UGB 260 Reflective Essay: Reflection on Personal Communication

This reflective essay explores the personal quality of effective communication as demonstrated through various workshop exercises and module experiences in the UGB 260 Personal & Professional Development module. It defines effective communication, emphasizing clarity, empathy, and understanding, and evaluates its importance in personal and professional contexts. The essay discusses attributes, values, and behavioral preferences underpinning this strength, such as listening ability, clear messaging, and empathy. It also addresses challenges faced during workshop exercises and contradictions experienced, referencing the human relations theory of communication to mitigate these issues. The reflection aims to provide an impartial analysis of the author's communication skills and their impact on relationships and conflict resolution, highlighting the role of effective communication in fostering trust and loyalty within teams.

Assessment

Communication is an important aspect of everyday life, be it personal,
professional and academic. This reflective essay identifies a personal quality of effective
communication which emerged as a part of various workshop and exercises undertaken during
the module. The essay will examine the application and demonstration of this personal quality
across the various module activities and experiences. The personal quality that I consider to be
my strength is effective communication.
Define and describe this quality
Effective communication is defined as the process that involves exchange of ideas,
opinions, thoughts and knowledge to receive a message and understand it in a clear manner. This
comprises of delivering the message to a target audience in a such a manner that it is received
satisfactorily (Coffelt and Smith, 2020). Therefore, effective communication requires an
individual to be clear and complete during a conversation. This requires learning those skills
which assist an individual to exchange information with empathy, clarity and understanding. It
has extreme significance in both personal and professional lives.
Communication takes place in verbal as well as non – verbal forms. It also takes place in
visual, written form and through listening. In addition to this, the communication can be
undertaken in- person or over call or on internet. Communication can be considered to be
effective if it is concise, clear, complete, correct and compassionate (Hargie, Dickson and
Tourish, 2017). These are the 5 C’s of communication that I feel I possess as a strength. While it
is difficult to measure the effectiveness of communication, it cannot be denied that it has a
significant impact.
The concept of reflection comprises of a rational analytical process which is undertaken
for the purpose of extracting knowledge from experience. There are four types of reflection
based on the different modes of thinking. These are situational, deliberate, technological and
dialectical (Van Beveren and et.al., 2018). It can be analysed that by adopting deliberating
thinking mode, the personal quality of effective communication has been chosen for this
reflection. The concept of reflexivity that comprises of continual reflection upon a research
process by a researcher. Using this concept, I reflected upon self to provide an impartial and
effective analysis. By examining own feelings, motives and reactions, I could determine their
influence on my actions with respect to effective communication skills.
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Explanation and evaluation of the quality
Considering the personal quality of effective communication that I possess, it can be
evaluated that this quality is important in both personal and professional field. In personal field, I
feel that effective communication is required to be in close harmony and relationship with the
family members and friends. Similarly, in the professional field, effective communication makes
it possible to achieve difficult tasks by gaining cooperation of colleagues and team members.
However, it can be evaluated that along with communication, other qualities are also required for
excelling in the professional field. Similarly, I feel that effective communication enables one to
pass the desired information in a clear form in which it can be easily understood and correctly
interpreted. In this manner, it helps in avoiding miscommunication and delays. The tasks could
be undertaken in a smooth manner. It can be evaluated that this quality is prime need of every
aspect as communication is required in every field.
The quality of effective communication is a strength for me. This is the quality which
plays a significant role in development of trust. A person communicating in an effective manner
is able to gain trust of people in personal and professional life. In this, this quality is strength as it
helps in development of strong relationships at personal and professional level. For example,
while working with other students during the module activities, I could develop stronger
relationship with them due to the quality of effective communication. Secondly, effective
communication provides strength as it promotes the loyalty of team members. At academic and
professional level, there are various tasks that are accomplished in teams. Gaining loyalty of
team members is essential in such situations. For example, by effectively communicating with
the team members, I found that they were more loyal towards the team goals and tasks.
Thirdly, I feel effective communication is a strength as it helps in resolving issues and
conflicts. Whether performing at personal or professional front, conflict management is
essentially important. Issues and conflict may arise anytime and are sometimes inevitable.
Effective communication helps in resolving the issues. For example, while working in teams
during various activities in the module, I have displayed the quality of effective communication
whenever there was any situation of conflict.
