Reflective Practice on Communication Skills

This report delves into the concept of communication skills, exploring various communication styles, tools, and issues. It includes a diagnosis, reflection, literature review, action plan, and conclusion.

ASSESSMENT 3
REFLECTIVE PRACTICE ASSIGNMENT BUSN20017
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Diagnosis and Reflection.................................................................................................................5
Literature review..............................................................................................................................9
An action plan:...............................................................................................................................11
Conclusion:....................................................................................................................................12
References:....................................................................................................................................13
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Introduction
This report intrudes to the concept of communication skill. Communication is a two way
procedure which consists of getting the message across and recognizing what others have to say.
Communication consists of vigorous listening, observing and speaking. Communication helps in
developing competencies in the fields of communication. The report focuses on the identification
of different communication styles and the tools that are used for the establishment of better
communication. This report even shows the issues which are linked with communication. In this
assignment interactions are held with the professionals and they are analysed. This assignment
also shows the numerous diagnostic tools with their scores and findings, further, this assignment
shows a 6 month activities which are undertaken to accomplish the goals and targets.
Communication is both science and art. it usually contains acts such as listening and speaking ,
also writing and reading , but it also drives elsewhere these and includes the diffusion of sign
language, non-verbal language, muscles, ,codes which are communicated electronically like the
more code and actually through nerves, hormones, touch, and tendons and also are the message
communicated through melody and by other means (Eaves & Leathers, 2017). The report also
covers the different aspects and issues related to the communication process. Communication
skills are defined differently in different books and by different experts but the greatest common
and basic description is that : Communication skill technique and an art of communicating by
utilizing body and oral language to encourage an individual or bring into an individual the
alteration that is required. Communication skills are the capability to express language
information. Communication skills are the customary of skills which allows an individual to
transfer information so that it is understood and received. The report will help in examining the
different forms of the communication with the help of tools and measuring the efficiency of each
of such tools.
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Diagnosis and Reflection
Communication is considered as heart of relationships which may be a temporary deal between
people, professional or personal. Communication techniques and tools differ from an individual
to other. Many orators, writers, and the successful people effectively use the communication
techniques and tools (Vaishnav, 2016). However, they vary from situation to situation. Also, a
good oral communicator many not be effective in written communication, and vice versa. The
magnificent communication technique can make a lasting impression socially as well as
professionally. The effective presentation of a person depends on the tools used for
communication. In my opinion the oral communication is more popular as a communication
tool than the others. To best way to develop oral skills is to be a good listener. According to me,
the oral communication requires presence of mind as well as the presence of element of humour.
These two important aspects, i.e. element of humour as well as presence of mind may be inborn
in few individuals but cannot be found in everyone, but they can be learnt through experience
and the education. In an oral communication, we cannot plan beyond a limit so it is the situation
and eventuality that we should be ready for (Kurtz, et. al., 2016). Second communication tool is
the tool which is very important for the students as well as the businessmen development. It is
the written communication tool. The writing skills are considered important in the writers,
poets, business, as well as for legal transactions and therefore written communication also play
an important role in the daily lives of these individuals. There are some rules and regulations
which need to be followed for the written communications as they are also treated as evidence so
before writing you need to be sure that the written messages are not harming individual integrity.
For the written communication, I abide some rules like pre-planning the written message, use of
effective language, and grammatical rules need to be followed for an effective written
communication. Visual communication is an effective communication tool for presenting
oneself through the visuals or images. It is the best used toll for the presentations that contain
the images and should be well communicated and visually aided. The visualization is very
important for the readers and the audience to keep them involved in a presentation. There visual
communication is considered as a powerful tool of communication. I think that with the
positives there are some negative aspects also of this tool like the failure of visualization in
creating accurate effect on the audience can lead to confusions and misunderstandings. I have
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outlined above the various effective tools and techniques used for effective communication
skills.
