The Benefits of Using Self Assessment Tools

Question:

Discuss about the Special Edition on Teaching and Learning.

Self assessment tools are often considered as potential weapons in understanding our own skill and competencies and developing different communication traits for uninterrupted business output. These tools help us by making us identify our own capabilities and thereby help us to know where we have to improve so that we can maintain an uninterrupted communication in workplace. Person who has proper communication skills can not only express himself completely getting greater scopes of exposure but will also help to strike a very good conversation with the opposite person thereby leading to development of successful bonding and relationship building. This often leads to developed team work, management of multiculturalism. Individuals with proper communication skills has high levels of reputation as a empathetic and compassionate colleague or leader and is  also capable of handling different critical situations effectively with grace and confidence. Therefore, the essay would help me to use 5 diagnostic tools which will bring out my negative aspects in communication and will in turn help me to search literature helping me to gain ideas about how to overcome the. It will also have action plans which I will follow to reach my goals of developing my communication skills.

Johari window is one of the most important self assessment tolls which help to provide a large amount of information about our own traits in workplace and what others think of us. This tool mainly has four important plots called quadrants. The first one is called the open area which describes the individual trait of me which is known by me and also by others. The second plot is the blind area where the traits I have are known to others but not known to me. The third one is the hidden areas which states of the traits which are known to me but are hidden to the others. The fourth plot is called the unknown area where the traits that I have are neither known by me nor are also known to others. Form the first quadrant I came to know that I have the traits like being hardworking, open minded, organized, caring, challenging, friendly, active and also self assertive. Form the second quadrant I came to know that I am sensitive, sentimental and at the same time lack patience. In the third quadrant, I came to understand that I like to observe things with great concentrations and thoroughly. I also noticed that I am self conscious and like to take up challenges. The fourth quadrant revealed that although I am trustworthy and spontaneous in any communication approaches but lack confidence.

Understanding Communication Traits with Johari Window

The second tool of assessment of my communication style that I have selected is the communication style questionnaire. This is one of the best tolls for an individual to reflect upon the different communication skills, habits as well as skill that he has mastered in the years of his profession and also shows that areas where he needs further improvement. The score displayed by it over gives an insight that how effective the skills are and also helps to know whether they needed any improvement. From this tool, I came to understand that I am coming under the pragmatist group. The individuals of these groups continually try to develop different new ideas so that they can try out different ways to reach goals and objectives. The negative aspect of the members of this group is that they are quite impatient. However, at the same time, they are down to earth and also harbor different sorts of problem solving skills which help them to handle different strenuous situations effectively.

The third toll which can be used here is the assertive questionnaire. This tool is of great importance in helping the individual to reflect his interpersonal skills which help in handling different personal as well as professional issues and developing a proper view point towards it. The questionnaire has mainly 60 questions which needs to be answered in two options such as either “rather no” or in “rather yes”. These answers would then be added in specific columns which in turn will help us to reach the final results. The four main groups under which an individual is allotted after the tests are Manipulation, Aggressive attitude (attack), Passive attitude (flight) and Harmonious assertiveness. To my very little knowledge, I realized that I belong to the category of flight as the graphs respond to mine traits in the flight section only. Avery negative aspect was reflected through it. It made me know that I mainly believe in an escapist manner trying to avoid the critical situation and rather than trying out new strategies to combat the challenges, I try to remain satisfied. This made me realize that I lack patient in my listening skills and also have lack of confidence in feedback giving and receiving skills and also during any conversations with colleagues. However, instead of fighting the issues I tried to avoid the issues which therefore have affected my career largely. Therefore coming under flight category had been just for me.

Reflecting on Communication Style with Communication Style Questionnaire

The fourth tool that I used for the reflection assignment is called the communication skill assessment quiz. This quiz has 25 important questions and is mainly a form of an online test which helps in generating the result after the 25 questions each giving four options are attempted and the submit button is pressed. It immediately provides a result which gives the individual a detailed description of the traits he possesses at an interpersonal level. This test showed that I have issue in my confidence level while communicating mainly in feedback receiving and giving skill. Although I have many positive traits, some negative aspects which was also noted was my impatient approach both in listening and conversation skills.

Another important tool which was also found of importance is the IABC Communication Skills Assessment Tool. This tool is more useful in identifying the barriers while completing assignments set by leaders or managers. This is mainly based on the target and also a priority which are set by supervisors. The individuals need to give themselves score from 1to 5 and thereby try to look for the score in each of the domains. Although good marks were achieved by me in different domains, however I could not do well in the client management domain. The main reason is that I failed to handle my comet confidently and did not take their inputs efficiently for which I was criticized. I had got fewer marks in the priority and target set by leaders. I failed in establishing a proper relation with my clients as I neither heard them properly due to my inpatients and lack of confidence to engage in proper conversations and feedback giving and receiving skills were the main reason.

