Self Reflection On Communication Skills: Diagnosis, Analysis And Action Plan

Importance of Communication Skills in an Individual's Personality

Question:

Discuss about the Communication Skills.

The communication skills are a significant aspect that has a great impact on an individual’s personality. There can be many strong areas related to communication within a person, while on other hand there may be some points where communication is little weak (Allen, Hunter & Donohue, 2009). The present report is based on self reflection where the major aim is to deeply analyse the communication skills. This analysis is based on some diagnostic tools which will aid in recognising the areas of strength and weakness in communication. Afterwards, the literature review will address key issues in communication which has been identified through diagnosis. On this basis, the last section of report will contain an action plan which will help in making improvements in communication within a structured time period (Bodie, 2010).

For the purpose of identifying the communication skill in myself, I have taken help of five different diagnostic tools. As per that, the first tool is self observing questionnaire which will aid in recognising self competence in communication in different situations. The questionnaire contains several questions which can help in finding out different aspects that have an impact on communication (Bylund & et.al., 2017). Similarly, another tool used for the same purpose was a personal report of communication anxiety which will help in measuring the level of fear or anxiety that is confronted while having a communication with another person or group of individuals. Thus, this report will aid in recognising the level of comfort or discomfort that is faced while interacting with others. Moving forward, next diagnostic tool was the report on communication in difficult situations. It is evident that in difficult situations, stress and uncertainties is the major thing that makes it complex to tackle situation and communicate properly (Christensen, 2014). Thus, the report will identify the level of various feelings at the time of difficult situations. The fourth diagnostic tool was readiness to listen which will recognise the willingness towards listening which is an essential feature of good communication. The final tool was acceptance towards disagreement which is helpful in getting information about acceptance of people towards ideas that are conflicting with one’s strong belief (Davis, 2014).

The diagnostic tools applied to analyse various areas of communication were quite effective in generating desired results. The first tool of questionnaire helped me in identifying my basic communication style. Besides this, the personal report made to analyse the communication anxiety stated that I am little weak at making communication among public who are not personally known to me (DeBenedectis & et.al., 2017). On other hand I am very comfortable in making communication with my friends or family members where interaction is direct and one-to-one. Thus, the major issue was related to making interaction with large number of people at one time. Apart from this, as per the scores generated from the diagnostic tool application of personal report to identify communication anxiety, I attained 60 marks which can be categorised under fair level of communication power (Duran & et.al., 2017). Similarly, on the account of making communication in difficult situations, I scored 50 marks which is low and states that I am less comfortable in establishing communication at the time of difficult situations. I feel very stressed and nervous in such trouble situations which become a major barrier in my communication skill.

Diagnostic Tools for Self-Reflection

The fourth tool applied to assess the listening skill; I scored 70 marks which show my willingness towards listening which falls under a moderate level of communication (Guetterman & et.al., 2017). On other hand, the last tool applied for acceptance against disagreement, I scored 120 marks. This is a good level as per the scale of analysis and states that I am inclined to evade conflicts and disagreement; therefore I solve the disputes and various issues tactfully. The assessment done by applying various diagnostic tools revealed effective results showing me my present status regarding the level of communication (Hargie, 2011).

As per the generated results, the major requirements regarding issues in communication is related with communication in difficult situations and communication apprehension which is faced while addressing a group of people. Apart from this, the other areas of communication like readiness to listen and acceptance to disagreement are on moderate level which is required to be maintained and improved further so as to become less prone to attain a lower level in future (Hargie, 2011). I feel stressed and nervous at the time of difficult situations because of which interacting with others at that time becomes quite difficult for me. On other hand, the difficulty felt at the time of having interaction with large group of people is also a major issue that needs to be addressed for making improvements. In addition to this, for the acceptance to disagreement, I have a view that in corporate world disagreements are very common which is a healthy sign of progress. Without disagreements, various aspects of a matter cannot be assessed from different views. Thus, it helps in improving the decision making process (Kim & Lee, 2014).

