Effective Business Communication: Analysis And Improvement

Diagnostic Tools for Communication Analysis

Discuss about the Effective Business Communication for Practice Assessment.

A reflective essay, as the name suggests, reflects upon the person writing the essay on a particular criteria or aspect, which they analyse themselves, through the use of some tool or module. These reflective essays help in providing a self reflection of the person who undertakes the particular module or tool. The present reflective essay is based on the self reflection of the writer where the communication skills of the writer have been analysed. This would help the writer in getting a clarity regarding the communication skills which they presently have, and more importantly, the communication skills which are needed for the writer to have a successful business life. In order to analyse these skills, the writer would use four distinctive diagnostic tools which were presented to the writer while undergoing the tutorials. These would highlight the different shortfalls of the writer in the communication skills area which would help the writer in working on these issues. The efforts put into improving the shortfalls in communication skills has been highlighted through drawing up an action plan through Gantt chart drawn at the end of this reflection. As this is a reflective essay, the discussion would not be based on first person.

For analysing the communication skills which I presently have, I have applied five diagnostic tools, which had been properly approved by my tutor. In this regard, the first tool which I had used was one which is commonly used to analyse the communication apprehension of an individual and this was SPCC, which stands for Self-Perceived Communication Competence Scale. This tool helped me in analysing my communications capabilities, when dealing with diversified situations of communications and where the receivers are also present in a wide range (McCroskey & McCroskey, 1998). The second tool which I used for the purpose of this analysis was PRICA, i.e., Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension, which helped me in analysing the feelings I get when communicating with a person of different culture. This shows the different circumstances which I would be faced with and the manner in which I face them when communication with people of different ethnic or cultural backgrounds (Neuliep & McCroskey, 1997). The third diagnostic tool which I used was the NIS-S, i.e., Nonverbal Immediacy Scale-Self Report which depicts the person’s immediacy when they communicate with others and use non-verbal immediate behaviour with others. This non verbal behaviour helps in determining the positivity of a person by engraining in non verbal communication (Richmond, McCroskey & Johnson, 2003). The next tool which had been used for the purpose of this self reflection was Willingness to Listen Diagnostic which helps in determining the individual’s orientation when they have to listen to others, which again is a crucial aspect of communication skills, because listening to others is as important as is communicating verbally or non verbally with others (Richmond & Hickson, 2001). The last tool which I used was the Talkaholic Scale, which was to help me in understanding if I, as a person, talk a lot or not and would also show if I was a compulsive talker (McCroskey & Richmond, 1995).

Analysis of Communication Skills

Once I successfully finished filing and calculating my scores for the five diagnostic tools, I was able to examine and study the strengths, as well as, the weaknesses in my communication skills. The first used tool was SPCC where I attained an overall score of 58.33. This score was on the low side of SPCC which highlights upon my acute stage fright and the anxiety which I get when I have to speak in groups. I scored 33.3 in public, 0 in meeting, 100 in group, 100 in dyad, scored 50 in stranger, 50 in acquaintance and 75 in friend. The majority of these show that in public, with friends and even in meetings I am not very comfortable in putting forward my views and an apprehensive about communicating with them. The second tool I used was PRICA where I got a score of 32 and this indicated a low intercultural cultural awareness. This denoted that I am not very comfortable when I have to interact with the people from different cultural backgrounds.

The next tool which I used was NIS-S where I got a score of 81 which is again on a low side which denotes that I do not use body language when it comes to interactions using non verbal cues. I tend to have a closed personality where I talk without using hand gestures. The fourth tool which I used was Willingness to Listen Diagnostic where I scored 81 which highlights that I am a good listener and I am eager to listen to others without getting bored. This would help me in the long run as I am able to absorb information effectively. The last tool which I used was Talkaholic Scale where I obtained 24 as my final score which highlights that I am not a talkative person, so I do not over indulge in talks, which is goes hand in hand with my apprehensions about public speaking.

