Effective Business Communication For Literacy Diagnostic

Diagnosis and reflection

Discuss about the Effective Business Communication for Literacy Diagnostic.

Good communication is a key aspect in all walks of life. The ability to communicate well with others such as colleagues ,managers and others at the place of work is very vital irrespective of the kind of industry that one is working in.Effective communication is more than just exchanging information.It goes deeper to the ability for one tounderstand intentions and the emotions attached to the message that is being communicated.In connection to good communication therefore,it is required that individuals should periodically carry out diagnosis and reflection on their communication skills.Communication diagnosis in this case refers to subjecting an individuals’ different communication tools to some tests to find out the extent to which one is good in communicating. (Burgoon, Hunsaker & Dawson, 2011)Communication reflection is all about tracing back different communications that one has been involved in and assessing them.Therefore,to carry out communication diagnosis on various areas such as non –verbal communication,active listening and many others,diagnostic tools i.e. writing ,monitoring progress tools ,reading and viewing tools ,speaking and listening tools and finally early literacy tools will be used in the exercise.Under literature review ,both theoretical approaches and different models will be used to address the aspects arising from diagnosis and reflection .An action plan meant for the next six months intended to improve communication skills in areas that were found to be wanting will be created. (Friedman & Miyake, 2011)

This refers to the ability of an individual to comprehend a text, listen and recall, be able to use oral language, read and write. This tool intends to investigate communication ability of an individual on the basis of the early literacy fundamental skills. Verbal communication is simply the use of sound words to communicate. It is the most common type of oral communication that is used. My use of verbal communication can be said to be perfect or excellent since it is a technique that I have been exposed to and I have had many avenues to use. I have used verbal communication in both class and business presentation and the audience have always been satisfied with the communication.Listening refers to the ability to rightly interpret information in a communication.Whenever I am listening ,it’s always easy for me tounderstand the message be it a question or a comment from my audience.Under tis tool also,the ability to comprehend and recall is   also tested.Analyzing my communication,it is true that I have a challenge in recalling an information from the previous communication.I find  challenging. (Sitlington, 2008)

Early literacy diagnostic tool

It is the second diagnostic tool in communication.These tools are meant for comprehensive understanding of the uttered word;oral language retell, comprehension and oral language retell conversation. Listening and speaking to me has never posed any challenge .This is rated from the response of my audience .They are always positive to me whenever we communicate and a high level of satisfaction is demonstrated

 This is all about reading texts and linking information, understanding the main questions and relevant points in a context. Under this assessment I don’t have any problem because I am always able to understand texts written in different contexts .The only challenge that I am yet to overcome is the viewing of texts. I either skip some information or fix words that are not included in the text.

This tool is used in assessing the non-verbal type of communication it focuses on determining one’s ability to produce sensible complete writings   of various contexts including editing and spelling. I have no problem with this since my writings are always clear and easily understood by my audience. There has never be any complain concerning the clarity and relevance of my texts concerning the use of words, punctuation and word construction in general. (Gudykunst & Mody, 2011).

This purely refers to the word of mouth as communication tool .In some way; it refers to the use of sound words to communicate. This assessment tool is aimed at examining the choice of words when communicating in different contexts. This is because communication is not just the passing of words but these words must have a meaning that are relevant to different context for example communication in business ,legal matters ,ceremonies and classwork presentations differ because of the choice of words. This tool also aims at testing on how someone is clearly   audible to his or her audience.

From the above diagnosis and analysis on my communication skills, the two issues that still require me to improve on them are my recall or comprehension skills and viewing skills. This is because whenever communicating with my audience, they demonstrate dissatisfaction on my communication skills on these two areas

The first avenue was the presentation of a business idea that I had as a consultant to a company.The audience was calm and attentive when I was presenting the ideas off-head(not reading from anywhere) but the atmosphere changed when I  started reading the presentation from my note book. This is because of the skipping of some information and therefore my audience could clearly understand what I was presenting. This showed that my viewing of written content needs some development. The second avenue was a continuation of the same presentation from the previous time .Many questions from the audience arose .This is because the information that I was presenting was a bit contradicting with   the previous one despite of the fact that the presentations were of the same business idea and the questions that I had previously answered.I had forgotten what i had prioritized during the last presentation .This made me realize that I have a problem with recalling the past information .I still have to work and develop on my memory.Therefore, from these two avenues, it was clear that some development on communication concerning recalling and viewing were still needed. This is because they are among the most crucial communication skills that one has to perfect since they are inevitable in day to day communication. (McAlenney & Coyne, 2011)

