Business Communication Consultancy - Essay Example

Student Name: Tutor: Title: Reflective tasks and Action Plan Course: PART 1 Business communication consultancy report gave me an opportunity to experience working in a group. I came to learn that giving, receiving and using feedback are all important in the group work. I was given the task of compiling the contributions of members of the group. It was a challenge trying to internalize what exactly everyone was trying to communicate and assimilating into one flowing essay. It was an opportunity of viewing people suggestions from an unbiased perspective and keeping my mind open to divergent ideas. I had my opinion about everyone suggestion but I had to focus on the message without attempting to judge the presenter of the idea. My patience was trained as we waited for everyone in the group to give his own point of view without trying to be impatient with members of the group who were slow to realize the point being communicated. The final report of the group was a piece that was developed considering all suggestions from the members of the group regardless of their cultural backgrounds. My reading skills were sharpened as I received feedback from the group members before using it in compiling the final report of the group. From time to time we had to retract and try to help a member who did not comprehend a specific point. The brainstorming session was an eye-opening event and every member had an opportunity to share his personal perspective without the interference of the group members. Nevertheless, we remained focus on the objective of the group and the task that was supposed to be completed. The influence of diverse cultural backgrounds helped us to have variety and many interesting examples in our final report. The international students in the group were awesome! I learnt a lot when it came to answering questions or responding to contributions by other members in the group. Courtesy and general communication etiquette was perfected during the group meetings. Personal attacks were shunned as all the members tried to play by the rules of the group that encouraged addressing the point raised and not the person raising the point. The significance of feedback in a group discussion was clear to me and I learnt how to apply feedback in many situations. It was not easy dealing with people from diverse backgrounds at first and one could easily get discouraged in the beginning. Overtime we learnt to tolerate each other and to address the tasks of the group without discouraging any member of the group. Both receiving and giving feedback proved to be challenging to us, but we all understood each others’ weaknesses and strengths during the group meetings. Bridging the gap of cultural and social diversity and focusing on the main issues in the first meetings proved to be very critical. My temperamental nature had to be tamed and I focused on the values that bind the group together as I read contributions from each group member. The group was a success when it came to feedback. PART 2 The group learning experience was vey important for me. Two significant communication skills that I developed in the course of the group process were deciphering informal and formal language and feedback skills. I realized that colloquial language is largely used by students and some of them use it in writing. Getting the meaning from different colloquial languages was a big challenge for me. Through asking questions I was able to learn everything that wad bring communicated. Many of the group members wrote sentences that were easily understood. Complex sentence structures distorted meaning. However, despite the different abilities in writing, I was able to learn what the other group members were communicating with a lot of ease. Local jargons were mostly used in the communication and whenever I was confronted with a totally new statement I quickly asked for an explanation. Nevertheless, I tried as much as possible to remain relevant and focus on the main issues of the discussion without trying to be mischievous or troublesome. I came to learn that the environment that someone grows into hugely affects the manner in which he expresses himself. Some of the backgrounds encourage analogies and indirect speeches. Indigenous language had an impact in the way a group member expressed himself more often than not. I developed feedback skills by reading through what the other members had to say and trying to identify the points before reacting to anything. I gained the feedback skills through critical thinking and reflecting. I had to pose and critically examine what was being communicated and then internalize it from my point of perspective through reflection. Feedback skills could also not be gained without actively internalizing. I waited patiently for members’ contribution and asked question where necessary. It was interesting to learn about other people experiences and how they looked at the topic under discussion. Critical examination gave me an opportunity to reflect before having to ask a question, to add a point, or to counter what was being said. Active synthesis, reflecting and summarizing are important skills that made me to perfect my feedback skills. In one instance, I could not get anything when an international student expressed himself using a Mexican analogy. I tried as much as possible to decipher the meaning of the analogy. I had to ask the present to give me an explanation and what he meant. After a precise explanation I satisfied and looked forward to learning through the group