The two key shortfalls which I face are related to communication apprehension, i.e., the ability to speak in public and the ability to communicate with people of different cultural backgrounds. This can be depicted from two of the incidents where I got very uncomfortable. As a part of our college curriculum, I was asked to prepare a presentation and deliver it before my classmates. I did thorough research and prepared a presentation and as I knew that I have a stage fright, I even wrote word by word of what I had to speak in front of my classmates. However, once I took the centre stage and the projector projected my slide over the screen, I got numb and my heart started beating very fast. I could only finish two slides in the 15 slides I had prepared and my teacher asked me to take a break. I could not resume the stage and lost good scores which I could have otherwise got, had I just read the script I prepared. There is another incident which embarrassed me. While I was working in a barista, I had to serve an Indian customer a coffee. I was able to give him his order but when he indulged in a conversation, I again got numb and my hands got cold. My manager had to take over and he then dealt with the customer.

Shortfalls in Communication Skills

Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1991) were of the view that speaking was one of the most difficult tasks for the general public, particularly for the students as they get anxious when they have to speak before their class. When such happens, the student faces difficulty in making differentiations between different sounds and structures and even the simple words become inapprehensible. In this regard, the views of Dunbar, Brooks and Miller (2006) were quiet similar where they presented that an important aspect of the life of the student was communication skills, which also was a crucial factor when they translated from college life to workplace. This view has been supported in the literature of Beatty (1988) and also in that of Beatt, Balfantz and Kuwabara (1989) where they showed that there is an emotional predisposition regarding anxiety stemmed from public speaking. There were two types of reactions of anxiety which were stated by Woodrow (2006) in which the first was psychological reasons and the other was cognitive reactions. When it came to the psychological reactions, the body reacted in such a manner that the person started stammering or his heart started beating very fast. When it came to the cognitive reactions, the brain starts working in a disoriented manner, where the person would get negative or irrelevant thoughts which would not only be self-depreciating, but would also increase the anxiety levels.

Public speaking is deemed as a leading issue which is faced by nearly every person due to the apprehensions that one faces when they have to deal with a public (Jaffe, 2015). North and Rivers (2001) stated that when a person is made to speak in public, they get anxious about it. They stated that when faced with public speaking, people get anxious and they show signs of discomfort, confusion, palpitation, gastrointestinal discomfort, muscle tension, sweating and the like. Around 85% people, as per Burnley, Cross & Spanos (1993) had to face this difficulty. Scovel (1991) stated that only when anxiety is facilitated in a proper manner, did it result in positive results, otherwise it could result in the individual performing in a poor manner. Rossi and Seiler (1986) highlighted upon the history of public speaking anxiety and traced it back to the mid 1930s. And like North and Rivers, he believed that when a person had to speak in public, they got apprehensive or felt uneasiness as they felt threatened.

Importance of Communication Skills in Business Life

Jones (2004) was of the view that there was a need to facilitate anxiety in a manner so that the individual can adapt to learning from his apprehensions and work towards overcoming the particular obstacle. When the person is able to do so, the anxiety can be channelled in an effective manner. It had been identified by Ohata (2005) that by facilitating these, the person could learn better and his attitude and perception can be changed. Marinho, Medeiros, Gama and Teixeira (2017) rightly highlighted upon the need and significance of enhancing the public speaking skills particularly for the business life of an individual. Russ (2012) also showed that proper communication skills were required for interpersonal work relations.

Rahmani (2017) highlighted that intergroup anxiety was a kind of negative feeling and restlessness which a person faced when they had to communicate with a person who belonged to a dissimilar cultural or social identity. Intergroup anxiety, like any other anxiety in Rahmani’s view had negative results and it hampered the cognitive performance and the social interactions of an individual. Hackman and Barthel-Hackman (1993), Hsu (2007), and Pederson, Tkachuk and Allen (2008) have studied that there are different contextual incompatibilities of communication apprehensions due to the effective cultural, as well as, non cultural elements. The different communication apprehensions are a result of the difference in the culture of an individual, for instance, Australia, Arabic nations, East Asian cultures, Western Europe, and US. So, the individuals who belong to individualist cultures often emphasize on their personal space, activities and needs.

