From staff reports

Learning effective communication skills was the focus of a two-day training program attended by Chilton County Administrator Vanessa Hendrick on Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 8 and 9, as part of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama’s ongoing education and training programs for county commission employees.
The course, Communication and Media Relations, focused on effective communication in the workplace, what creates poor communication, how to create good communication, and what makes a good communicator. Participants learned different personality types, how to give and receive constructive criticism, and good listening skills.
“Communication is the cornerstone of what we do in government every day. We talk to our colleagues, our legislators, the media, our voting publics…to determine whether we are doing our jobs well or if we need to step up our game and change our plans to go in a different direction to meet the needs of our community. It’s vitally important that every commission employee understand how to communicate effectively with each other in their own department, as well as between departments. Good communication is the foundation of good local government,” ACCA Executive Director Sonny Brasfield said.