Developing Effective Communication Skills In A Multicultural Business Setting

Personal Reflection on Communication Style

Discuss about the Developing Communication And Interviewing Skills.

In the present professional world, business communication is essential for the professional as well as personal growth. Therefore, it is essential that an individual should develop both technical as well as behavioral skills for leading a successful life. In the class module, we were given an exercise in which we have to reflect upon individual communication style. We were given five different tests, which analyzes five different aspects communication. All of us participated in the test enthusiastically, as we realized that there are certain aspects of the communication, which can be improved with directed efforts (Baraldi, 2017).

Before, taking this test, I knew that I have certain issues in communicating properly. I am afraid of communicating with other people and I realize that I have anxiety issues when I communicate with people of different age group. I nervous, anxious and cannot present my views in a proper manner. 

I realized that I had certain issues and hesitation while speaking to different people and culture. People with different culture engulf me and I cannot communicate with them in an effective manner. Further, I have issues in understanding their non-verbal cues also. During the module, I learnt that the intercultural communication is a discipline, in which the people have the skills to communicate with the people of different cultures (Burgoon, Guerrero & Floyd, 2016). People have difficulty in communicating with people of different religion, social, ethnic and education background.

In the personal perception, it reflected that I find difficulty in communicating properly with the people of different cultures. Other than that, I also realized that I find certain challenges in properly communicating with other people. Sometimes, I feel hesitant in communicating with elderly people and acquaintances even as I get overwhelmed whole communicating with senior people. I feel confidence challenges, while communicating with the unknown people and strangers (Calero, 2005). I cannot handle when people do not agree with my thoughts and have a tendency to become aggressive.

I realized that hesitation is my personality characteristics and it might affect my career adversely. I realized that as I am hesitant, I am unable to present myself in interviews properly. I also find it challenging to network properly, which makes me to miss a lot of opportunities. Such people are not able to pursue different opportunities as compared to their more confident peers. I realize that hesitation blocks the business opportunities and the people with confident and unabashed attitude are given high priority for any job role. Hesitation and low confidence level limits the career growth, relationships, prestige and other aspects of the professional life.  The hesitation in the communication also creates stress and usually occurs as the people are afraid of being judged.

Communication Challenges in a Multicultural Setting

However, it is important to realize the when a person judges another person; it is because of their personal opinions, issues, experiences and struggles (Dolan, 2016). The hesitation on the communication can also be avoided by speaking fluently and articulating the thoughts and personal ideas for effective communication.

While completing this module, I realized that communication is important in the personal and professional lives of the people. I realized that business communication in important in properly presenting the views and thoughts to other people. Reflecting on the communication capabilities is important in improving the communication and developing strategies to address the communication issues.

A person can face different communication issues, such as interaction with the expressing thoughts clearly and convincingly. It is essential in professional interviews and corporate communication between different people. The body language is equally important in the corporate communication, which encompasses the eye contact, giving wrong answers and managing time schedules. In the present activity, I analyzed my communication style with the help of different communication tools, namely, SPCC (Self-perceived communication competence), nonverbal immediacy, PRICA (Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension), Talkoholic scale and disagreement tolerance scale. The score of the SPCC scale is 82.08 which show that I am hesitant in communicating in public platforms and different meetings. The score in nonverbal immediacy test is 79. According to the scale, for males, the score below 83 is considered low. It is a test, which analyzed the positive feelings of a person towards others. My PRICA score is 20, which shows that I have low intercultural communication apprehension. The score of the talkoholic scale is 29, which shows that I am borderline talkoholic. Although, sometimes, I talk a lot, there are times, when I am unable to communicate in a proper manner. My score is 54 for the tolerance for disagreement. It shows that I have high tolerance for disagreement.