According to recent examples, I have faced some issues while making communication with large group of people. The first situation was faced at professional level in a production company. I was at the position of Production manager where the department’s performance was not up to the mark. Following to this, the senior manager called me to meet him personally for explaining the reason for such underperformance of the department. This was a very complex situation for me where I was feeling a lot of stress and nervousness. I was expected to explain the current status and reasons of underperformance of the team. In this situation, I was unable to explain the fair reasons in proper manner and to concentrate over the important points. Besides this, I was unable to make keep my points and explanations in the expected manner because of which the manager was not clear about my reasons for such underperformance.

Analysis of Diagnostic Results

Another example of such communication issue was faced in the same organisation at the time of addressing the entire department while giving a presentation. The topic of presentation was new for me and it was essential to give related information about it to the employees. In this condition, I was unable to make clear all the points and queries of colleagues in an appropriate manner. Besides this, addressing large number of people was like a challenge for me as I forgot to address some major points for discussion. Apart from this, the presentation delivery was required to be very accurate and comprehensive which can be understood by the audience in a good manner. Therefore, this condition added an additional pressure on me which led to difficulty in concentrating over significant points for discussion.

Thus, the above examples show my major weaknesses in the field of communication that are required to be addressed and improved as soon as possible. By making improvements within these issues will definitely help in making an overall development in my personality and communication aspects (Liu & et.al., 2017). Apart from this, other aspects of communication areas are at moderate level and making little reforms in that will aid in getting things over right position and in better way.

The communication skills are not the same within each and every person because of which the personality and way of interacting differs. According to Mandeville, Ho & Valdez, (2017), there are various areas of communication which are essential to be addressed for the purpose of overall development in the communication skill inventory. There are some issues related to communication which are essential to be improved. These issues may be communication apprehension (CA) which can be referred as a fear that can be present within an individual as a result of different situations which are difficult and stressful. Besides this, they may have an anxiety while having an interaction with the group of people because of which the effective way of communication cannot be established (McAllum, 2017). 

As per Neuliep, (2017), the individual who has the issue of CA generally try to avoid making interaction with large number of people and feel nervous while keeping their opinion in front of them. This behaviour may have a negative influence on the image and personality of a person over others. These fear and negative behaviour are the results of a number of factors ranging from character, types of audience and current situation. Some individuals are more concerned about their image and reputation among others because of which they become anxious at the time of interaction with group of people. Thus, this type of anxiousness presents the fear among different individuals as a result of their nature or traits. Norbury, (2014) states that there are several number of people who become more conscious and nervous as a result of audience whom they are addressing. For instance, the audience of a speaker may comprise of some reputed personalities and dignitaries. Therefore, addressing such audience may be a tough task for some persons resulting into improper establishment of communication. Similarly, there are some other persons as well who become anxious as a result of situation which may not be much favourable for him/ her. These situations may include some interviews, one to one interaction with seniors on some sensitive matters etc. (Priem & Solomon, 2009).

Action Plan for Improving Communication Skills

According to Schulze & et.al., (2017), the ability to interact and address public and large group of people is an essential requirement which must be present within a person at professional level. This capability help in acquiring a good position at corporate level as it demonstrates the power and efficiency to make communication better and have good links with people. Apart from this, various researches state that the role of fluent communication within organisations is a pre requisite which must be entertained by an individual. There are some barriers in establishing effective communication among people at different levels which must be overcome by a person so as to get desired results in a positive way (Shah & et.al., 2017). Therefore, it is essential for an individual to do away with various anxiety and stress that is confronted in different situations. By making improvements in communication skills, a person can evidence long term results in professional career.

Apart from this, Wright & et.al., (2013) stress on being a good listener to become a good speaker as without knowing others’ views and their point of views, a person may not communicate in meaningful manner. The theoretical frameworks and models also identify listening as an essential element for having a better communication and presenting effective views on a particular subject matter. Besides this, being a good listener can help in getting knowledge over some essential topics about which an individual may not have required information (Shannon, 2012). Thus, being a good listener has some advantages which must not be skipped by an individual for attaining an overall development of communication skills. According to Madlock, (2012), for improvements in the communication skills, a person must have to develop their expressiveness, preciseness and clear meaning of their views. By improving these characteristics, a considerable impact on listeners can be made. If a manager has a good communication power within an organisational setting, the teams or employees will have a good level of understanding and better style of executing the tasks.

