Building Relationships that Matter

Check out the course webpage for more details! 

This course is a hybrid course with a short weekly recorded lecture and a 90 minute Zoom meeting to discuss and do hands-on learning activities. You will also get a short weekly curated list of things for you to listen to, read, and watch. 

The Zoom session for this class is at:

• Monday 4pm Pacific 
• 7pm Monday Eastern
• 11am Tuesday NZST 

Class starts on November 12

Course Instructor Chris Galloway

It's a no-brainer to believe that effective relationships are key to both business and individual success. But how do you build connections like that -- and even more, how do you keep them going?

Renowned PR expert Chris Galloway will give you workable answers to these questions and tools you can start using now. You'll learn what "engagement" is really about, and how to do it to get results. Better still, you'll learn how to evaluate outcomes to make sure you hit your goals.


Week 1 Foundations of relationships that matter
Where are we at? Where do we want to be? And how do get there? --In our relationships and within our communities.

Week 2 Building and managing two-way relationships: what engagement is really about
Often we may worry about how to start a relationship we'd like to have. How can we connect meaningfully with people and organisations able to influence our lives in positive ways? Businesses call this "engagement." We will be exploring the true nature of engagement, which is mutual and ongoing rather than periodic and transactional.

Week 3 Secrets of stakeholder relations
This is where we talk about businesses and organisations of all types who need to identify and connect effectively with their stakeholders. It's not just a matter of pumping out media statements or other forms of collateral. We will take a deep dive into what works and what doesn't.

Week 4 Enabling stakeholders
All too often organisations see stakeholders as targets for strategic communication. But in this session we will explore how to enable stakeholders to contribute productively to your business or NGO, bringing them inside what you are about rather than seeing them as external factors simply there to be affected by our advocacy.

Week 5 Negotiation skills and conflict resolution
Some authors suggest that all of life is a negotiation, but we will be talking about how to ensure that all parties walk away from a negotiation happy. We won't be suggesting that everything follows a smooth path. However, we will be equipping you with tools to deal with conflicts and disagreements on the basis that it's not all about you or all about them.

Week 6 Intercultural relationships and summary
When we connect with people from different cultures and subcultures--including different organisational cultures--we need to learn as much as we can about the social and language norms of these different cultures. Then we need to design our messaging and our relationship building to both respect and work with these differences.