Diagnosis and Reflection
The following assessment studies the role that communication plays in modern days. The researcher has used a variety of tools that clearly identifies the importance of communication for each person to sustain in the long run. The research has aimed to describe the models of these tools and analyze the extent of their usefulness. After going through the whole assessment, it can be seen that the research has been successful in attaining much of the objectives that was previously targeted before the start of the research.
I have used this research to find out the exact role that communication plays to develop the personality as well as improve the interpersonal skills of a person. Communication surely plays a vital role in developing interpersonal skills and personality. The cosmopolitan world that exists nowadays has changed the global thinking; it has made itself more complex and hardy in nature. People must adapt themselves to the changing style as because absence of effective communication will lead to glitches and hurdles at every point of life (Knapp, M. L., Vangelisti, A. L., & Caughlin, J. P, 2014). The sole purpose of my research has been to highlight the effectiveness of communication among students by taking the help of a number of different tools that deals in increasing communication skills among them. I have used a number of tools like Communication style questionnaires, Johari Window, Assertive questionnaires, Life Style Inventory, AMA DISC Survey and Stress Processing Report. These different tools though follow different methods but serve the same aim of providing necessary solution to improve communication among individuals. The first and foremost tool that has been used by me is the communication style questionnaire that has been helpful in identifying the particular style of communication that students choose to interact with the others. I had used a particular style to carry out the detailed survey. I provided a selected number of students with a sheet that had a number of varied questions in it based on different traits of human behavior especially the behavioral traits among the students.
Johari Window was the next tool that was selected for assessing the communication skill of students. It helped me to have an idea about the particular type of communication present within two or more groups. It divides the window into four separate segments namely the open area, blind area, hidden area and last but not the least the unknown area. The particular model has helped me to gain a better understanding of the interpersonal behaviors and the ways by which communication acts as a building block between two groups. Assertive communication tool on the other hand is the tool that helped me to determine my personality. Broadly, it can be assigned that this tool helps an individual to state his particular viewpoint frankly without disrespecting the other assessments.
Communication and Diagnostic tools
The Life Styles Inventory was another tool used by the researcher to have a complete outlook of the individuals based on their behavior as well as the report of their superiors or close associates. LSI was instrumental in finding out the way to deal with additional stress and improve the ways in which students behave. AMA Disc Survey was another beneficial tool selected by the investigator to sort out the ideas of effective communication skills. The above mentioned tool helps the individual to identify his own problem and thus create some necessary specifications to improve the same. The last tool to be used in this particular assessment is the Stress Processing Report, which deals with how the students in the universities can easily tackle complex pressures and emerge victorious. Removal of stress leads to better communication and ultimately changes the interpersonal skills of the students (Certo, 2015).
As seen earlier the researcher has used a number of communication tools to analyze the importance of communication among the students for development of interpersonal skills. Using six different tools has helped to identify the main issues relating to communication. The survey conducted has been more or less a success. The tools used by me have helped me to identify my personality in a larger way and judge my ability to communicate with others. Two main issues act as a barrier in my personal communication skill. The first one being my inability to mix in a professional environment (Greenaway et al. 2015). The particular problem has been a serious issue for quite a long time. I face a lot of problem while interacting with my fellow classmates in the college. This is a serious for me as I face difficulty while completing projects and taking help from others. The other problem that can be seen is my inability to handle stress in a given period. The report clearly indicates that I often fail to attain targets when there is immense work pressure. This report thus does not help my cause, as because there is a clear absence of two of the most important skills that are required for effective communication (Ballantyne et al. 2015).
The stress theory and the communication theory have helped me to overcome this obstacle. Stress theory chalks out different strategies to cope up with the immense pressure that the student faces while communication theory effectively states the way to develop interpersonal skills and the proper way to communicate with others in a working environment. The theories once implemented in real life had changed the total aspect of communication. Involving in more activities in a group, behaving in an appropriate manner and helping others have opened up new doors of communication to me. The different ways of communication as mentioned earlier has helped me to develop as an individual.
