Welcome to the Communicating with Others OED Learning Topic. We hope you'll find these articles and resources helpful as you strive to improve your communications with others in your work at MIT.

What is communicating?
Any time you are in the presence of another person, you are communicating. Speaking or silent, whether you are aware of it or not, you are communicating; that is, sending a message which may or may not be understood accurately by the other person. Communicating with Others is about gauging your current effectiveness in communicating your message, and learning strategies and techniques for improving your interpersonal communication effectiveness. Learn more about interpersonal communication skills.

What can I learn or do here?
Communication is a broad topic. This site offers a basic introduction to some key concepts and tools. You might want to start with our Basics of Communicating with Others article to get a better understanding of the particular focus of this site. One tool for narrowing your communications learning goals is the Two Column Case Model. The Gourmet's Guide to Giving Feedback article might be helpful if you are working on how to give someone constructive feedback. The article When Emotions Get in the Way can help you follow through with an important and difficult conversation.

Can you help my group or department communicate better?
Yes. Teaching about communication skills is inherent in much of OED's organization development consulting. Whether the presenting issue is strategic planning, team building, change management or giving performance feedback, a group needs a certain level of communication skills in order to be effective. We can assist with this skill building through suggesting participation in our open enrollment courses, or by including such opportunities in the work we do with a particular department, lab or center.

For more information, see our Organization Development site or contact oed-request@mit.edu.

Can building interpersonal communication skills help my career?
Yes. Learning how to communicate better is a great way to develop professionally within MIT. You may also wish to visit OED's Career Planning site, which explains other ways MIT is committed to the professional and career development of its employees.

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