There are many communication skill tranings that make attendees
think they learn great part of communication but actually they don't. Such training highlights that t
he instructors categorize the way people communicate to each other by naming the steps with abbreviation of each step, including 'H3A", "OFBA", "PROP" and "MAIN" (You can google what they stand for).
One imaginary example would be naming these (meaningless) office conversation as "AAAA":
"How are you?"
"I'm great. You?"
"Great. Thanks"
And the communication-skill instructors would teach you that this "AAAA" stands for "Ask,
answer-and-ask and
answer", probably citing the fact that it brings better understanding of each other if you ask the same question as you're asked.
Yes, it's indeed good manner to ask these questions. However, the point is that people already know that and follow the culture. Naming the behavior and remembering abbreviations don't improve our communication at all.
Still there are practical side of communication skill. Recently I feel true communication skill required in office is to reconcile multiple demands into one direction, to push your great idea forward without losing other person's face, or to effectively listen to those who are not proficient in delivering their brilliant thoughts to others. Compared to those practical skill set, the abbreviations appeared in the trainings mentioned previously don't do a lot of good.
I noticed that this fact after a training which I attended today and found not helpful. In a way, the training helped me to ponder what is true communication skill. From now on I'll keep it in mind to avoid such communication skill training that don't have specific purpose.
