Workplace Strategies for Success

This assignment focuses on developing effective workplace strategies. It emphasizes the importance of concentration, dedication, and timely completion of objectives within a six-month timeframe. The text highlights various essential skills for workplace success, drawing upon sources like 'Coaching Skills for Leaders in the Workplace' and 'The empowered manager.' It also touches on communication styles, feedback mechanisms, and the value of interpersonal problem-solving in diverse work environments.

Running head: COMMUNICAION SKILL IN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
COMMUNICAION SKILL IN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Introduction:
Self assessment tools are often considered as potential weapons in understanding our own skill
and competencies and developing different communication traits for uninterrupted business
output. These tools help us by making us identify our own capabilities and thereby help us to
know where we have to improve so that we can maintain an uninterrupted communication in
workplace. Person who has proper communication skills can not only express himself
completely getting greater scopes of exposure but will also help to strike a very good
conversation with the opposite person thereby leading to development of successful bonding and
relationship building. This often leads to developed team work, management of multiculturalism.
Individuals with proper communication skills has high levels of reputation as a empathetic and
compassionate colleague or leader and is also capable of handling different critical situations
effectively with grace and confidence. Therefore, the essay would help me to use 5 diagnostic
tools which will bring out my negative aspects in communication and will in turn help me to
search literature helping me to gain ideas about how to overcome the. It will also have action
plans which I will follow to reach my goals of developing my communication skills.
Johari window is one of the most important self assessment tolls which help to provide a large
amount of information about our own traits in workplace and what others think of us. This tool
mainly has four important plots called quadrants. The first one is called the open area which
describes the individual trait of me which is known by me and also by others. The second plot is
the blind area where the traits I have are known to others but not known to me. The third one is
the hidden areas which states of the traits which are known to me but are hidden to the others.
The fourth plot is called the unknown area where the traits that I have are neither known by me
nor are also known to others. Form the first quadrant I came to know that I have the traits like

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being hardworking, open minded, organized, caring, challenging, friendly, active and also self
assertive. Form the second quadrant I came to know that I am sensitive, sentimental and at the
same time lack patience. In the third quadrant, I came to understand that I like to observe things
with great concentrations and thoroughly. I also noticed that I am self conscious and like to take
up challenges. The fourth quadrant revealed that although I am trustworthy and spontaneous in
any communication approaches but lack confidence.
The second tool of assessment of my communication style that I have selected is the
communication style questionnaire. This is one of the best tolls for an individual to reflect upon
the different communication skills, habits as well as skill that he has mastered in the years of his
profession and also shows that areas where he needs further improvement. The score displayed
by it over gives an insight that how effective the skills are and also helps to know whether they
needed any improvement. From this tool, I came to understand that I am coming under the
pragmatist group. The individuals of these groups continually try to develop different new ideas
so that they can try out different ways to reach goals and objectives. The negative aspect of the
members of this group is that they are quite impatient. However, at the same time, they are down
to earth and also harbor different sorts of problem solving skills which help them to handle
different strenuous situations effectively.
The third toll which can be used here is the assertive questionnaire. This tool is of great
importance in helping the individual to reflect his interpersonal skills which help in handling
different personal as well as professional issues and developing a proper view point towards it.
The questionnaire has mainly 60 questions which needs to be answered in two options such as
either “rather no” or in “rather yes”. These answers would then be added in specific columns
which in turn will help us to reach the final results. The four main groups under which an

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individual is allotted after the tests are Manipulation, Aggressive attitude (attack), Passive
attitude (flight) and Harmonious assertiveness. To my very little knowledge, I realized that I
belong to the category of flight as the graphs respond to mine traits in the flight section only.
Avery negative aspect was reflected through it. It made me know that I mainly believe in an
escapist manner trying to avoid the critical situation and rather than trying out new strategies to
combat the challenges, I try to remain satisfied. This made me realize that I lack patient in my
listening skills and also have lack of confidence in feedback giving and receiving skills and also
during any conversations with colleagues. However, instead of fighting the issues I tried to avoid
the issues which therefore have affected my career largely. Therefore coming under flight
category had been just for me.
The fourth tool that I used for the reflection assignment is called the communication skill
assessment quiz. This quiz has 25 important questions and is mainly a form of an online test
which helps in generating the result after the 25 questions each giving four options are attempted
and the submit button is pressed. It immediately provides a result which gives the individual a
detailed description of the traits he possesses at an interpersonal level. This test showed that I
have issue in my confidence level while communicating mainly in feedback receiving and giving
skill. Although I have many positive traits, some negative aspects which was also noted was my
impatient approach both in listening and conversation skills.
Another important tool which was also found of importance is the IABC Communication Skills
Assessment Tool. This tool is more useful in identifying the barriers while completing
assignments set by leaders or managers. This is mainly based on the target and also a priority
which are set by supervisors. The individuals need to give themselves score from 1to 5 and
thereby try to look for the score in each of the domains. Although good marks were achieved by