The results of the report suggest that I feel skeptical in communicating with strangers and people in high age group. With the analysis, I realized that if the person is not in the same age group, then I have difficulty in communicating with other people. I realized that I find it challenging to frame my thoughts in front of a strong personality. Other than that, communication with the people of different cultures is quite challenging for me. I get low marks, in PRICA test, which shows my discomfort while communicating with the people of different cultures. I am concerned about the habits and behavioral aspects of the people from different cultures. I show that I am not at ease while communicating with the people of different culture. I find that it is difficult for me   to communicate with people of different cultures (Elliott, Smith & Gentry, 2015). I realize that these are significant issues and impact my professional growth in a multinational setting.

Addressing Communication Issues through Self-assessment

My hesitation towards in communicating in the multinational setting restricts my ability to learn non-verbal cues from different cultures. There are several instances such as body language, gesture, touch and other body gestures. It is important to respect and learn these cues, while in multinational or multicultural setting. The non-verbal cues refer to the communication medium in which the person can communicate with each other without the use of the words. 

It can be identified that there are two major issues in my communication, which are inability to communicate properly in intercultural setting and hesitance in communicating properly with strangers and people outside a specific age group. In my professional life too, have encountered several instances, in which I have realized that there are issues in my business communication. According to my personal perception, my managers and senior staff members cannot perceive my full potential as I am hesitant in communication. I realize that overcoming hesitation does not mean to become aggressive. However, it means that the person should have certain diplomatic skills so that he can present his views in a polite yet strong manner. It is important to understand that the manager should not hurt the sentiments of another person. As I find it challenging to communicate properly with my colleagues and peers, I often fight with them. It has created a misrepresentation of my personality in front of my peers.  The overall impact of these traits is that my performance reduced and my managers were not happy as I was not able to control my emotions (Henderson & Mathew Byrne, 2016).

Other than that, I realize that I find it challenging to communicate with my peers with a different ethnic background. My peers also perceive my hesitation and avoid talking to me. Some managers and peers have considered it as ego, which can create hurdles in my professional growth. I realized that the intercultural communication is fragile and several problem stems from the assumptions in norms, values and beliefs between the participants of different cultures. The challenges in understanding the intercultural communication can occur at one of the three modes of communication, namely, vocal communication, written communication and body movements. It depends on the communication medium and the physical and the social setting. In this setting, challenges occur, as one of the individual needs to speak a language, which is not their native language (Knapp, Hall & Horgan, 2013).

The Importance of Intercultural Communication in Business

According to the Koprowska (2014) the intercultural communication refers to the communication between different groups or people, who belongs to different backgrounds. The intercultural communication is the process of transmission and interpretation of symbols through different verbal and nonverbal channels. The intercultural communication results in communication encounters between people with different cultures. As such, one of the people might speak a language which is not native to them. The values and the culture impact the proficiency of the communication process and may blur the actual meaning. The cultural values also impacts various nonverbal cues, such as the tone of voice, pause in the communication and pacing and formality or informality in the communication.

It will also impact how people understand the message and intercepts it. Other conditions such as how the message is transmitted or noticed also impact the understanding of the message. The intercultural communication is crucial aspect of business setting as the culture through language impact the individual thinking of a person (Koprowska, 2014).

The language and the cultural values might impact the intercultural communication due to several reasons. It is important to develop cultural intelligence for the multinational communication setting. The cross-cultural intelligence can be developed through coaching and training. There are several aspects of cross-cultural settings, namely, cross-culture communication and management, negotiation, conflict resolution, customer service and organization communication.

Most of the researchers and scholars compares different culture by highlighting he differences between the social behaviors of the people. It is a superficial public behavior, which originated through culture. However, these habits can also be acquired at a later stage. However, it is important to understand that the cultural diversity is formidable and vast and difference exists between different cultures. It is the fundamental of the cross-culture communication. The native culture is important in the development of an individual (Kuhnke, 2013). It is necessary in setting attitude, creating values, norms and beliefs and reinforcing them on other people of the society.

In the perspective of Kuhnke (2013) the local culture refers to different principles and laws, which guide an individual in interacting with other people in the world. Different people are united by the religion, geographical location and race, and create some common norms to the society. These norms are further developed into the culture of the society. The cultural understanding and nature impact the communication style and behavior.