encounter. It was enjoyable as well as interesting to learn a lot from other students in the group discussions. I was very happy. In another instance I was quick to answer a question which I thought a member was asking during his contribution. It was embarrassing to learn it was a rhetoric question which he had asked and he thought I was trying to distort his message. I apologized and from then on I waited patiently as other members gave their contribution. This helped me to perfect my feedback skills throughout the group session. From this experience I have learnt to be a keen observer and to critical self examine myself before reacting to any statement. Understanding informal language is important in communication and they help us to give the correct feedback. PART 3 Action Plan Current situation I am confident that I have grasped different skills of communication throughout the course and I need to apply them in order to perfect them. Getting to know different communication styles was very important for me and I enjoyed every bit of the discussion. I have perfected my critical thinking skills and I understand impact of colloquial to the meaning of statement. I can pick up a colloquial phrase and trace the background of the communicator with a lot of ease. More importantly I can grasp what is being communicated without struggling to place the colloquial. Knowing the cultural background of each other was important for our interaction. I learnt that it is unwise to conclude before one reads the full meaning of a statement. I realized that not every question in a statement is meant to be answered. Quick judgment breeds confusion. Critical thinking and self reflection skills were very important for me and every time I read someone’s contribution I had to be objective and open-minded. My comprehension skills have been sharpened and now I have the patient to wait for someone to finish his point before I respond to anything. Through active internalizing and reflection I perfected my feedback skills. I have learned that you can give feedback without being critical or dismissive. In every situation, I have to be an active participant who is not keen on scoring a point through countering but adding up the loose notes to a positive point. I am very encouraged for having perfected my comprehension skills, my feedback skills and deciphering different colloquial in writing. Ideal situation Despite my tremendous grasping of other communication skills during the group process, I would love to improve on creative reflecting, presenting skills, and identifying informal phrases. In creative reflection, I will have to try as much as possible to read and conceptualize every point communicated by a member of the group. I will have to perfect my skills of recognizing and dealing with any barriers to communication which will in turn impair my interpretation skills. Creative and critical thinking will help me to develop my creative reflecting skills. Summarizing skills will also help me to perfect creative reflecting skills. I have to internalize what is being said and pick out the important points without interfering with the meaning. I will have to always pose and think about what someone has said. In the presenting skills, I need to use a logical order and structure when giving my points and understanding general speech presentation tips. I have to develop self confidence and to be sure about what I know without fearing critical feedback. I have to maintain a clear statement and composure throughout my presentation. My writing has to be clear and legible for all group members to see. It is important to remain focused and not meander during the presentation. I will look for ways of developing rapport with my audience and have everyone warming up to what I will be presenting. I will strive to be concise and clear while giving all the relevant explanations that are needed. Although I can now easily identify students from diverse background, I have not yet perfected the skills of identifying the local colloquial that is being used in communication. There are other words which I have not yet full grasped their meaning. Steps to accomplishment I would have to do personal research through books in the library to learn more on creative reflection. I will have to gather material relevant to the communications skills and go through it. I will specifically look for audio-tapes on effective presentation skills and listen to them (completion date-21st October). I will practice the skills by writing often and having a friend watch me while delivering a point then listen to his evaluation. I will try to perfect my presentation skills. I participate more in discussions (completion date 25th October). I will have to interact more with international students and participate in many online discussions. I have to ask question about any informal phrases that pops up during the discussion ask for its meaning (completion date 27th October). I will relate the theory I have learnt in class with real life examples (completion date 28th October). I will try to apply the skills I have learnt in the next meeting. Supporting resources Clampitt, P.G. (2005). Communicating for Managerial Effectiveness. CA: Sage (book). Goman, C.K. (2002). Cross-cultural Business Practice Communication World, 19:22-5 in Hargie, O., Dickson, D., Tourish, D. (2004) Communication Skills for Effective Management. Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan (book). Interaction with international students and online discussions as well as being a keen listener. Read More