Improving Communication Skills: Diagnosis, Reflection, And Literature Review

Diagnosis and Reflection

There are five diagnostic tools related to communication skills such as Johari Window, Assertive Questionnaire, Communications Style Questionnaire, Interpersonal Communication Technique and Competent 360 degree Diagnostic Technique.

Johari Window tool help individuals to understand the relationship with other people. This tool consists of four quadrants namely arena, blind spot, façade and unknown. It analyses the personality of an individual based on two factors i.e. qualities known to self and to others. The arena quadrant exhibits those qualities which are known to self as well as to others. The blind spot is the quadrant that contains information related to qualities that are known to others but the individual does not have knowledge of it. The façade quadrant reflects those hidden qualities which are known to self but not known by others. The fourth quadrant known as unknown is the attributes of an individual which are not known by others as well as to self (West & Turner, 2008).

Communication style questionnaire helps in analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of an individual related to its ability of communicating information to others. This method consists of questions related to the abilities of an individual displayed in different situations (Servellen, 2009).

Assertiveness questionnaire helps in measuring the proficiency of a student regarding two components of assertiveness i.e. expression of the needs and wants in most difficult situations and take into consideration the needs and wants of other people in difficult situations. The questionnaire is designed by the use of Likert scale (Servellen, 2009).

As the name suggests, interpersonal communication refers to the communication technique in which there is an occurrence of exchange of information and feelings between two or more people. There is an occurrence of face to face communication between the people. This technique helps in exchange of verbal and non verbal messages through facial expressions, voice tone, body language and gestures. For effective communication, it is necessary for the people involved in communication to listen carefully to the information provided by other people. It is essential to ask questions in order to clear the doubts and take active participation in the communication (Sully & Dallas, 2010).

360 degree diagnostic tool helps in exchange of information and knowledge between two or more persons related to the feedback of the performance of the individuals. This technique is helpful to gain information related to measurement of performance of the employees in the organization through taking feedback from other people related to their performance and on the basis of it, rewards and punishments is given to the employees. Feedback is received in the form of views and opinions of the stakeholders regarding the performance of the employees in the organization (Janet, 2006).

Nowadays, it is important for the people to enhance their communication skills as it help the communicator to present their views and opinions related to a particular topic to the audiences. These tools help communicator to avoid the occurrence of different communication issues. Communicator can easily and confidently present the information to the audience if he have effective communication skills. The adoption of these diagnostic tools helps in improving the communication skills of an individual (Bryan, 2009).

Johari Window

From the analysis of the above diagnostic tools, it is analyzed that I am facing difficulty in presenting my views to the audiences in a better manner. I hesitate to present my views and opinions to the audiences. I have poor non verbal communication skill as I am unable to present the information in a clear manner to the audiences. The other prob.lem faced by me is related to active listening which affects my interactions with staff members and audience. I faced this problem as I am unable to provide information in an exact manner to the audiences by the use of easy and best way to communicate the information to them.

Communication takes place on a daily basis with other people in the form of interactions. People, who are good at communication skills has a positive impact on other person regarding their personality and other attributes (Bryan, 2009). The two profession interactions done by me include interactions at college and in a professional life. At the time of placements going on in the college, the company has carried out group discussion by providing a topic on which the whole group has to provide and present their views and opinions. All the students have presented their views but when my turn has come I could not speak one word due to my hesitation to speak for presenting my views. The interview panel has disqualified me because I have not presented my views on the given topic.

The second event at which I faced issues in communicating my views and opinions in a proper manner is in my profession. My manager has selected me to represent the company at a conference organized by the industry where all the existing players in the market has arrived. In the conference, I got an opportunity to provide the information related to the products and services offered by the company. In the conference, I faced a problem related to active listening as during question answer session; I am unable to provide answers to the questions raised by the audience. I have not provided the correct answer and satisfy their doubts as I have not listen and misinterpret the question raised by the audience.

Martin & DiMatteo (2013) states that nowadays, it is necessary for the people to have good communication skills to have good personal and professional life. Communication is necessary for transferring knowledge and information to other people in an effective manner. Effective communication skill helps professionals to manage and lead the business in a successful manner. Effective communication helps in providing information related to different policies and procedures to different employees in a clear manner. This helps in increasing the motivation level of the employees and thereby results in an increase in the overall productivity and performance of the company. These skills help an individual to convey its opinions and views on a particular topic and influence their decisions (Martin & DiMatteo, 2013).

Hargie (2006) states that for a marketer, it is essential to have good communication skills as they have to spread awareness about the products and services offered to the public. This can be done in an effective manner by utilizing their communication skills. This helps in influencing the buying decisions of the customers in an effective manner. The use of effective communication skills help in getting a positive response from the potential customers and results in an increase in the sales and profits of the company. Emergence of globalization leads to the formation of virtual teams that composed of individuals from diverse cultures. It is essential for them to have effective communication skills in order to convey the desired message in an appropriate manner to the team members. This in turn helps the group members or other employees to make effective decisions (Hargie, 2006).

Communication Style Questionnaire

According to Gray & Moffett (2013), at the workplace, different individuals have different skills and knowledge due to which it is essential for them to present their ideas in a proper and correct manner to other employees in order to exercise continuous learning in the organization. Nowadays, organizations consider communication skills as an important factor in the selection of the employees. The main reason behind it is that there is an necessity to communicate the relevant information in a clear manner to other employees in the organization. If the desired message is communicated in a well manner to the employees then they can easily complete the assigned tasks in a given time in a successful manner. At the work place, there might be a presence of individuals that find difficulty in conveying the desired message to other employees which results in occurrence of difficulty in career progress (Gray & Moffett, 2013).