Merkin (2009), Pederson et al. (2008) and Pryor, Bulter and Boehringer (2005) noted the difference amongst the high context cultures like the Arabic nations, Korea, China and Japan, and amongst the low context cultures like that of US, which impacts the communication apprehensions. Hall (1976) stated that in the high context culture, the majority of information is shared with the participants and a mutual perception of communication depends on the communication’s context; however, when it came to low context culture, it is more straight forward and also covers more information. So, high context cultures are less valued and they are more apprehensive, as per Pryor et al. (2005). The communication traits, as per Allen, O’Mara and Long (2014), were highlighted in the oral communication based on this culture context.

Dr. James C. McCroskey, who initiated this concept of communication apprehension, developed a model of intercultural communication apprehension which was similar to the thoughts and emotions in other communication apprehensions, but this one was related to the linguistic and culture barriers (Neuliep, 2014). It could be based on trait, context, situation or audience. Gumus, Hamarat and Dursun (2005) highlighted that in such situations where the anxiety was seen only in particular situations like public speaking or job interview was content based apprehension. Mak et al. (2013) identified that the intercultural communication apprehension was based on the negative perception with regards to the cultural differences and which displayed an uncomfortable behaviour where the person came across another person from another culture, i.e., due to imminent cross cultural interaction.

Upon successfully identifying my shortfalls, I have prepared an action plan which I would undertake in the next six months, in order to win over my apprehensions and improve upon my communication skills. In this regard, I would start by maintaining a journal in which I would be writing daily, what I did and this would help me in keeping a track of the things which I did as per the drawn action plan and the difficulties which I faced in doing so. This would be my success book, which would help me in looking back and being proud of my progress. The next step which I would do is joining a book club so that I get to interact with some new people and try to interact with them. This would be undertaken from Nov 2017 to Jan 2018. I would also make fortnightly efforts in getting the story of a person of different cultural background, who visits the barista near the university, so that I can speak up in public and also face my apprehensions about people from different cultural backgrounds.

I would also seek help from my tutor in this, as in the beginning I would need their help in learning how to start a communication channel with new people, along with the details on how to counter my anxiety. I would be interacting with my classmates, by taking centre stage for 5 minutes and speaking with them. This would be done for Jan, in front of my tutor and for Fe, in their absence. I would also be, at regular intervals, interact with the university students who are not my classmates, and this would have a mix of interactions with people of different backgrounds. I would report my interactions to my tutor as an evidence of success. The most important one is that I would organize a 30 member intercultural program in the university itself in first half of April. This would make me approach the public and speak with them, particularly where I interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.

The success of my entire journey is based on the success of this intercultural program, where I would again take the help of my tutor. Here, I would ask them and my classmates, on the progress which they think I have made during the six months period. The action plan has more efficiently been denoted through a Gantt chart below.

Gantt Chart depicting Action Plan
	15-11-17	30-11-17	15-12-17	31-12-17	14-01-18	31-01-18
Maintaining a Journal
Book Club
Customer interaction at barista
Seeking help from tutor
Interactions with Classmates
Communicating with University Students
Organize an intercultural program
Gantt Chart depicting Action Plan
	13-02-18	28-02-18	15-03-18	31-03-18	14-04-18	30-04-18
Maintaining a Journal
Book Club
Customer interaction at barista
Seeking help from tutor
Interactions with Classmates
Communicating with University Students
Organize an intercultural program

Thus, this self reflection has helped me in identifying my shortfalls and this would help me in working on these issues, so that when I start my business life, I would not be at a disadvantage. 

References

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