According to Blizard (2012), interpersonal communication relies on an individual’s communication skills. An individual with effective communication skills will have successful interpersonal interaction while a person with poor communication skills will have challenges in interpersonal interaction. The lack of effective communication skill is a major issue of concern in business communication as is results into failure of business. To improve business communication, the players in the business sector should develop effective communication skills. To assess the communication skills of an individual, scientist various diagnostic tools that are related to business communication have been develop to help people to assess their communication skills. These include tools like Johari window, assertiveness questionnaire, and active listening skills. In this regard, this paper is going to carry out a reflective essay on five selected communication tools and conclude by outlining an action plan to improve my areas of weakness in communication.
Based on the results of Johari Window as illustrated in Figure 1 below, I am a confident and an observant individual, and these make me an excellent verbal communicator because I can express myself in a confident manner during interpersonal communication to win the trust and confidence of my listeners. I am also observant, hence, very keen on details minor details during interpersonal communication. Capturing every detail is critical in the process of communication because it ensures that one provides accurate feedback (Robertson, 2005). Despite this, based on the blind area, hidden and unknown areas, reveal some of my major weaknesses in communication, I am an introvert, complex, and tense; hence, I am not assertive during communication. My lack of assertiveness is also confirmed further by the Assertiveness questionnaire. In the assertiveness questionnaire, I managed to score 47 points as illustrated in Assertiveness questionnaire file attached with this reflective report. According to this tool, for one to be considered an assertive individual, one should score 60 points and above.
|
Open area: · Confident · Observant · Energetic · Relaxed · Cheerful |
Blind area: · Introverted · Proud · Giving · Self-conscious · Logical |
|
Hidden area: · Witty · Complex · Intelligent · Nervous · Shy |
Unknown area · Idealistic · Sentimental · Dependable · Tense |
Figure 1: Johari window
Based on the findings of the communication style self-assessment, I am an expressive communicator. As an expressive communicator, I can actively engage and persuade my listeners during verbal communication. However, being an expressive communicator has been a source of my weakness in communication. Firstly, I am impatient and vulnerable to hasty generalization during a communication process (Kourmousi, Amanaki, Tzavara, & Koutras, 2017). Secondly, this tool also reveals that I also lack discipline because I score very low in analytic communication. I tend to talk too much during interpersonal communication, and this prevents me from listening to the ideas and opinions of my communication partners. I am imaginative, but as an expressive communicator, my imaginative skills results to unrealistic ideas that are not useful in a communication process (Abbasi, Siddiqi, & Azim, 2011).
The above shortcomings reveal my major weaknesses to be the lack of critical thinking skills in the communication process. In addition to this, the results of the communication tool questionnaire reveal that I am more of a pragmatist than an activist communicator. I score very low as an activist communicator, and therefore, I lack open-mindedness in a communication process, and I am always impatient in the process. Despite being an explorer of new ideas, in most cases I fail to plan my communication process and bring in new ideas during a discussion; hence, I make spontaneous judgments.
Finally, the active listening skill tool reveals that I am a good active listener; however, there are still a lot that I need to improve on to be considered a good listener. Based on this tool, a good listener should score at least 49 points; however, my self-assessment resulted into 39 points. During interpersonal communication, I get distracted by activities that take place in my surrounding, and I normally find myself looking away and not maintaining an eye contact with my communication partner. Practices such as interrupting the speaker and the inability to judge and evaluate the information that I receive contributes to my poor listening skills (Asemota, 2015).
Based on the results of the above communication diagnosis tools, the two communication issues that I have identified and that need improvement are critical thinking skills and active listening skills. I am imaginative, but as an expressive communicator, my imaginative skills results to unrealistic ideas that are not useful in a communication process (Thompson & Danie, 2010). These shortcomings reveal my major weaknesses to be the lack of critical thinking skills in the communication process.
The first example of a professional interaction within the past twelve months was between my manager and me, while the second interaction was between me and a dissatisfied customer of the same company I was working for. Over the holiday, I was working as a part-time employee at one of the business consultation firms in Canberra. I was working in the customer care department where my responsibility was to respond to customer’ issues and queries and respond to them accordingly. It was also my responsibility to write a report with appropriate recommendations and present it to the management team for an appropriate course of action to be taken.
