Diagnosis and Reflection
Discuss about the Effective Business Communication and Research Methods.
Diagnostic tools
Effective communication is the fundamental of basics among the skills that are required to be successful in various aspects of business, marketing or say in an organization. Moreover, it is the relational skill required for learning which proves to be the most beneficial for effective communication. Tools used for the communication are as follows:
- JOHARI WINDOW: this is the communication model which is basically used to develop the understanding among the individuals. Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham have developed the model in 1995, “Johari”. The objective of this tool is to understand the grid of four quadrants:
(Source: Mc graw Hill education, 1969)
The first quadrant is the open area, which represents the things like behavior, attitude and skills that one knows about self as well as that others knows about you. The second quadrant here represents the blind area in which one is unaware of the things in him, and is known by others. The third quadrant is the hidden area which represents the things which are known by one and is not known by others. The fourth quadrant is unknown area which represents that is not known by you and by others also. Here, according to the team or in an organizational context the johari window has the goal so as to demonstrate the importance of effective communication, especially of open communication. Also, that the self-disclosure is important which shows up that how can the feedback help one grow professionally as well as personally.
- COMMUNICATION STYLE QUESTIONNAIRE: the communication style questionnaire depicts the questions which help in defining the key areas which enhance the effectiveness and the area in which one lacks due to weak communication skills. These key areas are the resources which shall help with either the enhancement or improving the skills.
- ASSERTIVE COMMUNICATION STYLE: is a style in which individuals clearly state their opinions and feelings, and firmly advocate for their rights and needs without violating the rights of others. Assertive communication is born of high self-esteem. These individuals value themselves, their time, and their emotional, spiritual, and physical needs and are strong advocates for them while being very respectful of the rights of others. Assertiveness allows us to take care of ourselves, and is fundamental for good mental health and healthy relationships.
- STASTICAL ANAYLSIS TOOLS: this shall contain the descriptive analysis of the conducted questionnaire which according to the number shall describe about the strengths and weaknesses that are helpful for the development of both self as well as a team. This is the effective tools used for analysis of such communication skills.
The communication styles are basically of five types which are as:
- Assertive: this is meant for the personality type as with high self-esteem. It has its behavioral characteristic as achieving the goals without hurting others. This is the most effective style of communication.
- Aggressive: this is the style which is more about winning. The behavioral characteristic is loud, hostile, who will to get the goals at disbursement of others. This is an ineffective style of communication as people get more indulged into how the content is delivered.
- Submissive: this style of communication has its motive as less conflicts and content delivery in the pleasing manner. A person with submissive style behaves as the needs of other people are more important to be satisfied and also they have equal rights. The behavioral style is apologetic and volume is soft.
- Manipulative: this style is all about perceptive and scheming. They are highly skilled with controlling other for their own advantage. The behavioral characteristic is cunning with envious type of voice.
- Perceptual barriers: when there is the difference in opinion of the people then such barriers are faced. These conflicts between the perceptions give rise to the need for the effective communication. The reason is the difference between how individuals perceive the things in an organization.
- Language barriers: language is the key source which is the medium of delivering the expressions and the communication done with others. This can be a barrier to the individual, and given that one can try to connect with others in their own local language. For this area communication development is required by the individual.
The professional interaction which I have had in past 12 months was with the manger of an organization, as an aspiring manger it is very important that the communication skills to be more effective such as verbal, non-verbal and written. The weaknesses identified is the lack of confidence, introvert. Such skills which lack with the variation in the perception can be solved by knowing the work culture and the organization. Also when such training is given, the variation with the way of perceiving the things can actually match up with that of the individual and of the manager. Improving the effective business communication can be done by overcoming such barriers. Another are the language barriers which can be raised by the different people who use other local languages and hence becomes problem for the people to understand and hence as a result in communication further. These issues can be resolved by proving the language training to the people and by giving for certain actions as do not assume the things and let the time be allotted for the demonstration. Hence, the language and culture barriers can be overcome at the workplace.
Communication Styles
These are the effective business communication skills that are practiced in the organization and are useful for personal communication is as: learning to build a good memory, investing into a right communication and collaboration tools, how to deal with the sensitivity issues and also in improving the tactics which shall be more of in the pleasing tone, so as to get the work done with the subordinates. These are the skills which are learned at the workplace or in an organization and are useful for the personal effective communication tools.
Communication includes the process for sharing the information, ideas and messages within the period of time. Ways of communication can be as written, verbal, non-verbal (facial expressions). Effective communication is the vital part of our lives and also of the personal lives where people interact with each other (Encarta, 1998). As the process of communication continues there can be gap with the internal communication in organizations in between the sender and the receiver, researched from the practices at workplace. As per Alessandra & Hunsaker, 1993 said that the better and effective the communication is the more, it will assist in achieving the mission and the objectives for the organization. Two issues taken from the diagnosis and reflection are as follows, the perceptual issues and the language issues that are faced in an organization in between the managers and his staff. This scenario is seen in the organizations where in the communication styles need to be developed and improved. As for the reason, that the effective communication is important for building and maintain the relationship at the workplace, irrespective of the authority and the hierarchy (Kristina L. Guo & Yesenia Sanchez, 2005). This can have certain issues while the communication goes on, as the difference in the perceptions of the manager and his subordinating staff can be different. This is the matter of how on take the things in the perspective of the organization.
