Group Assignment Reflection: Communication Essay Theme Identification.

Each student is required to reflect on their own contribution to the group assignment and submit a written reflection which answers the following questions:

1. What was my most significant contribution to the project in terms of identifying the issues and analysing the content?
2. What have I learnt from working in this project (for example, cross-cultural issues; problemsolving; communication; ethical concerns; group dynamics)?

Penalties for late submission: The following marking penalties will apply if you submit an assessment task after the due date without an approved extension: 5% will be deducted from available marks for each day up to five days, and work that is submitted more than five days after the due date will not be marked. You will receive 0% for the task. 'Day' means working day for paper submissions and calendar day for electronic submissions. The Unit Chair may refuse to accept a late submission where it is unreasonable or impracticable to assess the task after the due date.

Identify communication theme and each student writes as First Draft;

• Share your written piece with your other group members and provide of constructive Feedback on the pieces given to you;
• On receipt of feedback, you will rewrite your section incorporating the suggestions of your group members as Final Draf

Reflection on Group Assignment

Communication is the process of sharing ideas, opinions and transformation of the information from one person to another through words or actions. This report is helpful in identifying the different themes of the communication that are explained by our each member of the group.  The results and the study revolve around the communication themes and its importance.

Group team: There are four members in a group, namely A, B, C, and D respectively. Communication plays an important role to perform group activities. The main role of the team in an organization is to make decisions and plans to achieve the goals and objectives of the organizations. Team formation in the organizations helps in assessing its own performance and reviewing the plans.

Group vision and values: The vision of the group is to identify, appraise and promote the communication skills. Communication plays essential role in activities to promote effective teamwork which includes the sharing of information through verbal and written presentations, receiving concrete and constructive feedback. The main focus of the team is on the achievement of the goals and improves their communication skills to become the effective team leader in the future. The values while working in the team or group are:

• Honesty
• Disclosure of full facts
• Transparency
• Maintain the confidentiality
• Respecting team members
• Ethical behavior
• Positive interaction

Communication theme identification is the fundamental task in any research work. Communication includes a variety of forms and it is important to choose the one that maximize the success. Every form of communication has its own significance depending on the different situations and there are four common types of communication which can be used by the managers such as interpersonal communication, non-verbal communication, written communication and oral communication (Gandhi, 2012).

• Team member A: Interpersonal communication
• Team member B: Nonverbal communication
• Team member C: Written communication
• Team member D: Oral communication

First team member A has chosen the interpersonal communication for the piece of writing where he focuses on the promotion of the skills and the importance of the communication that take place verbally and nonverbally. In simple words, it is  known as the face to face communication.  Interpersonal communication is the process of sharing information, feelings and messages between the two or more persons. Interpersonal communication is the best form of communication because it is not only about the language that used but it is more about how we said it, tone of voice, facial expressions and body language. Interpersonal communication is very useful in building the strong working relations and to be a part of the team, it is very important to have these interpersonal skills. Interpersonal skills include the listening skills, negotiating, problem solving, decision making and assertiveness skills. Therefore, interpersonal communication refers to the sending and receiving of the information between two or more persons and helps in managing the conflict (Jones & LeBaron, 2002). Considered as the member of the group, it is suggested that the employees at workplace and people in a group should use this interpersonal skills for the resolution.

Communication Themes Identification

Interpersonal communication involves several theories. There are three main theories discussed by the many researchers:

Social penetration: This is the study which involves how to get close interactions and exchanges from superficial to more meaningful.  According to this theory, closeness is achieved when both the sender and receiver share their feelings and disclose the broad and deep levels.

• Expectancy Violations: According to this study,  both emotional and physical boundries of the person has been discussed and it taken into account the expectations of how the other people respect and infringe their personal space.
• Uncertainty Reduction: it is obvious fact that the new relationships bring a level of uncertainty and communication is the only way to reduce that uncertainty levels (Cross, 2017).