In the views of Rajasekar, (2014), disagreement in the views is also an inevitable part of business environment where meetings and discussions use to take place. In such discussions, there can be disagreements among various people who are attending the meeting. These disagreements have a positive influence as well because it gives an opportunity to assess a specific task from various points of views. Apart from this, it also helps in taking a good decision by eliminating different flaws in the matter. But in such disagreements, a person must have the ability to accept it and keep their opinions in an effective way which can aid in impacting others way of thinking as well (Floyd & et.al., 2013). Apart from this, the non verbal communication within an organisational setting has also a considerable significance and can be an additional essence in the communication power. By simply nodding in proper way or showing positive signals by smiling can also have a good impression on others. As per Niemann-Struweg, (2014) the verbal communication has a prominent significance in the negotiations. Through verbal communication at the time of negotiations, the person may express their views and positive or negative attitude towards different points.

The above literature review entails a number of features that are related to communication skill at the level of organisational setting. As per this, there are some essential features that must be improved upon for establishing a better way of communication (Stowe & et.al., 2012). Besides this, the barriers related to such skills must be improved upon so that at corporate level, impression over others can be made in positive way.

As per the above assessment done to identify areas in which improvement is required to establish better communication, an action plan has been made which will help in getting improvements in the identified issues. I confront major issues in addressing a large group of people while giving presentations or while imparting knowledge about a particular topic. For this process, the first step would be to maintain a daily sheet for keeping track of my progress in the learning (Coldwell, Joosub & Papageorgiou, 2012). After this, I would make a proper plan of steps that could be taken for making improvements. This process would start by having a mentor who can give guidance related to learning process. As per this, I told about my communication anxiety and fear while having communication in difficult situation to my mentor. As per his experience in communication of more than 15 years, he framed a six week training programme for me to eliminate issues (Stanimirovic, 2015).

As per this, I started reading books based on communication apprehension and methods to tackle with them. As per this, I learned to make a forecast about various situations which may occur so as to prepare myself for it. This will give me confidence to deal with that specific condition. Besides this, I took part in a course related to making improvement in the interpersonal communication. This helped me in eliminating the fear about various situations so that I can keep my opinion among others in a better way and with confidence. I also attended some seminars based upon eliminating fear while having public interaction. I learned an effective way of speaking and methods to present the opinions among public so as to impact their minds (Caruana & Ploner, 2012). In addition to this, I started reading books related to my field of profession which can help in enhancing my knowledge and learning to current aspects. This helped me in getting the ideas that can help in being calm and confident in adverse situations. The mentoring and guidance also helped me in increasing the confidence so that I may not have anxiousness while confronting any difficult situation (Porter & Tanner, 2012).

The above essay has made a self analysis of communication skills according to which major issues in the area of communication apprehension and communicating in difficult situations are identified as prominent issues. The review of literature has been done to identify the ways that are ideal for dealing with communication barriers (Floyd & et.al., 2013). From the present study, I identified that communication is major strength in all phases of professional area which must be improved. Similarly, the action plan has been developed under the supervision of a mentor to make improvements in the present status of communication skill.

References

Books and Journals

Allen, M., Hunter, J. E., & Donohue, W. A. (2009). Meta?analysis of self?report data on the effectiveness of public speaking anxiety treatment techniques. Communication Education, 38(1), 54-76.

Bodie, G. D. (2010). A racing heart, rattling knees, and ruminative thoughts: Defining, explaining, and treating public speaking anxiety. Communication Education, 59(1), 70-105.

Bylund, C. L. & et.al., (2017). Implementing and tailoring a western-developed communication skills training program for graduate medical trainees in Qatar. International journal of medical education, 8, 16.

Caruana, V., & Ploner, J. (2012). A critical review of contemporary practice and educational research in internationalisation within the business education subject communities.