From the entire discussion, I have identified two important issues in my communication procedures which I need to correct. The first one is my impatient attitude which often creates a barrier in my effective listening skills. I often cut down my colleagues and others halfway or do not listen to them patiently and genuinely for which my performance also gets affected and others develop negative feelings about me as well. Another issue is that I also seem to lack confidence in face to face communication. I often get nervous in providing feedback giving and receiving skills. Therefore in order to be successful in my career and develop my professional attributes I also need to work with my interpersonal communication skills and develop the best attitudes and workplace traits.

Developing Assertiveness with Assertive Questionnaire

The first incidence, which I need to mention, took place during my placement years. I was assigned as a team member of five individuals where my mentor who was an old yet experienced intern described each and every details of the work by calling us individually. However, I was absent on the day and the next day I wanted to know about it. I grew so impatient that without meeting the main leader I went on asking all my colleagues who had different sets of tasks. I grew so confused after hearing the task, I got nervous. Moreover after meeting my leader also I did not hear him patiently for which I missed many important points and cut him short saying I have understood. Ultimately this had a negative effect on my work and my assignment got poor marks.

The second incidence was when I was sent to a meeting with the client where I was representing my company. Although I had prepared myself well and all the important documents with me, I got nervous when I faced the clients. I could not receive their feedbacks effectively and neither could I provide them effective feedback on the suggestions they made on my presentation. I got nervous and my confidence broke down. Moreover I developed complexes thinking that they are developing negative feelings of me which further affected my feedback giving and receiving skills. As a result I missed out on the deal or which my company faced huge losses.

Researchers in their articles have clearly stated that hearing is a form of physical ability but listening is a skill and therefore every individual should have the urge to develop the skill to maximize their boundary of professional development (Arnold, 2016). In simple terms listening skills allow an individual to gather meaning from the speaker’s statements and thereby take interventions accordingly whether to complete a given ask or to develop bonding or understanding between the two stakeholders. Researchers like Purdy and Manning (2015) have stated that an individual who has good listening skills are more productive at work in comparison to those who does not have. An individual always listen to have proper listening skills so that they can better understand the assignments given to them and also develop an idea about what is expected from them by the managers, leaders or employers. The capability to listen as well as to comprehend gives the individuals allowance to build a very strong rapport with the different coworkers and also with clients and managers (Harris, 2017). The employers and managers also tend to develop confidence in the workers. Moreover researcher like Roebuck et al., (2015) is of the opinion that the workers who have very good listening skills are able to maintain a better track record in resolving problems with different types of customers. Moreover they are also of the opinion that workers who listen properly tend to work in a better team based environment. Such individuals will never be a part of miscommunication and hence the work which will be provided by him will rightly fit into the entire task in comparison to those who misunderstand. Many researchers like Knesek (2015) have provided a number of recommendations in their paper about how an individual can develop his skills of listening. The listener should try to make eye contact to the speaker while the later is speaking. This makes the speaker believe that he is properly heard. The listener should also not interrupt the speakers as studies suggest that complete listening to the speakers reduces several of the questions without the need to ask them. Moreover the listeners should also repeat the facts told by the speaker in different words in order to confirm that he had understand it right, it reduces the chance of misunderstanding (Block, 2016). The listener should also control the body language by properly sitting while listening as it implies that the listener is properly providing attention to the speaker. Some of the important aspects that should be avoided are that biasness or prejudices as well as fear, anger and worry should not come in the way of the conversations.

Assessing Interpersonal Communication Skills with Communication Skill Assessment Quiz

Researchers are of the opinion that confidence allows individuals to speak with smartness as well as concisely. Such an individual shows more clarity in his conversations. Professionals who are much confident can communicate much more effectively and can influence their clients by making them believe what they want them to know (Bonnet et al., 2015). Proper confidence helps them to communicate with much ease and hence, can help them to tackle many difficult situations effectively which can never be solved by an individual who lacks confidence. Researchers are of the opinion that stable and clear tone should be harbored by an individual to appear confident and should strictly avoid whispering and stammering while giving feedbacks. This mainly reflects self assurance within the speaker which earns him respect from the opposite person (Deng, Thomas & Trembach, 2014). Confident eye contact is very important while giving and receiving feedback. However it should be remembered that confident eye contact is not persistent stare but an actual meeting of the eyes when an individual speak and make points. An interesting point made by authors Holtzman & Kraft (2016) is that listening to others attentively is also a way of gaining confidence by expanding the view of the worlds and thereby bridging differences between different stakeholders at the same time of demonstrating that an individual view point is strong enough to take in other points of views. Speaking from the heart is one of the importance aspect f gaining confidence while providing feedback and care should be taken that self confidence should never be aggressive both in times of taking and giving feedbacks. A person who is confident in his communication skills can hear what the opposite person is saying, respond to them and also at the same time can maintain their own point of view or can even make compromises to solve real problems. Moreover, learning to use proper humor, expressing gratitude, apologizing when wrong and acknowledging others while giving and receiving feedback will also increase the confined in the individuals making him success in his conversations (Chaou et al., 2017).