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me in different domains, however I could not do well in the client management domain. The
main reason is that I failed to handle my comet confidently and did not take their inputs
efficiently for which I was criticized. I had got fewer marks in the priority and target set by
leaders. I failed in establishing a proper relation with my clients as I neither heard them properly
due to my inpatients and lack of confidence to engage in proper conversations and feedback
giving and receiving skills were the main reason.
From the entire discussion, I have identified two important issues in my communication
procedures which I need to correct. The first one is my impatient attitude which often creates a
barrier in my effective listening skills. I often cut down my colleagues and others halfway or do
not listen to them patiently and genuinely for which my performance also gets affected and
others develop negative feelings about me as well. Another issue is that I also seem to lack
confidence in face to face communication. I often get nervous in providing feedback giving and
receiving skills. Therefore in order to be successful in my career and develop my professional
attributes I also need to work with my interpersonal communication skills and develop the best
attitudes and workplace traits.
The first incidence, which I need to mention, took place during my placement years. I was
assigned as a team member of five individuals where my mentor who was an old yet experienced
intern described each and every details of the work by calling us individually. However, I was
absent on the day and the next day I wanted to know about it. I grew so impatient that without
meeting the main leader I went on asking all my colleagues who had different sets of tasks. I
grew so confused after hearing the task, I got nervous. Moreover after meeting my leader also I
did not hear him patiently for which I missed many important points and cut him short saying I

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have understood. Ultimately this had a negative effect on my work and my assignment got poor
marks.
The second incidence was when I was sent to a meeting with the client where I was representing
my company. Although I had prepared myself well and all the important documents with me, I
got nervous when I faced the clients. I could not receive their feedbacks effectively and neither
could I provide them effective feedback on the suggestions they made on my presentation. I got
nervous and my confidence broke down. Moreover I developed complexes thinking that they are
developing negative feelings of me which further affected my feedback giving and receiving
skills. As a result I missed out on the deal or which my company faced huge losses.
Researchers in their articles have clearly stated that hearing is a form of physical ability but
listening is a skill and therefore every individual should have the urge to develop the skill to
maximize their boundary of professional development (Arnold, 2016). In simple terms listening
skills allow an individual to gather meaning from the speaker’s statements and thereby take
interventions accordingly whether to complete a given ask or to develop bonding or
understanding between the two stakeholders. Researchers like Purdy and Manning (2015) have
stated that an individual who has good listening skills are more productive at work in comparison
to those who does not have. An individual always listen to have proper listening skills so that
they can better understand the assignments given to them and also develop an idea about what is
expected from them by the managers, leaders or employers. The capability to listen as well as to
comprehend gives the individuals allowance to build a very strong rapport with the different
coworkers and also with clients and managers (Harris, 2017). The employers and managers also
tend to develop confidence in the workers. Moreover researcher like Roebuck et al., (2015) is of
the opinion that the workers who have very good listening skills are able to maintain a better

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track record in resolving problems with different types of customers. Moreover they are also of
the opinion that workers who listen properly tend to work in a better team based environment.
Such individuals will never be a part of miscommunication and hence the work which will be
provided by him will rightly fit into the entire task in comparison to those who misunderstand.
Many researchers like Knesek (2015) have provided a number of recommendations in their paper
about how an individual can develop his skills of listening. The listener should try to make eye
contact to the speaker while the later is speaking. This makes the speaker believe that he is
properly heard. The listener should also not interrupt the speakers as studies suggest that
complete listening to the speakers reduces several of the questions without the need to ask them.
Moreover the listeners should also repeat the facts told by the speaker in different words in order
to confirm that he had understand it right, it reduces the chance of misunderstanding (Block,
2016). The listener should also control the body language by properly sitting while listening as it
implies that the listener is properly providing attention to the speaker. Some of the important
aspects that should be avoided are that biasness or prejudices as well as fear, anger and worry
should not come in the way of the conversations.
Researchers are of the opinion that confidence allows individuals to speak with smartness as well
as concisely. Such an individual shows more clarity in his conversations. Professionals who are
much confident can communicate much more effectively and can influence their clients by
making them believe what they want them to know (Bonnet et al., 2015). Proper confidence
helps them to communicate with much ease and hence, can help them to tackle many difficult
situations effectively which can never be solved by an individual who lacks confidence.
Researchers are of the opinion that stable and clear tone should be harbored by an individual to
appear confident and should strictly avoid whispering and stammering while giving feedbacks.

