Diagnosis and Reflection
Communication is the exchange of information between two or more people or to some extend communication with oneself. So as to effectively communicate, one needs to enhance their communication skills at all levels. This is achieved through an evaluation process using the communication diagnosis tools as listed below. That one evaluates their strengths and weaknesses in the process (Barker, (2013).
The Johari Window is a tool used to help individuals understand their abilities in communication, based on the relationship that one has with the people they communicate with or they themselves (Saxena, (2015). As for me, the communication part where one is to build trust with other colleagues by developing the trust relations is often hard to deal and implement. This is mostly because of the distrust connection with other people, founded on the kind of relationship between them. The issue is also escalated by the fact that even the other party from which the conversation takes place, tend to hide some of the personal information which widens the gap father when one tries to build the relationship (Bahadori, (2015).
This is a tool to self-evaluate one’s communication ability. It is mostly done through asking yourself critical discussion questions that are meant to rate the communication level of effectiveness (Solaja, et al. (2016). The following was my evaluation Communications Style Questionnaire,
- Do I do more talking that I listen?
Yes: this comes up as the conversation picks on, as some of the individuals that I engage with tend to have a withdrawal problem which limits them to share their ideas, which results in them holding back. So as to keep the conversation going, I mostly try to engage everyone with questions that I, later on, provide an intense description with relating examples.
- Am I more interested in the feelings of the other members or am I more interested in the conversation facts?
I believe that the other person’s fillings are critical and hurting to play with. It is a boundary that I would not really want to cross in terms of disregarding their fillings. Which is supplemented by the fact that I don’t engage a lot of interpersonal issues?
- Do I evaluate my understanding of the topic in the discussion?
Am more of an attentive person, in all that happens around, which withdraws the evaluation of the subject in the discussion as I believe am well up to date with the conversation that takes place all along.
- Does my body language and gesture be on control during a conversation?
More often, the body language is carried away by the mindset of the conversation that I am engaged in, where at times I do provide gestures that are not favorable to the speaker, without any clear intentions for doing it. For example when the speaker provides the wrong facts about a topic, and I frown at them (Vatankhah, (2013).
In relation to Assertiveness Questionnaires, am more of an assertive person, this is because as much as I believe I have the right content for the question at hand, I also believe that other individuals in the conversation deserve an opportunity to air their idea and thoughts. Wich, later we can argue and relate to the best answer without confrontation (Verderber, (1998).
Motivation speakers
The need for developing my communication skills, developed after attending a motivational talk at one of the church meetings. This was evident as the whole motivational take took place, with the perspective that I thought I had the ability to be attentive and grab all the talking point. But that was not the case because after the speaker finished their talk and posed questions to the audience, I could not even come up with a clear answer with regards to the whole motivational speech. And after the question period was over the speaker complained of the audience body language towards him, for example, some people were having side conversations during the meeting, others seemed very far in their mind thoughts, while some were very busy staring at him yet they never answered any question. The problem aroused when the speaker used me as an example to the issues he had highlighted as problems to effective listening during the talk. This was true because a fair part of the time I spent in that meeting I criticized the speaker’s dress code, connection, and how he seemed too serious at such a meeting. This issues brought about communication noise developing, which blocked my attention towards listening to the speaker. The fact that I did not understand the main objective of the motivation talk and more so that I stood out as a bad example in the meeting was a definite answer and reason to improve on my communication skills (Thompson, (1973)
Johari Window
This scenario developed in a class group discussion where the group was made up of 5 individuals, the main task was to tackle a course assignment that required critical thinking and out of class ideas, to relate to the units. This made the discussion less than just academic discussion where one is expected to refer to books or any educational material, for knowledge. Instead, the discussion was more of a dialogue where members were to share their ideas based on real life events and outcomes in their life and how thy had to deal with the situation with regards to the unit course. The discussion started well with everyone participating. But after a while, the group discussion was limited to two people, with the others only nodding their heads in agreement to the conversation between the other colleague and me. The situation never seemed to be a problem till late after the conversation had ended, and the other group members accused us of overshadowing them in the whole process with a lot of talking, an excessive explanation of our thoughts. Bringing out the need to improve on the listening and talking balance while engaging in a communication, with others (Grunig, (2013).
There are many points to change so as to have an effective communication in the future, but the two most important issues identified in the diagnosis and reflection analysis were
The fact that I would think am an attentive person overshadowed me to be alert and loose focus of the whole conversation taking place, where even I would give negative body language unwillingly which would impact the communication process negatively withdrawing the speaker’s intentions to deliver their ideas accurately. The issues also lead to hurting other people’s fillings by the fact that I would not differentiate when the conversation switched to the serious discussion.
So as to improve the attention ability in the communication process, one factor to improve on is to get rid of all the unnecessary fillers in conversation processes. That is, overconfidence, daydreaming, and off the topic evaluations, for example judging the speaker for the tone, and background to appoint that one degrades the meaningful conversations points being provided. The other aspect is to start writing down the important points the speaker is delivering so as to keep track of the conversation. And where the process is not clear on the explanation it will be in better position to ask questions, for clarification instead of providing negative body language and having side talks with other listeners (Flavell, (1968).