There are four components of interpersonal communication process, which are as follows:

• Sender: The person who want to convey some messages or information to the other person. If someone have the information or feelings to share, then he or she can share it with the help of interpersonal communication,
• Message: Information that sender wish to convey to other person is known as message.
• Channel: This is a means or way of transferring information from one person to another person such as email, conversation, text, phone call. It includes all methods of conversation, verbal as well as non verbal (Center, 2014).
• Receiver:A receiver is the person to whom that information is going to be sent and then receiver decodes or processes that message.  This component may also include the clarification or sometimes misunderstanding too.

All of the above components are very essential and basic elements of the communication process.  Communication is said to be incomplete without these components. Therefore, it is important to promote the communication in order to achieve the goals or to perform the tasks in an effective way (King, 2000).

Being a second member of the team members, the main focus is given on the other communication theme which is related to facial expressions, tone of voice, gestures and body language of the person. This is also significant because it depicts the personality of the person.  It is observed that the non verbal signals can also give us some ideas and judgments over the verbal communication.  According to experts, the communication also takes place except the words.   It is identified that every day, many of people respond to the thousands of the non verbal clues, facial expression, gestures and tone of voice.

According to the viewpoint of the Peter F Drucker,“the most important thing is to hear without saying a word in communication process” (Hoffman, 1999).

Non verbal communication is the one mode of communication and that has proved to be relevant in every case. It is observed that the non verbal communication and signals increase the trust, clarity and add interest.  The non verbal communication basically reflects the personality of the individual that will make an individual a best presenter.

There are five main effects of the communication have been analyzed which are explained as below:

Repetition – The non verbal communication reinforce the information or message which is already being said.

Contradiction: Sometimes body language and expressions contradict the actual message and make the sender or speaker seem to be untruthful.

Substitutions: The non verbal communication is the substitute of the many words. The expressions are enough to convey the message to the receiver. For example, if an individual is not able to make an eye contact, then it means that he lacks of confidence and feels shy.

Complementing – Non verbal message always add some extra information or compliment a verbal message. For example, if boss appreciating his employee through verbal communication, then pat on the back is the non verbal action that compliments the verbal communication.

Different Forms of Communication

Accenting: Non verbal communication is also very much helpful in underlining the certain message in the conversation (Boyaci, et al., 2011).

To improve the non verbal communication, it is important that an individual should work on it.  First of all, the most important thing is to strengthen eye contact with the other person. Secondly improve the tone of voice and lastly work on the presentation skills like postures and gestures. Therefore, nonverbal behaviour uses the group of behaviors such as:

• Facial expressions
• Gestures
• Paralinguistic
• Body language and posture
• Proxemics
• Eye gaze
• Haptics
• Appearance

To make the non verbal communication  more effective,  then it is suggested to use the technologies to communicate. With the development of the technologies there are many ways has been introduced such as the telephone, emails, SMS, Twitter, Instagram and many other social media networks which can be used as the communication in writing. Before communicate any message or information in the organization, then it is essential to understand the needs and requirements of the organizations and deliver the effective message to the employees. Moving further, the mission and business values and cultural diversity are elpful in improving the listening skills as well as communication participation in the conversations (Dodge, 2011).

Written Communication is of great importance in this modern world, as it is very effective in the case of the marketing, promotions and business communications.  Writing is more unique and formal way to speech. Effective writing involves careful choice of the sentences, chronological order as well as the composition of the sentences. Written communication is found to be more reliable and valid in comparison to the interpersonal and non verbal communication. The drawback of the written communication is that it causes delay because it takes time for feedback.  There are many ways of written communication such as messages, emails, tweets, etc, but the main written communication best method is Email. There are many advantages and disadvantages of written communication (Amutha, 2010).

Advantages of Written Communication: Some of the advantages of the written communication are mentioned as below:

• Written communication helps in laying down the policies, apparent principles and rules for running of an organization.
• This is a not a temporary means of communication, it is permanent in nature as it is very beneficial in maintaining the records of the company.
• Delegation of responsibilities is highly supported with the help of the written communication. On the other side, it is quite difficult in the case of the oral communication to delegate the responsibilities.
• Organization image can be enhanced by developing the written communication in an effective manner.
• Written communication always provides the references as well as record for the future security and safety.
• Legal defenses are dependent on the written communication as it helps in providing the valid records (HOSBEG, 2017).