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This mainly reflects self assurance within the speaker which earns him respect from the opposite
person (Deng, Thomas & Trembach, 2014). Confident eye contact is very important while giving
and receiving feedback. However it should be remembered that confident eye contact is not
persistent stare but an actual meeting of the eyes when an individual speak and make points. An
interesting point made by authors Holtzman & Kraft (2016) is that listening to others attentively
is also a way of gaining confidence by expanding the view of the worlds and thereby bridging
differences between different stakeholders at the same time of demonstrating that an individual
view point is strong enough to take in other points of views. Speaking from the heart is one of
the importance aspect f gaining confidence while providing feedback and care should be taken
that self confidence should never be aggressive both in times of taking and giving feedbacks. A
person who is confident in his communication skills can hear what the opposite person is saying,
respond to them and also at the same time can maintain their own point of view or can even
make compromises to solve real problems. Moreover, learning to use proper humor, expressing
gratitude, apologizing when wrong and acknowledging others while giving and receiving
feedback will also increase the confined in the individuals making him success in his
conversations (Chaou et al., 2017).
The action plan that is to be taken should follow the smart objectives. Smart objectives mean that
the goals which would be taken should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely.
The two goals that would be set are development of effective listening skill and patience. The
other goal would be to develop confidence and also at the same time learn proper feedback
receiving and giving skills. To describe them specifically, I should join workshops in the
community so that I can attain classes on developing communication skills. I can also attain
various discussion forums at the university so that I can receive feedbacks on my development of

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the skills. I will also reflect on my experiences to understand whether I am developing patience
and confidence in my communication. The mentor would help me to identify my drawbacks and
will instruct me accordingly. I will also visit the library and read several journal articles to help
myself overcome the communication issues and come out victorious. I will also try to go through
different communication models given by eminent researchers to help me understand the basic
easily. I will also read the books of motivational speakers and thereby learn how perseverance,
patience and confidence could be developed in a stepwise manner. The objectives are
measurable. I will provide myself with evaluation time during which I will try to reflect on the
skills developed and see how much in am being able to change my skills towards betterment. All
the initiatives would be measurable as my own efforts would be reflected in my regular
professional lives; decrease of any wrong events due to communication issue will measure the
success rate that I hope to achieve. The objectives are easily attainable as all the initiatives which
are taken are not costly but are affordable by me. Moreover, not any of the initiatives requires
extensive permission from authorities or would not also make me miss university classes.
Therefore they are attainable and no excess expenditure or excess of heavy timing is required.
All the objectives are also relevant s their outcome is associated with betterment of the
communication skills. The better is concentrate and work upon the strategies will dedication, the
faster these initiatives will provide me with good results. The objectives are also timely that is it
would be completed within 6 months.

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References:
Arnold, J. (2016). Coaching Skills for Leaders in the Workplace, Revised Edition: How to unlock
potential and maximise performance. Hachette UK.
Block, P. (2016). The empowered manager: Positive political skills at work. John Wiley & Sons.
Bonete, S., Calero, M. D., & Fernández-Parra, A. (2015). Group training in interpersonal
problem-solving skills for workplace adaptation of adolescents and adults with Asperger
syndrome: A preliminary study. Autism, 19(4), 409-420.
Chaou, C. H., Monrouxe, L. V., Chang, L. C., Yu, S. R., Ng, C. J., Lee, C. H., & Chang, Y. C.
(2017). Challenges of feedback provision in the workplace: A qualitative study of
emergency medicine residents and teachers. Medical Teacher, 1-9.
Deng, L., Thomas, A., & Trembach, S. (2014). Shaping the 21st‐century information
professional: A convergence of technical and “soft” skills for workplace
success. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 51(1),
1-4.
Dima, A. M., & Vasilache, S. (2015). Social network analysis for tacit knowledge management
in universities. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 6(4), 856-864.
Griffin, R. W. (2013). Fundamentals of management. Cengage Learning.
Harris, R. (2017). Student research: Embracing diversity for a healthy workplace. Journal of the
Australian Traditional-Medicine Society, 23(1), 28.

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Henderson, K., & Mathew Byrne, J. (2016). Developing communication and interviewing
skills (pp. 1-22). London: Palgrave.
Holtzman, D. M., & Kraft, E. M. (2016). Skills Needed in the Workplace: A Comparison of the
Results of Feedback from Representatives of Large and Small Businesses in New Jersey.
Knesek, G. (2015). Creating a feedback-rich workplace environment: Lessons learned over a 35+
year career in human resources. The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 18(3-4), 109.
Othman, Z., Hussin, S., Mushahar, R. H. R., Ali, S. S., Ghani, R. A., & Salleh, H. (2015).
Enhancing communication style (Ecoms) in the international working language for
academics: How do we do this?. Special Edition on Teaching and Learning in South East
Asia, 13(2).
Purdy, M. W., & Manning, L. M. (2015). Listening in the multicultural workplace: A dialogue of
theory and practice. International Journal of Listening, 29(1), 1-11.
Roebuck, D., Bell, R. L., Raina, R., & Lee, C. E. C. (2015). The effects of home country, gender,
and position on listening behaviors.