The active listening, as well as the assertive perception, is very important for the effective
communication tools (Nelson-Jones, 2015). These two aspects when effectively used with the
tools can explore our communications skills. Active listening makes us a good communicator as
communication is a two-way process and to be a good communicator we have to be first good
listeners. Aggressiveness as well as assertiveness both is used in the communications and are
very important for the effective communications. Confident and assertive managers always try
to collaborate on the vision of the team. It is the demand of their position to be aggressive and
assertive. So, the oral communications as well as written communications are the important
skills to build confidence in the students as well as other personnel. Being assertive and
aggressive makes us confident and helps in impressing. It is important to draw a line between
assertive and aggressive (Moss, 2017). I agree with aggressiveness to a point as it is important in
our communication when we take a stand for something wrong happening around us but for
business deals and social deals we have to be polite and calm. There are exceptions to every rule
and this implies in the communication rules also (Kivunja, 2015). A good communicator also has
tolerance for disagreements and I feel the reactions depends on the environment we are and
should not weirdly react for disagreements. We should try to accept the disagreements and the
set of moral principles are very important for acquiring the communication skills.
Communication skills and being talkaholic are two different aspects, which should be
differentiated. Talkaholic is an individual who does too much of talking and does over
communication, which sometimes can create problems in professional and personal
relationships. I feel that it is obvious to have both skills, the listening skills as well as the
communication skills, as they both are important for being a good communicator.
Communication plays a crucial role in the development of a student personal and professional
life. Communication is a 2 way process and is required to be done in a below specified are the
diagnostic tools with their findings and score:
Self-perceived communication competence scale
Score:
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Public 1+8+12; divide by 3 78.33
Group 4+9+11; divide by 3 78.33
Meeting 3+6+10; divide by 3 73.33
Stanger 1+4+7+10; divide by 4 66.25
Friend 3+5+8+11; divide by 4 95.25
Dyad 2+5+7; divide by 3 83.33
Acquaintance 2+6+9+12; divide by 4 77.50
Findings:
Upper SPCC score reflects higher self- seeming communication proficiency with fundamental
communication background (group, public, dyad, meeting.) and receivers (strangers, friends, and
acquaintance.)
Non-verbal immediacy scale self-report (NIS-S)
Score:
Stage 1: Is the sum of the score of the selected items: : 1,2,6,10,12,13,14,16,17,19,21,22 and 25
= 45
Stage 2: Is the sum of the score of the selected items: 3,4,5,7,8,9,11,15,18,,20,23,24 and 26 = 22
Total score = 78 + Stage1 – Stage 2 = 101
Findings:
From the above calculation we can see that the total score is 101. This measure is having more
face legitimacy then formerly instrument because it consists of more varied items. Its prognostic
rationality is likewise tremendous (Akmajian, et. al., 2017).
Personal report of inter-cultural communication apprehension (PRICA)
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Score:
Stage 1: Is the sum of the score of the selected items: 1,3,5,7,9,10 and 12 =
Stage 2: Is the sum of the score of the selected items: 2, 4,6,8,11,13 and 14 =
Stage 3: The complete formula for: PRICA score = 42 – Total from stage 1 + total from stage
2 = 28
Finding:
The score can vary from 14 to 17. Score lower than 32 shows small intercultural CA. Score
beyond 52 shows high intercultural CA. Score extending between 32 and 52 shows an adequate
level of intercultural CA (Segerstrale & Molnár, 2018).
Talkaholic Scale
Score:
Stage 1: Is the sum of the score of the selected items: 2, 3, 5,7,8,10,11 and 14 =
Stage 2: Is the sum of the score of the selected items: 13 and 16 =
Stage 3: The complete formula: Total Score = 12 + Total from stage 1 – total from stage 2 = 32
NOTE: Item 1, 4, 6,9,12 and 15 are filler items and are not scored.
Findings:
The score must be between 10 and 15. All of the individuals score lower than 30. Individuals
who are scoring among 30 and 39 are marginal talkaholics and are capable to regulate their
conversation most of the time, but at times they discover themselves in circumstances where it is
very challenging to stay silent, even if it could very much to their benefit avoiding having a
conversation. Individuals who score directly above 40 are talkaholics. They are really obsessive
correspondents (Hovland & Lumsdaine, 2017).
