Effective Business Communication Essay

Running head: EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1
EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
This is a self-refection essay to develop an understanding of my communication skills
effectively. I would be analyzing the scores achieved by me by using five diagnostic tools and
thereby learning my weakness. I would then conduct a literature review followed by a action
plan to develop my skills and become a leader in the future.
Tolerance for disagreement is one of the effective tools that one can use to analyze by
which an individual would be able to tolerate other people who are disagreeing what the
individual believes to be correct (Teven, Richmond & Mccroskey, 1988). This scale is quite
similar to measuring argumentativeness that states that individuals who are high on it are more
capable to deal with disagreements effectively and those who are low in argumentativeness
cannot tolerate disagreements. After completing the tool that contained of 15 questions to be
answered with Likert scale of five, I noted that my score came out to be 46. According to the
category of scores, I fell in the moderate category that showed that I have moderate level of
tolerance to disagreement. I was on the border between the moderate and high level of tolerance
and therefore, I can consider myself that I am quite tolerant to other people disagreeing with me.
This would help me to take part in effective negotiation on behalf of my companies with the
clients and will reduce the chances of occurrence of conflicts. Moreover, I believe that this skill
would be helping me to take part in effective teamwork where I would be able to be tolerant of
the different feedbacks or suggestions they give me (Shaw & Barry, 2015). This would help me
to prevent any power struggles and proceed on with the work.
The talkaholic scale is another important diagnostic tool that helps individuals to measure
compulsive communication of individuals. Some individuals are seen to be verbal and they find
it difficult to remain quiet when present with other people ( McCroskey & McCroskey, 1988).
However, researchers are of the opinion that people with higher talkaholic scale are not those

2
EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
who talks more than wanted or those who speak offensive words or disturb other people by their
communication and interaction. It is interesting to see that such people are positively perceived
by others and are likely to be seen as leaders or more competent. I have scored 32 in this tool
and therefore I fall in the category of the borderline talkaholic. I am able to control my talking in
most of the cases but sometimes I cannot prevent myself from speaking up even when I know
that I may face issues if I speak in the situation. Therefore, I believe that I need to develop
critical analyzing power and self regulation power by which I can control myself from speaking
up in strenuous situation but at the same time I also need to develop my speaking capabilities so
that I am perceived properly and can develop myself as a leader in the future (Pearson et al.,
2017).
The third tool is called the Personal Report of Intercultural communication apprehension
called PRICA. This tool mainly helps individuals to assess how well they can communicate with
the other individuals who are coming from other backgrounds. This tool mainly helps to say how
well a person has developed skills like cultural competence in communication, cultural
sensitivity, overcoming cultural biasness, being culturally aware and many others. Often
intercultural communicational skills are very important for organizations who are working more
than in one country (Neuliep & McCroskey, 1997). They need to talk with various people or
different cultures accordingly to their cultural preferences and therefore it becomes important for
the individuals to develop intercultural communication skills so that they can respectfully
communicate with people of different culture. It is important for effectively marinating
teamwork with a team comprising of people, of different backgrounds and such skill also help in
making business overseas. In this tool, I had got a score of about 28. This score falls in the low
category of intercultural communication apprehension and therefore I need to develop my skills

3
EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
in this aspect. In my career, I might need to interact with individual coming from different
culture or I might have o communicate with clients of different cultural. Verbal and non-verbal
communication skills should be exhibited by me in a culturally competent manner with such
people is important to achieve success and productivity (Herman et al., 2015). Therefore, I
should try to develop my intercultural communication skills.
Non-verbal immediacy are those behaviors as well as the cues that provide signal to the
individuals about the positive feelings towards each other engaged in a communication
procedure. The tool therefore helps in a way by which individuals are able to understand how
well they are faring in the nonverbal immediacy (McCroskey & Richmond, 1995). A five-point
scale was used to answer 26 important questions by which my competence of the skill would be
reflected. In this tool, I have scored about 101 that fall in the medium category. The ones whose
score is above 104 have a high level of this skill and whose score is below 83 is considered low
on the skill. Since I fall in the moderate category, I believe that I still have to work hard on my
non-verbal skills. Researchers are of the opinion that body language and other non-verbal skills
have a great contribution to the development of effective bonds among team members,
impressing clients, developing trust, showing respect and many others in the organizational
workplace (Charter, 2017). Therefore, I should try my best to work on these skills more so that I
can develop proper non-verbal communication skills.
Self-Perceived communication Competence scale is one of the tools that help individuals
to understand how individuals can successfully communicate with different stakeholders in
different situations. This helps the individuals to understand the different domains where they
need to excel so that they can communicate successfully with each type of person and different
situations and hence can successfully maintain relationships, crack deals, negotiate effectively