In the first interaction, the dissatisfied customer called in to complain of some of the defective products that have been delivered to her. During the telephone call, I was distracted by other demands of my time, for example, as the client was speaking, I was busy replying some emails in my computer. Besides, I failed to ask the client questions to get more information regarding the products. My behavior during this professional interaction illustrated poor active listening skills. To get more information required to provide long-term solutions to the client’s problems, it was necessary that I should pay full attention to the speaker, ask her questions to get more information from the interaction (Rost, 2013). Therefore, there is a major need for personal communication development from my side.
The second professional interaction was between me and the manager of the same company. As a customer care personnel, I was charged with the responsibility to present a report of my findings and recommendations to the manager. However, when I was presenting the findings to the manager, I displayed poor communication skills. For example, I was not confident and did not maintain eye contact with the manager. This is a major communication problem because the lack of demonstrating confidence in what I say means that I will not win the confidence and trust of my listeners (Sullivan, 2011). A good communicator should win the trust and confidence of his listeners to get the message home. Therefore, I need to improve my confidence. Secondly, the report that I presented lacked attainable solutions, and this means that I did not effectively evaluate the issues that the clients presented. This illustrates that I lacked critical thinking skills in interpersonal communication. According to Wright (2002), critical thinking skills ensures that the communicating parties analyze and evaluate the information that they receive effectively in order to provide appropriate feedback. In this regard, I should work towards developing and improving my critical thinking skills.
Based on the results of the communication diagnostic tools and reflection my two major issues of communication are the lack of critical thinking skills and the lack of active listening skills. According to French and Tracey (2010), critical thinking skills refers to the ability of an individual to make judgments that are reasonable and well-thought and expresses in a logical manner. In a communication process, critical thinking entails the analysis and evaluation of ideas and opinions that are provided by the communication partners (Elder & Paul, 2009). During communication, an individual should conceptualize, analyze, and synthesize information that is received to arrive at an appropriate conclusion. My professional interaction with my manager illustrated that I lacked the ability to conceptualize, analyze, and synthesize the information that I received from customers.
One of the key models of developing critical thinking is the Paul Elder Critical Thinking Model, which puts a major emphasis on the inter-dependent relationship between critical thinking and communication process (Adeoye & Yusuf, 2012). According to this model, communication enables the communicating parties to express their thoughts and reasoning. To achieve this, the model outlines the intellectual requirements that should be developed and applied to demonstrate the skills of critical thinking, for example, logicalness, accuracy, and clarity (Adeoye & Yusuf, 2012).
Behavior is also critical in the demonstration of critical thinking skills in a communication process. This is because what the speaker does illustrates the elements of critical thinking. In line with this, some of the behaviors that should be developed in order to demonstrate critical thinking include question asking (Paranto & Kelkar, 2000). A critical thinker should not just take in and accept the information that he receives as sufficient. Therefore, to be a critical thinking skills, one should ask questions to receive more information. To demonstrate effective practice, one should develop the behavior of analyzing and synthesizing information that he receives. According to Paul (2004), to illustrate the skills of critical thinking in a communication process, one should be able to examine information and analyze it to establish biases and assumptions that are made. This helps in overcoming hasty generalization and ensures accuracy in the delivery of feedback.
According to van Gelder (2005), there are six major elements of critical thinking that are vital in a communication process, and that should be developed. The first element is analysis, where an individual is required to engage in an in-depth examination of ideas, identify the available arguments and critically analyze them to come up with informed communication. The second behavior that needs to be developed to demonstrate critical thinking in communication is the evaluation. A critical thinker should be able to evaluate the information that he or she receives to determine if the arguments and claims are accurate and reliable. This should also be accompanied by a critical evaluation of the source of information because this determines hugely the information is reliable or not in a communication process (Laidlaw & Kishita, 2015). The third element that should be developed is inference, where an individual is required to query the information that she receives in order to develop the alternatives available before arriving at an informed conclusion. This skill important in the process of communication because it prevents the arrival into hasty generalization and providing misleading feedback during an interpersonal communication process (Sherrill, 2015).