Tolerance for disagreement
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Score:
Stage 1: Is the sum of the score of the selected items: 1,2,5,7,8,14 and 15 =
Stage 2: Is the sum of the score of the selected items: 3,4,6,9,10,11,12 and 13 =
Stage 3: The complete formula:
Tolerance for Disagreement = 48+ Total of stage 1 – Total of stage 2 = 47
Findings:
Score beyond 46 shows high acceptance for a variance. Score under 32 shows low acceptance for
a variance. Score amongst 32 and 46 shows moderate acceptance for a variance.
According to Mehrabian (2017), Communication issues can possibly turn out in any social
association or circumstance. It can be easy for persons to misinterpret or misunderstand others,
and these misinterpretations can lead to tension or arguments in professional or platonic and
public relationships. The main issue which is faced by me in the communication is of Outside
interference in the communication which is also recognised as noise (Mehrabian, 2017) an
unscrupulous connection can obstruct with communicating commendably over the cell phone. If
the Internet is not working properly, it can possess a correspondence from reaching another
individual. The second issue which is faced by me in the communication is of lack of skill and
knowledge. There is a definite level of ability which is required to communicate a message in a
correct manner. The sender should be capable to form grammatically precise sentences, as well
as be acquainted with the terms they are saying. The receiver is required to be consistent with the
sender's semantic, as well as the expressions which are being used. If I won't are having the basic
skills looked-for, the communication turns out to be ineffective (Cornelissen & Cornelissen,
2017).
I recently had a communication with my lecturers. While having an interaction with my lecturer I
faced issues with the exact skills and facial expressions for maintaining a good and clear
communication. I felt that communication plays a great role in marinating good reputations with
the teachers and lecturers. A good and effective communication helps in proper completion of
the assignments and projects. I faced numerous issues the main issue was with regard to the lack
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of skill. I was not perfect with my grammar. It is important for me to have the basic skills which
are required to be maintained so that I can have a good communication with my seniors and
juniors on the campus. It is important for me to develop these skills so that I can develop my
personal communication. I in my internship period had a conversation with my boss and team
leads. There I faced issues of clarity in the communication and noise. As office environment is
full of rules, regulations and proper conduct. I while having a conversation with my boss faced
an issue of grammar and particular phrases which I wasn’t familiar with. It is important for me
to develop good communication skills as these skills will help me in having a better future and
good relations with the professional people (Ruesch, et. al., 2017).
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Literature review
According to Certo (2018), the first key issues are of over-communication which can often result
in stress. This arises when one is having uninterrupted conversations to deliberate the scheme but
slight to no undertaking on definite implementation. This can also occur when one discovers a
stream of continuous questions, categorization through inappropriate information, and enquiring
about even utmost inconsequential issues—that one isn’t even in charge of solving. The other
issue with the communication is that At times one has the accurate quantity and frequency of
communication but there is an absence of communal understanding. Perhaps one thing that one
has torecognize what other individuals require but when one indicates them what one has been
functioning on, they are frustrated. Other times people thought one had responded to somebody’s
query but they are still confused. Or worse yet, people end up performing the similar parts or
works of the plan get released. Communication is the most important tool for marinating a good
reputation with peers and subordinates (Certo, 2018).
According to Kim, et. al. (2017), a communication model is primarily a procedure in which the
information is encircled in a form of a set and is channeled then communicated by a transmitter
to a receiver by a medium. When a receiver acquires information she or cracks a message and
provides the transmitter with a definite feedback. Models of communication denote a theoretical
model which is used to elucidate human communication procedure. Aristotle Model of
Communication is shaped with 3 simple components (i) Speaker, (ii) Speech, (iii) Audience.
Aristotle direct narrator to construct speech for the dissimilar audience on dissimilar occasion
(time) and for dissimilar effects (Kim, et. al., 2017). Nowadays, feedback is considered as main
component of the communication. It is also considered as main and important component
because it permits to know the efficacy of the sender. Feedback can be verbal as well as it can
be written, both the types help in confirming the corrections or the mistakes which were done by
the sender and helps the sender to analyse the mistakes and not to repeat them. Therefore
feedback .