The action plan that is to be taken should follow the smart objectives. Smart objectives mean that the goals which would be taken should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely. The two goals that would be set are development of effective listening skill and patience. The other goal would be to develop confidence and also at the same time learn proper feedback receiving and giving skills. To describe them specifically, I should join workshops in the community so that I can attain classes on developing communication skills. I can also attain various discussion forums at the university so that I can receive feedbacks on my development of the skills. I will also reflect on my experiences to understand whether I am developing patience and confidence in my communication. The mentor would help me to identify my drawbacks and will instruct me accordingly. I will also visit the library and read several journal articles to help myself overcome the communication issues and come out victorious. I will also try to go through different communication models given by eminent researchers to help me understand the basic easily. I will also read the books of motivational speakers and thereby learn how perseverance, patience and confidence could be developed in a stepwise manner. The objectives are measurable. I will provide myself with evaluation time during which I will try to reflect on the skills developed and see how much in am being able to change my skills towards betterment. All the initiatives would be measurable as my own efforts would be reflected in my regular professional lives; decrease of any wrong events due to communication issue will measure the success rate that I hope to achieve. The objectives are easily attainable as all the initiatives which are taken are not costly but are affordable by me. Moreover, not any of the initiatives requires extensive permission from authorities or would not also make me miss university classes. Therefore they are attainable and no excess expenditure or excess of heavy timing is required. All the objectives are also relevant s their outcome is associated with betterment of the communication skills. The better is concentrate and work upon the strategies will dedication, the faster these initiatives will provide me with good results. The objectives are also timely that is it would be completed within 6 months.

References:

Arnold, J. (2016). Coaching Skills for Leaders in the Workplace, Revised Edition: How to unlock potential and maximise performance. Hachette UK.

Block, P. (2016). The empowered manager: Positive political skills at work. John Wiley & Sons.

Bonete, S., Calero, M. D., & Fernández-Parra, A. (2015). Group training in interpersonal problem-solving skills for workplace adaptation of adolescents and adults with Asperger syndrome: A preliminary study. Autism, 19(4), 409-420.

Chaou, C. H., Monrouxe, L. V., Chang, L. C., Yu, S. R., Ng, C. J., Lee, C. H., & Chang, Y. C. (2017). Challenges of feedback provision in the workplace: A qualitative study of emergency medicine residents and teachers. Medical Teacher, 1-9.

Deng, L., Thomas, A., & Trembach, S. (2014). Shaping the 21st?century information professional: A convergence of technical and “soft” skills for workplace success. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 51(1), 1-4.

Dima, A. M., & Vasilache, S. (2015). Social network analysis for tacit knowledge management in universities. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 6(4), 856-864.

Griffin, R. W. (2013). Fundamentals of management. Cengage Learning.

Harris, R. (2017). Student research: Embracing diversity for a healthy workplace. Journal of the Australian Traditional-Medicine Society, 23(1), 28.

Henderson, K., & Mathew Byrne, J. (2016). Developing communication and interviewing skills (pp. 1-22). London: Palgrave.

Holtzman, D. M., & Kraft, E. M. (2016). Skills Needed in the Workplace: A Comparison of the Results of Feedback from Representatives of Large and Small Businesses in New Jersey.

Knesek, G. (2015). Creating a feedback-rich workplace environment: Lessons learned over a 35+ year career in human resources. The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 18(3-4), 109.

Othman, Z., Hussin, S., Mushahar, R. H. R., Ali, S. S., Ghani, R. A., & Salleh, H. (2015). Enhancing communication style (Ecoms) in the international working language for academics: How do we do this?. Special Edition on Teaching and Learning in South East Asia, 13(2).

Purdy, M. W., & Manning, L. M. (2015). Listening in the multicultural workplace: A dialogue of theory and practice. International Journal of Listening, 29(1), 1-11.

Roebuck, D., Bell, R. L., Raina, R., & Lee, C. E. C. (2015). The effects of home country, gender, and position on listening behaviors.