Speaking and listening diagnostic tool

Conclusion

In conclusion therefore, communication diagnosis and reflection is a good exercise for good communication.It is through this exercise that I have been able to subject my various skills to assessment and came up with faults that need to be corrected.It is not only useful to individual but also to professionals that are mostly involved in social communication .Diagnosis and reflection of communication will help these professionals develop and build upon their communication skills .This is also vital since any relationship –formal or non-formal is determined by the kind of communication that is used and how good and relevant is it to different context

Good communication is the key to good relationship among people particularly in a work place (Vorderer, 2015).Communication does not only refer to the exchange of information between people or groups .It also refers to the level to which the recipient is able to understand the message that the communication intended to deliver. This paper will therefore discuss the two issues that need development that I was able to identify through communication diagnosis and reflection. The literature review will also discuss theories relating to the issues and how to develop them .Lastly, the focus will be on my personal efforts to improve on those communication areas

This is the most vital element of communication because without it, communication becomes valueless or meaningless. An individual is considered to be good in communication if he or she has the ability to comprehend readings and memorize any conversation that has taken place in different contexts. Memory is a linkage to flow of information from time to time .From the above diagnosis on my communication skills, comprehension and memory came out as one of the areas that I need to improve on. Basing on theories related to this and my personal practices, is a discussion on how memory can be developed. (Perry & Ziegler, 2013)

Hermann came up with a theory that tries to examine how memories work and how they can be enhanced .To illustrate this; he usedwhat he called the “forgetting curve”. This is a form of curve that tries how our memories in relation to time. According to this theory, as time goes by, the strength of a memory decays. He said that when one learns about something, he or she is able to remember for a couple of days .In most cases after a week, thememory will get distorted and information will be lost but if repetition is done within the first few days before the information is lost, the information will be retained .Too early repetition of information will not significantly add to the memory. On the other hand, when repetition is done too late, a few traces of the previous   information learnt will be re-learnt rather than learning anything new. This process is called recalling. In his theory therefore, Hermann   emphasizes on the repetition of the information while it is still fresh in the memory. This will ensure that there is optimal remembrance of the information. (Perry & Ziegler, 2013)

Reading and viewing diagnostic tool

After carrying out diagnosis  ,memory was one of the challenges that I face in my day to day communication.Therefore,according to the above theory,the only way to enhance  my memory by repeatedly going through my previous presentations so that I can recall on what I had previously said to avoid contradicting myself and the audience as well. This can be done by ensuring that I go through my previous presentation before I start presenting the one. (de Vries, Bakker-Pieper, Konings & Schouten, 2011)

According to research, the foundation of a good memory is to have a healthy body and mind. The brain cannot function well if some behavioral practices are harmful to the body and the mind. The following issues are the ones that need to be addressed in order to have a good memory. The first one is eating well. Eating well means that one has to take vital vitamins like folic acid, vitamin B12 and antioxidants. These elements help improve the sharpness of the mind .It also to supplement these vitamins .The second behavioral development is water intake. Failure to drink the required amount of water weakens both the body and the mind .Water is able to make the red blood cells very active hence more energy. The third aspect is about sleep.Adequate sleep is the key to a good memory .This is because when one sleeps, the brain is able to recharge itself .According to medical research ,the brain needs sleep for it to convert new memories into long-term memories. The last behavioral determinant of a good memory is effective stress management. It is the most common memory destroyer. Stress should be managed so that it does not cause body harm that may affect the memory. Stress can be relieved in many ways such as sports and counseling. (Strickland & Morrow, 2014)

Viewing (in reading)

This theory was developed by Fish, 1980.According to the theory, readers tend to derive meaning of text from their interaction with the content. Therefore, a reader gives meaning to a text using their prior knowledge about the text .That is why when reading ,people may see different words on the same text and also perceive the same text differently depending on the knowledge they have about the text they are reading. (de Vries, Bakker-Pieper, Konings & Schouten, 2011)

It may mean that when reading texts, I might be unknowingly skipping some texts assuming that they are not relevant depending on the perception and the knowledge that I have about the content from my previous experience.

