You are to identify and explain the two issues from your diagnosis and reflection. You are to define the concepts, outline key models and or behaviours that need to be developed so as to demonstrate effective practice. This literature review needs to outline both the conceptual (theoretical) and behavioural (interpersonal) skills that you need to acquire to demonstrate competence in your chosen area of communication.
Business communication is an integral part of the professional growth. It is necessary to put forward personal views and present in a confident manner. A professional with good communication skills is capable of sending intended message to the audience without any distortion in the meaning. Good business communication is essential in preparing a document, presentation, or speech (Angour, 2012). Therefore, the present task will identify the issues in the personal communication and propose an action plan to address the situation.
The essay is a self-reflection in which the student applies several communication tools to identify the weakness in the personal communication and focus on two communication issues identified from the diagnosis. The communication issues identified from the diagnosis are anxiety in public speaking and low tolerance for the disagreement with other people. The essay will also comprise of a literature review related to the key concepts and issues identified in the self-diagnosis part. The literature review will discuss the importance of eradicating the communication issues nd how the identified problems can be answered.
The essay comprised of undertaking participation in a series of activities which has increased my understanding and capability of tackling communication issues. Several activities are also identified to address the issue which is discussed in the action plan of the essay.
While completing this essay, I used five diagnostic tools to investigate my communication in different situations. The first tool used was the self-perceived communication competence questionnaire which identifies the communication skills of a person, while he is talking to different category of people. The communication style of a person changes while he is talking to a stranger, to a friend, to a person in different age category. It analyzes the self-perception of a person while talking to different people. The second tool was intercultural communication apprehension which measures the feelings of a person towards communication by providing different communication situations and their behavior in them. The third tool used in the report is non-verbal immediacy scale-self report, which identifies the behavior or the cues which shows positive feelings towards other people. However, the score of different genders is different for this tool. The fourth and the fifth tool used in the task are public speaking anxiety and talkoholic scale.
The public speaking anxiety refers to a phenomenon wherein the speaker is not comfortable being in the limelight. He becomes unconfident to present strong views to other person. The nervousness can be perceived with forgetfulness, nervousness or excessive sweating. It is a major issue as today, it is important to communicate confidently in the business world. A professional should have adequate knowledge and preparation to speak confident to a large audience. It clearly makes a good impression and also assists the person in pursuing business goals.
Another issue identified with the personality test was the tendency to avoid the conflicting situations. I have a calm and peaceful nature and usually avoid conflicts of any nature. I have a natural tendency to avoid conflicts and I usually consider accepting other’s viewpoints rather than contradicting it. It has created a negative image of mine. People do not give my perception and viewpoints importance and ignore them as they think that I will get along with the majority. Therefore, it is necessary to have the confidence and the capability to present one’s views in a clear and concise manner.
The results obtained from the various test are quite correct. It was found that I avoid conflicts as well as become nervous in public speaking. I have myself adjusted to various situations to avoid conflicts. Several times, I accept the false claims of others and false allegations in order to avoid conflicting situations. However, it is a cowardly behavior and the people take advantage of such behavior. Other than that, in professional setting, it is important that the person has the confidence and the skill to communicate with a large number of people. In this case, it is important that an individual can communicate with strangers and other people for communication. In the non-verbal immediacy scale test, my score was about 100 which were adequate. It shows that I somewhat show closeness or proximity with non-verbal behavior. Non-verbal immediacy is very important in demonstrating proximity with other people.
The self-perceived communication competence scale examines a person’s capabilities to different kind of people. The scale highlights when a person talks to different category of people. It asks questions regarding when
Public speaking anxiety report analyzes the confidence of the person in communicating publically to other people. The scale has 34 questions and examines the perception of a person regarding his confidence while communicating with other persons. There were several questions in which I scored very low. For instance, my heartbeat runs faster before addressing public and I perspire before giving a speech to the audience. Several times, I get nervous and confused while communicating to a large number of people. I also fear and tremble that I am going to forget my speech before addressing a large crowd. The overall result of the scale was low and indicated that I fail to effectively present myself to a large number of people.
The fifth diagnostic tool used in the self-assessment was talkoholic scale in which I was tested regarding the compulsiveness of communication. The talkoholic people talks too much and have a compulsion in being quiet in the presence of others. They can be termed as ineffective communicators. In psychology, it is regarded that if a person communicate more, he is regarded as more competent. In the scale, it is perceived that I understand that I am a talkoholic, I also realized that I talk in an adequate manner. I do not leave any opportunity to communicate, if talking is in my benefit. I am a great communicator and communicate with efficiency to different people.
The results obtained from various tests are quite accurate and my communication style and preference is related to it. The results of various test stated that I am comfortable while talking to friends and quite comfortable while communicating on a day-to-day basis. The results show that I am a little bit uncomfortable while talking in public. I find it difficult while communicating with a large group of people or while presenting myself in large meetings. The results also show that I have little bit of anxiety while giving presentation to a large group of people (Leutenberg, Liptak & Brodsky, 2008).
