Tools for Diagnosing Communication Issues

Communication is one of the most important qualities that are needed in a person to succeed in any field. People with good communication skills have the ability create a mark among those who encounter the person by any means (Argenti, 2015). The aim of this report is to provide an in depth analysis of my communication style in the workplace. This will be done using five tools that diagnose communication issues. After diagnosis shall be done, the report will put forth two major communication issues that I have and a literature review will be conducted on the communication issues. The last section will offer an action plan that will help my communication style and will remove the issues that were previously detected with the help of those diagnostic tools.

Five communication diagnostic tools

For an organization to run effectively and successfully, an efficient workplace communication is very essential. To maintain a healthy morale in the workplace, employees must communicate correctly with each other (Zhang & Venkatesh, 2013). In the report five tools will be used to diagnose communication issues, they are- Self Perceived Communication Competence scale (SPCC), Personal report of Intellectual communication Apprehension (PRICA), Non-Verbal Immediacy Scale-Self report, Personal report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA) and Talkaholic Scale.

Self-Perceived Communication Competence scale (SPCC)

The SPCC scale was formulated to gain information about the extent to which people feel themselves to able to communicate in various contexts and with a wide range of receivers (Croucher, 2013). This scale allows the respondents to define their competence areas in communication. The perceived ability of the one who communicates is more important than that of the outsider hence the respondent plays an active role in this tool for measuring communication competence. The tool measures the willingness of an individual to communicate or initiate a communication (Ziegele & Reinecke, 2017). A 12-item scale that assesses the competence of the communicator is the SPCC. It is often found that a person can communicate in a certain situation in a certain way but the style changes as soon as the situation or environment is switched. The SPCC evaluates this difference and brings out the level of comfort an individual has in communicating with people in various contexts.

Personal report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension (PRICA)

This test measures the apprehension that an individual faces while communicating with people from other groups. The intercultural communication at the workplace needs to be effective while working in an organization because in this modern day, people from various communities are joining an organization and if the members do not communicate with each other then it will be lead to miscommunication and people will start having differences between them (Neuliep, 2017). The PRICA measures that to what extent a person is fearless in communicating with a person from a different cultural or ethnic group.

Self Perceived Communication Competence scale (SPCC)

Non-verbal immediacy scale-self report

Nonverbal Immediacy is a term used to portray the practices used to flag constructive emotions towards someone else. The Nonverbal Immediacy Scale measures singular contrasts in articulation of nonverbal promptness (Manusov, 2014). The test includes the various body language and instincts that are followed by a person while communicating. The non-verbal cues allow understanding the nature of the person and the level of comfort that one feels while communicating with another person (Beattie & Ellis, 2017). The non-verbal cues differ with the nature of relationship one share with the other person with whom the communication is being held.  

Personal report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA)

The aim of this test is to understand the extent to which an individual is apprehensive and anxious when it comes to public speaking. The test puts forwards 34 statements that are to be marked by the individual as apt or not for them in respect to giving a public speech or presentation. Every individual has this problem with public speaking that they feel nervous and anxious but they conquer it and emerge as successful speakers in life. The test clearly marks out the areas of concern for an individual so that they can work on it and reduce their inability at delivering an efficient public speech (Leary, 2013). The level of anxiety that a person faces while giving a public speech can be assessed perfectly using this tool as it covers all the areas that are required to understand the fears if an individual in public speaking. 

Talkaholic scale

According to Worthington (2017), the talkaholic scale is a measure that analyzes the nature of people who are unable to control their urge to speak even in situation that does not require their words. These are compulsive communicators and they have the nature to speak and interact to the maximum extent. The tool helps in understanding that whether a person is a compulsive speaker or not.

Findings from Self-perceived Communication Competence Scale (SPCC): The  results of SPCC show that I have a problem in interacting with people who are strangers to me and I cannot effectively pitch an idea to them. My total SPCC score is 51.6 which is low and shows that my communication skills need some correction. The test focuses on the issue of communicating with strangers as my main concern for improvement. Score for friends and acquaintance stands at 70 whereas the same score goes down to 15 when I’m faced with strangers. I do hesitate to pass on my idea to a group that is completely unknown to me and my expression is constricted due to this reason. My communication abilities are limited to a comfort zone and this creates problem in me communicating with random individuals in my work place or any immediate environment.

