The able leaders of my table were Robert Myers, of Baruch's own Department of Communication Studies, and Roy Speed, the President of Salient Communications. We began sharing our thoughts on what generally makes for effective versus ineffective communication, and the elements that we pinpointed early on formed the basis of our later discussions.

I was impressed by how quickly we identified overlaps in our struggles with communicating: more often than not, our communication foibles came down to a lack of clear goals or real awareness of an intended outcome. This was crucial for everyone. The table member from the NYU career center working with students on resumes confronts similar macro-problems to the technical writer who has had to acquire an additional knowledge area in order to fully understand the desired outcome of the instructional texts he composes.

As we began discussing the perils of group communication (specifically in group projects during courses, or group writing tasks in the work place), this question of goals became even more crucial: how can every member of the crew be sure that they as individuals are committed to and focused on the same target? And, more importantly, what are the steps of the process that are essential for us to get there? (Hint: brainstorming came up again and again, and again…)

The academics and professionals in my group had little trouble reaching across the table, so to speak; the professionals reflected on the many instances in which they are in "teaching" positions, and the educators were hungry to find useful parallels to be implemented in work with students. All in all, an excellent experience with some very fruitful information shared.

Reply to Hillary

My team’s table facilitators did an excellent job and kept our discussion on track and moving in a focused direction. Facilitated discussion was lead by Stephen Bernardt, Chair, Department of English, University of Delaware and Phyllis White-Thorne, Manager of Public Information, Con Edison and Adjunct Professor in the Masters Program at Mercy College and on the faculty of NYU’s Continuing Education Program. Hats off to both of them!

The many challenges our team discussed included the important role of technololgy in today’s communications and tools such as Blackboard, the Web, blogs, etc.; the need to create a holistic communications framework as a guide to powerful communications; and common ‘filters’, dynamics and rules of engagement.

There are so many opportunities for miscommunication including lack of trust, not taking the time to listen, differing expectations, destructive behavior and many others. In today’s work environment, those with the ability to communication clearly, competently and confidently have the clear advantage.

Reply to Diane B., EOC