arguing, shouting, tantrums, threats, abuse, slamming doors, storming out of the
house or room and taking people to court. Less obvious signs include - absence,
gossiping, undermining, not cooperating, deception, snide comments, flippant
comments, joking around to avoid discussion, moralising, logical argument or trying
to come up with band aid solutions.

Responses to conflict can include - Avoidance, aggression, competition, submission,

accommodation, compromise, manipulation and conflict resolution.

Conflict resolution strategies include - Discussion, problem-solving, counselling,

mediation, negotiation, arbitration and conflict management.
Module 4

Topic 1

Customer service is the range of help and support offered to customers before,
during and after a sale has been made. Keys to customer service are - Determining
needs, meeting needs and monitoring service.

A customer’s needs will be influenced by budget, available time, previous

experience, demographics, background, mood, etc.

Topic 2

Customers expect you to be consistent, courteous, honest and understand their

needs.

Customer feedback is useful to ensure customer satisfaction within your work area.
Informal methods of feedback include asking your customers open questions. A
formal method requires a more sophisticated method to gain structured feedback.

Getting feedback is not much use unless you analyse the information. This will
identify ways to improve service in the future.

Topic 3

Communication is extremely important when dealing with people. Customers expect

to be heard and they expect to be dealing with a competent and knowledgeable
representative who provides them with accurate information.

Empathy means to understand, to see through the eyes of another.

Communicating effectively by email is an opportunity to build a positive relationship.

Communicating by telephone provides greater access but at the cost of making the
service less personal. Customers are often looking for short relevant calls, rather
than long ones.
Module 5

Topic 1

Culture can be considered a system that a group of people have developed in order
to survive and flourish in their particular environment. It is a combination of aspects
that a group can have in common because they share a language, a period, and a
geographic location.

Racism is the pervasive assumptions about the inherent superiority of certain groups
and the inferiority of others based on differences in race, culture, ethnicity, national
origin and descent.

Stereotypes are a a thought that may be adopted about specific types of individual
or certain ways of doing things.

Sexual Harassment is any unwelcome or unwanted sexual behaviour that makes

someone feel uncomfortable, intimidated, humiliated or offended.

Topic 2

Cultural Diversity. Our culture influences all our beliefs, attitudes, thoughts and
behaviour. Culture provides people with their values, behaviours and determines
how they live.

Contributing to the development of the workplace and professional relationship

based on acceptance of cultural diversity are- a positive attitude, improving
communication skills, resolve conflicts immediately, respect all co-workers, share
cultural practices information and understand and accept cultural difference.

Topic 3

When communicating with people from a non English speaking background some
good things to do are - Speak slowly and clearly, ask for clarification, frequently
check for understanding, avoid idioms or phrases that are not common, avoid the
use of acronyms, be specific, be patient, show emotion, draw.

Common areas of misunderstanding between cultures are polite forms of language,

idioms, questions, compliments, dress, social customs, responding to good and bad
news, personal space, time and eye contact.

Topic 4

Dealing with conflict situations require you to be attentive, focus on the issue and
not on the person, target the key points of the conflict, asking a full range of
questions, confirm the outcome the other party seeks.
A grievance procedure is a step-by-step process that workers must follow to have
their complaints addressed. It is required that they are timely in their responses,
sensitive, fair and impartial, in confidence, allow for appeals and victimisation

Module 6

Topic 1

Needs of people may be related to health, communication difficulties, behavioural

concerns or issues, drugs and/or alcohol, homelessness and a lack if family.

Clients include individual members of public, referred individuals, people with

specific needs seeking access to the services, family members, significant others.

Paraphrasing is putting the clients words into a new form to clarify that you
understood what they said.

Ways to assess and analyse clients needs involve Paraphrasing, reflection,

confrontation, interpretation, non verbal communication, Body langauge, clients
space, asking questions, trying to find a solution

Relevant client information - Discuss the initial assessment of their needs, talk about
available options, discuss client expectations, inform the client of the implications for
each option, talk about any other options that were not considered.

Topic 2

A Service Provider is an organisation that employs workers who offer clients a

specific service. These can be government, community based or private. It is
important for them no maintain professional boundaries. A strategy that is critical is
to build upon the strength of the client.

Topic 3

Through constant monitoring the following can be determined - Whether the clients
goals are being achieved, whether its within the time-lines, whether there is a
barrier to achieving those goals, and what may need to be changed to meet the
clients situation.

When monitoring progress check the following criteria - effort of those involved,
adequacy of services provided, quality of service, and the outcomes.

