COU101A Interpersonal Communication: Reflective Journal Analysis

This reflective journal chronicles a student's learning journey in an interpersonal communication course (COU101A), spanning eleven weeks. The journal reflects on the application of communication skills in various contexts, drawing on course modules that cover topics such as communication barriers, rapport building, active listening, communication styles, conflict resolution, verbal and non-verbal communication, and cross-cultural communication. The student provides personal experiences and insights, illustrating the practical application of theoretical concepts learned in the course, and how these concepts have helped improve their communication skills in the workplace. Each week's entry reflects on specific topics such as the impact of communication barriers, the importance of rapport, the differences between hearing and listening, the barriers to effective listening, different communication styles, conflict resolution techniques, and the significance of verbal and non-verbal communication. Furthermore, the journal explores the impact of cultural differences on communication and the role of silence and power dynamics in relationships. The student's reflections highlight the practical application of the course material, demonstrating an understanding of how to apply interpersonal communication skills to improve interactions in professional settings.

Running head: INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The effective nature of the interpersonal communication among people is one of the keys
to the establishment of the success, health and happiness that is experienced by the concerned
person. The process of learning is one of the key factors in the establishment of the interpersonal
communication among the employees of the business organization. The activity of listening
within the workplace refers to the conditions where in there is a proper conversation within the
team members who have been serving a single department of the organization. The following
paper attempts a reflection on the various factors that affect the workplace communication. The
paper reflects on the major areas that have been shed light on during the course of study of the
module.
Week 2
The study of the second week has helped me in gaining knowledge about the several
barriers that exist in terms of accomplishment of effective interpersonal communication. The
module has helped me learn about the areas wherefrom the barriers might arise in terms of the
interpersonal communication within the organization. The module further helped me to
understand the ways in which the barriers might be overcome. The module has helped me gain
knowledge on the fact that the effective nature of the interpersonal communication among people
is one of the keys to the establishment of the success, health and happiness that is experienced by
the concerned person. I had experienced an issue in the development of the interpersonal skills
while dealing with the conditions wherein I had to face a miscommunication on the part of my
colleague. The situation had demanded a report of the overall performance to be handed in to our
supervisor within a given stipulated period of time. The colleague had missed the information on
the time constraint thereby leading to a rush in the composition of the report. This situation could

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have been avoided by implementing a proper interpersonal communication by the colleague or
by incorporating the electronic media for communication.
Week 3
The rapport among individuals refer to the connection among the two members of the
organization that is found to be essential in terms of the maintenance of the interpersonal
communication. The rapport refers to the emotional bond that is present among the given
members within an organization which is majorly based on the mutual trust and liking among the
people. The establishment of the rapport among the individuals refer to the establishment of the
better impression on the minds of the conversant. This establishes better interpersonal
relationship among the members of the workplace. I had experienced a similar condition in the
workplace wherein I had developed a great understanding with my colleagues and my
supervisors. This in turn had led to the development of a work environment that involved a better
team work within the department. The buildup of the better rapport within the team had helped
the concerned team to implement a better performance within the organization as well. The
building up of the rapport is one of the key factors that are required for the development of the
interpersonal skills among the concerned individuals working as an organizational team.
Week 4
The process of listening is very different than the process of hearing. The process of
listening refers to the consolidated process of the receipt, the construction of the meaning and the
responses that need to be administered to the various verbal and the non-verbal messages that are
exchanged among the people who have been conversing with each other. The module has also
helped me understand the need of listening in the process of communication. The module has

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helped me gain knowledge on the fact that the process of learning is one of the key factors in the
establishment of the interpersonal communication among the employees of the organization. The
effective nature of the interpersonal communication among people, in turn, is one of the keys to
the establishment of the success, health and happiness that is experienced by the concerned
person. The activity of listening within the workplace refers to the conditions where in there is a
proper conversation within the team members who have been serving a single department of the
organization. This would help in the decision-making activities as well as planning the future
course of action within the department. The proper listening skills also help in the resolution of
the issues that are presented by the employees of the organization as well.
Week 5
The effective listening activities as are generally practiced by the organizations have
certain barriers as well. The listening processes might face barriers at any given point of time
within the process. The major barriers that are presented in the listening process might refer to
the issues in terms of the physical factors, the psychological factors as well as the semantic
factors. The physical barriers include the noisy environment wherein the conversation has been
taking place. The intervention of extreme noise levels within the given organization leads to the
fault in the development of the conversation within the given workplace. The psychological
factors that might lead to the issues that are related to the poor concentration on the part of the
listener, the biasness on the part of the listener who have been involved in the communication
processes. The other barriers that are existent within the given process refer to the factors that
selective hearing on the part of the listener as well as the incorporation of the greater amount of
the information that is communicated among the communicators who have been participating in
the given conversational setup within the workplace.

