Discuss about the Importance Of Nonverbal Communication In Business.
The essay is an outcome of self-reflection to analyse the personal communication skills as per the score obtained from the five different diagnostic tools including “Self-perceived communication competence scale”, “Nonverbal immediacy scale”, “Talkaholic scale”, “Tolerance for disagreement” and “Personal report of intercultural communication apprehension”. These tools help analyse the communication in various communication situations. The refection and analysis aim to identify personal communication competencies and areas for improvement. For personal communication development, two communication issues are identified. The theories related to the communication issues are discussed explicitly in the paper. The action plan after literature reviews presents the activities for addressing the communication issues.
There are different situations of communications, and not everyone is competent in all situations. Self-perceived communication competence scale contains questionnaires that help assess the personal competence in communication when interaction with people with diverse communications style. This tool allows assessing personal competence in communication in 12 different situations such as “present a talk to a group of strangers” (McCroskey & McCroskey,1988). As per my score in public speaking skills, I am competent to present my views with little anxiety in public. I am moderately competent in speaking in meetings and need more confidence. I am nervous when speaking to strangers I have scored 65 instead of 79 and above. Also, I am not very competent in making acquaintances frequently with people. I can easily befriend people and do not face anxiety in communicating with a large group of friends. I am more conformable if I have to present a talk in a small group of acquaintances instead of large or meetings with them. A score of 87 and above is an indicator of high self-perceived communication competence. However, I my total score is 77.5, which means moderate competence or communication apprehension (McCroskey & McCroskey, 1988). I need to overcome my anxiety and nervousness to score well in this domain in future. I need to be less anxious when talking in a small group of strangers as well as a large group of strangers.
As per Bailey (2018), non-verbal skills allow people to describe their personal feelings when communicating with others. Nonverbal immediacy scale-self report (NIS-S) is developed in 1970s by Albert Mehrabian. I found this instrument useful to measure personal non verbal immediacy (Richmond et al., 2003). This instrument when compared to other tools has higher face validity. The predictive validity is excellent due to diverse items. The difference in scale or self reports for male and female is statistically significant. Both genders express their nonverbal immediacy in different manner that makes the scores vary (Richmond et al., 2003). Getting high score in this tool means that my behaviours and cues are signalling positive feelings towards others during interaction. Each behaviour is linked to each question that again comes with five options incusing “Option 1- Never, 2- rarely, 3-Occasionally, 4-Often, 5- very often”. There are 26 statements each for different behaviour such as “I smile when I talk to people”. A score for even and odd statements are added separately in two steps. The score from each step is subtracted from the final score. For males, high nonverbal immediacy is evident from the score greater than 104 and low is evident from score less than 83. My score was 93 which mean I can better explain my positive feelings which are essential for interpersonal communications. This skill is also essential for organisational communication and instructional communication (Richmond et al., 2003). The score is however moderate indicating further improvement. I must not avoid eye contact with people as may demonstrate my lack of interest and make a relaxed body position very often. To truly feel confident I must work on it as a tense body position is sign a person is not at peace. It may signal negative feelings towards others.
In order to assess my style of compulsive communication I have used Talkaholic scale. The rationale for using this diagnosis tool is to assess ineffective communication due to excessive talking. The preference for this tool is because it is unidimensional. This instrument has good internal and test?retest reliability. Being highly verbal makes it difficult for other people in the conversation to talk. High talkers are not open to other’s ideas. However, talking more incompetent manner instead of incompetent or offensive style is perceived as positive personality. They are evaluated as leader and competent communicator who speak sensible and satisfy customers (McCroskey & Richmond, 1995). The statements those are applicable to the user of the diagnostic tool, can be as “I talk less than I should”. There are total 16 statements and the responses may be given as per five options such as “strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), Neutral (3), agree (4), and strongly agree (5)”. The score between 30-39 is indicators of borderline talkaholic communication style and most people score below 30. However, I have scored 22 and is within the considerable range of 10-50 ((McCroskey & Richmond, 1993). It means I am not talkaholic or a compulsive communicator that needs score above 40. I can control my talking for most of the time and do not over-communicate consistently. There was a time where I was into conflict with my high school friend. However, I was quiet as at that point of time it was beneficial for me. It did resolve the conflict without further crisis. However, I believe to become effective leader I must talk more without being compulsive to facilitate effective sharing of ideas and opinions.