The fourth element that should be developed in a communication process is the interpretation (Jagadeesh & Balakumar, 2012). One cannot be considered to be a critical thinker without the ability to decode the information received and to derive meaning the accurate from it. This behavior is important because getting the wrong meaning during a communication process results in a major communication breakdown. According to Blizard (2012), the fifth and the sixth element of behavior that should be developed to demonstrate a critical thinking ability in the communication process are closely related, and they are explanation and self-regulation respectively. One should be able to explain and justify his arguments; however, the communicator should be in a position to examine self to prevent inclusion of bias in the communication process.
The second communication issues that emerged from my self-assessment and reflection is the lack of active listening skills. Active listening skill refers to a communication technique where the listener is expected to prioritize concentration, understanding and responding to the speaker accordingly. Active listening is vital for a successful communication process because it ensures that the correct message is delivered and appropriate feedback is given (Rueckert, Brandon, & Tiffany, 2011). The reflection and the self-assessment with the selected communication diagnostic tools reveal that I lack effective active listening skills.
One of the theoretical models of active listening is the SIER hierarchy of active listening. SIER hierarchy is based on the concept that human beings can only remember an estimated 50% of what they hear. Therefore, it is critical to enhancing the internalization of both verbal and verbal communication. To achieve this, the SIER model advocates for a sequence of four steps to listening. This include sensing, which begins with hearing and receiving the message. Here, the speaker should not be interrupted while talking and the speaker should present positive body language (Adeoye & Yusuf, 2012). The second step is to interpret the message based on the context of communication, which leads to the third sequence of evaluation. Here, the listener should distinguish opinions from facts, before responding, which is the final stage.
Active listening requires that one should develop particular behaviors. One of the behaviors that demonstrate active listening is attentive body language, for example, the listener should exhibit gestures and body postures that demonstrate engagement in the interpersonal communication (Tatsumi, Kenichi, Hitomi, & Yukiko, 2009). These include the use of facial expression and the maintaining eye contact with the speaker or the listener. Another behavior of active listening is the use of following skills, for example, the asking of questions to seek clarifications to gain in-depth insight on the subject under discussion. Another vital behavior that demonstrates active listening skills is reflecting skill. An active listener should be able to paraphrase and summarize the information received to enhance understanding.
|
July 1st – 30th 2017 |
August 1st – 30th 2016 |
September 1st – 30th 2016 |
October 10th – 20th 2016 |
November 1st – 30th 2016 |
December 1st – 15th 2016 |
|
|
Mentorship program. |
||||||
|
Registration for an extra post-graduate communication skills course at CQU. |
||||||
|
Register for and attend a two weeks workshop and training on communication skills. |
||||||
|
Read at least two books on effective communication skills within two months of the action plan. |
||||||
|
Record a reflective journal throughout the implementation of the action plan. |
Mentorship: To enhance my communication development, I will look for a mentor who is an expert in effective communication skills. With regards to this, I have selected to seek mentorship from my instructor of this particular course. The instructor will help me identify and enhance some of my weaknesses in communication skills as revealed by the blind area of the Johari window. This will help me identify and improve on my weakness that I cannot see but can be seen by others, for example, my mentor (Rost, 2013).
Registration for an extra post-graduate communication skills course at CQU: Despite having learned a lot regarding communication skills in this unit, I will register for another a two months communication skill skills course at CQU to further my understanding of the various communication skills. The aim of this short course is to learn more regarding critical thinking skill to enhance my ability to evaluate and analyze information that I receive during interpersonal communication (Rueckert, Brandon, & Tiffany, 2011).
Register for and attend a workshop and training on communication skills: To ensure that I enhance my communication skill issues identified in the section above, I will register for a communication skill training workshop for two weeks. The workshop will help me enhance my active listening skills and critical thinking skills. The workshop will expand my knowledge and skills on the practical issues surrounding effective communication skill practices.
