Frustrated? It Might be your Fault – A Guide to Good Communication
Jeffrey Fredrick and Douglas Squirrel
Reflect Adapt & Squirrel Squared, UK
Are you trying to change the way you work but running into a brick wall? Maybe trying to do that cross-silo collaboration everyone keeps asking for, but they just don’t get it?
If you’re frustrated, it is probably your fault! There are almost certainly several difficult conversations you have been avoiding that could change your results dramatically.
The good news is there are proven methods for improving your conversational skills. We will show you how to take the first steps toward increasing trust and reducing fear using nothing more than a sheet of paper.
The bad news is that improving your conversational and communication skills requires difficult emotional work. To make this difficult emotional work easier, don’t go it alone – follow our step-by-step approach to learning with a conversational dojo, a group who practice and learn together to improve their conversations.
Key Takeaways:
• Improve Your Conversation Skills
• Discover how to Increase Trust
• Learn how to be a good communicator
This talk is part of the EuroSTAR Deep Dive Week – People Skills Edition. You are invited to enjoy live presentations, Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions, eBooks, and blogs on People Skills.
About Me!
Jeffrey Fredrick
Jeffrey Fredrick is an internationally recognised expert in software development and has over twenty-five years’ experience covering both sides of the business/technology divide. An early adopter of XP and Agile practices, Jeffrey has been a conference speaker in the US, Europe, India and Japan. Through his work on the pioneering open-source project CruiseControl, and through his role as co-organiser of the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference (CITCON), he has had a global impact on software development. Jeffrey’s Silicon Valley experience includes roles as Vice President of Product Management, Vice President of Engineering, and Chief Evangelist. He has also worked as an independent consultant on topics including corporate strategy, product management, marketing, and interaction design. Jeffrey is currently Managing Director in London at TIM, an Acuris Company. He also runs the London Organisational Learning Meetup and is a CTO mentor through CTO Craft. His book Agile Conversations, with co-author Douglas Squirrel, was published in 2020 by IT Revolution.
Douglas Squirrel
Douglas Squirrel has been coding for forty years and has led software teams for twenty. He uses the power of conversations to create dramatic productivity gains in technology organisations of all sizes. Squirrel’s experience includes growing software teams as a CTO in startups from fintech to biotech to music, and everything in between; consulting on product improvement at over 100 organisations in the UK, US, Australia, and Europe; and coaching a wide variety of leaders in improving their conversations, aligning to business goals, and creating productive conflict. He lives in Frogholt, England, in a timber-framed cottage built in the year 1450.