Self Reflection Essay: Interpersonal Communication

This essay discusses the process of interpersonal communication, diagnostic tools for analyzing communication issues, and real-time examples of communication problems. It also includes a literature review and action plan for improving communication skills.

Self Reflection Essay: Interpersonal
Communication

Table of contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
The process of exchanging information, feelings, and emotions through verbal and non-
verbal communication is called as interpersonal communication. Individuals can develop and
enhance the interpersonal skills by practicing them daily. There are two types of interaction
direct and indirect in which message from one person is transferred to another person. It is
necessary to have strong communication skills for developing impressive image in the
workplace. One can self analyze his or her communication competencies for improvement via
relevant solutions (Merckaert and et.al., 2015). The current essay includes five diagnostic tools
for analyzing the communication issues. The identified two communication problems are
discussed via real time example for better understanding. Along with this, the essay also involves
literature review for explaining the theoretical aspects of the communication issues. In the end,
the action is added for improving and identified problems.
There are various tools and techniques available which help in identifying the
interpersonal communication skills within a person. With the help of an appropriate diagnostic
tool, one can easily evaluate his or her communication competencies from the obtained scores
(Certo, 2018). The five diagnostic tools which I used for analyzing my communication skills are
as follows:
Non-Verbal Immediacy Scale-Self Report (NIS-S): This diagnostic tool depends upon the
immediacy of individuals with respect to the communication. This tool helps in measuring the
nonverbal immediacy as a self-report. The main purpose of this tool is to identify the individual
differences in the expressions regarding nonverbal immediacy.
Self-perceived communication competence scale (SPCC): This diagnostic tool helps in
obtaining the information with respect to communication skills of the individuals. The tool leads
to identify the capability of the individuals in different types of communication context and with
different types of receivers. This diagnostic tool measures the communication competencies of
the people. It is necessary for the persons to know that the method is used for measuring
perceived communication competencies instead of actual communication competencies. In the
scale of this diagnostic tool, 0 represents the completely incompetent and 100 shows the
competent.

Personal report intercultural communication apprehension (PRICA): This diagnostic tool
calculates the fear of people while interacting with others from different cultural groups. PRICA
measures communication anxiety with respect to the situational contexts such as dyadic, small
groups, meetings, public speaking and many more. Intercultural communication anxiety is one of
the sub categories of the general communication apprehension. In this diagnostic tool individuals
can evaluate their communication problem and resolve them by using effective methods. Along
with this, it helps in evaluating confidence, self-esteem, listening skills and many more in an
individual. The intercultural communication anxiety is related to the culture and intercultural
communication terms.
Talkholic Scale: This communication diagnostic tool is used for measuring the compulsive
communication. Some individuals likes to talk, they are highly verbal and face great difficulty in
sitting quiet in the presence of other persons. On the other hand, some people talk less and give
emphasis to the work. The term talks too much represents those who keep talking even then
another person does not want to listen. According to the research, the more person talks, the
more he or she considered as positive.
Tolerance for Disagreement: This scale is designed for calculating the degree to which a
person can tolerate other disagreeing with the opinion. It is an ability to get engaged with the
people who posses different opinions from the other without becoming emotional. Individuals
having high argumentativeness possess more ability to deal with the more disagreement as
compare to those who have less argumentativeness.
Thus, by using the above diagnostic tools I am able to analyze my communication skills
and problems regarding it. The communication issues defined by all the five tools are
interconnected to each other. These communication tools help me in knowing me about my
communication style and preferences. As per the results of NIS-S, I have low referential skills
which result in improper capacity to express the ideas in a clear manner in the group. The score
obtained in this tool are 85 which is of moderate level. I am incapable of explaining the things
among people properly which results to develop unclear statement or concepts. This
communication problem is not good for group discussions and meetings held at the organization.
Along with this, the results of Personal report intercultural communication apprehension
(PRICA) represents that I am poor in social composure. I feel tensed and constrained while