Identification of Key Communication Issues
As mentioned earlier the communication problems faced by me was largely evident in two personal interactions that happened a few days back. I was assigned with a project on marketing in my summer assessment. The project was supposedly to be completed by me within the summer break. The project was a group work and a team comprising of three individuals were selected for each of them. We started working upon the project from the very first day of the break. Both of my companions were smart enough and possessed great communication skill and I slowly became a backbencher while the project was being completed. The main part of the work was based upon a large survey that required us to go to different leading stores and assemble marketing data from them. I lacked the communication skill to interact fluidly with the different people related to the stores and thus the results were there to be seen, as my survey was the worst among the class (Hébert & Hauf, 2015). The next one was a recent interaction with a group of four professors while the annual viva. They asked different questions one after the other sparing little time for me to answer and it totally shook my confidence. I was stressed and jumbled up the whole interaction. It was pathetic as completing MBA without having good communication skills degraded the degree. The tools used in this research have been handy in improving my overall communication skill.
Effective communication is an important aspect in the present days. An individual needs to effectively communicate with the other person to gain success and maintain sustainability. Students need to effectively develop their interacting skills to prepare themselves for the future needs. The research paper has described the needs of effective communication within the students. Absence of proper interpersonal skills leads to failure among them. The importance of adapting themselves to the modern methods of communication is mainly discussed in this assessment.
Table 1: Radial Cycle of Communication
Source: (Austin & Pinkleton, 2015)
Reflective Analysis of Two Personal Interactions
Figure 2: Johari Window
Source: (Ward, Leuty & Corie, 2016
Communication is such a complex term that its concepts cannot be easily determined based on some studies or literary works. These concepts are generally not included in the present education system and individuals especially students have learned it the hard way by committing some mistakes or the other. The first and foremost concept by which a successful communication can be achieved is by means of proper listening (Ballantyne et al. 2015). The students must be good listeners in the beginning as being a good listener rather than concluding too early will be of much help. The problem can lead to failure as the communication from the other end is hampered. Secondly, it must be seen that the points which are discussed among a group must be made clear at the end as some points might not be clear to every member present in the interaction. Thirdly, the concept of a proper target must be present to develop proper skills in interacting with one another. The individual must have a target set in his mind, which makes it easier for him to achieve. This in turn will help the other person to get an idea of what he is trying to convey and ultimately lead to a fruitful conversation. The concept of interacting more within groups must be encouraged to get rid of problems that one faces while there is a need of face-to-face communication with a large number of individuals.
As seen earlier there have been problems with me while making effective communication. The integration of the different concepts helps to eradicate these backlogs. The problems that arose while completing the project occurred due to the absence of a fruitful communication as well as absence of a specified target. The concept of proper communication clearly states that there must be a particular goal so that an individual can attain it within a period. If the goal is set it helps the student to achieve the confidence that it needs to make a successful venture. Understanding a particular discussion and then making a comment is a much better idea (Ward, Leuty & Corie, 2016). The stress that arises in a pressure situation is very much disturbing and affects the communication system. This stress can be get rid of by indulging in different discussions and providing feedbacks and viewpoints irrespective of what others think. Therefore, the relationship between the existing problems and the concepts has been the main highlight in this particular point.
Literature review
The literature review has clearly mentioned the concepts of modern day communication. The different concepts mentioned here has been a revelation to improve the existing problems that acts as a barrier to communication. The research on improving communication among the students is really a challenge. The linking of the review with the total project must be done by following a series of steps. First, the research must involve the students from the beginning to the end so that they are well aware of each and every single aspect of the research and its benefits. The research should also incorporate demo works at the beginning to ensure that the research is free from any future glitches. The demo works helps the students to have an idea about the problems they face while communicating and thus they will tend to take up serious measures to improve their skill. The research has been successful mainly because its target of reaching out the students has been achieved. The linking of the research can also be made possible if a successful person is shown as an example to the students. Such a measure will remove all the traditional fears that are common among the students while communicating with the outside world (Dogan, S, 2016).
Though the assessment seems to be perfect in terms of the extensive research that I have done but the research lacks in some areas which if looked into could have made the project a much organized and better one. The short span of time was one of the main constraints, which hampered the quality of the work. The project was to be completed in a very short time that restricted me to give more detailed information on the following subject. Absence of proper primary and secondary sources of information did not help me as I was forced to complete it without some key data. Communication is a much broader topic and thus it needs to be surveyed in a much larger form considering the geographical limit. The small area including data from a small number of universities was too much short for coming to any solid conclusions. There had been also problems while I conducted the research like financial problems, lack of proper infrastructure, inability to contact a number of key persons were some considerable misses of the assessment.