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Week 6
The communication styles that have been demonstrated by the people within the given
organization help in the revealing the responsiveness that is demonstrated to the people who have
been involved in a communication. The module has helped me learn the fact that people who
have been involved in the communication processes refer to the four different styles of
communication that are maintained within a given organization. The communication that is
followed within the given organizations is evaluated on the basis of the issues that are presented
in the style of the communication. The effective nature of listening within the given organization
might further lead to the development of the proper rapport within the given communicators. The
establishment of the rapport among the individuals refer to the establishment of the better
impression on the minds of the listener. This helps in developing better interpersonal relationship
within the workplace. This in turn had led to the development of a work environment that
involved a better team work within the department. The buildup of the better rapport within the
team had helped the concerned team to implement a better performance of the workforce within
the organization as well.
Week 7
The study in seventh week of the course has helped me to learn about the ways in which
the given organization might deal with the conflicts that arise within the workplaces. The module
has enriched my knowledge on the various factors that are important for the resolution of the
conflicts within the workplace. The organizational conflicts often referred to as the workplace
conflicts refer to the conditions wherein the interpersonal conflicts within the workplace are also
affected in a grave manner. I had experienced an issue in regards to the conflict within the
organization. This had in turn affected the interpersonal skills while dealing with the conditions

5INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
wherein I had to face a miscommunication on the part of my colleague. The situation had
demanded a report of the overall performance to be handed in to our supervisor within a given
stipulated period of time. The colleague had missed the information on the time constraint
thereby leading to a rush in the composition of the report. This situation could have been avoided
by implementing a proper interpersonal communication by the colleague or by incorporating the
electronic media for communication. The resolution of the conflict had helped in the restoration
of the workplace harmony as well.
Week 8
The study of the eighth week had helped me to gain knowledge on the importance of
implementing the proper communication within the organization in terms of the verbal as well as
the non-verbal factors. The module has helped me gain knowledge on the fact that the language
plays a huge role in the development of the required interpersonal skills within the organization.
The employees of the organization should be trained in matters that are related to the
development of the interpersonal skills as well as promote the workplace harmony. The
implementation of the proper language usage lead to the establishment of a proper interpersonal
communication within the organization. I had experienced a similar condition in the workplace
wherein I had developed a great understanding with my colleagues and my supervisors. This in
turn had led to the development of a work environment that involved a better team work within
the department. The establishment of the proper relationships within the work team resulted in
the development of the conditions wherein the communication within the teams were clarified.
The use of proper language assists the development of the interpersonal skills among the
concerned individuals working as an organizational team.
Week 9

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The non-verbal modes of communication within the workplace refer to the use of the
gestures and the body languages in order to communicate within the workplace. The non-verbal
communication within the organization refer to the gestural patterns that are used in the
development of the activities required for the development of the overall performance of the
organization. The non-verbal communication cues that are used within the organization are
culture specific in nature thereby leading to the management of cross-cultural issues within the
organization. The effective nature of the interpersonal communication among people, in turn, is
one of the keys to the establishment of the success, health and happiness that is experienced by
the concerned person. The module has helped me learn about the areas wherefrom the barriers
might arise in terms of the interpersonal communication within the organization. The module
further helped me to understand the ways in which the barriers might be overcome. The
communication that is followed within the given organizations is evaluated on the basis of the
issues that are presented in the style of the communication. The implementation of the non-
verbal communication might also help in the silent communication within the given workplace
as well.
Week 10
This week had helped me to understand the importance of the cross-cultural
communication within the given organization. The module has helped me understand the ways in
which the given organizations might have faced a huge issue in the incorporation of the staff
from the diversified backgrounds. The major culture that we had observed in this module is the
Australian culture and the ways in which the workplace diversity was maintained within the
workplace. The module has helped me learn about the areas wherefrom the barriers might arise
in terms of the cross-cultural interpersonal communication within the organization. The module

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further helped me to understand the ways in which the barriers might be overcome. The module
has helped me gain knowledge on the fact that the effective nature of the cross-cultural
interpersonal communication among people is one of the keys to the establishment of the
success, health and happiness that is experienced by the concerned person. The module has
helped me learn the fact that people who have been involved in the communication processes
refer to the four different styles of communication that are maintained within a given
organization. The communication that is followed within the given organizations is evaluated on
the basis of the issues that are presented in the style of the communication.
Week 11
The eleventh week in the module has helped me to learn more about the importance of
the electronic media in the given workplace communication. The module has helped me learn
more about the issues in the given workplace and the ways in which it would help in the
decision-making and record-keeping within the given organization. The use of the various
electronic media for the proper communication within the organization has led to the conditions
wherein the communicational aspects are documented for future references. The majority of the
communicational issues might be resolved with the help of the references to the documented
communication within the company. There are other aspects to the effective non-verbal
communication as well. The non-verbal communication within the organization refers to the use
of the gestures as well. The proper use of the gestural and the facial expressions for the purpose
of communication within the organization assists the proper communication among the
employees as well as the external stakeholders of the organization. This would help in the
improvement of the overall performance of the organization.
Conclusion

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The study of the course has helped me to gain major knowledge on the importance of the
interpersonal skills within the given organization as well. The course has helped me gain
knowledge on the fact that the effective nature of the interpersonal communication among people
is one of the keys to the establishment of the success, health and happiness that is experienced by
the concerned person. The course has helped me gain further knowledge on the fact that the
process of learning is one of the key factors in the establishment of the interpersonal
communication among the employees of the organization. The course has helped me learn the
fact that people who have been involved in the communication processes refer to the four
different styles of communication that are maintained within a given organization. The study of
the course has helped me to learn majorly about the ways in which the interpersonal skills within
the organization might help in the establishment of a thriving workplace that helps in the proper
functioning of the organization in the international markets.

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