Corporate Quality Development Center

Communication Skills

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 1

 Program
Communication Skills
Management

Ford Product
Corporate Quality Sourcing Development System
for Quality
Development Center
SREA

Gage R&R
Failure Mode Effects
Analysis (FMEA)

Statistical Process
Trademarking Control Plans Control (SPC)

APQP

Production Parts Global

Quality Supply Approval Process Phased
A Case (PPAP) / Capacity PPAP
Base
for Change Q1 Segmentation Verification / VPP / MPP

Partnering
Q1 Skills Print Reading, Geometric
Manufacturing Dimensioning & Tolerancing
ISO/TS 16949 Site Assessment (GD&T), Technical Specifications

Lean - Value Stream

STA Mapping/Error Proofing QOS
Functional
Application The STA
Job Campaign Prevention,
Lean - Measurables
Warranty Field Actions, Stop Ship

Plant (Resident) /
Lean - Basics Current Model
8D Analysis Product/QR2

Global 8D High Mileage

Reliability

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 2

 Communication Skills
Course Purpose / Goals

• Purpose:
• Focus on communication tools and meeting facilitation skills

• Goals:
• To provide STA Engineers with communication and meeting…
• Tools
• Skills
• Resources

• To assist STA Engineers in being influential leaders that…

• Drive decisions
• Effectively report out information
• Ask appropriate questions of Suppliers
• Lead to improved communication
• Produce higher quality output
23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 3
 Communication Skills
Objectives

• Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Define “Advocate for Quality”

• Distinguish the difference between assertive and aggressive

behavior

• Demonstrate assertive behavior

• Ask probing, strategic questions

• Plan and facilitate meetings

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 4

 Communication Skills
Definition of Advocate for Quality

• An Advocate for Quality:

• Employs quality tools to make fact-based decisions to support the
quality objectives of our customers

• Acts as the voice of reason

• Champions the right choices to improve the quality of parts and the
speed at which they are manufactured and shipped to the plants

• Fosters an environment of continuous improvement resulting in robust

processes /procedures that meet or exceed customer expectations

• Champions development of measures tracking organizational benefits

of process improvements

• Supports efforts to optimize total costs

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 5
 Communication Skills
Four Behavior Styles

– Aggressive
– Covert aggressive
– Non-assertive
– Assertive

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 6

 Communication Skills
Summary of Communication Behavior Styles

Aggressive - Actively and directly standing up for the rights of self, while ignoring
the rights of others. Aggressive communication behavior is HOSTILE.

Covert Aggressive - Indirectly standing up for the rights of self, while ignoring
the rights of others. Covert aggressive communication behavior is
MANIPULATIVE.

Non-Assertive - Denying the rights of self to respect the rights of others.

Non-assertive communication behavior can be perceived as WEAK.

Assertive - Actively and directly standing up for the rights of self, while
respecting the rights of others. Assertive communication behavior can be
perceived as STRONG.

How do we manifest these communication behavior styles?

What do we say?
What do we do?

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 7

 Communication Skills
Four Communication Behaviors Chart

VERBAL NON VERBAL APPROACH

You should Stares, glare Attacks, blames, criticizes
You always Finger-point Refuses to listen
AGRESSIVE Your’re wrong Loud Quick blow-up
My way or the highway In your face “Tell it like it is”
I’m in charge here Parental tone Win-lose

Yes, whatever you want Little direct eye contact Listens well
Maybe, perhaps Soft voice Tries to please
NON I’m not sure Nervous gestures Agreeable
ASSERTIVE I’ll try Hesitant speech Changes mind often
A little problem Fidgets Hates decisions
Submissive tone Lose-Win
Sarcasm Avoids direct eye contact Silent treatment
Humor at others’ expense Shifts position Cold Shoulder
Mixed messages Mumbles Stonewalls
COVERT
Snide remarks Closed gestures “Forgets”
AGGRESSIVE Under-breath comments Closed facial expressions “Misunderstands”
Subtle hints Smirks Lose-lose
I feel, I think Direct eye contact Seeks mutual understanding
I choose, I prefer Open gestures Expresses opinions honestly
What I’d like is Upright posture Listens to others
What do you think Relaxed Asks for feedback
ASSERTIVE How do you feel Self-confident Facilitates problem solving
Let’s discuss it Smiles Provides feedback
No, thank you Even tone Direct, to the point
We can work this out Interested expression Win-Win, adult to adult

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 8

 Communication Skills
Four Styles Within Assertive Behavior

Direct
Persuade
Bridge
Avoid

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 9

 Communication Skills
Assertive Communication Tools

Paraphrasing
Asking strategic open questions
Reflecting feelings
Using “I” statements

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 10

 Communication Skills
Paraphrasing Defined

Paraphrasing is a brief restating of the information given

in the listener's own words.
It is a statement of facts, information, or ideas.
It should not include opinions or judgments about what
is being said.

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 11

 Communication Skills
Paraphrasing Benefits

Paraphrasing accomplishes the following:

– Assures the speaker that you are listening and trying to understand

– Ensures that your interpretation of the message is correct

– Encourages the speaker to continue

– Verifies understanding

– Demonstrates listening

– Acknowledges speaker

– Reinforces speaker's point

– Provides processing time for listener

– Helps the speaker be clear and focused

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 12

 Communication Skills
Types of Questions

• Closed — Begins with such words as “Do,” “Did,” “Can,”

“Will”, and “Is,” which result in “yes” or “no” answers. While
they have their place in our communications, they do not
open up the other person’s thinking.
• Serial — Two or more questions in a row can cause the
receiver to become confused and/or fail to answer every
question.
• Defensive — Begins with “Why” and results in receiver
feeling attacked and becoming defensive.