The following assessment is based on the exact meaning of effective communication and its benefits to the students. Effective communication as described here is believed to be the most important tool to sustain in the competitive environment. The research apart from pointing the uses of such a skill has also described the main issues that act as its hindrance. A large chunk of students suffer from such problems and thus they need some effective solutions to get rid of the same. The concepts, models and theories that have been described in this project has been helpful to strategize a positive approach to communication.
Action Plan
For the next six months, I have planned a set of activities that are required for improvement of the conceptual knowledge as well as skills required for effective business communication. These activities will be very effective for my personal development as well, as it would help to a great deal in solving problems faced by me in terms of communication at professional level, because communication at professional level requires a great deal of efficiency. Communication forms the basis of our day-to-day activities, both in our personal lives and professional lives. The activities that I will be undertaking in the next sixmonths, will help me overcome the difficulties face by me in the past due to inadequate skills required for communicating fluently, and will be very beneficial for me in the future interactions, professional career. Communicating fluently two skills, knowledge of te subject and the other main important thing self-confidence.
I have planned for pursuing a short course on effective communication for the first two months. There are many short courses that are for improvement of communication skills. I will choose to pursue an online course on business communication of duration two months from this course, the course consists of certain conceptual knowledge skills required for effective business communication, simultaneously I will enroll in Central Queensland University, Australia for getting an advanced post graduate diploma in business communication. From third month I have planned to join a personality development class of duration of 2 months, the personality development class teaches me how to communicate effectively and with confidence. Since I have difficulty in communicating fluently, this course is a very important course for me, so that I can communicate properly with confidence in the future. I will also learn the various aspects of body languages and its relevance in organizational communication, this course will also tech me etiquettes and how to behave in an organization, these are important aspects that are often ignored, but our actions also communicate a lot. From fourth month onwards, I have planned to take self-assertiveness classes. I have also planned to join a self-assertiveness class, assertiveness helps in making a balance in our needs and wants, being assertive is not an easy thing to do but one can learn assertiveness through training. Some people are born assertive Assertiveness helps in boosting self-confidence and it has many other benefits that helps build good interpersonal relationship, as it is very important part of effective communication. In the fifth month, I have planned to do a self-reading of the various books available. “Effective Manager” is one such book by Mark Horstman, the book is a practical guide effective business communication at management, this book teaches four major tools for effective business communication that are required in business organizations. Apart from that, I will read a number of articles and journals on effective communication skills, these self-reading session will help me a lot in getting the core ideas of the various tools of effective communication. The last month, six month of my action plan will include the assessment of the action plans and the learning outcomes from the steps that I followed to overcome the communication difficulties I faced before, in communicating orally. I will also watch certain video tutorials on how to communicate confidently in an organization. This is the most crucial stage as, this stage will show me my learning outcomes and progress that I have made, in the area of oral communication. I will come to know the how much I have learned through these activities. I will maintain a personal journal that will reflect on my personal interactions, this will help me figure out the changes post my learning activities, and how competent the activities have made me. This will be judged by my ability to communicate with confidence in the interactions during the progress of the activities and on completion of the fifth month, after the self reading session
Timeline of the Action plan to be undertaken in six-month time span
Reference List:
Austin, E. W., & Pinkleton, B. E. (2015). Strategic Public Relations Management: Planning and Managing Effective Communication Campaigns (Vol. 10). Routledge.
Ballantyne, R., Crabtree, A., Ham, S., Hughes, K., & Weiler, B. (2015). Tour guiding: Developing effective communication and interpretation techniques.
Blöbaum, B. (Ed.). (2016). Trust and Communication in a Digitized World: Models and Concepts of Trust Research. Springer.
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Certo, S. (2015). Supervision: Concepts and skill-building. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Dogan, S. (2016). The Analysis of Classroom Teachers’ Application Frequency of Twelve Communication Barriers. ANTHROPOLOGIST, 23(1-2), 280-290.
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Ward, K. W., Leuty, M., & Corie, J. (2016). Effectiveness of a Job Search and Interview Skills Workshop for Graduate Students in Communication Sciences and Disorders. Contemporary Issues in Communication Science and Disorders, 43, 174.
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