Communication is an appropriate quality which is needed by people to enhance their
personal and professional abilities to achieve better results (Kerr and et.al., 2020). It is helpful in
developing better relationships with people which helps in increasing their trusts towards the
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decisions and practices which are made my them. It has been beneficial for me to enhance my
communication skills as they have provided me to grab better opportunities in the future. With
the help of these skills, I have increased my efficiency in dealing with people and gain their trust
towards me. It facilitates the relationship with other people which is crucial in order to enhance
the quality of work which is produced by me. There are several factors which are crucial in the
communication skills and have a significant impact on my ability to contribute towards my
success.
Attributes, values and behavioral preferences that underpin this strength
Communication plays an important role in the overall development of people at each and
every stage of their life. There are different attributes of effective communication which explains
that how this skill can enhance the performance of an individual in their personal and
professional lives. My listening ability is good which is a crucial characteristic of this skill in
order to gain better. It helps in understanding the real meaning of the messages which are
conveyed by the people in order to gain a better understanding of the difficult topics. I have a
clear and concise way of conveying my messages to people which is helpful in preparing a
positive impact on the listeners. The communication skills are helpful in developing my
confidence to interact with people and get to know about their problems is crucial in order to
gain better advantage in my workplace and personal lives (Gutiérrez-Puertas and et.al., 2020).
The communication skills are crucial for empathizing with people and managing the conflicts
and disagreements which may sometimes arise in them. It is a significant trait which provides
better assistance in engaging with deeper conversations with people and understanding their
needs which are crucial for establishing a better relationship. These certain attributes of
communication have been significant in order to provide me with a better overview to increase
my knowledge about communications skills.
The values of communication are the major principles and aspects that are crucial for an
effective interaction and helps in the overall development of the people. These values provides a
better idea of how to treat people and what are the correct ways to have a positive impact on their
relationship with each other. Flexibility and spontaneity are one of the most important values
which explains that there should be a flexible environment provided for the people to engage in
better conversations. These values have enhanced my skills to understand the needs of people
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and improve their relationships with other people. Equality is another important value which has
helped me to treat people in a similar manner and improve my effectiveness in having a better
impact on their beliefs. With the help of this value, I have been able to improve my
communicating ability and gain a better response from the people. Honesty is one of the most
important value in the communication skills which is useful to remain true to the people and
conduct fair conversations (Claro and et.al., 2018). It helps in achieving better outcome while
communicating with the people that is effective in order to gain better advantage at my
workplace. These values have been significant to gain a better understanding of the way to
communicate with people. It helps to find the different areas which are suitable for me to
increase my efficiency in communicating with people and gaining their trust. I have been able to
increase my efficiency and achieve better results in my professional environment by following
these values which are crucial for effective communication.
Behavioral preferences are referred as different types of action sequences that are
preferred by people to adopt for completing unfamiliar tasks that require much attention from
them to achieve better results. It explains what are the different efforts that are put by individuals
in order to develop certain skills increasing the productivity. The motivation to learn the
communication skills are the behavioral preferences which have been helpful for me to enhance
my performance and understand the concepts effectively (van der Vleuten, van den Eertwegh
and Giroldi, 2019). It is a crucial factor to remain consistent in the learning process and increase
my efforts in acquiring various inputs for gaining knowledge about effective communication.
Analytical thinking is another behavioral preference which helped me to analyze the crucial
aspects of this skill and prepare effective strategies for gaining better knowledge about the
concepts and increasing my interest in the skill development process. These behavioral
preferences have been crucial for me to increase my efforts towards the business and improve the
quality of response which is received by the people (Johari and Jha, 2021). All these aspects have
had a significant contribution in developing my abilities and provide me with certain guidelines
in order to gain better recognition at my workplace. I am able to enhance my performance with
the help of these factors as they are crucial in order to achieve better success at my workplace.
Difficulties and challenges which are faced in the workshop exercises
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I have experienced certain issues and challenges in my learning which had a negative
impact on my overall ability to produce better results and gain benefit in the society. These
challenges have arisen while I was developing the communication skills. At first, I was not able
to reach out to people and start the conversations which had a negative impact on my overall
skill development process. This was a major barrier for me to learn the skill and enhance my
abilities to achieve better quality of output in the industry (Burt and et.al., 2018). I have
experienced various problems in order to clear my doubts as there were many students in the
workshop and the lecturer was not available for everyone. It was not beneficial for me to
understand the concepts clearly and improve my overall skills for gaining a significant advantage
in the skill development process. This challenge was not beneficial in order to remain my interest
in the skill development and created a negative learning environment which is not suitable for
effective learning.