Read at least two books on effective communication skills: To improve on my weaknesses, I have set a target to read at least two books on effective communication skills. The books that I will read will have to be recent books that were published in the last five years. The books have to focus more on critical thinking skills and active listening to expand my knowledge and skill on these two communication issues (Blizard, 2012). I will make short notes for personal reference while reading these books. By completing this task, I will develop critical thinking skills through digesting, evaluating and analyzing the information that I will encounter as I study the chapters of this books.
Reflective journal: To ensure that I monitor the progress of my communication development. Here, I will record the new lessons that I have learned while implementing the above action plan. Keeping a record of these lessons will help me identify appropriate areas to apply them in my communication process (Blizard, 2012).
References
Abbasi, M. H., Siddiqi, A., & Azim, R. A. (2011). Role of Effective Communications for Enhancing Leadership and Entrepreneurial Skills in University Students. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(10), 242-250.
Adeoye, E. A. & Yusuf, F. A. (2012). Developing Critical Thinking and Communication Skills in Students: Implications for Practice in Education. AJOL, 6(1), https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/afrrev.v6i1.26
Asemota, H. E. (2015). Nature, importance and practice of listening skill. British Journal of Education, 3(7), 27-33.
Blizard, J. L. (2012). The importance of effective communication. AORN Journal, 95(3), 319-320.
Elder, L. & Paul, R (2009). The Aspiring Thinker’s Guide to Critical Thinking. Foundation for Critical Thinking Press: 17, 20, and 44. https://www.criticalthinking.org/ctmodel/logic-model1.htm
French, E. & Tracey, N. (2010). Critical Thinking and Organization Theory: Embedding a process to encourage graduate capabilities. E-Journal of Business Education & Scholarship of Teaching, 4(1), 1-10.
Jagadeesh, G., & Balakumar, P. (2012). The basic concepts of scientific research and scientific communication. National Centre for Biotechnology Information, 3(2), 178– 182.
Kourmousi, N., Amanaki, E., Tzavara, C. & Koutras, V. (2017). Active Listening Attitude Scale (ALAS): Reliability and Validity in a Nationwide Sample of Greek Educators. Soc. Sci., 6(28), 1-14. doe: 10.3390/socsci6010028
Laidlaw, K., & Kishita, N. (2015). Age-appropriate augmented cognitive behavior therapy to enhance treatment outcome for late-life depression and anxiety disorders. Geropsych: The Journal of Gerontopsychology and Geriatric Psychiatry, 28(2), 57-66. doi:10.1024/1662-9647/a000128
Paranto, S. R., & Kelkar, M. (2000). Employer Satisfaction with Job Skills of Business College Graduates and Its Impact on Hiring Behavior. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 9(3), 73-89. Doi: 10.1300/J050v09n03_06
Paul, R. (2004). The State of Critical Thinking Today. Retrieved from, https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/the-state-of-critical-thinking-today/523
Robertson, K. (2005). Active listening More than just paying attention. Australian Family Physician, 34(12), 1053-1055.
Rost, M. (2013). Teaching and Researching: Listening. London: Routledge.
Rueckert, L., Brandon, B., & Tiffany, D. (2011). Are gender differences in empathy due to differences in emotional reactivity? Psychology, 2, 574–78.
Sherrill, D.C. (2015). Writing Journal Articles. Retrieved from, https://vergil.chemistry.gatech.edu/resources/writing-papers.pdf
Sullivan, A. O. (2011). The Importance of Effective Listening Skills: Implications for the Workplace and Dealing with Difficult People. . All Theses & Dissertations. 11. Retrieved from, https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/etd/11
Tatsumi, A., Kenichi, S., Hitomi, K., & Yukiko, S. (2009). The effect of short-time active listening training. Journal of Occupational Health, 52, 81.
Thompson, A. E., & Danie, V. (2010). Sex differences in the ability to recognise non-verbal displays of emotion: A meta-analysis. Cognition and Emotion, 28, 1164–95.
van Gelder, T. (2005). Teaching “critical thinking” Some lessons from cognitive science. College Teaching, 53(1), 41-47.
Wright, I. (2002). Challenging students with the tools of critical thinking. The Social Studies, 93(6), 257-262.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download