Tolerating disagreement means speaking skilfully to avoid traumatic ordeal that will leave people with satisfaction (Teven et al., 1998). Such skills in business environment are effective in ensuring employee satisfaction. Tolerance for disagreement tool is the measure of individual capability to communicate effectively when the chances are high for disagreement. It is the competence of an individual to interact with people having diverse opinions and views and yet be open-minded. It is the measure of tolerance power of a person when personal ideas are challenged by others and yet positively support other’s viewpoint. I found this skill useful, based on my personal experience in conducting group presentation in college. My proposals were rejected at times, and sometimes I was successful in convincing my teammates for specific changes. However, I confirmed to others responses to change even though it was not necessary. The diagnostic tool consists of 15 items, where each item explains the individual’s feelings and orientations. For instance one of the statements is “I don’t like to disagree with other people”. For each item the agreement or disagreement is based on the five options. It includes strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), Undecided (3), agree (4), strongly agree (5). My overall score was 33 which is moderate tolerance to disagreement. A score above 46 indicate high TFD (Teven et al., 1998; Richmond, McCroskey & Powell, 2012). I worked better in my college and school level when I was placed in group where people have beliefs similar to mine. I need to change my habit of avoiding interaction with people whom I know will disagree with me. I need to develop skills to work in group and yet tolerate disagreements smartly. My score indicates that I can present my ideas and tolerate disagreement without getting emotional. It means that I am moderately argumentative during disagreements with others.
Personal report of intercultural communication apprehension or PRICA developed by Neuliep and McCroskey is the diagnostic tool for measuring the personal level of fear when communicating with a group of people with diverse cultural backgrounds. Anxiety in intercultural communication is the part of the general communication apprehension (Neuliep & McCroskey, 1997). This tool comprises of 14 statements that are actual comments made by people on communicating with people with other cultures. My agreement or disagreement to this statements is rated from strongly disagree to agree strongly. The overall score is 30 and is considered as low intercultural communication apprehension. A score above 52 indicates high intercultural communication apprehension. I believe that the, I need improvement in this area. I can better present my ideas only if I have cultural awareness. The results from all the diagnostic tools are accurate and helped me gain in-depth insights into my communication style.
Based on the communication diagnosis, two of my communication issues are low intercultural communication apprehension and public speaking competence. Reflecting on playing card game activity in the third semester where I learned different ways to think about intercultural communications. In this given, I observed how foreigners feel like outsiders in different cultures. Lack of cross-cultural skills creates language barriers. In the card game after every round, one member lives the group and enters another group. Each we are to play without any verbal communication. In each group, the set of instructions were different and used only nonverbal skills. Not all the groups were equally cooperative. This was however problematic to accustom to new rules in every round. It was similar to my struggle communicating in class with people from diverse cultures, norms and values. I had a fear of denial during my first semester as my traditions were different from others significantly. I must strengthen my cross-cultural skills.
On reflecting on my public speaking skills, I have also experienced anxiety when talking amidst the group of people about my outstanding award for highest scorer in high school. I was asked by my teacher to give a speech after accepting the award. All I could say is “thank you for your support and guidance”. This is not speech. Similarly, I was asked to say make a speech at my cousin’s wedding. Here I was less anxious based on my reflection as I was surrounded by well-acquainted people. I would have been speechless if they were all strangers. However, lack of public speaking competence may hinder my future business communications (German et al., 2017). I would be more anxious to speak if I am in group of people with diverse cultural groups. Cross-cultural awareness is important to be respectful towards each other’s values and beliefs and create social acceptance (Flaherty, 2015). Therefore, I must overcome these two communication issues.
