This week’s lecture is about communication, coaching and conflict. Communication is a process of conveying information between individual or group to reach a common understanding. Communication is one of the important leadership skills. To start a communication, it is vital to plan the message whether it should be delivered in oral or written, the purpose of message, who is the receiver of message, when to deliver and where to begin the communication. After the message is delivered, it is important to check for the understanding as well as follow up. For message receiver, it is important to listen first and analyze, lastly check the understanding. To check the understanding, the most powerful method is to ask the receiver to paraphrase, make sure to get feedback. People may not ask question due to several reason such as receiver feel ignorant, receiver are ignorant, reluctance to point the ignorance of sender or there is cultural barrier. Next, coach is a person who shows others how to improve themselves. There is also difference between coaching feedback and criticism, coaching feedback is based on supportive relationship and via assessment of performance, it makes everyone feel like a winner while criticism is judgmental and makes others feel like a loser. Next, mentoring, mentoring is similar to coaching but coaching is temporary but mentor is a longer-term guide. For conflict, conflict can be managed by 5 different style which are accommodating, forcing, avoiding, collaborating and negotiating. Accommodating is focus on concerning other’s need; forcing is focus on concerning own needs; avoiding is having low concern on everyone’s need; collaborating is having high concern for everyone’s need; negotiating is when both party gain some concern and lose some concern. If the conflict is difficult to be solved, mediator can be called which is a neutral third party to help solving conflict. If the mediator cannot be solved, an arbitrator can be called which is a neutral party who makes decision to resolve the conflict.

In this week, I learn about concept of communication. A formal leader-follower communication should be carefully planned unlike an informal chat. Leader should also make sure the follower had received the message. I also learn about mentoring and coaching. Mentoring and coaching is the way improve the relationship and improve the leader-follower communication.