4
EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
and others (McCroskey & Richmond, 1993). Here, I had to answer 12 questions by providing
myself with scores like that of between 0 and 100. From the marks that I have obtained, I
realized that I fall mainly in the moderate categories between the high and low levels of marks
allocated by the researchers. It was found that apart from the high score that I achieved in the
domain of friends, I have achieved moderate scores in communication approach and skills in all
other aspects like that of the public speaking, meeting, group, dyad, stranger, acquaintance and
friends (Albert, Nakayama & Martin, 2015). Therefore, I need to work little more in this aspect
so that I can develop effective communication skills and achieve high level of success n future.
Last month, I had to accompany my mentor to a meeting where clients from Japan were coming
to develop a partnership with our organization. We were planning to launch our products in the
nation of Japan and we had to establish our offices in Japan thereby creating teams comprising of
employees from our organization along with Japanese people. However when the client came
from Japan, I made a number of mistakes that resulted in a strenuous situations in the meeting.
While interacting with them, I maintained an eye contact with them as the western culture
considers this skill to be a confident approach to develop trust. I had no idea that Japanese
culture do not prefer eye contacts with the people they are interacting and find it disrespectful.
This made the clients disappointed. Silence is considered to be an important part in their
conversations. They believe that holding back from their speaking is one of the effective ways of
preserving harmony as well as demonstrate trustworthiness and reliability. When the clients were
maintaining silence during the conversation, I misunderstood the situation thinking that they
were not able to understand our plan and were getting confused. Therefore, I tried to fill up the
space and started making them understand once again. They were thoroughly upset with us and
approached to my mentor stating that we had not properly prepared our staffs to conduct

5
EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
business with them. This made me upset and my mentor told me that I lacked intercultural
communication skills entirely; this made them lose the deal.
During the time of my placement, I was provided the opportunity to become the leader of
the team of five members. We were given a project that we were supposed to complete within
the deadline provided to us. However, after few days of working with me, I found my members
of the team to complain to the senior authority that they are not comfortable in working with me.
They stated that I am quite harsh on them and are very strict on their approaches. They also
stated that they do not feel comfortable in working with me, as they cannot relate my verbal and
non-verbal cues effectively. With the instruction of my mentor, I conducted a thorough analysis
in my reflection journal and thereby came to understand that I do not have non-verbal skills of
communication. I have stern facial expressions that make them feel that I am strict and
unapproachable. I have a loud pitch of voice that makes them feel that I am scolding them or I
am complaining about their work although I am trying to make them understand gently.
Moreover, I also have a habit of sitting arm crossed and this gives them a feeling in the feedback
sessions, that I am negative about their approach and feedbacks. Therefore, I need to develop my
non-verbal communication skills effectively for becoming a successful leader in the future.
For making successful business in the international arena, present day researchers are of
the opinion that intercultural competition is a significant part for making business. Every
employee should have the knowledge of culture by which each can manage culturally different
business environments and expectations (Popescu & Stoica, 2015). One of the studies suggests
that intercultural sensitivity is one of the most important aspects of intercultural communication
procedures. This mainly involves the ability of recognition of the multiple perspectives of an
event as well as the behaviors that helps the individuals to recognize one’s own cultural values

6
EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
and also of the others and thereby pick up verbal and non verbal skills that maintains respect in
the communication procedure (Greenberg, 2017). Understanding one’s own culture is important
in developing the idea that the approach of doing a particular activity that is accepted by the
individual’s culture is only one of the several approaches and that other cultures may follow
different procedure and tradition for that. Researchers are of the opinion that individuals should
develop the ability of recognizing the needs of the listeners through effective verbal as well as
non verbal signals in communication and this helps in empathizing culturally different people
and thereby helps in adjusting to their ways to provide them importance and respect (Rosales et
al., 2017). Another important aspect other than intercultural sensitivity is the intercultural
communication. Researchers have defined this as the ability of an individual to adjust to the
communication style of the people from other cultures to meet and align with the communicative
needs of the other people from different cultures (Kurts et al., 2016). It should be remembered
that communication needs of people of different culture are mainly influenced by the culture
specific norms of people for expressing themselves and therefore they are more likely to differ
from their own cultural norms. Intercultural communication is also based on the capability to
foresee the expectations as well as the evaluation of the culturally different others (Quirke,
2017). The main difference observed between intercultural communication and intercultural
sensitivity is that it depends on the actual behaviors in communicative situations and indicates it
dependency on the degree of flexibility stating how much people can adapt to communicative
requirements that are different from their own culture. Managing uncertainty is also another
important aspect of intercultural communication and has been stated by the studies of .
Researchers mainly define this aspect as the ability for the management of the greater uncertainty
of the intercultural as well as the international situations (Pearson, 2017). Every employee should