Communication is the backbone to make connections with people, motivate change and influence decisions. In a business setting, public speaking is an important skill to win over crowd The skill to persuade people inside and outside the workplace is required to sell a product or convince employees for a change (Coopman & Lull, 2014). According to Medeiros, Gama and Teixeira (2017), public speaking skills increases confidence and enables collected presence in front of an audience. When presenting a product to the consumer one must have a convincing language to elicit curiosity and intrigue. Motivating people to change behaviour requires skills to inspire the audience to work harder to achieve their goals. Public speaking skills must be such that it should evoke interest and passion among others as well as gain their interest. Therefore, public speaking is the predominant factor in professional life and familiar the dependability among subordinates. Fluent communication ensures credibility.
It was argued by Coopman & Lull (2014) that informing is one of the most important aspects of public speaking skills. It is required while presenting the research paper in colleges, or ideas to boss. Informative public speaking is essential when training the employees, as it creates better understanding between employees and management. This skill has been found to be effective in generating sales as it demonstrates one’s knowledge. Public speaking anxiety and fear is caused by negative association towards the communications. Any expected and unexpected communications trigger anxiety and increase communication apprehension. High communication apprehension prevents a person from engaging in oral communication (McCroskey, 1977). An individual who avoids public speaking due to lack of knowledge can overcome the trait by repeated practice. Avoiding public speaking due to fear of audience or strangers also leads anxiety and nervousness. Another trait related to this communication issue is the anxiety and uncertainty of the situation in addition to the other cultural, psychological and social factors (McCroskey 2001).
Communication apprehension and the ability to communicate is different and may be the outcome of a negative association. An individual may momentarily try speaking in unpleasant situation letting the negative association to evolve (Autman et al., 2016). Low communication apprehension according to Blume, Baldwin & Ryan (2013) is associated with low frequency to take up leadership position in business organisations. It also decreases the willingness to appreciate the multicultural world. To be able to adapt to new situations, one must have high communication apprehension. As per Russ (2013), high level of communication apprehension is interrelated with decision making process. It decreases the willingness to involve others in decision making process. It leads to poor collaboration and coordination with the employees and subordinates. Russ (2012) argued that the there is strong relationships between the learning preferences in the organisational setting and the communication apprehension. Employees with high communication apprehension prefer reflective observation learning and those with the low communication apprehension had strong preference for the concrete experience and active experimentation learning. Those with high communication apprehension were accustomed to diverse learning styles. Russ (2012) also asserted that the level of communication apprehension influences the interpersonal workplace relationships. It also influences the effectiveness as leader or manager. It means both high and low communication apprehensions have their own benefits and disadvantages. Those with very high level communication apprehension must lower it to avoid negative repercussions such as poor professionalism at workplace.
To develop cross-cultural competencies, cultural intelligence is required. It helps reduce the anxiety and influence both communication effectiveness as well as the satisfaction of job. High intercultural communication apprehension allows giving better support to the employees working in an international organisation (Neuliep, 2017). It is highly beneficial for the expatriates to excel in different nations and different cultures. It is also beneficial for the host country employees; there are fewer adjustment problems at the workplace. However, these group of people do face tension when communicating with the foreign managers during corporate meetings. However, home country workers with a combination of anxiety as well as job satisfaction, are found with high motivation. The high motivation is attributed to high salary and status of the job. Those tensed are mainly due to barriers to intercultural communication barriers (Bücker et al., 2014). Only some of the corporations have made their position in the global marketplace, while others have failed to sustain the competitive advantage. The secret behind the multinational organisation is that they have demonstrated the cultural sensitivity. They have respected the cultural differences while communicating with people. The companies that failed to attain similar positions is due to the inadequate acculturation of their managers on international assignment. It implies for the effective cross-cultural etiquette. The low intercultural communication apprehension leads to poor management of workforce diversity (Okoro, 2012).
