Get Your Students Hired
Jessica, sure. As we learned in this module, the whole process takes as long as it takes and so it may need several phone calls to get to the bonding level. But if you have spent enough time in the other levels of the hierarchy, you will have worked with the student in a way where a relationship was formed and trust was created.
Dr. Jean Norris
Marcus, that sounds like a great plan. Keep us posted on the results.
Dr. Jean Norris
Curtis, sure. That's a great point. There are a lot of people that may struggle with the small talk piece, but it's important to practice, which sounds like your plan. Great job.
Dr. Jean Norris
Jeff, thanks for your honesty here. It's all about that awareness. So now, what can you do moving forward?
Dr. Jean Norris
Ben, absolutely! You have hit the nail right on the head here. The farther up the hierarchy you go, the more intense or difficult the conversation can become so it is important to start the conversation with a good foundation. It sounds like you have a great plan in place to move forward. Keep us posted with the results.
Dr. Jean Norris
Lynn, sure, that's a great point. By understanding where the potential student is, you are starting to build a level of trust and understanding with them, which will also, hopefully, help move you through the hierarchy.
Dr. Jean Norris
Small talk is a challenge when students are often contacted on their way to work, at work, or while sleeping. It may be best to slow down, acknowledge where they are, and use empathy for the situation rather than try to quickly answer questions for them.
For me, I think the most difficult stage of the hierarchy is the opinions step. How do you really know when you have gained enough of the student's trust for you to give them your opinion about something whithout sounding like you are just trying to sell them something? How do you do this without becoming sympathetic but remaining empathetic?
One way I will try to improve this is to work harder at the earlier stages in communication hierarchy (i.e. small talk, mutual interest) so that I can ensure that I have gained the trust of the students I work with.
I think I often give my opinion too early, or even in trying to relate a personal story a little to early. It then can feel like it's about me, when that wasn't the point. I struggle with this balance at times.
The part of the communication hierarchy that challenges me the most is small talk. Im not much of a general comversationalist. I can work on this phase by trying to draw out of the persons conversation what they feel are important things to them.
Since my job requires me to be on the phone with the students I have a smaller time to get to know them. This makes it hard to be able to start with small talk unless the students says something that they are into. I try to listen for smothing I can ralte and talk to the student about. So my focus will be to listen for what is imporattnt to them about what they want to do with their lives. I hope to make sure that this will allow for smalll talk.
I think the hardest part is Bonding with the student, especially on that first phone call. When students get transfered to me, often they weren't expecting the call and tend to be in a hurry and don't want to spend a lot of time on the phone. I think the best thing I can do to improve a bond with my students on that first phone call is to try and ask more questions. By asking more questions, there is more of a chance to find commonalities between me and the student.
I sometimes skip the steps that are necessary to establish trust with my students. I need to spend more time building rapport.
I think for me it's the mutual interest stage. I think it's easy to have rituals, small talk, and even share opinions and feelings fairly openly. However, I don't like giving of myself to share in an interest with someone else. I don't place high value on it. And because I know this then my true opinions and feelings can be stifled, never fully forming a bond.
The part that challenges me the most is feel credibility. Sometimes the interests are mutual but not necessarily options are value. Therefore, I should make more questions in order to realize what the interest options are.
Matthew, great point. Visualizing the steps also helps you know where you are in the hierarchy so that you can see if you need to go a little deeper or if you have permission to move forward.
Dr. Jean Norris
I agree. Seeing the communication hierarchy mapped out in this module is a great way to visualize the ideal way for a conversation to flow to maximize effective communication and really connect with students.
Sadiya, I'm glad you found this useful. So now that you have this awareness, the next step is to put the communication hierarchy into practice.
Dr. Jean Norris
I had no clue that a communication hierarchy even existed. This was very useful for me. Offering an opinion in a tactful way is probably the challenge I have. I like the example used. The woman admitted that she is highly opinionated and asked the person she was dealing with to basically forgive her in advance. While still being herself, she was able to communicate this in a personable manner.
I think I can listen more and ask questions to try to see the other person's side. Perception is everything.
Great! Thanks for that feedback, Antonio. The communication hierarchy is a great tool and a lot of times we naturally go through these steps without even knowing it. But you are right, now you can manage it and balance the conversation. Remember the idea of making sure you have permission to move forward. Good luck.
Dr. Jean Norris