Measuring feedback can be done by quantitative by using numbers or qualitative by

using exploratory methods.

Module 7 and 8

Topic 1

Laws provide the necessary guidance we need to ensure social cohesion. The law is
set by a constitution. The constitution sets out the basis for Australia federal system
which consist of - A Federal parliament, The house of Representatives, six state
governments, the high court of Australia and a definition of what the federal and
state parliaments handle.

Two types of law - Public (Criminal, Constitutional disputes, industrial disputes,

administration disputes and international disputes) and Private (TORT, Contract,
Family, Property, Succession)

Ethics provides a moral compass by which we make decisions.

Topic 2

Policies and procedures are the guidelines that organisations provide to their
workers to advise them of the organisational rules and how to follow them. Most of
these will be developed based on laws and standards for their industries. Polices
come from outside legislation, or administration bodies and police which originates
within the organisation. Policies should be reviewed regularly, when new
information becomes available, when incidents occur or when there is a change in
legal requirements.

Position descriptions allow you to see what the guidelines are for your role.

Managers need to set a good work example if they want workers to achieve good
results. Managers need to set clear instructions. To ensure clarity managers need to
ask the 5 W‘s and 1 H. What needs to be achieved, when does it need to be achieved,
who needs to be involved, where does this need to occur, why does this need to be
done, how does this need to be done. It is your job as a manager to make sure your
team is in line with organisational polices and procedures.

Topic 3

Its not always easy to distinguish between what is law and what is ethics. If
something is wrong but not illegal it is considered an ethical dilemma.

Our values and morals influence your personal ethics, but when in a workplace you
should follow corporate standards and values to determine what is ethical.

RE.F.L.E.C.T - Recognise a potential issue, find relevant information, linger at the fork
in the road, evaluate options, come to a decision, take time to reflect.

The rights of the client. Clients have the right to have access to services,
confidentiality, be treated with dignity, make informed choice, privacy, right to
express ideas, an agreed standard of card, the right to lodge a complaint, receive
same standard of care as others. Keywords when dealing with clients are Recognition,
respect, dignity, equality and fairness.

Non-Judgemental practice means regardless of our personal beliefs, feelings or

judgements; everyone is treated equally.

A Conflict of interest is where your personal interests are conflicted.

Topic 4

How you respond to a complaint will influence the outcome significantly. Its
important to distance yourself emotionally from any complaint. When handling a
complaint it is important to look to your internal polices and procedures .

Part of an advocacy role is to support clients to identify their concerns. You should
ask open-ended questions and encourage their thinking on the subject to identify
concerns.

A referral is the process of directing clients to different services that are better able
to meet client needs.

Module 9

Topic 1

Stress is a mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse of

demanding circumstances.

Cognitive symptoms of stress can include memory problems, inability to concentrate

poor judgement or seeing only the negative.

Emotion symptoms of stress can include aches, diarrhoea or constipation, nausea,

chest pains, loss of sex drive and frequent colds.

Behavioural symptoms of stress can include eating less or more, sleeping to much or
too little, isolation, procrastination, using alcohol, cigarettes or drugs to relax and
nervous habits.

Fear is generally accepted as a state of alarm and paired with feelings of confusion
and being overwhelmed.

Topic 2
Avoiding stress - Balance work and home life, exercise, stay close to people, eat
healthy. Avoid toxic strategies like alcohol and drugs

A good technique for managing stress is to focus on the present and not on the
future or the past.

Topic 3

Time management tips - Break bigger tasks into smaller ones, seek assistance, seek
clarification, know your limitations, prioritise, think positively.

Things that can waste time are interruptions, poor planning, perfectionism and
procrastination.

Topic 4

Having a response to trauma does not mean someone will experience PTSD.

Methods to help people who might be suffering from a traumatic event include
assessing those involved, remove them from the situation, ensure they are not left
alone, attend to their practical needs like water, warmth and food, emphasise they
are safe, debrief by the use of a professional, assist the victim in contacting their
support network, and continuing to monitor them after the incident.

Some symptoms of trauma might include difficult to get along with, angry and
irritable, negative, morbid, not motivated, less productive, and distant and isolated.

Communicating with someone who is suffering from traumatic stress can be difficult
as they might not want to listen what you have to say. Accept that everybody's
reactions will be different. Some strategies that can help you talk to them include
staying calm, being understanding, providing a positive message, providing a private
space to talk, using clear and simple messages, letting emotion run its course,
maintaining trust, make them feel safe, reassure them.