For one individual, to be an effective communicator and overcome the ineffectiveness of business communication the goal of it should be to lessen the chances of mistakes and barriers for communication to be well panned and effective (Fowler & Manktelow, 2005). The behavior and skills that are needed to be developed are as follows:
- Persuading the commands.
- Target the words of the people.
- Reaction shall be given on the content, not on the manner of expressing self.
- Intention should be clear before the actions.
In this manner the behavior needs to be developed by the individuals for enhancing the effectiveness of business communication skills (Richards, 2012), and developing them. Further, the interpretational skills that needed to be acquired by the individuals in the so as to increase the level of the communication and lessen the communication gap which will enhance the efficiency of the organization are as follows (Fishman, 2000): the listening skills which shall help with the interpretation correctly. Also, it is the measure to be taken that the information of whatever level, is to be shared with the employees that will show the involvement of the employees in the management.
Reflection Two Tools for Communication Required Development
The interpersonal skills that are identified as the type of communication are the verbal communication. They include the facial expressions, physical gestures, eye contact, voice pitch and the volume which constitute the important elements of non-verbal communication. Body language may have different interpretations with different working culture. These can be judged by the gestures and the understanding of the non-verbal communication. Also, different culture may have the different concepts relating to the personal space and the appropriate distances which can be a major issue in understanding (Lopaz, 1994). These verbal issues can be solved by developing the interpersonal skills such that this is the most convenient method of verbal communication which is mostly adopted by the people. The persuasion of this act is that the mangers can take the advantage of this verbal communication and hence can make their points more powerful and are actually considered to be the most effective. This is also at the ease of communicating with other, as the oral communication needs more content to convey the appropriate message. The secrecy can be maintained with the verbal communication among the group of people with the discussion taking place. This is how the interpersonal skills are needed to be there for acquiring the knowledge and skills of the competence in the verbal area of communication with the context of the organization (ORTEGA, 2010).
The interpersonal skills are the one which are used in interacting with other individuals. Interpersonal skills are not only required and helpful with the individual interaction taking place but also very important at the workplace. These not just benefits, but are basically perceived that if one has effective interpersonal skills as optimistic, confident and charismatic which often endearing others.
These skills include the verbal communication, non-verbal communication, listening skills, team working, negotiating, persuasion and influencing skills, conflict resolution, problem solving and decision making. These are the Interpersonal skills which shall help with communicating, interpretation by listening and perceiving things. Moreover the perception and the variation in the language errors can be developed by developing these interpersonal skills in the later months. Also, the steps that are to be taken in developing these skills and behavior can be as follows. For enhancing these skills the courses undertaken can be as the course for corporate communication training course which shall help the employees at all the levels seeking to maximize their performance and can hence can add value to the organization. This also helps with building memory power, enhances relationships and hence energizes communication skills. Another courses which can be undertaken by the CQU University Australia for the improving on the communication skills is the masters of communication that can be perused, also it has the professional career with the research part, and in addition to it many of the skills that are required by the employers in specifically developing the skills which are applicable at the work place also. All these are the opportunities which shall serve these courses are dynamic and has its importance. The certificate of IATA is awarded to the individuals with a grade of 70% or higher than that.
Literature Review
Moreover, for acquiring enough of knowledge and improving the communication skills the self-help books that are can be referred are:
- 101 ways to improve your communication skills instantly (Bennie Bough, 2005).
- The assertiveness workbook: how to express your ideas and stand up for yourself at work and in relationship (Randy J. Patterson, 2000).
- People skills (Robert Bolten, 1986).
These are the self-help guides which can be used for the improvements and developments further of the individual. The skills used for mentoring are the questioning skills and that of the listening skills. The reflective practice is the essential tools which can be used with the mentoring of the leanings and the relationships which shall reflect on one’s own learning acquired from such mentoring relationships. The models which can be used for behavior learning is the Myers-Briggs-type indicator and transactional analysis. As a mentor it can be concluded that the process for learning and developing has always the pace for improvement.
These are the programs which can be included within this action plan for improvement wherein the first month can be spent upon analyzing the skills and knowledge with the SWOT analysis. On this basis further, the trainings could be given in the next month along with the referral of the self-help guide books. The short term course options with their certifications listed above could be done in the third and fourth month. Fifth month has an action plan so as to evaluate the acquired knowledge and skills with the help of certain tools. The sixth month can be the time wherein these actions are actually implemented and hence can be judged for effective communication skills. This shall be the action plan for successful completion of developing effective communication skills.
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