Effective Business Communication and Learning

Discuss about the Effective Business Communication and Learning.

Introduction

The diagnostic tools are used in understanding of the personal skills regarding communication process displayed in different circumstances (Cornelissen, 2014). This self-reflection essay would discuss my individual communication style with the help of five diagnostic tools. The diagnostic tools used in this essay are- Assertive Questionnaire, Johari Window, Listening Test, Communication Style Questionnaire and Non-Verbal test.

Diagnostic Tools and Reflection

The diagnostic tools helped me to identify two of the most important communication issues- Aggressive behavior and low self esteem (due to large blind spot in Johari Window). The communication style questionnaire displays that I have aggressive behavior which is often displayed in my personal as well as professional life. I am direct in expressing my desires, needs and views before others. I do not feel awkward in communicating my opinions before others. This kind of communication style is considered as a harmful way of communication (Rosenberg & Chopra, 2015). I do not take the opinion of others into consideration and do not give sufficient importance to what the other person is saying. I make it a point that I win an argument every time I interact with others. This worsens the social anxiety as I get a bad impression from others. The other person views me as a harsh person which is not good in a professional environment. I support myself in a way which is often considered to be inappropriate in a society or professional body. This is because I do not give others the option to speak and hence it may sometimes violate the needs of my opponents. The other person often feels drained out and exhausted after having a conversation with me which deteriorates my impression. This is because I display a moderate high level of aggression in my communication style. This kind of aggressive behavior is often characterized by sarcasm and a harsh tone of voice (D’Errico & Poggi, 2014). This makes me unwanted and people often misunderstand me. There have been instances when I have been criticized for this behavior of mine. There are times when I become impulsive and do not accept the view points of others. This makes me attack the other person, blaming them or criticizing their actions.

My second communication issue is concerned with the low self-esteem. I perceive myself to be inferior and consider that the other person is ahead of me. I am often afraid of the fact that other people would make the fun of me. This is the reason I often try to defend myself in a public domain as I fear seclusion and domination from others. I often feel that there is something wrong with me which becomes a complex situation to handle. I tend to isolate myself from others and speak only when it is absolutely needed. I often suffer from panic attacks which makes me depressed, humiliated and enters in an emotionally unstable situation. This is reflected in my communication style. I often stammer and fail to deliver a complete sentence when I am in an emotionally turbulent situation. I often avoid taking part in activities as I doubt that I may look foolish in front of others. This often led to a situation in which there is destructive kind of relationships involved. There are also some situations in which I feel that I do not have adequate skills, however, others seem to agree with me. There are instances when others say that I have some specific characteristics, however, I am not aware of them. This further creates a gap in the communication process as I lack the amount of confidence that should be displayed.

I perceive that low self-esteem is one of the most important causes of the aggressive communication style that is displayed by me. I am not self-confident and this is the reason that I sometimes display aggressive communication style when dealing in personal or professional life. When speaking in a group, I often feel that others would suppress me and this is the reason of my aggressive approach in the communication style. There are instances when I often do not give others the chance to speak and this is because I fear criticism from my peers and professional circle. The low self confidence is directly related with my communication style and I am constantly in a fear of getting insulted from others. I often forget which words to be used in order to complete a particular sentence. This is because of my low self confidence.

The communication issues that have been identified by me are being displayed in my professional environment. In two professional interactions, I have demonstrated the aggressive communication style and low self esteem. In the first instance, I had to interact with some foreign delegates in a meeting. I was apprehensive about the fact that they are more superior to me and may be more knowledgeable than I am. This made me to display the aggressive style of communication. I did not give the delegates an opportunity to speak and this offended them. I was also loud and outspoken and did not pay attention to their words. This made me feel that they would not be able to suppress me. However, this act was condemned by my seniors and the senior management warned me not to repeat such an incident. In the second instance, I was engaged in a negotiation meeting with a client. He was very good communicator and was able to place his viewpoint quite confidently. This made me feel nervous and I suffered from lack of self-confidence at that moment. This made me unable to communicate freely with him. I was supposed to negotiate prices with him; however, I failed to do so. This made my company suffer a financial loss which made me vulnerable before the management.

The analysis of low self esteem was done with the help of Johari window analysis. I displayed a fairly large blind spot area in which there were essential skills used in communication process such as nervous, dependable and helpful. This implies that I am not aware that I possess these skills, however, other persons are aware of them.

These evidences support the need of personal communication development. It is important to maintain adequate amount of confidence when dealing in a professional environment. This would make it possible for me to accomplish important management tasks from an organizational point of view. I should be able to communicate my ideas freely to others which would be done in the best interest of my organization. I must also control my aggression when interacting with others. If I am polite with others and give chances of speaking to others, then my communication style would surely be appreciated. I would also improve my listening skills and pay attention to what the other person is saying. This would imply that I give respect to others which would also improve my self-image.