According to Christianson-Galina (2017), Narrator plays a vital role in Public communication.
The Aristotle’s communication model is the narrator focused model as the narrator has the
supreme significant role in it and is the solitary one on the go. It is narrator’s role to distribute a
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communication to an addressee. The role of an audience is submissive, inclined to the speech.
The narrator should organize the speech in advance, according to the aim situation (occasion)
and audience. The speech should be arranged so that the addressees be influenced or persuaded
by the speech. This leads the communication procedure one way, from narrator to receiver. The
main criticism of the Aristotle communication model is that there is no concept of feedback, it a
single way from speaker to audience (Christianson-Galina, 2017). There is no concept of
communication drawbacks like barriers and noise. This model cannot be used in public speaking.
This is the most effective and efficient communication model which is used in the fields of
communication.
According to Cottrell (2017), Theoretical skills which are required to be acquired to validate
competence in the no verbal communication field consist of problem-solving, strategic planning
and creating a vision.an ability of a person to work with the concepts or ideas. These skills are
mandatory to be competent in the education and business sector. The conceptual skill involves
the cognitive or thinking aspect of leadership, such as ideas and concepts. The conceptual
skill denotes the capability to work with wide-ranging idea and concepts (Cottrell, 2017). The
Conceptual skills permit a person to imagine the entire work and organization with
the relationships and ideas amongst abstract concepts. Hence, the conceptual skills are vital for
the person to communicate in a well-organized manner.
According to (Mehrabian, 2017), Interpersonal skills are those skills which we use in the
everyday communications interactions with new people, both individually and in groups. People
with solid interpersonal skills are considered to be more prosperous in both their personal and
professional life lives. The behavioural (interpersonal) skills which are required to be acquired
to validate competence in non-verbal communication comprise an extensive diversity of skills,
however, a lot of them are centered in the opposite direction of communication, such as
understanding body language, listening and questioning. They also consist of the attributes and
skills which are linked with emotional intellect or being incapable to manage and comprehend
your personal and others’ emotions (Mehrabian, 2017).
According to Cerezo-Narváez, et. al. (2018), Persons with decent and respectable interpersonal
skills have a tendency to be competent to work thriving in a group or team, and with other
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persons more common. They are capable to communicate successfully with others, whether
friends, clients, family, colleagues or customers Interpersonal skills are hence vital in all aspects
of life at socially, work and in education .Interpersonal skills are often turn out to be so natural
that a person might take them for granted, never thought about in what way a person does a
conversation with other persons. If one has established respectable conducts, this is acceptable.
Though it is also conceivable to cultivate bad behaviours, and then fail to comprehend why our
relationships or communications are suffering. Though, with a diminutive effort and time, one
can cultivate both skills and awareness, and these (Cerezo-Narváez, et. al., 2018).Worthy
interpersonal skills can increase numerous features of one’s life, both socially and professionally,
as they result in healthier relationships and better understanding and Interpersonal skills are also
from time to time mentioned to as life skills, Soft skills, social skills or people skills. Though all
these expressions can consist of interpersonal skills, they incline to be wider and can hence also
mention other kinds of skills. Numerous persons also utilize the term interpersonal skills for
communication skills, but interpersonal skills cover more, as well as problem-solving and
decision-making with working in a team or group and emotional intellect. Both the interpersonal
and descriptive skills are essential for the continuous and effective communication (Falkheimer
& Heide, 2018)
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An action plan:
The action plan shows the activities which are undertaken over the next 6 months to obtain the
skills, behaviours, and knowledge.
Activity Beginning date End date Time period
Undertaking
bachelors in
communication
1st May 2018 31st May 2018 1 month
Undertaking advanced
masters of
communication
1st June 2018 30th June 2018 1 month
Reading self-help
books
1st July 2018 31st August 2018 2 month
Personal journals like
from Wiley Library
online
1st September 2018 31st October 2018 2 month
The action plan is prepared in order to allocate the different activities to the set time frame to
ensure the effective the timely completion of tasks. The duration of six months has been taken
into consideration for the activities to be performed in a systematic manner. The different
activities that are considered for the implementation of the proper planning are the duration
involved in establishing efficiency in communication process and eliminating the issues in an
effective way. The action plan will help to ensure timely completion of the targeted activities.
