[NOISE]. Welcome to Establishing a Professional Self through Effective Intercultural Communication. In this lesson we're going to look at how to establish a professional self in a globalized workplace. In this lesson we're going to be talking about ways of adopting strategies to build a professional self in a globalized workplace. Then we're going to be talking about ways of aligning yourself to a workplace. Building on your personal profile in your workplace and finally we're going to finish the lesson by talking about different ways of using social networking sites to publicize our personal profile at work and outside work. So we're going to start the lesson by looking at some appropriate communicative strategies that we can adopt to build good rapport with our colleague as a team member and as a team leader. Carry on from that, we're going to look at how to conduct our professional self in the workplace, by carrying on the roles and the responsibilities that we should take on as a team member and as a team leader. So in order to establish a professional image in a workplace, we must start by building good rapport with our colleagues and engage with our colleagues in both online form and in person. Building good rapport requires you to create bonds, connect and understand those around you in a workplace. So, let's start by looking at some important strategies that we can use to build good rapport with our colleagues as a team member and as a team leader. First, be approachable, always be easy-going and be friendly and yet be confident. So that when people feel they have a problem or if they want to share information with you, they are okay, they feel that you are receptive to their sharing. If you don't show that you're friendly, if you show people that you're a cold person, people would be less reluctant to feel that bond with you. And yes, at the same time as being friendly, show that you're confident in your ability as well. Second, show that you are interested in people. That means when people talk to you, you show that you are genuinely interested in what people have to say. By responding to them. By giving them feedback. And when people come first review, you talk back. Okay. So there should be a conversation going between you and those you want to share information around. Show that you are able to address people by name. That means some people prefer to be addressed by their title, Ms, Mrs, Professor, Doctor. Be very careful about how you should address people, be respectful. And yet if people want to be called by their first name as well be willing to do so. So check how people want to be addressed. And be personable. Appreciate differences in opinion, be respectful and appreciative of different opinions and compromise when necessary with both face to face interactions and online communication. You don't always have to agree, just acknowledging differences is usually sufficient and be respectful. 5, the upbeat, so always maintain a positive attitude with others and don't be the one who is always complaining at work. 6, small talks. Have a few conversational topics hanging, find out what your colleagues are interested in, and try to commit others and find common interests. Find common grounds to discuss. 7, Learn the most suitable form of communication. That means get to know your audience. Try to present information according to the type of receiver that you are interacting with. For example, if you are interacting with a visual person, try to present information using pictures, audios or videos. 8, Pick up on people's favorite words and phrases, and try to use them in a conversation. This will help you bond. 9, Watch and listen to people. Try to pay attention to those you admire who seem to be easily connecting with people and engage with people, particularly strangers. And especially if you don't feel comfortable with doing so. So learn some strategies, learn some conversational topics that those who you believe can interact well with. What kind of strategies do they use. Try to use them in your conversation as well. Now, building group reports in the workplace is important but it's only part of becoming a professional self in a workplace. Very importantly to show that you're professional at work, you must make sure you perform your roles and responsibilities well, as either a team member or as a team leader. This is especially important if you are in a collectivist oriented culture or community or workplace. So what are some important skills that you need to make sure you demonstrate as a teammate member? You need to make sure you use your skills to complete the tasks and take initiatives in areas where you have expertise in because your group members and your project manager will need to rely on you to use your skills and knowledge to perform the tasks. Successfully complete the tasks that have been allocated to you. Update manager on your progress to the manager and seek help if needed on tasks especially important such as costs, deadlines, and even getting feedback. Respect your authority, you don't get to make decisions all the time. So if you're told what to do, respect that you have been asked to perform certain tasks, respect the decision process. Each workplace has a different way of making decisions. Some managers will include you in the decision-making process whereas other will not. For example even if you were in a large power distance culture where hierarchy is important. Then probably as a team member you would be able to be involved in the decision making process. Also as a team member you need to make sure you are clear about the purpose and objectives of the project. If you don't get the fundamentals right, the rest will be wrong. Keep to deadlines and keep to budget. Review your key deliverables and products to make sure the quality is good. Work together as a team. Communicate well. Refer to the 7Cs that we've talked about. Be positive, and always maintain a good balance between project and non-project work, so that you don't fall behind too much on the othe rtasks when you're completing the project. You have even more responsibilities and you have to make sure you perform your role well as a team leader as well. The team leader will manage people either directly or indirectly in a project to make sure that outcomes are achieved. So as a team leader you need to make sure. You apply skills and knowledge and guide the team. Offer support when it's needed. Ask for progress and give good feedback, constructive feedback, as and when necessary. Meet deadlines and keep to budget. Ultimately falls back on you when the project deadline is not met or when the cost is beyond what was planned in the budget. Develop team member skills. Give people an opportunity to show off their skills. Be open minded, be happy that people try to use their initiatives to take on tasks that you did not require them to do, and make sure you give people feedback. Be open-minded as well about differences in opinions. As a team leader you also need to make sure that you communicate well with your team members and that the team members communicate well with each other. And lead by example. Be a good role model. Be open about your ideas and be willing to accept other people's ideas. Think of how cultural values and context affect the communication process. Be sensitive about individual differences, cultural difference and linguistic differences in your team. Adopt good interpersonal communication skills by applying the 7Cs in communication. Remember clarity, conciseness, concreteness, correctness, coherence, completeness, and courtesy are very important to ensure communication takes place effectively. Plan and deliver tasks and oversee a process or project within the agreed timeframe. Make sure you meet deadlines. Use appropriate language expressions, be polite as and when necessary. Be as indirect or direct, as or when necessary. We have come to the end of the section on becoming a professional self in a workplace. To become a professional self in a workplace, you need to make sure that you build good rapport with your colleagues as both a team member and as a team leader. Remember the process of communication that we have talked about. You need to make sure that you can see the cultural values and differences, context and their language differences and cultural differences and by how they may affect interpretation of messages. Remember to apply the 7Cs. Remember as well, very importantly your roles and responsibilities as a team member or as a team leader. In the next lesson we're going to talk about building a personal life. See you there.