Topic 5

Fatigue is an acute and/or ongoing state of tiredness that leads to mental or physical
exhaustion and prevents people from functioning within normal boundaries.

Fatigue can be cause by such work factors - roster patterns, type of work, length os
shifts, poor work planning, length of career, insufficient recovery time, long periods
of being awake, harsh environmental conditions, mentally demanding work and
inadequate rest breaks.

Fatigue can have the following effects - Concentration problems, making decisions,
thinking analytically, remember events and their sequence, difficulty maintaining
vigilance, controlling emotions, recognizing risks, coordinating hand eye movements.

There are many symptoms of fatigue such as:

- Cognitive problems - memory, judgement, etc
- Emotion symptoms - Moodiness, depression, feeling overwhelmed
- Physical symptoms - loss of sex drive, aches and pains, etc,
- Behavioural symptoms - Eating problems, sleeping problems, Using substances to
relax.

Module 10

Topic 1

Leadership is the action of leading a group of people or an organisation, or the

ability to do this.

Leaders build trust via honesty, integrity, selflessness, empathy, reliability,

performance and fairness.

Qualities of an effective leader include taking responsibility for problems, mutual

respect, leading by example and good communication skills.

Leadership theories and styles:

- Authoritarian Leaders - One way communication, use power and a strong control,
task centred, little consultation, decision making is kept to themselves, followers are
dependent on them for direction.
Suitable when specific direction and close supervision is needed, new or
inexperienced workers, low skill level and/or lack of commitment.

- Participative leaders - Also known as democratic, encourages members of the team

to make decisions, people centred, encourages involvement and communication,
Ask for input, involve employees in problem solving, lead but also encouraging
others to lead, keeps employees well informed.
Suitable when staff still need direction and supervision but decisions are explained to
them, modest to good skill level and/or lack of confidence/motivation.

- Laissez-faire Leaders - Allows teams to provide input and feedback, does not
appear to lead, hands off approach, don’t offer rules or direction, allow them to
work with little interference, delegate-type of leadership.
Suitable when the work group is highly skilled, experienced and motivated, workers
are usually willing and able to work on their own with no supervision and/or they are
given the responsibility to make relevant decisions.

Performance Planning is pivotal to entities want a tool to motivate and develop staff
to make them more capable.

Performance targets waterfall down from the overall goals of tjhe organisation
down to department level goals and strategies then to team performance standards.

The Monitoring of an individuals performance needs to be ongoing. Assessment

and monitoring are important but the most important step is giving feedback to the
employee.

Feedback is one of the most difficult tasks in the workplace. Feedback highlights
both good and bad performance and is required regularly. This is essential in
ensuring adjustments are made to ensure organisational goals are met.

Topic 2

Having a positive image is important as it brings many benefits. Including support,

access to more resources, staff retention, better morale, reinforcement of values.

The first step in representing your organisation is knowing your organisations

position on particular issues, values, code of conduct and objectives.

Leaders should call people by their names, refrain from rationalising, find a balance
between duties and personal responsibility, and seek guidance.

Topic 3

To make effective decisions there needs to be decisions made on information that is

timely, accurate, reliable and comprehensive. This can be done by interviews,
observation, focus groups survey questionnaires and secondary research.

To solve the problem you are required to define the problem, explore solutions and
implement and evaluate.

Managing Risk allows us to minimise and clarify risk. It allows us to move forward
with confidence. We use risk management in decision making.

Managing risk processes includes - identifying potential risks, assessing those risks,
developing contingencies and then implementing and reviewing.

Module 11

Topic 1

WHS Act 2011 and WHS Regulations 2011 are important legislation that clarifies
numerous things regarding safety, responsibility and roles in a workplace.
Duty is something that you must do because it is morally right or because the law
requires it.

PCBU (Person conducting a Business or Undertaking - Previously Employer) - Must

ensure the health and safety of workers engaged and other persons.

An Officer is a senior executive who makes, or participates in making decisions that

affect the who or a substantial part of a business or undertaking.

A worker is an employee, contractor or subcontractor, employee of contractor or

subcontractor, labour hire, out-worker, an apprentice or trainee, a student gaining
work experience and/or a volunteer.

Others include anyone who don’t fall under those two categories - including visitor,
client, customer or shopper.

Information management system are a mean for communicating by providing a

systematic approach to the storing, searching and retrieval of information relevant
to WHS.

Topic 2

A Health and Safety Committee