Besides this, Beardsley, et al. (2012) has also stated that communication refers to the process of creating and sharing the information with other people in order to enhance the overall knowledge base. The factor on which the effective communication is dependent is the richness of the knowledge. Presence of poor communication results in reducing the quality, productivity, anger, lack of trust among employees in the organization. The language is an important determinant of effective communication in the organization. Language cannot be taught; it can only be acquired and helps in exchanging the information effectively among the individuals. The main contributor to effective communication is the development and usage of different language skills for the purpose of formation of strategy, development of sufficient support material in an understandable manner (Beardsley, et al., 2012).

Hoffmann, et al. (2013) stated that the development of such skills is time consuming. Besides this, employers consider communication skills as the top most skill to be acquired by the individual while considering candidates for employment. There is an existence of two modes of communication such as verbal and non-verbal communication. People communicate the ideas through body language, gestures, voice tone, and signals and so on which is considered as a non verbal means of communication. For the occurrence of effective communication, there is a necessity of occurrence of two way communication which requires active listening skill (Hoffmann, et al. 2013).

As per Burton & Raedeke (2008), it is essential for the effective communication that people involved in the communication process carefully listens to the message delivered by other person and provide their own views and opinions to the person that helps in increasing the knowledge base of the people involved in the conversation. Listening skill has not gained a significant importance in communication skills. Listening is considered as the top most skill in the forms of communication i.e. speaking, writing, reading and listening. It is essential for the individuals involved in the communication process to listen carefully to the ideas and views expressed by other people and take active participation in the process by delivering their own views and opinions related to the topic in an effective manner (Burton & Raedeke, 2008).

Assertiveness Questionnaire

Along with this, in the views of Nielsen (2008), miscommunication of the information results in the occurrence of conflicts among the employees of the organization. It is essential for the people to analyze their communication skills as it helps in gaining knowledge of their weak points. This helps them to take measures to improve their skills in order to become effective communicator. For the purpose of implementing effective communication, companies have adopted a communication model that includes sender, , encoding, message, decoding, media and receiver (Nielsen, 2008).

This model is followed by a chain of responsibility in a professional manner. The two skills which are found out by the assessment of effective communication are hesitation and active listening which are needed to be developed for the affluent communicator. People hesitate while commencing an oral presentation among the group of people. In addition to this, I am also lacking active listening skill which is required to become a responsible professional. Interpersonal skills help in creating value for the managers to assess the skills of subordinations through personal interactions (Nielsen, 2008).

It is essential for the subordinates and colleagues to enhance their communication skills in order to become responsible employee in the organization. The action plan for improving the communication issue faced by me is as follows.

Communication Issue	Action Plan
Hesitation while presentation	·         Active participation in different presentations organized by the company. ·         Attending communication skills seminars conducted by company for 1 month. ·         Try to speak fluently with subordinates and peer group. ·         Practice to speak in front of mirror and analyze the non verbal cues. ·         Attending different training classes from outside the organization. ·         Attend a short course on communication skill from a reputed institute.
Inactive Listening	·         Practicing Yoga which facilitates in increasing the concentration power. ·         Attending seminars related to soft skills. ·         Take a short course on soft skills.

Activities

Selection of communication diagnostic tools

Analyzing the tools to conduct self communication audit

Analysis of the result and assessment of development needs

Evaluation of different development activities

Development plan for first identified issue

Active participation in different presentations organized by the company

Attending communication skills seminars conducted by company

Try to speak fluently with subordinates and peer group

Practice to speak in front of mirror and analyze the non verbal cues

Attending different training classes from outside the organization

Attend a short course on communication skill from a reputed institute

Development plan for second identified issue

Practicing Yoga

Attending seminars  related to soft skills

Attend a short course on soft skills

Actual workout action plan

Performance analysis and Feedback

Making corrections and updating the development plan

It is analyzed from the above that the duration of the action plan is 154 days i.e. approximately 5 months. The duration of 73 days have been devoted to develop a skill to present the information in a confident manner by undertaking the activities in the development of first communication skill. For the development of the second identified issue, there is a requirement of 25 days in carrying out different activities. The activities carried out to resolve the second identified communication issue include practicing yoga, attending seminars and short course. 

References

Beardsley, R.S. et al. (2012). Communication Skills in Pharmacy Practice: A Practical Guide for Students and Practitioners. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Bryan, K. (2009). Communication in Healthcare. Peter Lang.

Burton, D. & Raedeke, T.D. (2008). Sport Psychology for Coaches. Human Kinetics.

Gray, C. & Moffett, J. (2013). Handbook of Veterinary Communication Skills. John Wiley & Sons.

Hargie, O. (2006). The Handbook of Communication Skills. Routledge.

Hoffmann, T. et al. (2013). Evidence-Based Practice Across the Health Professions – E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Janet, M. (2006). Effective Leadership And Management In The Early Years. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).

Martin, L.R. & DiMatteo, M.R. (2013). The Oxford Handbook of Health Communication, Behavior Change, and Treatment Adherence. OUP USA.

Nielsen, J. (2008). Effective Communication Skills: The Foundations for Change. Xlibris Corporation.

Rees, W.D. & Porter, C. (2001). The Skills of Management. Cengage Learning EMEA.

Servellen, G.V. (2009). Communication Skills for the Health Care Professional: Concepts, Practice, and Evidence. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Sully, P. & Dallas, J. (2010). Essential Communication Skills for Nursing and Midwifery E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.

West, R. & Turner, L.H. (2008). Understanding Interpersonal Communication: Making Choices in Changing Times. Cengage Learning.