7
EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
be able to develop the ability of becoming flexible and working effectively with new people in
different types of intercultural situations. By the term managing uncertainty, the researchers are
developing the ability for adapting to new, unfamiliar and thereby uncertainty situations. Many
studies have helped to realize the main benefits of developing intercultural communicate skills.
Researchers have stated that ability to develop intercultural communication effectively across
cultures provide much significance to both the organizations as well as the businesspersons
(Merett et al., 2018). These mainly helped in developing quick problem solving, stronger
decisions making, increased productivity, steadier workflow, enhanced professional image and
thereby stronger business relationships. This brings success so organizations helping it to
establish branches in other nations and become a globalised company.
Non-verbal communication skill is considered to be one of the most important aspects of
effective communication. Messages that are communicated always associate with different body
gestures, body language, facial expressions, eye contacts and many others that have the potential
to provide additional effect to the importance of the verbally communicated message. It has been
stated in studies that when there is conflict between verbal and non verbal communications, the
receivers are seen to accept the non-verbal communication over the verbal one (Kurtz et al.,
2016). Even many of the participants in the studies have shown that when words are under the
control, there may be situations when the body language tells something different. Even the
tiniest of the facial expressions and movements helps to show the real thoughts and feelings of
the speaker and hence it has the capability to either develop a situation or disrupt a situation.
Researchers state ““The silent signals of non-verbal communication tend to reveal underlying
motives and emotions—fear, honesty, joy, indecision, frustration—and much more. The tiniest
gestures, like the way your co-workers stand or enter a room, often speak volumes about their

8
EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
confidence, self-worth, and credibility. And the way you sit, stand, or look at others reveals more
about your true intent than you may realize.” A facial expression is one of the most important
forms of non-verbal communication (Wu et al., 2015). The look on a person’s face id the first
thing that the receivers see that has an initial impact on them. This impact has the capability to
modify the thought process of the individuals largely. One important thing stated by researchers
are that facial expressions are similar for happiness, anger, fear, sadness and other all over the
world irrespective of cultural barriers. Gestures are the deliberate movements and the signals that
are conducted during communication have the capability to transfer information even without the
use of words. Non-verbal signals have the power to influence debates or other meetings of
influencing higher official, clients, customers and many others and therefore, such skills need to
be developed by individuals (Cole et al., 2017). Paralinguistics are also important forms of non
verbal communication and is quite different from language and words. This is mainly seen to
include factors that involve tones of voice, loudness, pitch a swell as inflection. Many
participants have been seen to be state that with the help of strong but encouraging voice.
Listeners might interpret approval or enthusiasm. When the same words would be stated in a
hesitant tone, the same words would convey disapproval as well as lack of interest. Posture and
body language also has the capability to convey great deal of information (Atkinson et al., 2017).
Researchers have stated interpretations of the defensive postures, leg crossing, arm crossing and
different others have their own internal meanings perceived by the receivers and therefore the
internal knowledge about each movement should be well known so that the speaker do not
convey improper information. Haptics, appearance, eye gaze, proxemics and others are also
important non verbal skills that are extremely important for developing effective relationship,
bonds and trust among the members.

9
EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
The action plan that should be developed would be based mainly on SMART goals. The
goal that I need to aim for is the develop of intercultural communication skill and secondly the
non-verbal communication skill. The goals, which are set, would be SMART in the way as
follows:
The goals need to be specific. For development of intercultural communication skills, I
would mainly conduct researches of the evidence-based articles where the researchers have put
forward recommendations for the development of intercultural communication. I would be also
searching different internet articles and blogs from where I would be able to collect information
about the different business cultures followed by the different nations and thereby develop
cultural awareness and communication skills that align with the communication styles of the
other nations. For developing non-verbal communication, I would be joining workshops and
would be maintaining reflective journal. The goal is measurable. I would be communicating
with different members of my intercultural team and will ask them for feedback about the skills
that I am gradually developing. Their feedback will help me to know how well I am faring in my
approach (Sheriff et al., 2014). Moreover, I would also discuss my learning with the mentor and
ask him to provide his valuable feedback. This would also help me to measure my skills that I
have developed. For non-verbal communication, the mentors of the workshop classes would be
holding mock tests and roleplay sessions where they would judge my performance. They would
provide marks and this would help me to understand how I am faring with this non-verbal
communication skills. The goal is attainable. This is because I can easily get the journal article
from the university library and can go through them in my home during study hours and this
would not require me to undertake extra expenditure and proper planning. Moreover, I can also
search for the internet articles and blogs not only through internet connection on my personal