Personal report of Intellectual communication Apprehension (PRICA)

Findings from Personal report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension: The findings of the test show that my intercultural communication skills are high and I can interact with people from differing cultural background. The score is 56 which reflects that my communication with such people who have different ethnic or cultural background is quite good and I do not practice segmentation based on the lines of culture. If the person is someone with whom I can communicate with ease then it does not matter that the individual is from a different background. Mixing with people from different background only allows knowing more about the different worldview that are prevalent (Liu, Volcic & Gallois, 2014).  

Findings from Non-verbal Immediacy scale-self Report: The test results show that my behavioral acceptance is quite low and this leads to people taking me for being an Introvert and someone with high ego. Score for this test is 56 which is very low and the reason is that I cannot effectively showcase my body language to people and this leads to people being repelled from me. According to Siegman (2014), lack of proper eye contact with the other person often leads to that person believing that an individual is not interested in the conversation.

Findings from Personal report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA): The results from this test show that I have a high level of anxiety when it comes to presenting a speech in public. The test has 34 statements that test an individual if there is any fear of public speaking or not. I agreed to most of the statements that had mentions of nervousness, anxiety, confusion and sweating before a public speech. The results hence show that I lack confidence in communicating with people on a larger scale. The anxiety takes over me and derails me completely of my thoughts and things become haphazard in my speech. I avoid such speeches and whenever I am faced with such situation, I lose track of all sanity.

Findings from the talkaholic scale: This test shows that I am not someone who is a compulsive communicator. My score is 13 which is very low and according to the test results it is clear that I speak very less and this is negative for me because there are times when I need to speak I remain silent and many opportunities slip away from my hand. My lack of confidence for face-to-face communication leads to me being silent and missing out on opportunities that could benefit me and help me create a better prospect for myself. The inability to speak at crucial stages due to inner constraints is a big disadvantage and the test rightly points out that fact with the results.  

Non-Verbal Immediacy Scale-Self report

After taking the tests, I figured out some issues that I have in my communicating with others. The first one is that I have low self-confidence when it comes to having direct face-to-face conversation with people. This prevents me from clearly sharing my ideas with people and then it leads into people having negative ideas about me. The second issue that I have is that of being an introvert. I prefer being away from the focus of people and this leads to people thinking that I have a big ego which stops me from participating along with everyone.

A week back, I was assigned to do a presentation in front of two new clients at my workplace. The presentation went very bad and I could not look into their eyes and explain the entire idea of the project. I was so down with my self-confidence that every time I started talking and my eyes met with theirs, I stopped midways and lost track of my speech. The stage freight that I have prevents me from successfully performing any presentation in front of an audience. Another scenario that took place was in the last month when the entire office was getting ready for an in-house talent event. Everyone was performing and so did I  but due to my introvert attitude, I did not walk up and submit my name in any of the events and this lead to people believing that I had an ego that was unbearable and hence they never asked me for participation. 

Introvert

An introvert is a person who seemingly derives pleasure from being alone and feels at unease when present in a stimulating environment like a social function or an office gathering. It is seen that a person is not completely introvert or even a complete extrovert but it depends on the situations and individual preferences (Al-Dujaily, Kim & Ryu, 2013). People believe that individuals who are introverts are actually cold in nature and prefer to stay aloof from everything. For introverts the outside world feels like a threat and a force that torments their mental process and hence they prefer avoiding them. These people are in constant introspection of the self and derive pleasure from it rather than mixing up people. Often introverts are referred to as depressed people, but this is a misconception that people bear in their mind. Depression is something that results from being emotionally strained or alone (Gilbert, 2016). Introverts are not emotionally strained and they enjoy being alone and keeping things to themselves. People who are introverts take longer time to process their thoughts and have deeper thinking process as compared to those who are extroverts. Having such a problem in the communication skill can lead to serious issues in the workplace, as people will feel that the person is cold, has a lot of ego, and hence avoids talking or mixing up with people.