Disadvantages of Written Communication: Some of the disadvantages of written communications are given as below:

• Written communication involves the huge amount of costs in terms of stationary and manpower. Many organizations employed special staff for writing and typing and delivering letters to the others.
• Feedback in the case of the written communication is not immediate. If anyone wants to clear their doubts then it is analyzed that response is not spontaneous (Goodheart-Willcox, 2007).
• Also written communication is a very time consuming task as it takes lot of time in sending and receiving of messages either it’s through letters or e-mails.
• Written communication also requires great skills and abilities in the person, otherwise lack of these grammar and punctuation skills causes many problems.

It is however, observed that communication is very essential part of the business world, and there are many strategies that can be adopted by the organization to improve the decision making, problem solving processes. It is very significant also to communicate in professional way as the main focus of the business organization is on the email communication and it is a written style of the communication.  It is clear from the above analysis that a person need to impove its communication and listening skills if they want to perform and act professionally.

Interpersonal Communication

Oral communication is the communication through mouth of words.   This communication involves the conversations between the two people either through telephonic conversation, speeches, presentations and discussions. Communication plays essential role in activities to promote effective teamwork which includes the sharing of information through verbal and written presentations, receiving concrete and constructive feedback.  In simple words, it is a face to face communication. Interpersonal communication is the process of sharing information, feelings and messages between the two or more persons. Interpersonal communication is the best form of communication. The main focus of the team is on the achievement of the goals and improves their communication skills to become the effective team leader in the future. Oral communication is recommended in the case of those situations where direct interaction or temporary conversation is required. Face to face communication such as meetings, lectures, interviews are the significant methods to build the trust (Manninen & Kujanpaa, 2002).

Advantages of Oral Communication: Oral communication has many pros and cons which are going to be discussed as below:

• There is high level of transparency that matches to the values of the team and level of understanding is high in the case of the oral presentations.
• Instant feedback makes this communication more reliable and valid approach.
• Flexibility in this oral communication is the best element which allows the changes in the decision making.
• The decision making process is very quick in the case of oral communication and best in solving the problems because of the instant responses.
• Problem solving becomes the easy through this oral communication.
• Oral communication refers to the sending and receiving of the information between two or more persons and helps in managing the conflict.
• Considered as the member of the group, it is suggested that the employees at workplace and people in a group should use this interpersonal skills for the resolution (Lunenburg, 2010).

• It is not sufficient to rely on the oral communication as it is more formal and very organized.
• Oral communication is not that authentic as the written communication and also less organized in comparison to the written communication.
• Oral communication is very time consuming in the case of long speeches, meetings, otherwise it is a time saving method in routine interactions.
• Oral communication cannot be maintained for record and future references same as written communication.
• Bad presentations have the negative influence on others as well as there may be misunderstanding because of the lack in essentials.
• Oral communication like long speeches, meetings cannot be used on frequent basis.
• Oral communication cannot be used as the legal records except in some special circumstances and in investigation work (DOL, 2015).

There are many advantages of working in group and the above piece of writing is related to the different communication forms. All of pieces of writing help in identifying the role of interpersonal, oral, non verbal and written communication in the organizations as well as in our daily life. The above piece of writing does not identified the barriers of the communication that hinders the person to convey the message and information. Communication is very useful in the organizations and it is very important to develop these communication skills for the future and Communication plays essential role in activities to promote effective teamwork which includes the sharing of information through verbal and written presentations, receiving concrete and constructive feedback. The main focus of the team is on the achievement of the goals and improves their communication skills to become the effective team leader in the future (Bala, 2014).