With the scores and the self-evaluation, it has been evaluated that there are a few communication areas, which needs strong improvement. I believe that by focusing on these communication areas, I will enhance my business communication. It has been identified that the public speaking anxiety is higher for me. Moreover, I also have a low tolerance for disagreement. I understand that I have low tolerance for the conflicts and I have a tendency to avoid conflicts and disagreements in the personal communication. However, it is important to understand that disagreements and conflicts are inevitable in the personal lives and it requires appropriate decision making and the right way of communication. While discussing the problem of public speaking anxiety, I remember I was asked to give a presentation on communication issues in the organization. I was an intern; however, I have to give the presentation to a large number of people which made me extremely nervous. Most of the audience comprises of highly experienced and skilled people. Therefore, I was extremely nervous. The whole ordeal was quite challenging for me and I forgot a large number of important points during the presentation and was nervous while communicating to the audience. Another example related to the intolerance also occurred during my internship at the firm. One of my managers gave me a task which was outside my agreed work responsibilities. However, in order to avoid any responsibilities, I ended up doing that work. The work was quite challenging and I ended up delaying my regular work.
In the following section, a literature review is developed which includes the views of the eminent authors related to the communication issues. It will assist the student in learning about the communication issues and addressing the problem in a proper manner.
As per Maravelas (2005) communication apprehension is the hesitation is strongly presenting oneself in a communication. It refers to the fear or anxiety which arises for some unexpected situations in a communication. People with such kind of fear are not able to strongly present themselves in a communication. The people with communication apprehension associate communication with negative feelings and as a result do not take voluntary participation in a communication. These people abstain themselves in engaging in an oral communication. Even when they are included, they are only passively engaged in the communication.
Accroding to McKay, Davis, & Fanning (2009), most of the anxiety arising in a communication can be categorized into four categories, namely, trait, audience, context and the situation. The trait related anxiety refers to an individual in which, he avoids speaking in public due to the lack of knowledge or experience. However, it is an initial inhibition and such people can overcome the anxiety with practice. The audience anxiety is caused by the knowledge or the behavior of the people. It results in the nervousness of the people. Leutenberg, Liptak, & Brodsky (2008) have stated that context anxiety is another type of anxiety caused by the uncertainty of the situation. The situational anxiety is caused by the cultural, social, and psychological factors. It hinders the ability to communicate; however, communication capability is different from the communication comprehension. There is strong link between the two capabilities or skills and the any kind of anxiety can hinder the understanding of the communicators. The anxiety can also reduce the ability of a person to perform in an unpleasant situation and create negativity in the mind of the people.
Maravelas (2005) critiqued that the competence in the public speaking can reduce the capability of a person to advance in his professional life. It is one of the predominant elements in the professional life and the professional success is characterized by the ability to communicate with others in a clear manner. The level of communication efficiency can impact on the interpersonal communication between the managers and other associated and help on network building. It also drastically impacts on the interpersonal relationships at the workplace. The managers who are not efficient in communication are less likely to include others in the decision process. It can increase the communication with the workplace employees. These people have less collaborative communication with their subordinates. It also increases the credibility in the professional life. It can be concluded that the level of communication competence has a far reaching effect on the professional competence of an individual (Kuhnke, 2013).
According to Knapp, Hall & Horgan (2013) tolerance for the disagreement can be conceptualized or understood by conducting research in a group setting. It is the phenomenon of identifying the communication characteristics in an organization setting. The disagreement in an organization setting is circumstantially different which means that disagreement is dependent on the individual circumstances. Along with it, it is also dependent on the opponent in the communication. The presentation of disagreement is different for different opponents, such as family members, colleagues or senior employees. In addition to it, disagreement is also different when the discussion is face to face or online. There are other factors also, such as the background of the opponent, their position within the company, communication style, ability to influence which has a formative influence on the shaping of the argument.
The theoretical framework in the generation of an argument comprises of several factors, including opponents, situation and other similar factors. These factors affect the manner of disagreement and impacts whether it will shape into a conflict. There are four interpersonal factors which affect the disagreement or conflicts at the workplace. It includes verbal communication, non-verbal communication, emotions in communication and the listening. The verbal communication style affects the disagreement in several factors. There are several factors in the verbal communication such as precision, expressiveness, assuredness, supportiveness, and verbal aggressiveness which effects the development of argument. The communication style of the manager affects other success factors if the organization such as team commitment and the knowledge sharing between different team members (Koprowska, 2014).
Due to the high importance of the communication in the professional and the business success, most of the business organization desire excellent communication skills in the future employees. The effective communication is a dominant skill which is sought by the company and it is linked to the team efficiency and the opportunity for promotion in the occupation. Most of the talented communicators or speakers understand the needs and the expectations of the audience and change their communication style accordingly (DeMarco, 2015).