speaking among the people or socially. Due to this, I feel stressed while giving a presentation
and expressing my views on the certain topic. This factor affects my personality, body language
and develops a poor image in front of others. The score obtained is low i.e. only 30 which
represents that I need to improve my skills for social composure.
On the other hand, Self-perceived communication competence scale (SPCC) shows that
my skill of public speaking among the people of different culture is moderate as I feel less
confident and nervous while speaking in public or meeting the individuals who belong to
different culture at the workplace. The scores obtained in this tool is 85 which comes under
moderate level on the scale. The results of Talkholic Scale show that I possess poor talking
skills. I used to avoid people and does not listen to them properly which develop a bad
impression of mine among them and define my impatient nature. My less talkative nature also
creates misunderstandings or conflicts. In context to this, I need to enhance my listening skills so
that I can answer others effectively and develop a positive image of mine. Thus, from the
complete analysis, it is clear that I am weak at public speaking in front of people belongs to
different culture and poor listening skills . Lastly, the outcome of Tolerance for Disagreement
shows that I am not able to tolerate people who posses’ different opinions from mine. I feel calm
and stress free and avoid arguing with the individuals on different subjects. The issue regarding
poor referential skills, fear of speaking in public and among the people of different culture is
related to the poor public speaking skills. I need to improve my both tolerance for disagreement
and public speaking skills for developing effective communication competencies. The workplace
needs strong interaction and interpersonal skills for gaining success and handling work properly.
The scores of all the diagnostic tools are falls in moderate level but their issues belong to
the same area i.e. poor public speaking skills and listening skills. From the analysis and proper
examination, it is clear that I need to improve my communication skills with the help of
appropriate solution. Right method and strategy will help me in decreasing my fear regarding the
public speaking and improving the listening skills. I have faced various issues at workplace
regarding the identified two communication problems. With respect to the public speaking, I feel
nervous, stressed, and incapable of answering properly, discussing the subjects socially,
presenting myself socially and many more. I have to enhance this skill for controlling all the
other factors and enhancing my quality of communication. On the other hand, my poor tolerance

for disagreement leads to affect my decision making skills. By not responding to others for
avoiding conflicts and misunderstandings I was creating problem for myself. Less tolerance for
disagreement makes me impatient, less confident and affects my work quality and performance.
In last 12 months, while working as an Assistant manager at one of the management
companies in France, I have faced some issues regarding poor public speaking and listening
skills. I would like to present some example of the issues which I faced at my workplace. In
context to the public speaking, my senior manager said me to develop a presentation on the
ongoing current project having all important details like project status, issues we are facing,
usage of resources, able to complete on time or not and many more. As I am good at IT skills, I
created a proper presentation with all the necessary details, graphs, images, etc. While presenting
the presentation in meeting among the team members, leader, and manager, I was nervous,
tensed and less confident. Due to the fear of public speaking, I was unable to explain the topics
properly among the members. I was not able to make eye contact with the people sitting in front
of me. This situation develops my poor image in front of all the team members, leader, and
manager of the company. My manager was disappointed in me. The poor performance of mine
made my manager to assign the same work to someone else and present it in next week.
On the other hand, I also faced issue regarding poor tolerance for disagreement skills at
my workplace. My manager was telling me all the necessary information regarding my new
work which was not related to my field. Due to the less tolerance for disagreement, I agreed and
responded to the work quickly without getting all the necessary details and understanding the
work properly. Later after beginning my work, I started facing various issues regarding it. Due to
the lack of proper information, I was unable to do work in an appropriate manner. I had to ask
things to the manager again and again which resultant to delay in completion. Due to poor
tolerance for disagreement and impatient nature, I created a bad impression of mine in front of
the manager.
Thus, from both the examples, it is clear that it is very much necessary for me to improve
my public speaking and tolerance for disagreement for improving my work performance and
communication at the workplace.