Literature Review

The aggressive communication is considered with the individuals expressing their opinions as well as feelings in a manner that violates other’s rights (Linvill, Mazer & Boatwright, 2016). One can also argue that the aggressive communicators are often violent in their behavior. These kinds of skills are often caused by a low self-esteem of the individuals. There may be incidences of emotional abuse or physical abuse in the past, which may cause aggressive communication style in the individuals (Maiuro, 2015). There may be instances when an individual has witnessed powerlessness and there can be emotional turbulences which may cause the individual to display aggressive style of communication.

These kinds of individuals often try to dominate the other persons present in the group. They often try to humiliate others so that they can have control on them (Linvill, Mazer & Boatwright, 2016). This often becomes impulsive when communicating in a professional environment. The persons who display aggressive communication style display low tolerance of frustration and this is the reason they openly try to convey their feelings (Low & Day, 2015). This also makes them to speak in loud and demanding voice which is unacceptable in the workplace (Linvill, Mazer & Boatwright, 2016). The aggressive communicators do not pay attention to the viewpoints of others and this causes them to interrupt in the conversations involving other persons.

The impact of the aggressive communication style is that the concerned person becomes separate from others (Edward et al., 2014). These kinds of individuals distance themselves from the group and they tend to create an invisible barrier between themselves and others. They often generate fear as well as hatred among the group members (Linvill, Mazer & Boatwright, 2016). This kind of individuals often tends to blame others instead of listening to their concerns. Such individuals are unable to concentrate on what the other person is saying or trying to convey.

One theory of aggressive communication states that the study of interpersonal behavior is often considered to be aggressive if there is application of physical force or the tendency to dominate others (Dainton & Zelley, 2014). The central idea of this kind of interpersonal communication is that it can affect a variety of materials such as body of person, material possessions, behavior, self-concept and others (Sollitto & Cranmer, 2015). It is important to make distinction between the symbolic and physical aggression. The physical aggression is concerned with the physical involvement for the application of force to another person (Dainton & Zelley, 2014). The symbolic aggression is concerned with the use of words or the non-verbal behaviors towards others. The two dimensions of the responsiveness and assertiveness are crucial parameters of the communication competence. This has helped the researcher to measure the assertive nature of the personality. As opined by (Avtgis, 2016), the aggressive communication style comprises of the argumentative behavior which is often considered as constructive communication trait. However, Honeycutt and Wright (2016), argues that aggressive teasing is considered as a destructive communication trait. This is being measured by “18-item Teasing Communication Scale” which identifies various dimensions of teasing such as aggressive as well as affectionate teasing (Lewis et al., 2016).  

There can be also being other forms of aggressive communication such as maledictions, threats and non-verbal aggression. The maledictions are the process of sending verbally aggressive to a person intended for the purpose of causing harm to the other person (Aloia & Solomon, 2016). This process has different manifestations in different cultures. The threat is another form of verbal aggressive communication which is used for the purpose of inflicting pain in someone (Dainton & Zelley, 2014). The pain can be psychological or physical or any other form of hurt to the other person. The non-verbal aggression is also considered as one of the most important components of the verbal aggression process (Bosse & Provoost, 2014). The non-verbal aggressive communication comprises of the gestures or postures which are not dependant on speech. It can range from any aggressive cultural emblem, sticking out of the “tongue”, shaking fist in front of others, crinkling of the nose in a particular situation and others.

The self esteem can be defined as the value of an individual as perceived by him (Baumeister, 2013). The low self esteem is usually concerned with lower grade of value which an individual places for himself. The self esteem often affects the trust factor in others and is also detrimental in professional as well as personal communication. According to Fennell, (2016) this phenomenon can be compared to a detrimental condition in which the individuals are unable to attend their full potential (Bosse & Provoost, 2014). A person who has low self confidence would feel incapable, unworthy and incompetent at times. There are several signs of the low self confidence such as negative view regarding life, blaming tendency, mistrusting others, dependence on others and the feeling of being ridiculed in a group.       

Johari Window is one of the most important psychological tools that are used to diagnose the most important factors required in the communication process (Saxena, 2015). It is also used in the self-awareness as well as personal development methods. It is used to improve the communications of the individuals.

The Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs included the component of “self-esteem” in his pyramid of needs and considered it as one of the basic human needs (Lester, 2013). It is also one of the most important factors for improving the motivation of the individuals. A low level of motivation would imply that there would be lower self-esteem of the individuals.

There are certain interpersonal skills that need to be acquired for improving the detected self-communication issues. It is important to gain control of oneself so that an individual is not critical of himself (Bernstein & Trimm, 2016). An individual should try to relax and allow time for himself. The individual should try to improve his own motivation levels so that there is an increase in the self-confidence (Cheruvelil et al., 2014). It is also important to channelize the tension in a positive manner. It is important to be assertive when an individual suffers from low self-esteem (Bernstein & Trimm, 2016). It is also important to have a balanced approach when communicating the viewpoints. It is highly advisable to avoid aggression in the discussion and instead put the points in a polite manner.