Lack of concentration in the workshop was another barrier which is not beneficial to
achieve appropriate results and improve my efficiency in the business environment to gain better
competitive advantage. With the help of the human relation theory of communication which is an
effective framework that explains that communication among employees at a workplace is
among the most important factor to fulfill their needs. It plays a vital role in reducing the threat
of these challenges and improving the overall productivity to achieve better results. This theory
explains that these issues may be effectively dealt by increasing the efforts by the superiors and
facilitating the communication between people which can improve their communication
(Karasheva and et.al., 2021). With the help of appropriate training and guidance, I will be able to
reduce the negative impact of these issues and increase my effectiveness in the overall
development process.
Contradictions explained from the experiences
There are certain situations where I am not able to communicate with people effectively
which has a negative impact on my ability to improve my performance in the industry. Under
certain conditions, I find myself completely fine in order to convey my thoughts and understand
the feelings of other people. These contradictions may happen due to situational changes which
are to be dealt differently and have a unique impact on the personality. I find it difficult to
communicate my thoughts in front of a group of people as I am not comfortable under that
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environment. This is an aspect which has a negative influence over my development and restricts
me to have an influence over many people. This is a contradiction as I am highly comfortable
when I try to communicate someone in personal and develop a deeper understanding of the
different topics. I find it convenient to connect with people in person, and I am more effective
under this situation which has a positive impact over my ability to perform. I have had various
experiences of getting under-confident or choking when I needed to give any performance or
presentations in front of people. This has been a problem which I will be able to solve with the
help of effective communication as it is highly crucial to increase my confidence to convey my
thoughts properly (Tugtekin and Koc, 2020). With the help of this learning from the workshop, I
will be able to improve my impact on the people and provide better solutions for gaining a
significant advantage in the industry.
This situation has arisen due to my lack of confidence which is important for speaking in
front of people and decreases my ability to have an impact on a wider audience. I have excellent
skills to communicate with people in person, which helps me to gain their better response and
have a positive impact on their personality. These activities are crucial for me to engage the
people towards my ideas and thoughts which is a crucial skill for the overall development. These
experiences may show how these contradictions have an impact on my abilities (Hasanah and
Malik, 2020). The role of these aspects in increasing my overall efficiency to deliver better
results and achieving higher quality of output while communicating with people. My strength to
communicate with people effectively may change in certain situations and have an influence
over my success. The learning from the workshop plays a crucial for enhancing these skills and
improving the overall outcome of my efforts towards the communication skills.
According to the above essay it has been concluded that the communication skills that are
developed me are helpful in order to enhance my ability to connect with people. This skill has
provided me with a better approach towards building relationships with my peers which has been
beneficial in my personal and professional development (Fadli, 2020). These skills have
increased my efficiency in performing under pressure and gaining a better advantage at my
workplace which is crucial in order to grow and achieve better success. With the help of
effective communication, I have been able to enhance my overall outcome which is crucial for
gaining a significant advantage in the future.
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REFERENCES
Journals and Books
Burt, J. and et.al., 2018. The evaluation of physicians’ communication skills from multiple
perspectives. The Annals of Family Medicine. 16(4). pp.330-337.
Claro, M. and et.al., 2018. Teaching in a Digital Environment (TIDE): Defining and measuring
teachers' capacity to develop students' digital information and communication
skills. Computers & Education. 121. pp.162-174.
Coffelt, T.A. and Smith, F.L., 2020. Exemplary and unacceptable workplace communication
skills. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, 83(4), pp.365-384.
Fadli, A., 2020. The Effect of Local Wisdom-Based Elsii Learning Model on the Problem
Solving and Communication Skills of Pre-Service Islamic Teachers. International
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Gutiérrez-Puertas, L. and et.al., 2020. Educational interventions for nursing students to develop
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Johari, S. and Jha, K.N., 2021. Exploring the relationship between construction workers’
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Karasheva, Z. and et.al., 2021. Preparation of future specialists for the formation of educational
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van der Vleuten, C., van den Eertwegh, V. and Giroldi, E., 2019. Assessment of communication
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