Personal report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA)

Lack of confidence in face-to-face communication

Confidence is a factor that has its roots in the trust that a person puts in the self. Face-to-face communication is the oldest form of communication and it is essential that people are well versed with it. The first and foremost kind of communication that a man makes with his immediate surrounding is the face-to-face communication (Pierce, 2009). Every impression that a person leaves is mostly based on that communication. When two people are communicating for the first time in the workplace, a simple greeting from either side can act as a complete icebreaker and lead to many more conversation and a better overall environment of work. In this kind of communication, the sender and receiver are both face-to-face and hence it is regarded as the most effective means of communication. Confidence plays a major role for such communication to take place because people often have apprehensions when they approach new people or are in a new environment (Klein et al., 2017). In workplace communication, people have to be fearless and free from any kind of anxiety so that they can freely communicate with people and create a better rapport. When it comes to giving presentation to the clients, this self-confidence is very much an essential part that will enable an individual to clearly present an idea or a project to the clients and also make sure that the communication remains a two way process. The person communicating must trust on the words that leaves his mouth, the more the trust will be, the higher the confidence will be (Van Der Roest, Kleiner & Kleiner, 2015).

Theoretical perspectives of communication

The theoretical perspectives of communication are as follows-

Mechanical- The mechanical perspective regards communication as a completely mechanical process that includes transfer of information between the sender and receiver.

Psychological- According to Liu (2014), in this approach, communication is referred to as a process that not only transmits information but it also enables the flow of emotions and thoughts between the sender and the receiver.

Societal- In this perspective, communication is referred to as the process that takes place due to content. It is basically a result of the interpersonal communication that is prevalent in the society. People living in a society will eventually communicate with each other due to some personal need or some common need and hence communication will take place.

Systematical- Communication is referred to as a piece of information that people create according to their own perspectives and hence interpret according to their own style and understanding.

Talkaholic Scale

Shannon and Weaver

Shannon and Weaver proposed one of the foremost models of communication that includes a sender, receiver and a channel (McQuail & Windahl, 2015). According to the model, a piece of information is transmitted from a sender to a receiver through a channel. The channel in workplace communication is the language that is used to communicate. The model mentions of an interesting concept that is termed as ‘noise’. ‘Noise’ refers to the disruptions that take place in the communication process due to certain things. In workplace communication, ‘noise’ can be the psychological bondage that an individual may have in connecting with another person (Brumm, 2013). The introvert attitude of a person can be a noise that will disrupt the entire communication process and lead to ineffective communication. The problem according to the model remains in understanding how the message that is sent will be decoded. A weak communicator at any end may lead to a complete wrong understanding of the content and hence the desired reaction may not be generated (Baecker, 2013)

 

Figure 1: Shanon-Weaver Model of Communication

Source: (“Shannon and Weaver Model of Communication”, 2018) 

The profounder of this model, Wilbur Schramm proposed that communication is a two way process and both the sender and receiver sends and receives messages in turns. Every sender encodes messages and then sends it to the receiver and then the receiver decodes it (Watson & Hill, 2015). This model is known to be adapted from Osgood and hence it is known as the Osgood and Schramm Model of communication. It is commonly referred to as the Encode-Decode Model of Communication. The components of this theory are-

• Sender or the transmitter is the one who transmits the message.
• Encoder- The person who coverts the information into codes and enables it to be transferred to the receiver.
• Interpreter is the receiver of the message who tries to decode the message and understand the information that has been coded into the message.
• Message- It is the information that is being sent from the sender to the receiver.
• Feedback- It is a very essential feature of this model of communication. A communication that generates no feedback may well be taken as an unsuccessful communication process. It is a response to the message that has been received. Low feedback results to people communicating lesser and falling apart from each other.
• Noise- The various interferences that are caused in the communication process are known as noise and this noise can result to the communication process to being disrupted and left incomplete.
• Medium- The medium is the media that is used to transfer the message or information from the sender to the receiver.

 

Fig 2- Schramm’s model of communication

Source- (“Schramm’s Model of Communication | Businesstopia”, 2018)

The idea of noise in communication needs to be understood in order to know the various implications that restrict an individual to communicate freely with others. Noise in communication is anything that acts as a barrier to the entire communication process and disrupts the cycle of communication. Noise can be both external and internal in nature. External noises are the influences that disrupt the sending and receiving of messages between the sender and receiver. The external influences can range from natural causes such as weather issues to problems relating to the location or even loud noises from the surrounding environment. The internal influences are the ones that restrict an individual from communicating with the other and this comes from within the sender or the receiver. A form of noise is known as the psychological noise and this kind of noise is about the bondage that people have in their psychology and hence feel restricted to communicate with others. The psychological noise comes from within the two constants involved in the communication process. The mental setup and certain apprehensions on the part of either sender of receiver constitutes this problem and lead to inefficiency in the communication process. The way a person perceives himself and the other around him constitutes the majority of the problems that arise in the psychological noise section (McCabe & Timmins, 2013).