Action Plan

It is important to devise a suitable action plan that would address the identified communication issues-

• Enrollment in “anger management” classes which would helpful in controlling the aggressive communication style
• Create personal journals recording the incidences of personal aggressive communication styles
• Engage in meditation and deep breathing
• Watching motivation videos which would increase the morale
• Interact with an industry leaders who would be able to provide motivation
• Practice controlling of aggression and opt for amicable conversation style
• Congratulate myself for the jobs well done
• Incorporate positive feelings such as – “I am likeable and lovable”, “Others respect me”, “Life is treating me good” and so on
• Stop comparing myself with others
• Inculcate hobbies and pursue them in leisure time
• Create a professional circle with supportive people

PLAN	1st month	2nd month	3rd month	4th month	5th month	6th month
Enrollment in “anger management” classes
Create personal journals
Engage in meditation and deep breathing
Watching motivation videos
Interact with an industry leaders
Practice controlling of aggression
Congratulate myself
Incorporate positive feelings
Stop comparing myself with others
Inculcate hobbies
Create a professional circle with supportive people

Fig: Timelines for implementing action plan

Source: Created by author

Conclusion

The actual implementation of the action plan should be done and the outcomes should be evaluated properly. It is important to devise suitable “self evaluation” plan which would determine my improvement of the communication skills. It is also important to focus on the blind spot and try to improve my communication skills. This self-reflection essay has analyzed my own communication issues such as aggressive communication style and low self-esteem. It is extremely important to resolve these two issues. This would make me excel in my professional area as well as improve interpersonal relationships.

References

Aloia, L. S., & Solomon, D. H. (2016). Emotions associated with verbal aggression expression and suppression. Western Journal of Communication, 80(1), 3-20.

Avtgis, T. A. (2016). 11 Instructor Use of Aggressive Communication. Communication and Learning, 16, 259.

Baumeister, R. F. (Ed.). (2013). Self-esteem: The puzzle of low self-regard. Springer Science & Business Media.

Bernstein, C., & Trimm, L. (2016). The impact of workplace bullying on individual wellbeing: the moderating role of coping: original research. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 14(1), 1-12.

Bosse, T., & Provoost, S. (2014, June). Towards aggression de-escalation training with virtual agents: a computational model. In International Conference on Learning and Collaboration Technologies (pp. 375-387). Springer International Publishing.

Cheruvelil, K. S., Soranno, P. A., Weathers, K. C., Hanson, P. C., Goring, S. J., Filstrup, C. T., & Read, E. K. (2014). Creating and maintaining high?performing collaborative research teams: the importance of diversity and interpersonal skills. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 12(1), 31-38.

Cornelissen, J. (2014). Corporate communication: A guide to theory and practice. Sage.

D’Errico, F., & Poggi, I. (2014). Acidity. The hidden face of conflictual and stressful situations. Cognitive Computation, 6(4), 661-676.

Dainton, M., & Zelley, E. D. (2014). Applying communication theory for professional life: A practical introduction. Sage publications.

Edward, K. L., Ousey, K., Warelow, P., & Lui, S. (2014). Nursing and aggression in the workplace: a systematic review. British Journal of Nursing, 23(12), 653-659.

Fennell, M. (2016). Overcoming low self-esteem: A self-help guide using cognitive behavioral techniques. Hachette UK.

Honeycutt, J. M., & Wright, C. (2016). Predicting Affectionate and Aggressive Teasing Motivation on the Basis of Self-Esteem and Imagined Interactions With the Teasing Victim. Southern Communication Journal, 1-12.

Lester, D. (2013). Measuring Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Psychological Reports, 113(1), 15-17.

Lewis, B. A., Patton, E., Freebairn, L., Tag, J., Iyengar, S. K., Stein, C. M., & Taylor, H. G. (2016). Psychosocial co-morbidities in adolescents and adults with histories of communication disorders. Journal of communication disorders, 61, 60-70.

Linvill, D. L., Mazer, J. P., & Boatwright, B. C. (2016). Need for cognition as a mediating variable between aggressive communication traits and tolerance for disagreement. Communication Research Reports, 33(4), 363-369.

Low, K., & Day, A. (2015). Toward a clinically meaningful taxonomy of violent offenders: the role of anger and thinking styles. Journal of interpersonal violence, 0886260515586365.

Maiuro, R. (Ed.). (2015). Perspectives on Verbal and Psychological Abuse. Springer Publishing Company.

Rosenberg, M., & Chopra, D. (2015). Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships. PuddleDancer Press.

Saxena, P. (2015). JOHARI WINDOW: An Effective Model for Improving Interpersonal Communication and Managerial Effectiveness. SIT Journal of Management, 5(2), 134-146.

Sollitto, M., & Cranmer, G. A. (2015). The Relationship Between Aggressive Communication Traits and Organizational Assimilation. International Journal of Business Communication, 2329488415613339.