Effective Business Communication Assignment - Communication Skills

Running Head: EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION 1
Effective Business Communication

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Communication skills are essential for the professional and the personal growth of an
individual. The present is the self-reflection developed from the information generated through
the application of diagnostic tools. In the present section, I have used five diagnostic tools
namely, talkoholic, intercultural, intercultural, willingness to listen diagnostic and tolerance for
disagreement. These tools were used to identify the issues in the communication style of a person
(Guffey & Loewy, 2015). These tools identify different aspects of an individual communication
such as how do they reach when they are confronted with different situations. The non-verbal
cues and gestures are also important in having a decent communication with the colleagues. It is
important that a person possess all the gestures and posture so that he can represent himself
properly in front of other people.
The feelings of an individual towards communication are also important in judging his
overall communication capabilities. Most of the people struggle with speaking in public
situations. Moreover, a large number of people struggle with the unwillingness to listen to other
people. In order to have an interesting and engaging conversation, it is important that the person
listens to the thoughts and the viewpoints of other people and use them to extend their
conversation (Hartley & Bruckman, 2008). The fifth tool is tolerance for disagreement which
examines how well the people can tolerate arguments with other people.
The present essay is based on the self-reflection of my communication skill. For
gathering the information I used five different types of the communication diagnostic tools.
Through these diagnostic tools, I come to know about my two communication issues which were
drawn from the results. The two communication issues which are creating a problem in my
communication network are intercultural communication apprehension and tolerance to
disagreement. Along with this, the report also includes a literature review which focuses on the

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different concept and communication related to the communication issues. With the help of
reflection, I have gained knowledge related to the activities which helps in overcoming these
communication issues.
In order to check communication skills and the knowledge, I used five different types of
diagnostics tool in different communication situations. The third diagnostics tool which is used is
Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension. Here, I gained knowledge to
address communication apprehension in the intercultural context. It includes how well an
individual can use and make communication in an intercultural environment. The fourth
diagnostic tools which used were Talkaholic Scale. This tool helps to measure and gain
knowledge about the verbal skills of the individual (Guffey, Almonte, RKaka, 2007). The
tolerance for disagreement is another tool which examined the response of an individual to
disagreeable situations. This tool helped me to analyze that I do not respond properly to
disagreeable situations. I also realized that it is important to accept the ideas the notions of other
people.
The result from the entire questionnaire was quite accurate. Through these diagnostic tools, I
gained knowledge about the communication issues and made changes to address these issues.
By making the analysis and diagnosis of my interpersonal skills, I gained different answers from
each tool. The first tool which I used to make a diagnosis of interpersonal communication skills
was Tolerance for Disagreement (Means, 2009). Under this diagnostics tool, I gained less marks.
It shows that I have low tolerance to disagreeable behavior. I cannot accept if someone else
disagrees to my views and counters it. I tend to get agree to the situation and cannot handle the
situation properly.

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The second diagnostics tool which I used was Nonverbal Immediacy Scale-Self. In this, I scored
100. This shows that I have positive behavior towards other, I looked positively other people
and my behavior and gestures are also positive for other people. The third diagnostic tool which
was used is Personal Report of Intercultural Communication. I scored on the lower side in this
communication tool. It shows that I hesitate in communicating with people who belong to
different culture or the different regions because they hold some other values and beliefs as
compare to me (Guffey & Loewy, 2017). The fourth diagnostics tool which I used was
Talkaholic Scale. This tool is used to examine how well I can communicate to other people. In
this diagnosis, I achieved a score of 45 which shows that I can easily make interact to anyone
and I have good verbal communication skills. The fifth diagnosis tool is Personal Report of
willingness to listen. Through this tool, I scored 113, which is moderate as compared to standard
requirements. In personal perception too, I realized that I am a good listener. I try to understand
the viewpoints and feelings of others and try to accommodate them in my decisions. The same
results were posited in the test results.
In the diagnostics tools, two major issues were raised in my communcaation style, which are
intercultural communication and intolernce to disagreement. Along with it, the Intercultural
Communication is another issue which is faced in my communication issues. In order to take the
advantages in the business communication, I need to improve these two issues so I can manage
my communication effectively (Moll, 2012). In the workplace, there are a number of people who
belongs to the various cultural and diversity. So, I make sure to improve this communication
effectively.
There are different type of events occurring which substantiates my feeling that I have high
intolerance to disagreement. I was working in a multinational firm when I realized that I hate