10
EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
computer as well as on my smart phone as well. Therefore, the goal is easily attainable and does
not require extra resources. For non-verbal communication, I will attend the classes on
Weekends and this would help me by not being absent in my university but also being able to
complete my workshop attentively. The goal is said to be relevant. This is because collecting of
the articles would help me to know the view of different researchers and the different things they
believe to be helpful for us to gather information and develop ourselves (Fillipone et al., 2016).
Therefore, I would be using this as the guideline and framework that would be helping me to
develop knowledge. Moreover, the internet will give me specific knowledge on the different
cultures that will make me careful while communicating with people of different culture. For
non-verbal communication, the workshops will help me to take part in role-play where I will get
opportunity to experience different situations and thereby learn how to communicate in each
situation successfully. This would help me develop my non-verbal communication skills. The
timeframe that would be required is six months.
From the above discussion, it can be seen that effective communication helps to
overcome conflicts, manage teams, and work effectively. Non-verbal communication skills and
intercultural communication skills are two important aspects associated with effective
communication. Therefore, individuals should try to develop skills that would help them to be
expert in communication and thereby reach the zenith of success.

11
EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Activity 1 month 2 month 3 month 4 month 5 month 6 month
Reflective
journal
Workshop
classes
Development
of conceptual
knowledge and
participating in
role paly
Maintenance
of different
types of
evidence based
journals
Discussion
with mentor

12
EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
References:
Alberts, J. K., Nakayama, T. K., & Martin, J. N. (2015). Human communication in society.
Pearson.
Atkinson, C. L. (2017). Is your store open? The importance of business-government
communication in hazard events.
Charter, M. (Ed.). (2017). Greener marketing: A responsible approach to business. Routledge.
Cole, G. (2017). Making corporate social responsibility appropriate and effective: The
importance of communication. Annals in Social Responsibility, 3(1), 65-67.
Filippone, M., & Survinski, M. (2016). The importance of etiquette in school email. American
Secondary Education, 45(1), 22-27.
Greenberg, J. S. (2017). Comprehensive stress management. McGraw-Hill Education.
Herrmann, N., & Herrmann-Nehdi, A. (2015). The Whole Brain Business Book: Unlocking the
Power of Whole Brain Thinking in Organizations, Teams, and Individuals. McGraw-Hill
Education.
Kurtz, S., Draper, J., & Silverman, J. (2016). Teaching and learning communication skills in
medicine. CRC press.
Kurtz, S., Draper, J., & Silverman, J. (2016). Teaching and learning communication skills in
medicine. CRC press.
Marett, E., Marler, L., & Marett, K. (2018). Socioemotional wealth importance within family
firm internal communication. Journal of Family Business Management.

13
EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
McCroskey, J. C., & McCroskey, L. L. (1988). Self‐report as an approach to measuring
communication competence. Communication Research Reports, 5, 1-8-11
McCroskey, J. C., & Richmond, V. (2001). Organizational Communication for Survival: Making
Work. Work.
McCroskey, J. C., & Richmond, V. P. (1993). Identifying compulsive communicators: The
talkaholic scale. Communication Research Reports, 11, 39-52.
McCroskey, J. C., & Richmond, V. P. (1995).Correlates of compulsive communication:
Quantitative and qualitative characteristics. Communication Quarterly, 43, 39-52.
Neuliep, J. W., & McCroskey, J. C. (1997). The development of intercultural and interethnic
communication apprehension scales. Communication Research Reports, 14, 385-398.
Pearson, R. (2017). Business ethics as communication ethics: Public relations practice and the
idea of dialogue. In Public relations theory (pp. 111-131). Routledge.
Pearson, R. (2017). Business ethics as communication ethics: Public relations practice and the
idea of dialogue. In Public relations theory (pp. 111-131). Routledge.
Popescu, M., & Stoica, I. (2015). Considerations Regarding the Psychosomatics Importance in
Achieving Business Success in the Context of Globalization. Calitatea, 16(S3), 200.
Quirke, B. (2017). Making the connections: using internal communication to turn strategy into
action. Routledge.
Rosales, E. D. (2017). The Role of a Stage Manager: The Importance of Communication,
Respect, and Trust within Production Work.

14
EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Shaw, W. H., & Barry, V. (2015). Moral issues in business. Cengage Learning.
Sherif, M. Z., Nimran, M. U., & Prasetya, A. (2014). The role of motivation in human resources
management: the importance of motivation factors among future business professionals
in Libya. Journal of Business and Management, 16(8), 27-36.
Teven, J. J., McCroskey, J. C., & Richmond, V. P. (1998). Measurement of tolerance for
disagreement. Communication Research Reports, 15(2), 209-217.
Teven, J. J., McCroskey, J. C., & Richmond, V. P. (1998). Measurement of tolerance for
disagreement. Communication Research Reports, 15(2), 209-217.
Wu, S. P. J., Straub, D. W., & Liang, T. P. (2015). How information technology governance
mechanisms and strategic alignment influence organizational performance: Insights from
a matched survey of business and IT managers. Mis Quarterly, 39(2), 497-518.