Findings from Diagnostic Tools

Triandis’ theory of Interpersonal Behavior

Harry Triandis developed a theory of interpersonal communication, which suggested that an individual’s behavior is much depended on various social factors and emotions (Argyle, 2013). It is highly influenced by the kind of past behavior that person has faced. A person is a reflection of the past behavior that was put against him at various stages of life. Habits play a major role in the behavior of a person because habits are reflect the thought process of that individual. Societal norms that prescribe an individual’s behavior and action are the factors that assign roles to the person concerned and he is expected to behave in that certain way (Montano & Kasprzyk, 2015). Any response that an individual generates to a situation is caused due to the various factors that surround that person; one or the other factor that has been mentioned in this theory always influences that person’s decision (Shockley-Zalabak, 2014). 

In order to succeed in my workplace, it is extremely essential for me to raise the bar of my communication skills. In a period of 4 months from now, I wish to follow a strict action plan that will allow self-confidence to grow and bring me out of a shell that engulfs me when I prepare for a face-to-face conversation. My introvert response to all gestures will be reduced after these 4 months if I can stick to the plan.

Short-term courses

Self-development and improvement of the behavioral aspects of an individual has numerous short-term courses that can be taken up to improve the communication skills. These courses are both in online and offline streams and they are not high priced (Chen, 2014). The online courses start from as low as $9. I will take up a course on personal development and another short course on behavioral therapy. These will help me working out with the various flaws that I have in myself and hence start communicating at the workplace and other situations in a better way.

Taking up post graduation course in communication

I plan to take up a postgraduate course in communication; this will lead me to fight the fears that I have in public communications. These courses enable students to gain a practical experience of the public sphere where an individual has to face the audience every day. The fear of public speaking is reduced and the course creates room for multiple public presentations that reduce the fear and induce self-confidence in the person (Bovée & Thill, 2013). The course creates a scope for all round development of the communication skills of an individual and develops the same largely.

Action Plan to Improve Communication Skills

Reading plan

I plan to read certain books that are recommended for self-help and self-development. Proper reading list allows development of the self and enhancement of the communication skills. I plan to read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People a book by Stephen R. Covey. It is a self help book and it contains certain fundamental principles and ideas that should be followed to ensure success in life. The other book that I wish to read is The Art of Public Speaking authored by Dale Carnegie. This book will provide much-needed tips to boost my self-confidence and improve my public speaking abilities. My lack of confidence results in the failure of delivering a presentation or speech in front of a wide audience and this read will help me enhancing the skills needed to perform better in such situations.

Maintaining a self-journal

Such journal will help me to keep a track of the progress that I have achieved in pursuance of my action plan. I will update the journal every night to keep track of the process that I will be following every day to upgrade my communication skills. 

Mirror sessions

Practicing speeches and presentations in front of the mirror will help me in being confident about my style of communication. I can work on improving my body language in front of the mirror so that when I use it in the practical field, it comes out as pitch perfect.  

Communicate with people

 I will communicate with people and remove myself from the shell that I have been living in. My apprehensive attitude should be removed and communicating with more number of people will lead me to being free in interacting with others. If my communication approach is negated by anyone then I will not take it personally but continue to communicate with others so that my introvert attitude is removed.

Activities	Week 1	Week 3	Week 5	Week 8	Week 12	Week 16
Maintaining journal	?
Start reading book		?
Take short communication courses			?
Mirror sessions				?
Search on communication course on Post graduation					?
Start implementing on personal and professional life						?

Table 1: Gantt chart

(Source: Self-developed)

Conclusion

The reflective analysis on my communication skills helped me in getting a better idea of the parts in which I need to work and improve. The tools allowed me to understand the flaws that I have within me and brought light to the issue of me being an introvert and the lack of self-confidence for public speaking or fact-to-face communication. The literature review provided the theoretical aspects that are to be noted in about my incompetency in communicating effectively in the workplace. After a thorough study, pursuance of the action plan will help in evolving me into a better communicator. Moreover, it is a fact that poor communication skills will always deter professional growth hence improving them is the only option left to attain growth in career.  

Reference list

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