According to the Møller and Malling, (2018), “Communication is the way of conveying
messages from one person or group to another with the help of mutually understood signs,
languages and semiotic rules”. The communication includes the formation of communicative
reason, the composition of the message, encoding message, transmission of the encoded
message, reception, decoding of the obtained message and interpretation of the original message.
Similarly, Selman and et.al., (2017), have said that “Communication plays an essential role in
day to day life of an individual. Effective communication skills result to develop strong
interpersonal communication and relationship”. With respect to this, there are many channels of
communication such as visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, etc which helps in sending information
from one person to another.
McCroskey, 2001 has defined that “Communication Apprehension (CA) refers to the
level of fear which develops by the real or anticipated act of communication”. In context to this,
CA represents the anxiety of an individual with respect to any communication skill, behavior or
situation. This is linked with the idea of judgment from people and self image. There are four
types of anxiety defined by the communication apprehension. van den Eertwegh and et.al.,
(2014), have stated that “Trait anxiety is related to the type of personality which a person feels at
the time of communication. This anxiety is regardless of any situation, audience or context”.
With respect to this, people facing trait anxiety used to avoid exposing themselves in public
while any communication. Such type of anxiety or communication apprehension can be handled
by practicing daily. On the other hand Lindberg and et.al., (2017), have said that “Context
Anxiety develops due to some particular context which considers psychological response”. In
context to this, it is not necessary that an individual can face CA while communicating with his
or her best friend but can get anxiety while interacting with group or meeting. Public speaking is
one of the popular examples of the context anxiety.
As per the view of Jackson, (2014), “Dissimilar to context anxiety, audience anxiety
develops when a certain person of group of persons develops a problem with respect to the
communication”. With reference to this, audience anxiety can either be caused by the familiar
faces or unfamiliar individuals. Meeting to new people results to develop audience anxiety but
getting knows each other, feeling comfortable while communication, etc decreases the level of
apprehension. Apart from this Stokoe, (2014), has discussed that “The psychological reaction of

an individual due to the certain situations which may not have a connection with that person or
context is referred as situation anxiety”. Such anxiety develops due to the combination of
audience and context which includes various dimensions and creates a different picture. Thus,
each type of anxiety has its own reason which can be handled and resolved by daily practicing
and using appropriate solutions.
Merckaert, Libert and Razavi, (2017), have said that “The process or action of speaking
among the audience in live mode is called as public speaking”. With reference to it, people need
confidence, self-esteem, and good communication skills while speaking in public. It is not easy
to present themselves in front of an audience as it needs proper planning, analysis, and
preparation. In addition to it Mercer-Mapstone and Matthews, (2017), have demonstrated that
“Glossophobia i.e. speech anxiety represents the fear towards speaking in public”. Some people
possess public speaking phobia regarding speaking in the audience while others have a broader
social phobia. With respect to this Certo, (2018), has identified that “Fear towards speaking in
public includes intense anxiety, avoidance of events, physical distress, nausea, and feeling of
panic, stress, and nervousness”. The causes of glossophobia can be different such as fearful
incident occurred during childhood, traumatic experiences, lack of communication skills, lack of
confidence and many more.
According to the Hoffman, Anderson and Gustafsson, (2014), “The ability to receive and
interpreting the messages properly within the communication process refers to listening”. In
context to this, listening is one of the necessary parts of all effective communication. Without
proper listening ability, messages or information used to misunderstand which results to break
down the communication. On the other hand Weyers and et.al., (2016), have found that “With
the effective listening skills, it is also necessary to have good tolerance for disagreement for
showing interest and representing the opinions”. With reference to this, tolerance for
disagreement includes awareness regarding both verbal and non-verbal information. The ability
of tolerating the disagreement is based upon the degree to which an individual perceives and
understands the messages. Similarly Hashim, (2015) has stated that “Proper techniques in
handling the disagreement at workplaces develop effective relations among the workers and
between the management and staff”. In an organization, it is necessary to disagree wih the views
of others effectively for accomplishing the desired objectives and working effectively.

The interpersonal communication framework represents that, interaction is not only about
talking; it is about enhancing common understanding with the help of conversations. Some
workers need training and time for developing effective communication skills so that they can
communicate fluently in the organization. As per the view of Moore and Morton, (2017),
“Knowledge sharing, relationship management, and team commitment are important for
delivering quality performance and work but it is only possible through proper interaction and
conversation”. With regards to this, every manager looks for strong communication skills while
hiring any new candidate for a certain position in the firm. On the other hand Certo, (2018), has
said that “Communication style and type need to adjust according to the need of the people and
situation both”. Thus, communication plays a major role in understanding messages, delivering
appropriate responses and maintaining relations within the workplace.
Magsamen-Conrad and et.al., (2016), have stated that “While talking about the upward
communication, skill of listening plays an extremely significant role”. In context to this, there are
many situations when management of a firm sends messages downward via business
organization for accomplishing some objectives. Juniors and assistants need to have effective
listening skills for following the orders given by the senior employees or their managers.
Improper listening and communication not only creates error and missed the deadlines but also
leads to cause different workplace problems such as low employee morale, poor job
performance, low quality work, etc. It is the duty of managers to invest sufficient time for
ensuring that the goals of the projects are free of any error and posses proper sharing of ideas and
knowledge. Apart from this Gillis, Morris and Ridgway, (2014), has found that “Employee
communication in an organization is referred as a management tool and motivational force”.
Effective communication includes free flow of ideas, instructions, and sharing of experiences
between the employer and employee. Companies with strong communication leverage the
relationship between employee and manager which leads to enhancing the formal
communication process.
According to the Maatouk-Bürmann and et.al., (2016), “Listening is the medium with the
help of which persons gain a large proportion of their education, information, understanding,
ideas, and sense of values”. In context to this, out of the total time spent on the communication,
40-50% time is taken by listening, 25-30% by speaking, 11- 16% by reading and 9% by writing.

