Diagnostic Tools

This study is a reflective analysis of my communication methods at my workplace. Five different diagnostic tools have been used to determine the shortcomings I need to work on and detailed discussion regarding identification of those shortcomings and possible solutions are discussed in this report. Literature reviews on two of the communication issues I face have been included in the study as well (Carroll, 2015). The reviews are conducted based on both, theoretical and behavioral competences that need to be acquired. Furthermore, a detailed plan of action including a Gantt chart has been presented in the assignment to have a better understanding of the progress.  

Communication is vital in coexistence of humans. More often than not, people are unable to communicate properly and consequently lose credibility in their respective workplaces. There are numerous diagnostic tools available to identify these deficiencies and after having a thorough understanding of the one can act accordingly to enhance his or communication skills (Cornelissen et al., 2015). Five distinct diagnostic tools and methods are described in this section, upon which reflective findings from these tools are also discussed. 

This measure is based on scoring of 12 different situations that a person may face in terms of communication. Each person has his or her own way of communicating. Some may communicate at ease with others, whereas, some may find it hard to communicate and provide information. Thus there exists a varied plethora of situations and circumstances. This scale is defined on a scale of 0 to 100; 100 being the most competent.   

The main purpose of this measure is to measure or scale the apprehensive skills of an individual in terms of communication through intercultural communications. Usually, it is considered to have similarity with PRCA 24 model; however it is assumed to be better than that as it takes into account the aspect of communication as well. It is scaled from 1 to 5; where 1 implies “Strongly Disagree” and 5 implies “Strongly Agrees”.

This methodology of evaluating the effectiveness in business communication involves the different gestures and mindset an individual possess while communicating with others.  To put it in a more comprehendible way, this test measures the personality and its different aspects of the communicator. It is based on a 5 scale measurement method with 5 indicating ‘very often’ and1 indicating ‘Never’.

This is one of the most commonly used and reliable source of measuring anxiety while speaking on a public platform.  However it lacks the appropriate methodology to provide an extensive understanding of communication as a whole.

Literature Reviews on Communication Issues

As the term dictates, talkaholic refers to the persons who have a habit of indulging in a over compelling communication. It has been researched that the more a person talks the better chances of being viewed positively by others.

Below is the table where scores corresponding to different situations are provided.

In response to the scores mentioned above, scores of the primary regions are as follows –

Findings from Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension

Thus the PRICA score = 42 – 20+15 = 7

The output of the results is as shown below.

Total = 78+32-32 = 78

This implies I have a low non-verbal Immediacy.

The findings from the report are as shown below –

PRPSA = 72 –42+ 56=76.

Thus it is evident that I have a low anxiety rate while speaking on a public forum.  

Total Score = 12 + 25-6=31.

It is evident from the score that I am borderline talkaholic. I believe if I can maintain such a status I would be beneficiary in terms of having a positive response from others.

From the five different diagnostic tools used to diagnose my communication deficiencies, especially in work places, I identified two issues that I need to work on. The first one is the lack of focus while listening to others. In technical terms it is referred to as lack of active listening skills. Active listening requires one to listen with full focus such that majority of the conversation can be recapitulated later. The second issue is regarding my dependency on others and team works. I understand that I need to be more self-sufficient, in the sense that I need to stop over relying on others in cases which I feel I should be working as a group.

A couple of months back I had an interaction with the foreign board of inspectors as part of an orientation course. It was of paramount importance that I learnt and gathered everything from that interaction program. This is where I realized my active listening issues. I could not recall majority of the lessons later which even affected my learning process in the job. This also affects communications as this particular disrupts the flow of a conversation. Not focusing and listening to what another person is trying to say is a common reason for misunderstandings too. This makes the other people involved in the conversation irritated and frustrated.

Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension

Another issue I need to pay attention to is my dependency on coworkers in some case. I realized this while working on a group project last month. I had assembled the group for a particular task and later realized it was not meant to be as the colleagues involved had different specializations. Thus, the overall quality of the work deteriorated, which made me realize that had I been working alone on this, not only I could have done the job more efficiently, it would in fact have taken  much less time to accomplish. 

As mentioned above, to the best of my understandings, I have communication issues regarding active listening and lack of self dependency.  

To be relevant to a group or society at large, just being heard is not enough, one has to make sure that whatever he or she is saying has been listened carefully. Undivided attention can assume an essential part in helping one excel in their profession, and is an aptitude that can be gained and created with a little tolerance and practice (Bodie et al., 2015).  As the name suggests, active listening refers to listening actively, i.e. with full concentration. The most common reason it is so vital in the work field is because it helps acquiring trust of the people at higher positions. Irrespective of the designation or position in a company, people tend to value those who listen well, highly. It also helps comprehend and formulate a situation better and consequently one can find better solutions to the issues at hand (Knapp, Vangelisti & Caughlin, 2014). There have been few cases lately where my thoughts have gone off while sitting on an important meeting or while speaking to someone important. Taking notes is a common method to tackle this issue; however it is not appropriate to take notes in an official environment. Misunderstandings are usually a major cause of conflict in the workplace. Conflicts due to such a reason can be diffused with proper reasoning, which might include recapitulation of past incidents or statements. Apart from that it is vital that one respect and listens to the other person’s views and opinions (Modarres, Mohseni & Shiran-Noogi, 2017). Through enhancing my active listening skills I plan to overcome all these issues and hope to communicate better as a whole.  