Writing diagnostic tool

The first step is to learn to take the literalmeaning of the text and stop assigning meaning to it according to my knowledge.This technique will help me develop good reading skills so as to fluently and systematically be able to read what is written. The second step is to set time apart where I can practice without necessarily having an audience. I can read as many texts as possible so as to improve on my reading skills.Another technique that I can employ to improve on my reading skills is by requesting a group of friends to act as my audience as I practice on my reading skills. This will give them a room to listen to me critically and correct me where necessary. (Strickland & Morrow, 2014)

Conclusion

Application of the theoretical concepts and determination to commit myself on the above personal skills will definitely help to improve on my weak areas on communication

The intention of my action plan is to enhance my communication skills especially on my weak areas. This is intended to be done within a period of six months.The whole period is divided into segments of one month so that in each month I can be able to get involved in different activities that will help to generally improve on my reading skills and also find better ways to boost my memory. (Bhatt, 2011)

Action step	Time	Materials /resources	Person responsible
1.Undertaking an advance course on communication particularly reading and memory development	10th October to 10thNovember	-Communication lecturer -books in the school library -acquire books from a national and public libraries -internet materials such as information on you tube articles and journals published by different people	Me
2. Attending a communication class  on oral communication	11th November to 11th December	-Taking class notes -forming group discussions with my colleagues -using the materials recommended by the lecturer -video samples used in class presentations	Me Other students
3.Taking part in public business discussion events	January 2018 to February	-business magazines -articles and journals on business -self prepared notes for business presentations	Me
4.Participating in reading competitions	February to march	-provided materials for the competition -other participants writings used in the competition -articles and journals	Me
5.Personally scheduled practice	March to April	-books in the school library -acquire books from a national and public libraries -internet materials such as information on you tube articles and journals published by different people	Me Friends who act as my audience
6.Continuing with my studies on communication	April to May	Taking class notes -forming group discussions with my colleagues -using the materials recommended by the lecturer -video samples used in class presentations	Me

References

Bhatt, R. (2011). Tips for Effective Communication Skills. Indian Journal Of Applied Research, 3(1), 83-84. https://dx.doi.org/10.15373/2249555x/jan2013/33

Burgoon, M., Hunsaker, F., & Dawson, E. (2011). Human communication. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

de Vries, R., Bakker-Pieper, A., Konings, F., & Schouten, B. (2011). The Communication Styles Inventory (CSI). Communication Research, 40(4), 506-532. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0093650211413571

Friedman, N., & Miyake, A. (2011). The reading span test and its predictive power for reading comprehension ability. Journal Of Memory And Language, 51(1), 136-158. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2004.03.008

Gopal, N. (2009). Business communication. New Delhi: New Age International.

Gudykunst, W., & Mody, B. (2011). Handbook of international and intercultural communication. Thousand Oaks [u.a.]: Sage.

Hampton, S., & Resnick, L. (2009). Reading and writing with understanding. [Newark, Del.]: New Standards/International Reading Association.

Kommers, J., & Venbrux, E. (2009). Cultural styles of knowledge transmission. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

McAlenney, A., & Coyne, M. (2011). Identifying At-Risk Students for Early Reading Intervention: Challenges and Possible Solutions. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 27(4), 306-323. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10573569.2011.596100

Perry, C., & Ziegler, J. (2013). Linguistic difficulties in language and reading development constrain skilled adult reading. Memory & Cognition, 28(5), 739-745. https://dx.doi.org/10.3758/bf03198408

Sitlington, P. (2008). Students with Reading and Writing Challenges: Using Informal Assessment to Assist in Planning for the Transition to Adult Life. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 24(1), 77-100. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10573560701753153

Strickland, D., & Morrow, L. (2014). Beginning reading and writing (1st ed.). New York [etc.]: Teachers College Press.