Team member A in the group of four people has chosen the interpersonal communication as theme to write on it and his piece of writing explores the role of the interpersonal communication in the organization, theories applied to the interpersonal skills and the different important components of the interpersonal communication  process. On the other hand, team member B explains about  non verbal communication which also adds extra information to the face to face communication that reflects the importance of the gestures, expressions, eye contact in delivering the message to the people. Written and oral communication has its own advantages and disadvantages explained by the group member C and D

Non-Verbal Communication

It is identified that group has the great advantages rather than working alone because group helps  in dealing with the more information  so it is better for taking the decision making as well as solving the problems. It allows the group members to explore the different communication themes and gain different experiences that need to be shared. Working in a group also helps in the motivation by providing the empowerment and greater job satisfaction and it involves greater chances of encouragements that need to be implemented and accepted.  A role is set of behaviors that associated with the skills and abilities of the person and team members within a group can play various roles such as the task related roles, maintenance related, defensive roles and dysfunctional roles. Some individuals in the team of people play a role which can be constructive or destructive in nature (Fill & Jamieson, 2014).

The above four members have analyzed four different communication forms with its advantages and disadvantages. The team excellence can be achieved by improving the interpersonal skills in order to cooperate and engage in teamwork. From above all the four drafts shared by the team member A, B, C, D , it is identified that the interpersonal communication is the  best form of communication at the workplace as well as the in  normal human being lives. The suggestions given by the team members are also very effective for the future such as to make the non verbal communication more effective, then it is suggested to use the technologies to communicate. With the development of the technologies there are many ways has been introduced such as the telephone, emails, SMS, Twitter, Instagram and many other social media networks which can be used as the communication in writing. Before communicate any message or information in the organization, then it is essential to understand the needs and requirements of the organizations and deliver the effective message to the employees. Moving further, the mission and business values and cultural diversity are elpful in improving the listening skills as well as communication participation in the conversations. There are many factors that affecting the team performance or influence the group members such as size of the team, leadership quality, members and their attitude problems, unorganized structure influence the functioning of the group, cohesiveness,  negative physical surroundings and work group moods.

Conclusion

This report is helpful in identifying the different themes of the communication that are explained by our each member of the group.  The results and the study revolve around the communication themes and its importance. The main focus of the team is on the achievement of the goals and improves their communication skills to become the effective team leader in the future.

Written Communication

Team member A in the group of four people has chosen the interpersonal communication as theme to write on it and his piece of writing explores the role of the interpersonal communication in the organization, theories applied to the interpersonal skills and the different important components of the interpersonal communication  process.  On the other hand, team member B explains about   non verbal communication which also adds extra information to the face to face communication that reflects the importance of the gestures, expressions, eye contact in delivering the message to the people. Written and oral communication has its own advantages and disadvantages explained by the group member C and D. Working in a group also helps in the motivation by providing the empowerment and greater job satisfaction and it involves greater chances of encouragements that need to be implemented and accepted.  A role is set of behaviors that associated with the skills and abilities of the person and team members within a group can play various roles such as the task related roles, maintenance related, defensive roles and dysfunctional roles.

This part of reflection is based on the idea of DIEP formula  and the previous work done with the eam members.

Describe: After working with the team of  four members on understanding the communication styles, I found that they are quite useful for me in real life and in my future career also. Every draft consists of different  communication style and we all are able to understand the importance of the communication in our daily life as well as in the working organizations.

Interpret: By learning communication styles, I came to k now that the communication  is playing very important role in achievement of the goals and it is very important to impove the communication in self. Communucaion skills are something that shows the confidence, your personality and identity and it is our responsibility to hold these capabilities and personal values. The interpersonal skills are the most important thing  in the human personality that I have analysed. Non verbal communication introduced me how important it is to strengthen the eye contact and work on the facial expressions , gestures and body language.  Effective comunicaton reduces many conflicts, misunderstandings with the people and it build the strong relationships also.

Evaluate: The main purpose of evaluation  part of the formula is to gain insight into the existing or prior communication strategis and analyse them properly to identify the effective changes in the future. We all have analysed that, personal development lessons from these drafts could be very beneficial for all of  us in the coming years. The topic that we have chosen in the team work are very interesting as they all are focusing on the different styles of communication process.  As we all realized that the it is essential to have the communication skills for the bright future, so personality development classess are the best source for all us to improve our communication skills.  These personality development session will really beneficial for me as I am very much focused upon my career goals and my personality traits. According to me , it is also significant to reflect on he past, present and future goals and analyze what we are doing , what does not work and how we can bring some improvements and adjustment in us.   After analyzing the goals, we should continue to improve our personality traits such as spiritually, physically and emotionally.