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argument. At the first day of the office, I need to give an oral presentation. I need to introduce
myself to other team members. Before the formal meetings, I felt very nervous and I was
thinking about the other people, like what type of question they will ask and other things that I
should tell to my senior employees. I was also worried whether, they liked me or not. This shows
that I have anxiety speaking in the front of other people. I knew that there are a number of new
people working in the office and some of them are working since three-four years. So, it brings
my confidence down. So in the meeting, I present and provide only formal information about
myself. While making the conversation, I felt that I was nervous and did not provide introduction
accurately. I failed in making effective communication with another person.
The second example is also related to the same firm in which I was working. The second
problem is related to my issue of intercultural communication and apprehension. It refers to how
well an individual can communicate with another who belongs to a different cultural
background. While working in the firm, I found that I cannot make effective communication
with the people who belong to the diverse cultural background (Achmidt, 2007). I feel hesitated
during communication with them. So in the firm, I was unable to communicate with them. The
team in which I was working also included many people who belong to diverse cultures. So,
while working with them, I felt uncomfortable.
The lack of communication skills leads to many problems for individuals. For each
individual, there are different communication skills problems. In regard to the communication
skills, there are different types of the diagnostic tools which help the individual to evaluate the
communications problems. In addition, there are different types of research which assist a
person in overcoming these communication problems.

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Intercultural Communication apprehension can be defined as the worry to talk to people who
belong to the different cultural background. In the business organization, there are a number of
people who are working in the company and not all the people in the company belongs to similar
cultural. Different people belong to various cultural backgrounds. According to Kostić
Bobanović, (2007) intercultural apprehension can appear in the individual due to lack of
knowledge and experiences. People who have experiences of different culture or have
knowledge about others cultural do not feel anxiety. Due to this anxiety, they do not make
communication in the workplace. In order to overcome such problems individual need to work in
unpleasant situations. So, this helps individuals to overcome any problems. So, in the
intercultural communication, the individual needs to make sure to learn about their beliefs and
values through which their hesitation can overcome. Along with this, to improve problems they
also need to adopt practices which can be used to talk to people effectively.
The intolerance to disagreement is common problems in many individuals. People lack this skill
because they never cannot tolerate that the other person is not agreeing to the viewpoints. Such
thing leads to people toward the failure. It limits the thinking capability and understanding of an
individual. In the business workplace, there are numerous events which appears wherein the
individual feel anxiety. Due to this, the individuals cannot make communication and do not
solve problems and misunderstanding in the business. According to McNally, Enock, Tsai, and
Tousian, (2013) the intolerance to disagreement occurs when the people have the perception that
they are correct. The individual needs to learn to understand the viewpoints of others because it
helps to them in understanding cultural and teamwork. Through this skill, they can present
themselves in front of other people and also they can understand what they want to
communicate. According to Bartholomay and Houlihan, (2016) there are different practices

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which can be adopted by the individual in order to overcome intolerance to disagreement. First,
it is important to acknowledge that every individual has personal perception and it is important to
respect and acknowledge it.
In order to overcome this problem, the individual can attend the classes or make self-practices.
Through such practices, the individual can overcome with problems.
There are different types of the research which are conducted in the communication skills
improvements. Kam, Guntzviller, and Pines (2017) focussed their research on cultural
apprehension. For professional life, it is essential for the business to make effective
communication. In the intercultural context, such skills lead people towards the success in the
workplace. If an individual makes effective communication with each other then it makes
individual presence strong in the company and also helps the individuals to leads the workplace
relationships and increase effectiveness as a manager. According to Hunter, Westwick and
Haleta, (2014) Intolerance to disagreement can lead to many problems for an individual in the
business place. At the workplace, there are many situations which appear where the individual
need to communicate. Many individuals will not agree to their viewpoints and argue in a upfront
manner. It is important to understand and acknowledge that every individual has a different
perception.
On such events, it is essential for the employees to present themselves accurately and also need
to make sure that to make effective communicate with each other. It also leads them to maintain
activities in the team.
After identifying the communication issues, I developed an action plan as according to my needs
and preferences. I have created six-month action plan to overcome with such communication

