Self Reflection of Unit about Communication - Coursework Example

Self Reflection Assessment (Due 8th June 2012 at 5pm) [Unit Name and Code] [Your Name] [Student Number] [Unit Completion Date] Introduction This unit was about communication. However, it extended its coverage by looking at various aspects that affect communication such as technology and the role of communication in teamwork in an organizational context. In the wider perspective, this used seek to address how communication can be use to address issues of conflict in organization, make good verbal and nonverbal presentations and finally how it can be used to help deliver both negative and positive messages in both within and outside the organizational context. In general, this unit was purposed at helping the student develop various competencies that are important in working in a organizational setting. Task(s) Tasks undertaken During the unit, I was involved a number of tasks which included attending weekly class lecture, working on both individual and group assignments, attending other workshops and seminars that are related to this unit. Finally, my participation was in the task of preparing a poster to help communicate to the public about violation of communication privacy and security. This project was done in a group of four. Learning activities Week 1 Started with the history of business communication We were exposed to a variety of theory, such as, interpersonal communication, emotional intelligence in communication, verbal and nonverbal communication and the various strategies that can be used to make communication an effective tool in an organizational setting. I read chapter 1 of the book Oehler (2000), which explained in detail the various skills such as conceptual, human, technical and political skills that are important in making the manager competent in his roles. I also read that in the modern society communication is being influenced with the persistent change in technology. In summary during week one I learnt that human skills are important at all levels of management. Week 2 Started with the introduction of the concept of teamwork. During this week were exposed into details of teamwork, its importance to the business, the role of the team leader and the existence and management of conflicts. I read chapter 4 of the book Avenhaus and Sinz (2002), which discussed in details the advantages and disadvantages of teams in organizations, communication within teams and the team roles and the existence of conflict as an inevitable aspect in human interaction. In summary during week 2, I learnt that conflicts in teamwork should not be avoided or used for development of new ideas. Week 3 Started with the introduction to oral and online presentations and related theories such as Speaking in public, delivering speeches and how to organize an effective speech presentation. During, the same week I managed to read chapter 1 of the book Trivers (2000), which extensively discussed the three specific steps for delivering an a good presentation which include restating the main points of the speech, describing all the required steps and the end notes required. In brief I managed to speech presentation is a process and it requires good preparation. Week 4 The week started with detailed introduction into the concept of routine and positive messages and the related theories such as the direct approaches to routine and positive messages and the structures of the positive messages. During week 4, I did read the chapter 8 of the book Trivers, (2000), which clearly highlights on the relations that exists between routine and positive messages and direct approaches. In general, I can summarise that I have managed to learn that direct approaches are normally used for those messages that are of routine nature and positive to the audience or the recipient. Week 5 This was commenced with a detailed introduction of the topic, ‘negative messages’ and other related theories such as modifying your approach for cultural differences, strategies for negative messages and used of indirect approaches to delivering negative messages. To support my comprehension of these concepts, during the same week, I did read chapter 1 of the book Ray (2005), which actually discusses in detail what negative messages are, the factors to consider when delivering such messages and the reason as to why these messages should always be started with a humor or buffer stanza. In summary, the topic gave me the opportunity to learn that understanding the emotional state of the audience before delivering negative messages is very important. Week 6 The week started with the introduction of the topic persuasive messages and other related theories such as credibility, ethical impact, use of different approaches in different organization contexts and how AIDA model can be used to organize persuasive messages. My understanding on this topic was also aided by reading the chapter 16 of the book Brown (2004), which explains in details what persuasive messages are and how important are they to organizations. Based on my experience in this topic, its important to highlight that I have managed that persuasion can only be possible given the credibility of the message delivered. Week 7 This week was about report writing and therefore the introduction was done on business report writing and why many organisations have chosen to use reports in their business. Further, during this week I came to understand that reports are quite different from essays. To add on my knowledge, I did read chapter 14 of the book Faust (2000) which highlighted various aspects of report writing like writing extended reports and short reports. In summary, this topic gave me the opportunity to learn on how to write different reports. Resources References Avenhaus J and Sinz, C 2002, Teamwork-PaReDuX: Knowledge-based Search with Multiple Parallel Agents, Proc. MPCS, Ischia. Brown JN 2004. The Driving Force: Lessons In Teamwork From Saturn And Other Leading Companies. Xephor Press. Faust, M 2000, Three Tips for More Powerful Presentations, accessed 30th May 2012, http://tsbj.com/editorial/03061411.htm. Oehler, J 2000, Open communications helps boards prosper." Business First, Western New York: Vol.16, Issue 34, pp. 135-178. Ray, G 2005. "The Business Reason for Respectful Communication." http://www.onbusiness.net/articles_html/Dr.R.GlennRay_817.html Trivers, A 2000, Communicate Right: An Editorial Interview." Fund Raising Management, Vol.30 Issue 11, pp. 27-38. Self Evaluation [Self Evaluation] Team-based evaluation and reflection Sue worked well with everyone on the team. She volunteered for work and followed through on everything. She was always willing to try. George was not really involved in the project. Although the team tried to engage him in activities, he never really participated and never took on tasks on his own. Mary was the biggest contributor to the design of the sanctuary. She was able to translate the team’s ideas into real proposals. This scenario presented a situation on accomplishing different projects can be complicated when working on a team. In this context it was real emerging that the interests of George were real different from those of other team members This is made it difficult to work on ways to improve on the completion of the project. Given the fact that this project was to be completed and submitted on time it was the responsibility of the active members to work on how to cover for those works that had been assigned to George and had not been committed. To me this was a true reflection of what I had learnt in class as part of theory on teamwork. It therefore became very clear that teamwork is subject to difficulties and for a student this theory is important in preparing the student for future challenges when I will be expected to work in even much bigger groups. Workshop evaluation and reflection I attended the workshops on every meeting with the teem members to work on the project of producing our poster on the violation of communication security and privacy by the government of Australia. My contribution at the workshops involved development of the layout of the whole poster and designing the pictures in the poster and the section of “law needed?” since this was a project was to talk about government matters, I was expected to look into various laws that regulate the presentation of that message to the public. During the workshops, I came to learn that the contribution of each team member in ensuring that the project is completed and goals attained as a planned. Further, I came to understand the role of communication and interaction in any functional unit. This is because thy help in identifying ideas and developing for the good use of the project. Individual evaluation and reflection Reflecting on my own experience the skills that I have learnt include communication, interacting with colleagues, identifying various conflicts in the team. The other skills that I have learnt include listening to colleagues, planning on different activities, team-leading, encouraging others and even motivating them. I was particularly good at making follow-up on the team members’ progress on their parts in order to determine the overall progress of the team project. I was also good at motivating the other team members on the need to work hard since they had an objective to achieve. Areas for improvement include learning on how to consult, time management and adapting with a group having members from diverse backgrounds. Finally, it came clear to me that there is a very clear connection between theory and practice on teamwork. Online evaluation and reflection I was expected to attend online classes once every week to communicate with the supervisor and chat with my class mates. I found the online work time saving and cost effective. I learnt the following: to be effective in online classes, one must be good in the technology used. Online learning can be either audio or audio-visual Conclusion [Summary of what you have learnt] MMH299 is a unit that was prepared to help students to be competitive team members in areas of work by developing appropriate skills and we were tasked with doing individual and group assignments as well as projects that were aimed at testing the student’s ability to relate theory with practice. Finally I have come to learn that communication in an organizational setting is important in helping manage conflicts and ensure effectiveness of teamwork. Read More