Christensen, M. (2014). Communication as a strategic tool in change processes. International journal of business communication, 51(4), 359-385.

Coldwell, D. A. L., Joosub, T., & Papageorgiou, E. (2012). Responsible leadership in organizational crises: An analysis of the effects of public perceptions of selected SA business organizations’ reputations. Journal of Business Ethics, 109(2), 133-144.

Davis, A. (2014). Core Communication Competencies in.

DeBenedectis, C. M. & et.al., (2017). Coming out of the dark: a curriculum for teaching and evaluating radiology residents’ communication skills through simulation. Journal of the American College of Radiology, 14(1), 87-91.

Duran, R. A. & et.al., (2017). Exploratory Study About the Implementation of the Competency-Based Approach in Graduate Programs From Two Panamanian Universities. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 16(3), 191-208.

Floyd, L. A. & et.al., (2013). Ethical outcomes and business ethics: Toward improving business ethics education. Journal of business ethics, 117(4), 753-776.

Guetterman, T. C. & et.al., (2017). Initial construct validity evidence of a virtual human application for competency assessment in breaking the bad news to a cancer patient. Advances in medical education and practice, 8, 505.

Hargie, O. (2011). Skilled interpersonal communication 5th ed.

Hargie, O. (2011). Skilled interpersonal interaction: Research, theory, and practice.

Kim, S. H., & Lee, M. A. (2014). Effects of emotional labor and communication competence on turnover intention in nurses. Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration, 20(3), 332-341.

Liu, Y. & et.al., (2017). Communication skills training: Adapting to the trends and moving forward. BioScience Trends, 11(2), 142-147.

Madlock, P. E. (2012). The influence of power distance and communication on Mexican workers. The Journal of Business Communication (1973), 49(2), 169-184.

Mandeville, D. S., Ho, T. K., & Valdez, L. A. V. L. A. (2017). The Effect Of Problem-Based Learning On Undergraduate Oral Communication Competency. Journal of College Teaching & Learning (TLC), 14(1), 1-10.

McAllum, K. (2017). Language (in) competency, communication strategies, and the development of an international academic teacher identity: becoming an audible minority. Higher Education Research & Development, 36(4), 763-776.

Neuliep, J. W. (2017). Intercultural communication: A contextual approach. Sage Publications.

Niemann-Struweg, I. (2014). An integrated communication implementation model for the post-2000 business environment. Public Relations Review, 40(2), 184-192.

Norbury, C. F. (2014). Practitioner review: Social (pragmatic) communication disorder conceptualization, evidence, and clinical implications. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 55(3), 204-216.

Porter, L., & Tanner, S. (2012). Assessing business excellence. Routledge.

Priem, J. S., & Solomon, D. H. (2009). Comforting apprehensive communicators: The effects of reappraisal and distraction on cortisol levels among students in a public speaking class. Communication Quarterly, 57(3), 259-281.

Rajasekar, J. (2014). Factors affecting effective strategy implementation in a service industry: A study of electricity distribution companies in the Sultanate of Oman. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 5(9).

Schulze, J. & et.al., (2017). The knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics required for face-to-face versus computer-mediated communication: Similar or distinct constructs?. Journal of Business and Psychology, 32(3), 283-300.

Shah, D. V. & et.al., (2017). Civic Norms and Communication Competence. The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication, 467.

Shannon, D. (2012). Effective physician-to-physician communication: An essential ingredient for care coordination. PE J, 16-21.

Stanimirovic, D. (2015). A framework for information and communication technology induced transformation of the healthcare business model in Slovenia. Journal of Global Information Technology Management, 18(1), 29-47.

Stowe, K. & et.al., (2012). Are Students Prepared to Present?: An Analysis of Presentation Skills in Business Schools. Journal of the Academy of Business Education, 13.

Wright, K. B. & et.al., (2013). Communication competence, social support, and depression among college students: a model of Facebook and face-to-face support network influence. Journal of Health Communication, 18(1), 41-57.