In order to create a listening circumstance there is a need of no less than two individuals. A speaker conveys message of any sort to the listener and the listener comprehends the message from the language heard and reacts to that. In this manner, listening is a responsive exercise. A lot depends on the dialect of the speaker as it can be the cause of serious misunderstandings (Liu & Fraustino, 2014). Besides, the more a person listens; it expands his or her insight into appropriate sound, pitch, and accent of any language. Consequently, the speakers’ voice impacts the listener’s comprehension of the foreign or unknown dialects.

Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety

There are mainly two types of procedures that portray how a listener processes the information after hearing it. Bottom-Up process involves the listener to emphasize on aspects of communication that is already known to the listener.  For instance, things like grammar or vocabulary. In the process, the listener listens to what is being said and then gradually comprehends the meaning by applying his or her own prerequisite knowledge on the subject and on the language (McQuail & Windahl, 2015). The Top-Down process on the other hand, is a strategy to understand by applying general knowledge. The listener applies knowledge gathered from various practical situations and experiences and then that knowledge are used to comprehend the intentions of the communicating partner. 

The sole purpose of listening is to gather and comprehend information and then consequently relate it to the situation at hand. Three major distinct ways of listening are considered till date. “Listening for the gist” is referred to the listening part that involves listening to comprehend the gist of the entire conversation or matter. It is employed to fathom a general conceptual idea about the topic of conversation (Wilkins, Bernstein & Bekki, 2015). On the other hand, “Listening for specified information” refers to, as the name indicates, listening to obtain any particular information from the speaker. This can involve a varied and vast range of topics. For instance, in order to gain knowledge of a specific material before applying to one’s own use. The main purpose is to have a better understanding of the matter of relevance.

Self reliance is deeply connected to self confidence. An individual, who is confident of his or her own actions, can be said to be self reliant. Being self reliant is extremely important in the work field. Especially in today’s cut throat competitive world. As one rows in confidence, that person gradually becomes more and more self reliant. Which consequently means the need of depending on others gradually lessens as one grows in confidence. Self reliance is regarded as the primary requisite to great undertakings. As history portrays, numerous people have lost their job just because they were not enough self reliant. From the analysis above, it is evident that I m suffering from lack of self reliance and I realize that I need to work on it. I have developed a dependency on others while working. The major issues I need to work on are part of my daily life activities. Being dependent on others also incur a sense of negativity on others. For instance if a group project fails, natural human tendency is to blame the others, rather than finding the faults in one’s own activities or contributions. The following are the procedures I should indulge myself in order to become independent.

Talkaholic Scale

In order become self reliant, one needs to set high goals on daily level. The goals should be attained at any cost. This will gradually help in understanding, valuing and most importantly meeting the deadlines on my own. I need to develop self-discipline in general. I should be attending various seminars and workshops to learn something new on my own.

Being well informed helps in becoming independent. Information is widely regarded as power. Thus knowledge makes one independent. The more I can know the more self reliant I can be. Knowledge is also vital to success and success in turn provides confidence, which helps in becoming self reliant. In today’s digitalized world, gathering information cannot be a problem by any means. However, the authenticity of the information is of vital importance. Only thing worse than knowing something is to know it wrong. Thus, it is essential to test the authenticity of the source of information before indulging in it.   

In order to succeed in life it is mandatory to have a definitive aim or focus in life. Just as that, to become self independent, one needs to have a proper sense of his future career prospects. Being focused takes away the anxiety which can become a cause of dependency on co-workers. Maintaining a journal or a dairy to note down the tasks on a regular basis helps become confident and organized.

Ultimately it all boils down to the fact whether or not I can take the decisions on my own at crucial and critical stages of life. Each decision that I take, I will have to solely face the consequences. Letting others decide for me is basically giving up my own independence and freedom. One should be able to take his or her life decisions based on that individual’s goals and aims.

Within the next 6 months I plan to take various classes and enroll in services that focus on building communicative skills. An organized approach should be taken to build a better communicative personality in the identified areas of weaknesses (Robb, 2017). A  Gantt chart is also included in this section, showing the development procedure over the next 6 months to enhance my communication skills.

Undertaking a short course will develop the necessary active listening skills. It will help me engage in effective listening skills and teach me the techniques to listen with more focus. The course should last about 2 months. The course should include workshops and classes that would enhance my communication skills in terms of active listening. This includes assessing the exact diversions that prevent me from listening. As a whole it should be visible in my body language that I am an active listener.

Table of Scores for Different Situations

Completing a Master’s degree in Communication from an established university may help in building the necessary skill sets required for a good communication. Apart from the knowledge, acquiring a post graduate degree contributes in creating a competitive profile in the job market as well. Long gone are days when an under graduate degree was sufficient and competitive.  Development of skills is necessary by any means to proceed in today’s competitive world. I believe, obtaining a graduate degree will help me become a better communicator.

Reading is an eloquent way of learning something new and then applying it to real life situations incorporated with past experiences as well. A good reading skill combines the skill to acquire knowledge from the texts and then integrate it with the presuppositions the reader already has. The practice of reading should be continued throughout the 6 month period to develop the required communication skills. Reading will enhance my concentration and help me focus more while communicating. It also helps grow confidence to work individually and independently. Books like Communication Skills for Business Professionals by Phillip Cenere and Robert Gill are the ones I look forward to reading.

Writing a personal journal is presumably a standout amongst the most widely recognized methods of improving communication skills. From the information transmission viewpoint, learning should bring about the picking up of new information and aptitudes. There are primarily four types of journals and I should keep an event oriented journal to keep a track of my daily activities. This will require me to recapitulate every details of a day which in turn will help me keep focused throughout the day. I should keep up with this technique beyond the initial six months only.

A Gantt chart has been prepared below showing the timeline of my probation period.

References

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