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A Gantt chart
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Conclusion:
From the above report it can be conclude that operative communication is considered to be the
main part in accomplishing the educational goals and objectives. Successful communicating with
the peers and teachers is crucial when it arises to learning new things. Loss of times the
instructor is considered to be the transmitter. The job of the instructor is to direct the messages
that consist of information regarding the skills which is required for learning and education of
effective communication. The instructor messages consist of lectures or hand-outs for the
students. The upper class can also be the transmitters of the message. Most of the time learners
are inquired to work together as a team .further; this report concluded that communication is
essential in daily life. There are various problems which are related with the communication. The
2 main problems are lack of accurate skills and knowledge. These two problems are requiring to
be accessed by the student for the development of communication. Further, this report concluded
that it is important to have a communication or interaction with the professionals so that the gaps
in the communication can be identified and recognized and appropriate measures for solving
these communication challenges can be taken. Remember that communication involve listening,
speaking and observing. Hence, communication is considered to be a two way procedure and is
required to be done in a well-organized manner. A communication skill denotes the behaviours
that aid to transport information. It is the capability of an individual to exhibit in unswervingly to
remarkably communicate with subordinates, supervisors, clients and colleague in both the
personal and personal world.
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References:
 Akmajian, A., Farmer, A. K., Bickmore, L., Demers, R. A., & Harnish, R. M.
(2017). Linguistics: An introduction to language and communication. MIT press.
 Cerezo-Narváez, A., Ceca, M. J. B., & Blanco, J. L. Y. (2018). Traceability of Intra-and
Interpersonal Skills: From Education to Labor Market. In Human Capital and Competences in
Project Management. InTech.
 Certo, S. C. (2018). Supervision: Concepts and skill-building. McGraw-Hill Education.
 Christianson-Galina, A. (2017). Communication & Power. RERUM CAUSAE 2017, 59.
 Cornelissen, J., & Cornelissen, J. P. (2017). Corporate communication: A guide to theory and
practice. Sage.
 Cottrell, S. (2017). Critical thinking skills. Macmillan Education.
 Eaves, M., & Leathers, D. G. (2017). Successful nonverbal communication: Principles and
applications. Routledge.
 Falkheimer, J., & Heide, M. (2018). Strategic Communication: An Introduction. Routledge.
 Hovland, C. I., & Lumsdaine, A. A. (2017). Experiments on mass communication. Princeton
University Press.
 Kim, D. S., Kim, H. S., & Thorne, S. (2017). An Intervention Model to Help Clients to Seek
Their Own Hope Experiences: The Narrative Communication Model of Hope Seeking
Intervention. Korean Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care, 20(1), 1-7
 Kivunja, C. (2015). Exploring the pedagogical meaning and implications of the 4Cs “super
skills” for the 21st century through Bruner’s 5E lenses of knowledge construction to improve
pedagogies of the new learning paradigm. Creative Education, 6(02), 224.
 Kurtz, S., Draper, J., & Silverman, J. (2016). Teaching and learning communication skills in
medicine. CRC press.
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 Mehrabian, A. (2017). Nonverbal communication. Routledge.
 Mehrabian, A. (2017). Nonverbal communication. Routledge.
 Moss, B. (2017). Communication skills in health and social care. Sage.
 Nelson-Jones, R. (2015). Basic counselling skills: a helper's manual. Sage.
 Ruesch, J., Bateson, G., Pinsker, E. C., & Combs, G. (2017). Communication: The social matrix
of psychiatry. Routledge.
 Segerstrale, U., & Molnár, P. (Eds.). (2018). Nonverbal communication: where nature meets
culture. Routledge.
 Vaishnav, H. (2016). Tools and Techniques for Effective Communication Skills. Linguistics
and Literature Studies 4(1), 23-26.
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