Gardner Milne, Stringer & Whiting,(2005) have stated that the non-verbal communication can prevent the disagreements in the communications. The non-verbal communication can be categorized as positive non-verbal communication as well as negative non-verbal communication. The positive non-verbal communication can enhance the positive signals in the communication. It can also bring positive attitude towards the communication. It refers to several immediacy signals such as a smile or a nod which can create positivity to the disagreement. The emotional aspect of the communication also affects the disagreement in the negotiations. In a conflicting situation, which demands negotiations are affected by the personal views of another person (Henderson & Mathew Byrne, 2016). In negotiation situation, if a person shows disappointment, do not demonstrate confidence or shows worry in the interpersonal communication increases the negativity in the communication.
Koprowska, (2014) have discussed that the ability to listen is another major factor which influences the interpersonal communication in the professional setting. It can be critiqued that the ability to listen is important in increasing the professional competency, increasing the knowledge base, and enhancing the skill set of the professionals. Listening ability is the skill of enhancing the professional and the personal competency of the employees. There are variations in the ability to listen and comprehending the meaning of the communication (Fearn-Banks, 2016).
In the views of Kreuger (2008), the professional environment, the negotiation and conflict-handling skills impacts on the business growth and overall growth of the organization. As a result, it is the most desired skill in the potential candidates. It is an asset which can benefit the firm in numerous manners. The ability to negotiate requires a lot of interpersonal and communication skills, which work together to bring the desired result. The negotiation circumstances affect the level of negotiation. It is affected by the parties or the group of individuals and the goals or a project or the contact. The negotiation process requires that two parties agree and work out a situation which is agreeable to both the parties. It is important that the effective negotiator analyzes the problems to determine the interest of each of the parties in the negotiation. It is also important in identifying the issue, the interested parties in the negotiation and the intended target of the negotiation.
Jia, Cheng, & Hale (2017), it requires extensive preparation regarding the goals, trade areas, alternatives and the subsequent goals of the negotiation. The person equipped with the negotiation skills should have active listening skills. Along with it, he should also study the history of the parties, area of agreement and the common goals. The active listening skill is required to understand the perspective of both the parties in a debate. It requires learning of the body language, understanding the verbal communication and identifying the vulnerable areas, which can be used in the meeting. Listening to the other party can easily lead to the areas worth negotiation. Another important aspect in establishing oneself as a skilled communicator is the emotional control in the communication (Elliott, Smith & Gentry, 2015).
As per the views of Mero (2015), it is important that a communicator has the capability to keep his emotions in check while communicating with others. The negotiation in the communication process can be frustrating and several times, emotion can take control of the situation which can result in an unfavorable situation. Collaboration and team work is also essential in reducing the conflict situations in the workplace. In order to build a positive environment, the communicators should build the skill as an effective negotiator. They should make efforts to work as a team and foster a collaborative atmosphere for the negotiation of the employees. In a professional environment, it is also important to build ethical standards and reliability so that a trusting environment can be created which promotes negotiations in the organization (Calero, 2005).
Moreover, Burgoon, Guerrero & Floyd (2016) have discussed that in order to solve a conflict situation, the negotiator must be able to explore novel solutions or approaches to reach out the problem. There are different decisions which have different value for the conflicting sides. It is important to be creative under stress and identify novel approaches which can appeal both the parties. Moreover, good interpersonal skills require that the person must be able to take strong decisions in a small duration.
The action plan outlines series of actions which are required to achieve a specific target or goal. It encompasses different activities and the time devoted to each of them so that the intended target of the action plan can be achieved. In the above sections, two weaknesses in personal communication have been identified and an action plan has been formed to get rid of these issues. The action plan has been formed for duration of six months (Burgoon, Guerrero & Floyd, 2016). In the personal perception, a personal journal is essential part of an action plan. It helps in keeping track of different activities and monitoring the personal growth. I can monitor the personal growth and reflect on my progress (Dolan, 2016). At the end of the six months, I can seek help from the journal in identifying the areas which needs improvement and, which strategies are effective in dealing with these strategies. The journal would be beneficial in the personal planning of the organization.
Other than that, mentoring is also an effective strategy to deal with the communication issues. The mentor can suggest effective strategies to deal with the interpersonal communication problem and learn confidence strategies. It is important to understand that the confidence building and development is a necessary for the professional growth. I will hire one of the professors the University as my mentor so that I can hone my professional interpersonal communication skills (De Vries, Bakker-Pieper & Oostenveld, 2010).
There are several University courses as well as short-term private programs which can assist in building confidence. I will enroll in one such professional course.
As the major weakness is the inefficiency in giving presentation, I will seek professional courses which focus on public speaking and giving presentations (Cocks, Moulton, Luu & Cil, 2014).