Accordingly, the cross-cultural communication refers to the communication between people, with different working, age, nationality, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. It also encompasses attempts at communication between different ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. In the views of Lindenfeld, Smith, Norton and Grecu, (2014) people experience culture at different stages of life. It shapes the personality of an individual, while he is growing up, work culture and other cultures, in which the individual becomes an active participant. The cross-culture communication is essential in avoiding misunderstandings, which can result in further conflicts between different people. In such communication, it is challenging for an individual in developing a feeling of trust and mutual cooperation. The major challenge in the cross-cultural communication is the difference in spoken languages (Lindenfeld, Smith, Norton and Grecu, 2014). It inhibits the understanding of the person and creates complexities in understanding the meaning of different contexts.

Understanding Intercultural Communication Challenges

In the cross-cultural communication, there are several nonverbal communication methods, namely, the dressing sense, body language, eye contact and gestures. The stereotypes refer to the process of establishing different perception about the behavior of different community. It can be true to some extent; however, it is not justified to judge all the members of the society, based on these stereotypes. The intercultural communication might impact the anxiety level of different people. There are some people, who encounter a high degree of anxiety while communicating with people of different ethnic background.

The best method to reduce the cross cultural communication is to enhance the listening skills of a person. It means that it is important to understand the real meaning of the word being said, rather than taking them on the face value. By reflecting on our stereotypes, we will learn how to avoid stereotypes, while communicating with other people. It is important to accept and learn the differences and the similarities between the people with different types of communities.

In the perception of McKay, Davis & Fanning (2009) the second issue is the hesitation, while communicating with the people in different age group. The non-verbal communication plays an important role in expressing thee individual viewpoint in a clear and concise manner. The nonverbal expressions include the expressions of the face, tone of voice and body language or the hand gestures. It has the capability of transforming the communication in a quick manner. It adds subtle meanings, which make the meaning of the statement clearer. The expressive people use the non-verbal cues to give more meaning to the words or statements (McKay, Davis & Fanning, 2009). The leaders also use the nonverbal cues to emphasize their viewpoint and motivate or inspire others.

According to the Yew Wong, K. (2005), the expressive people can easily grab attention; however, it is difficult to describe their communication style in a proper manner. They also communicate with the help of emotions, and thus have a higher convincing power. With the proper use of these communication cues, the expressive people can easily transmit their emotions. They also have high communication skills and can communicate with other people in an effective manner. These people blessed with the ability of communicating with a large audience. In the present competitive world, it is important that the managers are able to train the leadership of the people.

In the views of Reilly and Hynan, (2014) in the workplace, it is also necessary to control anger and outrageous behavior. The anger management is the process of identifying the signs of anger and controlling the personal emotions. The anger can be managed by three approaches, namely, assertion, empathy and stress management. Accordingly, assertion means that an individual is able to communicate anger and anxiety properly. An assertive person thinks about his individual rights as well as the rights of other person and asks for his rights, if they are breached. It requires reflective thinking so that the person considers hiss rights as well as the rights of other person (Reilly and Hynan, 2014).

Developing Cultural Intelligence for Effective Communication

Empathy is another approach to controlling. It means that an individual is capable of understanding the individual feelings as well as the feelings of other people. He considers the rights of other people and does not try to breach them. Empathy is a learned ability, though which an individual can express his feelings, thoughts and behavior. An empathetic person is able to understand the views of others. He understands that there are different types of person and each individual has a different viewpoint.

According to Shehada (2016), in order to become a skilled communicator, it is important for the person to have empathy towards others. Being empathetic, the person should have certain characteristics in his personality such as being compassionate, understanding and patient to understand others. An empathetic person also has certain innate characteristics in his personality such as being able to care for others, and remain genuine and trustworthy. Empathy is important to connect with others in an emotional manner and understanding the thoughts and feelings of other people.

