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Communication

Listening

Receiving, retaining and processing information

Transmitting information or ideas

Finding solutions to challenges

Using imagination and generating new ideas

Overcoming challenges and setbacks to achieve goals

Setting goals and designing routes to achieve them

Supporting, encouraging and motivating others to achieve a shared goal

Working cooperatively with others to achieve a shared goal

Identifying influence

Comparing views

Analysing views

Investigating bias

Strategic questioning

Evaluating perspectives

Communicating sensitively

Speaking engagingly

Adaptive communicating

Negotiating

Constructive communicating

Presenting

Inspiring others

Following instructions

Evaluating approaches

Continual learning

Imagining

Sharing imagination

Expressing imagination

Generating ideas

Suggesting improvements

Combining concepts

Identifying opportunities

Defining success

Flexible thinking

Reflecting critically

Facilitating creativity

Championing creativity

Improving performance

Practising resilience

Supporting resilience

Identifying successes

Working carefully

Recognising strengths

Understanding reactions

Sharing reactions

Recognising reactions

Facilitating discussions

Managing disagreements

Coaching

Motivating others

Emotional intelligence

Taking responsibility

Reflecting collectively

Learning collectively

Developing others

Improving culture

Step

Recognising purpose

I know why someone is communicating with me

Core ideas

What is meant by purpose of communication

The purpose of communication is the reason why people share information, ideas, or feelings. People communicate for:

Sharing information: To give or receive knowledge, facts, or ideas.
Expressing feelings: To show how they feel, like happiness, sadness, or anger.
Building relationships: To connect with others, make friends, or maintain bonds.
Giving instructions: To explain what needs to be done or how to do something.
Making decisions: To discuss options and agree on a choice.
Seeking support: To ask for help, advice, or encouragement.
Persuading: To encourage you to do something.

Sometimes communication might combine two or more of these purposes - for example:

To give instructions and encourage someone to follow them
To share both information and their opinion on that information

Why it matters why someone is communicating

Understanding the purpose behind someone’s communication with us helps us to be as prepared as possible for making sense of what is going on and responding appropriately.

If we misunderstand the purpose of the communication, we might be unprepared to take any actions. For example, if we think someone is presenting information, we might not be prepared to follow instructions. Or if we think someone is trying to be encouraging, we might be unhappy when they express a different opinion to us.

We also have to be careful - for example, if someone is trying to persuade us, we should think about what they are trying to do and why. We should always think about what is really in our best interest.

Communication always works better, and is easier to listen and respond to, when we are clear on what the purpose of the communication is.

How to identify why someone is communicating

There are some signs to help understand why someone is communicating with you:

Purpose	How you can tell
Sharing information	They might start with ‘Did you know…’ and talk in terms of facts and events
Expressing feelings	They might use phrases like ‘I feel…’ and use emotional language or adjectives (describing words)
Building relationships	They might be asking questions or sharing small pieces of personal information followed by related questions about you. They might speak positively about you or what you have done.
Giving instructions	They will talk directly and normally with a focus on actions and verbs (doing words)
Making decisions	They will outline what the problem is and ask for your ideas. They might use phrases like ‘I think that…’ or ‘In my opinion…’ or ‘what do you think about…?’
Seeking support	A request will normally be posed as a question, although sometimes it is easier to say ‘No’ than at other times
Persuading	They might try to make you feel that you should do something you would not have done otherwise.

Assessment

Reflective questions for individuals can include:

What are some of the main reasons people might communicate with you?
Why is it important to know why someone is communicating with you?
How can you tell why someone is communicating with you?
When have people communicated with you for different reasons?

Observation cues for trainers can include:

Is the individual able to accurately identify the likely purpose of communication when provided with a range of examples?

Evidence can include individuals’ self-reflections and the results of tasks linking examples of communication with their purpose.

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Listening Step 1: Focusing

Listening Step 2: Recalling

Listening Step 3: Checking

Listening Step 4: Retelling

Listening Step 5: Recognising purpose

Listening Step 6: Note-taking