Plan: I have learnt from the above team work is  that in the future I willutilize my knowledge, skills and interpersonal skills to succeed and solving my problems.  For example, I will makle use of the interpersonal communication while working in the team as well as I will focus on the decision making and problem solving process. In the future, I will also focus more on the leadership qualities to achieve the team excellence. I will always prefer to work in teams in order to gain more knowledge, different ideas and better decision making.  The best part of working in teams is that, we havevarious ideas and thoughts to apply in decision making.

References

Amutha, M., 2010. Oral and Written Communication Skills. Open journal academic system, 2(3). [Accessed 1 May 2018].

Bala, K., 2014. Social media and changing communication patterns. Global Media Journal-Indian Edition, 5(1), pp. 1-6. [Accessed 2 May 2018].

Boyaci, C., Aksu, A. & Tarcan, E., 2011. The importance of communication within organizations: a research on two 5 star hotels, Available at: https://www.opf.slu.cz/vvr/akce/turecko/pdf/Boyaci.pdf [Accessed 1 May 2018].

Center, U. V. I. a. P., 2014. The Four Basic Styles of Communication, Available at: https://www.uky.edu/hr/sites/www.uky.edu.hr/files/wellness/images/Conf14_FourCommStyles.pdf [Accessed 28 April 2018].

Cross, V., 2017. The Effects of Interpersonal Communication in an Organization, Available at: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/effects-interpersonal-communication-organization-18338.html [Accessed 28 April 2018].

Dodge, N., 2011. Oral and Written Communications, Available at: https://www.utdallas.edu/~dodge/ECS1200/Lec5.pdf [Accessed 2 May 2018].

DOL, 2015. Communication: Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success, Available at: https://www.dol.gov/odep/topics/youth/softskills/Communication.pdf [Accessed 30 April 2018].

Fill, C. & Jamieson, B., 2014. Marketing Communications, Available at: https://www.ebsglobal.net/EBS/media/EBS/PDFs/Marketing-Communications-Course-Taster.pdf [Accessed 30 April 2018].

Gandhi, A., 2012. Nonviolent communication: A language of life, Available at: https://www.ayahuasca-wasi.com/english/articles/NVC.pdf [Accessed 28 April 2018].

Goodheart-Willcox, 2007. Verbal and Written Communications, Available at: https://www.g-w.com/pdf/sampchap/9781619605893_ch07.pdf [Accessed 29 April 2018].

Hoffman, C., 1999. Drucker on Communication: HBR, Available at: https://hbr.org/product/drucker-on-communication/C9911E-PDF-ENG [Accessed 29 April 2018].

HOSBEG, 2017. Written Communication: Advantages and Disadvantages of Written Communication, Available at: https://hosbeg.com/written-communication-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-written-communication/ [Accessed 30 April 2018].

Jones, S. & LeBaron, C., 2002. Research on the Relationship Between Verbal and Nonverbal Communication: Emerging Integrations, Available at: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.535.49&rep=rep1&type=pdf [Accessed 30 April 2018].

King, D., 2000. Four Principles of Interpersonal Communication, Available at: https://www.pstcc.edu/facstaff/dking/interpr.htm [Accessed 1 May 2018].

Lunenburg, F., 2010. Communication: The Process, Barriers, and Improving Effectiveness, Available at: https://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic%20Journal%20Volumes/Lunenburg,%20Fred%20C,%20Communication%20Schooling%20V1%20N1%202010.pdf [Accessed 29 April 2018].

Manninen, T. & Kujanpaa, T., 2002. Non-Verbal Communication Forms in Multi-player Game Session, Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228927828_Non-Verbal_Communication_Forms_in_Multi-player_Game_Session [Accessed 1 May 2018].