In the perspective of Simpson (2015) people can use stress management to control their anger. It is the ability to control or manage anger and addressing stressful events. The stress management is the skill of maintaining anxiety or stress personally. The anger is a part of the emotional intensity and can be controlled by regulating oneself or developing coping methods. The stress management will be used to increase the flexibility and self-reliance. It is essential in boosting the personal performance.  

A person can be an effective communicator, if he able to manage his emotions and handle all the situations in a proper manner. There are certain characteristics which are also essential for the anger-management skill such as superior judgmental skills and optimism skills.

According to the perception of Vangelisti (2016) if an individual is able to manage his anger, it can directly improve his people skills, improve productivity and assist the managers in managing the employees in a proper manner. The anger management improves the communication and the people skills. It is important to assist the managers in managing their employees. In business communication, non-verbal anger also declines the performance of the organization. The nonverbal anger creates hostility. There are also other symptoms such as clenched jaws and heavy sighs. A person can improve his communication by improving these behavioral aspects.

In the perspective of Worth (2009), it is important to remove the hesitation in the public speaking as it is important to get promoted at the managerial role. The public speaking is essential in developing good leaders. However, in order to reduce the hesitation in public speaking, it is important on understanding the barriers in effective communication. In order to speak effectively in public, it is important to be proficient with the language. If a person is not self-assured, he will be feared that there is issue of public speaking. A person can also reduce the public speaking barriers, if he practices in front of his friends. It is important to consider the suggestions from all the friends and implement them to improve the public speaking skills. In business setting, when speaking in public, it is necessary to prepare beforehand. Further, it is important to be assured that the individual does not speak the same things again and again.

An action plan is constructed so that the individual can make targeted efforts to improve the personal behavior. It implements certain behavioral intervention, which can improve the business communication of an individual. The foremost step in constructing an action plan is determining individual goals, and determining a series of actions, which can be used to overcome the behavioral weakness.

It creates a structured plan through which an individual can achieve improvements in the behavior. With an action plan, an individual can create foundation for a task and give priority to certain tasks. In this regard, in the present section, an action plan is proposed, which can eradicate the weakness in the personal behavior, which are hesitation in communication and the issue of intercultural communication.

Timeline	Proposed Activities
First three months	A person will participate in communication improvement program	In this program, the learner will focus on the activities which can reduce the hesitation in public speaking. There are several programs offered by educational institutions and private universities. The researcher will choose from one of the program.
First three months		It has been analyzed that the hesitation in communicating with others has resulted from lack of confidence. Therefore, I will read self-help books and journal articles to improve the cognitive abilities. I will realize that there are several verbal and non-verbal communication techniques, which can be learnt from reading books and watching videos. It will improve my communication skills.
Every month (12 months)	Keeping a personal journal	In a self-help plan, it is important to reflect and monitor the behavioral activities. Keeping a personal journal will maximize the impact of the intervention and the action plan.
Third to sixth month	Mentoring	Mentoring is a goal-oriented behavioral intervention, which can be used to address the shortcoming in the personal behavior. An individual can access the experience of another person in improving the behavior. The learner will ask the University professors and the senior students to help in improving the behavior
Sixth to ninth month	Taking classes to improve the intercultural cues	The learner will select the classes, which will increase his interaction with the students of other community. Other than that, the I will take classes to comprehend the cultural cues of people from other community.
Ninth to twelve month	Participating in the cultural activities of the University	It will increase my participation and interaction with other people.

References

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Elliott, C.H., Smith, L.L., & Gentry, S.W.D. (2015). Anger Management For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons.

Henderson, K., & Mathew Byrne, J. (2016). Developing communication and interviewing skills. Skills for social work practice, 1-22. (page 7)

Knapp, M.L., Hall, J.A., & Horgan, T.G. (2013). Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction. Cengage Learning.

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Yew Wong, K. (2005). Critical success factors for implementing knowledge management in small and medium enterprises. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 105(3), 261-279.