One can answer properly if he or she has listened to the information actively. Thus, listening
skills need to be strong so that, the assistant manager can understand what his or her senior is
saying and wanting.
Continuous interaction and conversations within the workplace develop a positive
working environment and make workers work stress free with full dedication. On the other hand,
social interactions and information sharing among the workers need not be limited to e-mail or
chat rooms. Managers need to schedule group discussions and meetings at the workplace for
discussing the project or work. With regards to this, group meetings will help staff in improving
their communication skills by speaking among all, sharing ideas, showing interest in work, etc.
By presenting themselves among the team members, employees can reduce the fear of social
composure.
Thus, communication plays a very important role in both personal and professional life.
From the above, it is clear that effective interaction is key to get success in the workplace. Both
verbal and non-verbal communication results to create positive, open and stress free working
environment.
After analyzing the two communication problems which need development, I have
created an action for the next 6 months to improve them. The plan is as follows:
Firslty, I will maintain a diary for recording all the necessary information like
communication issues, solutions for overcoming them, issues I am facing while implementing
the solutions, objectives achieved or not, timeframe, etc in it. My personal diary will help me in
managing all the information properly and keeping me on track. It will also reflect my progress
towards development and enhancement of the interpersonal skills. In the end, the diary will
aware me whether I have achieved the desired objective or not, areas in which I have improved,
etc. Secondly, I will join coaching for developing effective public speaking skills. Suggestions
and instructions of the faculty will help me in reducing my fear towards the social composure.
For improving my public speaking skills, I would have to listen carefully to the instructions of
the mentor which will indirectly enhance my listening skills as well. Daily practice of giving
presentation among the other students at coaching and among the family members at home will
reduce my communication apprehension.

Apart from the above solutions, I will read books, articles, magazines, and journals on
public speaking and tolerance for disagreement for reducing the fear and improving
communication skills. I will started showing my opinions and perceptions on the subjects for
developing tolerance for disagreement. On the other hand, I will join training sessions conducted
by Activia Training with respect to the effective communication skills. Proper guidance and
advice will lead to enhancing my verbal communication with respect to the public speaking.
Under this training session, I will also get aware of the body language, non-verbal
communication and other factors which plays an essential role in speaking among the people.
Moreover, this training course of Activia will also improve my ability to change communication
style as per the need and demand of the situation. This training session also helps me in
developing skills for tolerating disagreement.
The feedbacks and reviews of my senior employees at workplace will also help me in
improving my lack points with respect to the communication. Time to time feedback from the
higher authorities or colleagues will aware me whether I have chosen right strategies for
reducing my communication problems or not. The Gantt Chart for my action plan is as follows:
Table 1: Gantt Chart
Action Jun July August September October November
Maintaining
Personal diary
Joining coaching
Reading books,
journals, articles
Daily Practice
Communication
Course
CONCLUSION
From the above, it is concluded that I used five communication diagnostic tools for
analyzing my communication problems. The two issues I have identified are public speaking and
poor tolerance for disagreement. I am facing issues regarding quality of work and performance

due to these examined communication problems. On the other hand, a literature review in the
essay pays attention to the communication apprehension, it s types, verbal communication, and
importance of public speaking and tolerance for disagreement at the workplace. In the end, I
have created an action plan for six months for improving my communication skills by
overcoming the issues.
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