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problems. In the first step of my action plan, I used journal entries which would be beneficial
throughout the process to keep me on track my own progress and evaluate my actions. At the end
of the six months, this journals help me to overcome my communication problems and the track
area where I need to make an improvement. The second step which was included in the action
plan was to take classes to overcome the intolerance towards the diagreement. By attending such
expert’s class, I can learn too many things. It also helps to improve my speech part and help to
overcome the common issues related to the intolerance. I will take classes which will improve
my communication skills. This class is conducted by the professional people and experts who
hold the degree in communications. There are different types of communication classes which
conducted so I select the corporate speech. This training will be conducted for the six-week
training.
In order to overcome problems of intercultural CA, I need to gain experiences at the workplace.
I try to meet people at workplace and help to overcome with intercultural CA. Along with this, I
also gained knowledge about other different cultures. Pondering on various questions at the
workplace, such as how they like to make communication, what are their social values and
beliefs toward the communication and how they like to talk will assist in deeply understanding
different cultures. Such things also help me to overcome these problems; in addition, there are
various types of the communication videos which are available on youtube and other video
sharing sites. All these videos helped me to learn about the effective intercultural communication
and provided guidance related to how to make communication in the intercultural environment.
At last, to review my performance and then evaluate my own progress I can take feedback from
my subordinates. By asking my subordinates I can understand how well by communication skills

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are improved. Through which I can understand which part I need to improve and ways in which I
can overcome with such problems.
Phase 1 months 2 months 3 months 4 months 5 months 6 months
personal
journal
book
Join classes
Watch
videos
At the last in the conclusion, it can be concluded that interpersonal communication process is
lifetime learning opportunities. Through which an individual can send a message to other people.
There are five different types of tools which are used in order to evaluate the effective approach
of communication skills and issues related to personal communication problems. With the help
of diagnostics tool, I can understand my personal communication issues which I need to resolve
in an ineffective way. By using the action plan, I can evaluate my personal progress towards the
communication approaches.

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References
Achmidt, W.V. (2007). Communicating Globally: Intercultural Communication and
International Business. SAGE.
Bartholomay, E. M., & Houlihan, D. D. (2016). Public Speaking Anxiety Scale: Preliminary
psychometric data and scale validation. Personality and Individual Differences, 94, 211-
215.
Guffey, M.E., & Loewy, D. (2015). Essentials of Business Communication. Cengage Learning.
Guffey, M.E., & Loewy, D. (2017). Business Communication: Process & Product. Cengage
Learning.
Guffey, M.E., Almonte, R., Kaka, A.M. (2007). Essentials of Business Communication for
English Language Learners. Cengage Learning.
Hartley, P., & Bruckman (2008). Business Communication. Routledge.
Hunter, K. M., Westwick, J. N., & Haleta, L. L. (2014). Assessing success: The impacts of a
fundamentals of speech course on decreasing public speaking anxiety. Communication
Education, 63(2), 124-135.
Kam, J. A., Guntzviller, L. M., & Pines, R. (2017). Language Brokering, Prosocial Capacities,
and Intercultural Communication Apprehension Among Latina Mothers and Their
Adolescent Children. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 48(2), 168-183.
Kostić Bobanović, M. (2007). Intercultural communication apprehension. Ekonomska
istraživanja, 20(2), 17-23.
McNally, R. J., Enock, P. M., Tsai, C., & Tousian, M. (2013). Attention bias modification for
reducing speech anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 51(12), 882-888
Means, T. (2009). Business Communication. Cengage Learning.

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Moll, M. (2012). The Quintessence of Intercultural Business Communication. Springer Science
& Business Media.
Odyssey Training (2017). Effective People and Communication Skills. Retrieved from
https://www.odysseytraining.com.au/communication-training/effective-people-and
communication-skills-course/