The problem, affected other peoples filings in that they perceived me as a self-centered person which is not the case. To the point that other individuals in the conversation would opt to keep quiet and not participate, blocking their thoughts and Ideas from contributing to the discussion.
Bing brief and precise in expressing one’s thoughts and ideas will help provide a conducive atmosphere for everyone in the conversation. The move will assist in giving other people an opportunity to contribute to the topic at hand, because of the provided time by the point preciseness that I provide. And also it will assist in bringing out my ideas clearly for the others to understand, because of the limited examples and details that I previously tended to provide. With the main objective being the elimination of the self-centered image in people’s perception. By eliminating the illusion, people will have an opportunity to approach and discuss my ideas, and if they are wrong to some extent, the platform will be conducive to discuss the right ideas for the solution at hand. This will go a long way in building the trust relationship that is lacking in my communication skills (Shatz, & Gelman, (1973).
Communications Style Questionnaire
Conclusion
With the highlights issues and problems in my communication skill, change is inevitable. The development process will start by developing self-assessment measures for every conversation that I engage in; the following actions will be part of the evaluation criteria,
1) The don’t tell but ask attitude
This will be the ability to ask for clarification instead of explaining my idea as the best option to the situation at hand. Which is expected to build an efficient communication platform
2) Showing appreciation
This will be respecting everyone opinion no matter how wrong the idea is, so as to bring in the high esteem for all individual in the conversation. And also appreciating every speaker, for their time and effort in delivering their message at any point anytime. This will be achieved through positive body language and gestures towards the speakers, commenting positively on others opinion. And mostly say thank you for the idea provided (Hargie, (1997).
3) Connecting
This will be achieved through building a connection on a personal level with others, so as to bring in the concept of trust and more so avoid negative perception from others due to miss understanding while holding a conversation. For example choosing tone variation for every communication.
4) Understanding my role
This is based on what is expected of me in the conversations taking place, by identifying the expectations of the other from me, knowing my responsibilities and the deadlines measures. This will help in regulating more talking in every conversation held. For example, it will overcome the overshadowing of others during group discussions or even being carried away by unnecessary filters during meetings (Kortes-Miller, et al. (2016).
The other step is to build an interrogative ability while having a conversation. This will be based on the understanding that communication is a two-way situation, and every person must fill appreciated, for example choosing the best word in a conversation like, what do you think about the topic or situation? What is the best solution to the problem? How can we change the situation or challenge currently? This kind of question will help in creating a favorable environment to hold a conversation, as the other party will fill that their participation is essential to the group’s development, or on solving a certain problem.
Reading wide about effective communication ad its barriers or a common problem that people do, in conversation process. This will be to support me to develop wholesomely on the communication concept. By learning from other people’s mistakes and implementing the solutions provided by the websites, books or journals that relate to communication.
Lastly and the most primary objective in improving my communication skills by enrolling in a communication program, for instance, the communication skills training course at PDT, a professional development training institute in Sydney Australia. Where the course entails programs like personal awareness, communication processes, communication barriers, strength and speed to use in every communication interaction. This will go a long way in sharpening my communication skills and abilities, both internal and external (Hargie, et al. (1994).
References
Bahadori, M., Shiri, A., & Mahdizade, H. (2015). Ranking Feedback and Disclosure Mechanisms based on Johari Window Model in order to Enhance Organizational Communications.
Barker, A. (2013). Improve your communication skills (Vol. 39). Kogan Page Publishers.
Flavell, J. H. (1968). The development of role-taking and communication skills in children.
Grunig, J. E. (2013). Excellence in public relations and communication management. Routledge.
Hargie, O. (Ed.). (1997). The handbook of communication skills. Psychology Press.
Hargie, O., Saunders, C., & Dickson, D. (1994). Social skills in interpersonal communication. Psychology Press.
Kortes-Miller, K., Jones-Bonofiglio, K., Hendrickson, S., & Kelley, M. L. (2016). Dying with Carolyn: Using simulation to improve communication skills of unregulated care providers working in Long-Term Care. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 35(12), 1259-1278.
Saxena, P. (2015). JOHARI WINDOW: An Effective Model for Improving Interpersonal Communication and Managerial Effectiveness. SIT Journal of Management, 5(2), 134-146.
Shatz, M., & Gelman, R. (1973). The development of communication skills: Modifications in the speech of young children as a function of the listener. Monographs of the society for research in child development, 1-38.
Solaja, M. O., Idowu, E. F., & James, E. A. (2016). Exploring the relationship between leadership communication style, personality trait, and organizational productivity. Serbian Journal of Management, 11(1), 99-117.
Thompson, J. J. (1973). Beyond words; nonverbal communication in the classroom. New York: Citation Press.
Vatankhah, H., Daryabari, D., Ghadami, V., & Naderifar, N. (2013). The effectiveness of communication skills training on self-concept, self-esteem, and assertiveness of female students in guidance school in Rasht. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 84, 885-889.
Verderber, R. F., & Verderber, K. S. (1998). Inter-act: Using interpersonal communication skills. Wadsworth Publishing Company.
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