Intercultural communication apprehension is associated with the anxiety, uncertainty, as well as desire to engage in intercultural communication. If an intercultural communication is provoking anxiety has a negative impact on willingness to communicate with a partner from a different culture. Anxiety and uncertainty are related but separate concepts. Willingness to interact with the intercultural partner is also contributed by the Ethnocentrism (Logan, Steel, & Hunt, 2015). According to Oommen (2014), if there is perceived family support in regards to handling the conflicts with the members of the host culture, there is a decrease in intercultural communication apprehension. It, in turn, resulted in increased preferences for “integrating and the compromising styles” of communication. It further decreased the preferences for avoiding and dominating styles. It implies that perception of social support goes beyond the increase in acculturative stress and psychological well-being. It may affect the integration of immigrants into the host culture. Employees with experiences of living overseas have high intercultural sensitivity. Therefore, such employees demonstrate higher satisfaction with the organisational communication. Such employees were found to handle the conflicts better using solution-oriented style (Mao & Hale, 2015). It can be concluded that the intercultural communication apprehension is necessary for business communication and job satisfaction. It also helps in conflict management, therefore; low apprehension is a drawback to deal with business conflicts.
After identifying the two communication issues and conducting literature review, I have developed insights into the importance of the two communication styles in a business setting. Therefore I have developed an action plan for the next six months to overcome these issues.
I will watch online videos to learn the cross-cultural skills and watch interviews of CEO and other expatriates to observe their communication style in foreign nations. Observational learning is the effective mode of understanding a particular behaviour. By watching others skilful in certain behaviour will reinforce the personal ability to acquire the same skills. This is underpinned by the observational learning by Bandura (Jennings & Henderson, 2014). I will engage in group discussions with people from diverse cultures within the online forums. It will help develop an acquaintance with the different cultures and their values and beliefs. I can gain confidence and learn new strategies to stay relax while speaking in public. Learning confident strategies would make the process effective in reducing the communication apprehension (German et al., 2017). It will help me practice active listening skills and important element in developing intercultural communication. Apart from the virtual programme, I plan to participate as a volunteer in the community cultural program that is meant for raising awareness on heart disease. It will help me face the audience with diverse backgrounds without anxiety (Jackson, 2015).
I will engage in mindfulness practices, such as yoga and meditation to increase emotional awareness. These are effective tools in decreasing anxiety and depression. It is effective to identify and address the negative attitude towards something or unknown fears (Gelles, 2015). Further, I will enrol myself in six months “Communication Skills training course” from PD Training teachers in Melbourne. I will learn soft skills and proactive verbal and nonverbal skills to speak in front of an unacquainted audience. It will help in fast learning rather than online learning programme. Other than that I will also engage in university workshops and internships to enhance my verbal and public speaking competence (German et al., 2017).
I will maintain a reflective journal that will help me track my thoughts and feelings when speaking in public or to strangers. It will help me recognise my accomplishments and focus on improvement. At the end of six months, the journal would be an effective guide in future earning needs. Further, to enhance my knowledge on the public speaking competence as well as intercultural communication apprehension, I will purchase the books, named “Cross-Cultural and Intercultural Communication” by William B. Gudykunst and “Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds by Carmine Gallo” (Stob, 2015).
I will evaluate my improvement in these communication issues by presenting a speech or participating in any debate competition in university. I will collect feedback from peers and mentors after every two weeks. The evaluation would be based on the intensity of anxiety when speaking in large group of people including both strangers and acquaintances. I will take online video examinations to asses my score (Omer & Abdularhim, 2017).
Conclusion
I am grateful to get this assignment where I could diagnose my communication issues. Engaging in reflective practice helped me learn about different diagnostic tools and their importance. It has increased my self-awareness. A literature review has helped me gain in-depth knowledge of the significance of these communication skills in business setting and how incompetence may affect job and achievement of organisational goals. I am confident to overcome my communication deficiencies by implementing evidenced-based the action plan for six months. In future, I expect to confidently present my ideas in a diverse workplace setting and demonstrate high cultural awareness.
References
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