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 13

 Communication Skills
Strategic Open Questions

Strategic Open Questions provide the opportunity to gain

more information:
• Cannot be answered with a “yes” or “no”
• Do not limit the speaker in choosing what information to use
when responding
•Typically begin with “What” or “How”

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 14

 Communication Skills
Benefits of Strategic Open Questions

• Keeps the focus on the speaker

• Helps expand or develop ideas

• Opens up further information

• Demonstrates listener interest

• Shows respect for speaker’s ideas

• Helps speaker solve own problems

• Helps listener avoid advising

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 15

 Communication Skills
Strategic Open Questions Exercise

Exercise
In groups, change the following sentences into strategic
open questions:
• “Why didn’t you turn in the 8-D on time?”
• “Do you think this method will work?”
• “Why can’t you meet this quality standard?”
• “Why didn’t you call me?”

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 16

 Communication Skills
Reflecting Feelings

• Reflecting Feelings:
• Recognize the emotion expressed by the speaker, then put it
into words
– acknowledges the speaker's message
– requires the listener to identify the speaker's emotion, and respond
to the speaker by naming the feeling heard

Benefits of Reflecting Feelings

• Demonstrates listening
• Verifies understanding
• Acknowledges speaker
• Shows empathy
• Helps speaker vent
• Defuses emotion
• Facilitates problem solving

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 17

 Communication Skills
Reflecting Feelings Exercise

Divide into groups of three – each person plays one role

ROLES – Supplier, STA Engineer, Observer
• Supplier: Start a story about an incident you feel strongly about – use an opening
statement that denotes a strong emotion, but do not name the feeling. (Some incident
examples: unrealistic deadline, difficult requirement, additional request, problem
completing a project)

• STA Engineer: Respond to the Supplier by reflecting the feeling you sensed the Supplier
expressed. Do not ask about the information, just acknowledge the feeling and
paraphrase what the person said.

• Observer: Keep time, allowing no more than one minute per example. Call “foul” if the
STA Engineer asks questions or makes comments about the information. “Applaud” if the
STA Engineer acknowledges the feeling and paraphrases.

• Repeat this process until time is up

• Tip: Do not make the Supplier tell the whole story before you reflect the feeling you hear.
If you are wrong about the feeling expressed, try again.

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 18

 Communication Skills
Using “I” Statements

• This is an effective model for simple assertions. The

purpose is to provide clear, direct, and
straightforward information to a person without
automatically antagonizing or alienating that person.
The model is designed to stand up for personal rights
without infringing on another’s rights.

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 19

 Communication Skills
The Three Ingredients of “I” Statements

•Ownership of feeling or impact:

“I feel ________________________

•Description of behavior or event:

about/when ___________________

•Explanation of cause or reason:

because _____________________.”

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 20

 Communication Skills
Using “I” Statements Table

“You” Statements “I” Statements

You make me angry I am angry about the deadline not
being met
You messed this up I am upset that the job was not
completed because we took too
much time going over this

You are always late turning in I worry when reports do not come
these reports in on time because we may not
meet our deadlines

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 21

 Communication Skills
Facilitating Meetings:
Determining the Desired Outcome

• Get clarity on the purpose of the meeting

and establish what results the meeting
should produce

Decision: Is a meeting even necessary to

reach these results?

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 22

 Communication Skills
Facilitating Meetings:
Plan Early

After determining the purpose, decide on the following:

• Where will the meeting take place?

• When will the meeting take place?

• How long will the meeting last?

• What equipment is needed?

• Who will be invited?

• Who will facilitate?

• Who else needs to speak or give a presentation?

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 23

 Communication Skills
Facilitating Meetings:
Create an agenda

An agenda outlines the meeting and helps keep it on track

Agenda Do’s and Don’ts:
• Do keep the agenda flexible to allow for thorough discussion

• Do make the agenda as specific as possible

• Do keep the meeting to one hour if possible

• Distribute agenda at least 24 hours before the meeting, but no longer

then a week in advance

• Put the agenda on a flip chart so all attendees can view it

• Do not try to do too much in one meeting

• Do provide for breaks

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 24

 Communication Skills
Facilitating Meetings:
Establishing Ground Rules

• Discussions at a meeting can fall apart and become

unproductive. Some ground rules should be established
at meetings to ensure that they run smoothly.

• Ideally, the members of a group can establish their own

ground rules. This helps achieve buy-in from all
participants.

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 25

 Communication Skills
Facilitating Meetings:
Examples of Ground Rules

• Accept all responses

• Do not evaluate others’ comments

• Assure people they can stay silent if they don’t have

a contribution right away

• Do not interrupt

• Stay focused on the issue, not the person

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 26

 Communication Skills
Facilitating Meetings:
Action Plan

A simple action plan will help avoid confusion after the

meeting, and serve as a reminder to those that have taken
on tasks

An action plan should include:

• Who
• Does what
• By when

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 27

 Communication Skills
Role Play Activity

GOAL: Use communication tools and meeting skills to identify

solutions to problems

• Divide into five-person teams

• Each member will be assigned a role and given a description to read
(roles are in the handout book) - DO NOT SHARE YOUR ROLE OR
READ A ROLE OTHER THAN YOUR OWN.
• The “STA Engineer” in each team will function as meeting facilitator
• After teams complete their meeting, they will report their solutions and
how they arrived at the solutions

23rd January, 2008 ©2001-2008 Ford Motor Company 28