Other than that, the mental practice and preparation are also an effective strategy to deal with the difficult situations. It can be comprehended that the communication skills can be improved by visualizing the situation in the mind. It will also reduce the anxiety or the stress level related to the upcoming situation. I will also engage in reading different literature related to communication anxiety and interpersonal conflicts. I have selected various books which can be used as a self-help guide for improving my professionalism and effectiveness in the communication place. Such courses increase the skill of a person and assist him in identifying which communication medium is beneficial in which situation. There are also several books which can reduce the public speaking anxiety and enhances the knowledge of designing the presentations in an effective manner. Such courses also enhance the knowledge of the person regarding the non-verbal communication methods. These methods can increase the effectiveness as a communicator (Cengage Learning, 2017).
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References
Angour, J. (2012). Managing disagreement in problem solving meeting talk. Journal of Pragmatics, 44, 1565-1579. doi: 10.1016/j.pragma.2012.06.010
Burgoon, J.K., Guerrero, L.K., & Floyd, K. (2016). Nonverbal Communication. Routledge.
Calero, H.H. (2005). The Power of Nonverbal Communication: How You Act is More Important Than what You Say. Silver Lake Publishing.
Cengage Learning. (2017). Umm . . .: A Complete Guide to Public Speaking. Retrieved on 28 january 2018 from https://www.questia.com/library/119674157/umm-a-complete-guide-to-publicspeaking
Cocks, M., Moulton, C. A. Luu, S., & Cil, T. (2014). What surgeons can learn from athletes: mental practice in sports and surgery. Journal of Surgical Education, 71(2), 262–269. doi: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2013.07.002
De Vries. R. E., Bakker-Pieper, A., & Oostenveld, W. (2010). Leadership = Communication? The relations of leaders ‘communication styles with leadership styles, knowledge sharing and leadership outcomes. Journal of Business & Psychology, 25(3), 367-380. doi: 10.1007/s10869-009-9140-2
DeMarco, J. (2015). Desensitizing Anger: A Comprehensive Anger Management Guide. Page Publishing Inc.
Dolan, R. (2016). Branding Yourself Effective Communication Skills. FEMS Microbiology Letters, fnw289.(page 9)
Elliott, C.H., Smith, L.L., & Gentry, S.W.D. (2015). Anger Management For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons.
Fearn-Banks, K. (2016). Crisis communications: A casebook approach. Routledge (page 9)
Gardner C. T, Milne, M. J., Stringer C. P., & Whiting, R. H. (2005). Oral and written communication apprehension in accounting students: curriculum impacts and impacts on academic performance. International Journal of Accounting Education, 14(3), 313–336. doi: 10.1080=0693928050007726
Hartman, J. L., & McCambridge, J. (2011). Optimizing millennials’ communication styles. Business Communication Quarterly, 74(1), 22-44. doi: 10.1177/1080569910395564
Henderson, K., & Mathew Byrne, J. (2016). Developing communication and interviewing skills. Skills for social work practice, 1-22. (page 7)
Jia, M., Cheng, J. & Hale, C. L. (2017) Workplace emotion and communication: Supervisor nonverbal immediacy, employees’ emotion experience, and their communication motives. Management Communication Quarterly, 31(1), 69-87. doi:10.1177/0893318916650519
Knapp, M.L., Hall, J.A., & Horgan, T.G. (2013). Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction. Cengage Learning.
Koprowska, J. (2014). Communication and interpersonal skills in social work. Learning Matters.
Kreuger, J. (2008). Nonverbal Communication. GRIN Verlag.
Kuhnke, E. (2013). Communication skills for dummies (1st ed.). Chichester: Wiley.
Leutenberg, E., Liptak, J., & Brodsky, A. (2008). The Communication Skills Workbook (1st ed.). Whole Person Associates.
Maravelas, A. (2005). How to Reduce Workplace Conflict and Stress: How Leaders and Their Employees Can Protect Their Sanity and Productivity from Tension and Turf Wars. Red Wheel/Weiser.
Marinho, A. C. F, Mesquita de Medeiros, A., Gama A. C. C, & Teixeira, L. C. (2017). Fear of public speaking: perception of college students and correlates. Journal of Voice, 31(1), 127.e7–127.e11. doi: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2015.12.012
Marra, M. (2012). Disagreeing without being disagreeable: Negotiating workplace communities as an outsider. Journal of Pragmatics, 44, 1580-1590. doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2012.06.009
McKay, M., Davis, M., & Fanning, P. (2009). Messages: The Communication Skills Book (1st ed.). Oakland, Calif.: New Harbinger Publications.
Mehrabian, A. (2017). Nonverbal Communication. Routledge.
Mero, J. (2015). The Role of Non-Verbal Communication in Intercultural Business. GRIN Verlag
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