BUSN20017 Effective Business Communication: Diagnostic Self-Reflection

This essay presents a diagnostic analysis and self-reflection on personal communication skills, utilizing tools like the Self Perceived Communication Competence Questionnaire, Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension, Non-verbal Immediacy Scale, Tolerance for Disagreement tool, and Talkaholic Scale. The analysis identifies weaknesses in intercultural communication and nonverbal immediacy. Personal incidents are narrated to illustrate these shortcomings, followed by a literature review discussing intercultural communication apprehension and stereotyping. The essay concludes by emphasizing the need to overcome stereotypes and improve nonverbal communication for better social interactions, aiming to create a plan for personal improvement in these areas.

Running head: DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS
DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS
Introduction
The role of communication in the domain of business cannot be undermined. It goes a
long way in helping an individual to interact in the correct manner. The essay will be
highlighting the essential aspects of my communication and will be highlighting various
theoretical as well as practical instances (Cocks et al., 2014). The report shall diagnose and
analyzing the five essential communication tools used by me and help me to identify my areas of
weakness. An individual should always be up for taking up corrective measures I order to
improve their skills. I will be conducting an analysis and a literature review on the same. The last
part of the report will be focusing on an action plan which shall help me to improve my skills.
Diagnosis and Reflection
Analysis of diagnostic tools and Findings
In order to complete the assessment as a part of the coursework and to understand my
weaknesses I decided to take up the help of a diagnostic tool in order to analyze my personal
communication skills. The tools which I made use of are as follows. The Self Perceived
Communication Competence Questionnaire, the Personal Report of Intercultural Communication
Apprehension, the Talkaholic Scale, the Non-verbal Immediacy Scale and lastly the Tolerance
for Disagreement tool. The tools very highly complex in nature and involved a wide variety of
questions relating to my personal capabilities and other related aspects. These tools went a long
way in helping me to understand my shortcomings and guiding me towards the right path
(McNeill et al., 2016).
The first tool I used was the Self Perceived Communication tool. The tool involved a
competence Questionnaire in which I scored quite well. The tool helps in utilization and analysis

2DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS
of the competency of different people. In order to analyze the competency of an individual this
tool goes a long way in understanding the critical aspects of ones character. It states that when
there exist various receivers for a particular set of information, the person who is disseminating
the information reacts in a different manner. The score which I obtained in the given tool was 84
which is fairly high.
The second tool used was the Personal Report of Intercultural Communication
Apprehension. This tool is generally used in order to analyze the manner in which an individual
behaves when interacting with people belonging to other cultures. The score which an individual
receives in the given domain tends to determine his or her easiness around other cultured people
and helps in measuring their interactions based on other individuals. In this given scale I scored
51 which is fairly moderate. Although the score is fine there does exist some scope of
improvement for me in this aspect. Personally I feel that this is indeed a true reflection because I
often feel scared and uncomfortable while interacting with these people who are from a different
culture other than mine.
The third tool which I used for analyzing an interpreting various aspects of my character
was the Non Verbal Immediacy Scale Self Report. The tool helps in the analysis of different
individuals and their indicators with respect to the observation of how they tend to behave in
front of others especially in social gatherings and other such meetings (Utzinger et al., 2015).
The tool takes into consideration different aspects and the scores differ between genders. In this
given tool I got a low score of 80 which reflects that I fear social gatherings and my body
language and facial expressions fail to express my comfort and I may appear to be rude in certain
scenarios (Dwyer, Hogan & Stewart, 2014). I fail at portraying cues about someone and this is a
major weakness in my communication aspect.

3DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS
The fourth tool which I made use of was the Tolerance for Disagreement. The given tool
helps analyzing the control level of an individual when he is face by a situation which does not
work in his favor (Mehrabian, 2017). This tool helps in the measurement of the fact that when a
person is faced by a scenario which is not favorable then what reaction does the person reflect.
This deals with the argumentativeness aspect of an individual and defines the extent to which an
individual would go in order to determine the right and the wrong thing (Marinho et al., 2017).
The ones who are more argumentative in nature have a lower tolerance level then the ones who
have a low argumentative nature. If an individual scores above 46 in this aspect it means that the
person has a high tolerance level. I scored a high 60 in this scale which shows that I am a highly
tolerant individual who has low argumentative skills. I easily agree with others and believe in
peaceful relationships.
The last tool used by me was the Talkaholic scale. The scale tends to measure the habit of
compulsive communication and tends to determine those individuals and their habits who talk
more than others. Although these people make sense when they talk, the general population falls
under the category of below 39. In general the score below 30 is considered to be fairly normal.
In this tool I achieved a score of 16 which is accurate (Knapp, Hall & Horgan, 2013). I believe
in listening more than speaking.
Hence, the results which I obtained from the diagnostic tools were fairly accurate and
true. They went a long way in helping me to identify the different strengths and flaws in my
character. Based on my observation it can be stated that I prefer learning and observing more
than speaking. Furthermore, I feel while uncomfortable around different cultured people but I am
highly tolerant. Lastly, I am extremely conscious about my body language and this tends to have
a negative impact on my image in social gatherings (Laske et al., 2015).

4DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS
I would like to take further measures and would aim to improve myself in these aspects.
Hence, summarizing the above discussion it can be stated that I scored the lowest in these tools
and now my action plan shall be based on these tools and the diagnostics. They are the Non-
Verbal Immediacy Scale and the Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension
Assessment
Two communication issues
The above section assisted me in figuring out the faults in my image and communication
capabilities. The two primary communication issues which I identified were the inability to
interact effectively and gel with individuals who do not belong to my own culture. In situations
where differently cultured people are concerned, I tend to take a step backward instead of taking
a step forward as I believe that I am not fit enough or my linguistic skills are not adequate. I
think that this will hinder my image and thus refrain from this kind of communication. I believe
that this is the situation because the environment in which I have been since childhood greatly
restricts my thinking and makes me fear for the consequences.
The second big problem which was faced by me was the problem of immediacy level
during my interactions with other people. This weakness is a huge reflection of my image in
front of new and previously known people alike. The given aspect measures the manner in which
an individual interacts with people belonging to a different culture than mine or having slightly
different characteristics. I do not feel comfortable while interacting with others and fear
conversations and social gatherings. This flaw has tarnished a large number of my personal and
professional relationships and sabotaged my image regularly.

5DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS
Hence, I would like to improve in these two given aspects.
Reflection on personal incidents
In relation with communication, and my lack of skills in the above mentioned areas, I
would like to narrate certain instances which have taken place in the past and further strengthen
the argument that I am quite weak with respect to the given aspects. These incidents have taken
place in the past and the names and places might be altered for confidentiality. I intendent not
two face such situations in the future and hence, I want to share these incidents for proper
guidance.
A few months back I had gone to Café Nero and was having my daily cup of coffee. On
the table beside me, five men were seated who belonged to a culture which was quite different
from mine. They seemed friendly in nature but I was unable to maintain and conduct further
interaction with them because of my fear in interacting with differently cultured people. For my
coursework I had been reading a book at that time and I observed that these people were talking
about the same book and one of them was stating a point which I completely disagreed with. I
wanted to interrupt but was unable to as my lack of skill hindered me from joining the
conversation and increasing my contacts and skills alike.
The second incident relates to the incident of a party. When I was a fresher I had been
invited to a party. These parties tend to form a major source of formation of different social
groups and this helps us in the future. However dye to my lack of nonverbal immediacy I was
social awkward at the given party and was unable to interact with these different people in a free
manner. I could not maintain an eye contact and my body language was also very poor. The
people in the party assumed that I was quite arrogant and thus they maintained their distance

6DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS
from me. It is due to this fact that I was unable to gel easily with many in the party and my
college.
Review of Literature
This section will be discussing relevancy literature available on books, journals,
newspapers and articles, related to my communication issues. As stated earlier these
communication issues have been identified after considerable analysis of the diagnostic tools
which had been used earlier. The literature sources information from valued sources and would
help in further analysis of the communication issues being faced by me and to identify the
measures for improvement.
Intercultural Communication Apprehension
The Intercultural Communication apprehension can be defined as the fear of
communicating and interacting with people who belong to a different culture. When an
individual comes face to face with another cultured person, then the individual is unable to speak
properly and fears confrontations. They tend to perceive this interaction as a negative aspect or
interaction and thus refrain from these kinds of associations in total (Bennett-Levy & Lee, 2014).
This apprehension is of four major types relating to context, situation, audience and trait. From
this, I suffer from situational apprehension and anxiety which makes me extremely nervous
during the interactions.
Intercultural communication and stereotyping
According to me the reason why I am uncomfortable during my communications and
confrontations with differently cultured people is mainly because of two reasons. The first reason
is the general perception which I possess about them. I believe that, from my childhood I have

7DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS
been raised in a manner such that anyone who belongs to a different culture from mine seems to
be of a particular type especially in the negative light (De Vries, Bakker-Pieper & Oostenveld,
2010). I have stereotyped them accordingly and believe that they may not be someone I would
like to interact with.
According to Shockley-Zalabak (2014), the formation of stereotypes is not correct and
that I need to realize that the times have changed and the social groups these days tend to
comprise of various members from different cultures and I have to overcome this stereotyping
concept of mine in order to be able to improve in the given domain (Samovar et al., 2015).
Hence, for this reason I would like to suggest that I need to keep an open mind and let go
of this stereotype perception about people. The thinking of different individuals remain the same
and it does not depend on the cultures. In order to reduce the negative outcome of my behavior
and to improve I would be required to overcome my fear, be a little less judgmental and interact
with people belonging to different cultures. With this my perception would go through a change
gradually (Knapp, Vangelisti & Caughlin, 2014).
Speaking skills and choice of language
According to Bays et al. (2014), the second reason why people generally are not
comfortable in interacting with people from a different culture is the reason related to speaking
and linguistic barriers. The people who interact among themselves and belong to different
cultures should make use of proper tone and language. If the language is not clear or if the
undertone is unsuitable, the relations might be tampered. It turns out to be quite negative. It is
also important for an individual to understand the language and the culture he is speaking to.
Hence, it is suggested that a prior knowledge of a different culture goes a long way in deciding

8DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS
the success of a person in the given domain (Coombs, 2014). For instance, when I am interacting
with a French man and I have a hang of the language my communication with him will be good.
Hence, linguistic knowledge is a crucial determiner of success in intercultural
relationships. To improve in the domain I can take up a new language course.
Diversity tends to play a key role in any kind of a relationship. As the business
environment has become increasingly competitive, it becomes extremely crucial for an
individual to be able to successfully engage in relationships which are beneficial for the business
and his relationships with differently cultures people are important.
Non Verbal Immediacy
Although spoken language plays a key role in deciding the success of a communication,
it is also relevant to possess skills which are portrayed non verbally. The communication skills
are the most crucial skills an individual requires and the positive reflection of the nonverbal
communication which takes place between two individuals tends to determine positivity between
them and avoid a hostile environment of disagreement.
The immediacy can be described as a situation whereby an individual who gets into an
interactive situation with another individual tends to react in a positive or a negative manner. The
immediacy is believed to give away cues which a person portrays and hence, it is a reflection of
his interest in the interaction which takes place. Immediacy helps to understand the social
presence of an individual. The nonverbal immediacy may be reflected by facial expressions,
body language and mannerism. In scenario, where a person is weak or does not want to engage
in a conversation or interaction he may portray immediacy components which might have the

9DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS
tendency to appear rude or disinterested in general. It tends to have a negative image on the
individual perception.
As per House (2014), to overcome this kind of a communication barrier, it is important
that the given individual, overcomes the sense of consciousness and the conflict which he is
surrounded by and take it easy. Once the consciousness is gone, the person will be able to
interact with others freely and also be able to engage in meaningful social interactions. This can
only be implemented with practice.
Once the immediacy level is improved, an individual will be able to deal in better
relationships with peer groups and elders alike.
Emotional intelligence
The power of emotional intelligence cannot be undermined. Effective communication is
hugely dependent upon the emotional intelligence of an individual and it is a proven fact that an
individual who is able to interact effectively generally has a strong emotional intelligence and
balance. An emotionally intelligent person tends to gel with varied situations and is easily able to
take advantage and be confident.
As analyzed previously I lack in two communicational dimensions which range from
nonverbal immediacy and intercultural communication problem. In the long run, when I would
be entering into the domain of corporate world, I would be requiring to make efficient use of
these skills. In order to improve in these domains, I ace decided to take up some additional
classes which will assist me in improving my skills and perform well. The given section will be
looking into the six month action plan which I have made for my personal development.
Action Plan

10DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS
As observed from the analysis made in the two previous sections, I have serious
communication issues in relation to the different aspects of my personality. These issues are
related to the low ratings in nonverbal immediacy which represents my social presence and
feelings in front of an individual or a social group (Ruesch, Bateson , Pinsker & Combs, 2017).
The nonverbal immediacy has a tendency to tamper relationships. The second shortcoming
which I need to overcome is my sense of fear and lack of confidence when I interact with people
from different background and cultural mindset. Hence, in order to ace it in the corporate world I
would be required to improve these two aspects and be successful. I have formed an action plan
of six months which will then help me to
I have thought over this and I came to the conclusion that I would be required to maintain
a tracker of my activities. A Tracker can be defined as a document preferably made using a
software which goes a long way in helping an individual to improve one’s skill and manage the
time accordingly (House, 2014). I realize that my action plan will not be successful if I do not
make a note of things and for this purpose, it becomes increasingly important for me to form a
plan, take notes and stick to it. Hence, using an excel sheet named Personal progress I will be
forming a document which will be updated regularly, this will also enable me later to analyze my
expected performance and the real one. Furthermore it will also assist in faithful representation
of my activities.
Secondly, I will be requiring to set up a mentor for my tracking procedure. Although I
would be taking down notes on my success and will be maintaining a tracker, I believe that the
presence of a mentor will help me in guidance and goal achievement. For this purpose, I will be
hiring Mr. Jig Holls. Mr. Holls has had prior experience in this domain and will be able to help
me in improving my skills plus guiding me in future endeavors as well.

11DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS
Along with hiring a mentor to assist me I plan to join a language class which will teach
me the basics of all the major languages around the globe. The program will be a 5 month
program which will help me in overcoming the linguistic barriers I possess (Habermas, 2015).
Secondly, I will also be meeting various people in this class with varied backgrounds which shall
go a long way in guiding me for the future. After undertaking the course I will be able to easily
interact with different cultured people.
Alongside, this I will be taking up subscription for a personality development class for a
period of 16 weeks. This shall help me to improve my immediacy skills and make me more
confident for my future endeavors.
The people from the varied background can assist me as well. I will also be attending
different social gatherings and prayer meets with reading classes as well to meet new people and
test the new improved version of myself (Hartman & McCambridge, 2011).The progress which I
will make in the given field will be noted in my tracker and under the guidance of my mentor.
Furthermore, the feedback received from my classmates and teachers will help me in the
measurement of my performance. The Gantt chart given discusses my Action Plan time
distribution.
Activity Month
1
Month
2
Month
3
Month
4
Month
5
Month
6
Tracker Maintenance
Mentor Guidance
Language class program
Personality Development