Effective Interpersonal Communications Name of the Student Name of the University Diagnosis and reflection Johari Window Johari Window is a communication tool which helps to analyze the understanding of an individual through the process of self-disclosure and uses communication to build trust among the individuals. It was developed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955. The tool uses four quadrant as described below, and aims to increase the Open Area or the Arena quadrant of the matrix (Saxena, 2015). ⦁ Open Area/ Arena: This quadrant depicts the traits which is known by me and also by my peer group or other members. ⦁ Blind Area: it represents the traits which is known to other members but is not known to me. ⦁ Hidden Area/ Façade: it represents the traits which is known to me but unknown to others. ⦁ Unknown Area: it represents the traits which is unknown to both me and others. It is basically the unexplored area. Figure 1: Johari Window (Source: Mind Tools, 2017) While conducting the online test, my personal test results has shown that I possess characteristics like caring, happy, kind, logical, sympathetic and trustworthy traits and these are not known to my other peer group members. There are many unknown traits which is not in my knowledge. Hence, the unknown traits are forwarded to my peer group members and colleagues with an intention of appropriate feedback from them. The feedback, as received from the colleagues, is provided below, Figure 2: Feedback from colleagues: Johari Window (Source: Author’s creation) The goal of this tool is to widen the Arena and open up the personality and behavioral traits of an individual so that it can mix-up with the other members and colleagues of the organization. Due to self-disclosure, my arena widens vertically downwards and the Façade and unknown traits are made known. Due to feedback and self-discovery, the arena widens horizontally and the blind spot shrinks to minimum. The tool sets up a mind-frame of the possible characteristics of the person which forma the part of effective communication (Bahadori, 2015). Communication Style Questionnaire The communication style questionnaire is an important tool in ascertaining the communication style of an individual. It, basically, describes four types of human behavior (Newline ideas, 2014) – ⦁ Openly aggressive behavior: it shows that a person is independent in expressing his thoughts irrespective of the other person thought process. With this behavior, the aggressive communicator wins the discussion. ⦁ Passive aggressive behavior: it is an indirect expression of communication without giving importance to other’s viewpoint. ⦁ Passive behavior: this style respects the other’s viewpoint and give it more importance than the self ⦁ Assertive behavior: this style directly expresses the self-behavior in a way that it I acceptable to others. It is further clarified in the below mentioned figure - Figure 3: Communication Style – behavior result (Source: Newline ideas, 2014) The result obtained in this test has been expressed in the appendix section. My test result shows that I am an assertive person and tend to go with the people’s viewpoint. My least score is in passive behavior and passive aggressive behavior which shows that I tend to influence my listeners during the communication process. It also shows that I am good in putting across my individual thoughts ideas and opinions among the people. I am not affected by other’s behavior in the work environment. Assertiveness Questionnaires The assertiveness test tool analyses the behavioral pattern of the individual and shows results regarding the self-development in case of assertiveness in the behavior. The assertiveness in behavior is defined by the way an individual reacts or behaves in a given situation (Sbattella, et al., 2014). While conducting my assertive test, the result was 56 out of 100 (Appendix 3). This shows that there is a huge gap in my communication and behavioral responses. The analysis expresses that I hesitate to put issues across the table to people and confine my behavior to myself. I don’t show my aggression and hesitation. Kalamazoo Assessment Tool The Kalamazoo assessment tool is a combination of skill and competencies which forms the part of physician-patient communication (Yoon, 2015). This tool has analyzed my communication skills with regard to seven criteria as mentioned below (Academic Medicine, 2001) - ⦁ Build A Relationship – verbal and non-verbal communication showing care and concern. ⦁ Open The Discussion – allows the patient to express his concern to the physician expressing agenda for the visit. ⦁ Gather Information – focusing on in-depth information of the patient ⦁ Understand The Patient's Perspective – communication expressing the possible causes and responding to it accordingly ⦁ Share Information – diagnosing the problem ⦁ Reach Agreement – expressing plans to follow the treatment ⦁ Provide Closure – acknowledging patient and closing the interview Big Five Model Open to experience: it describes the behavior of a person to be creative and imaginative in thoughts and to be intellectual and adventurous in making a novel experience. My sore is in the moderate range. Conscientious: it shows the ability to be organized and exercised self-control in achieving goal. My score falls on the moderate range indicating I’m fairly good in achieving my long term goals. Extraversion: it defines the extrovert or introvert behavior of a person. An extrovert person is socially active. This test showed that I am an introvert person and am a reserved and quiet person with independent thoughts. Agreeableness: it shows the tendency of a person to be cooperative in nature and balancing self-interests with other’s interest. My score falls in the mid –range which indicates I’m fairly balancing these interests and am more cooperative. Neuroticism: it describes a person’s tendency to experience negative emotions like fear, anxiety, guilt, sadness etc. my score falls in the lower side of the mid-range and means I am a person with average emotions. I am not overactive but am sometimes affected by the stresses of like. The test result as shown in appendix 4 is summarized in the table below Table 1: Big Five Test result Factors Score in percent Open to experience 72.5% Conscientious 72.5% Extraversion 22.5% Agreeableness 67.5% Neuroticism 37.5% (Source: Author’s creation) Overall analysis of my communication style It can be seen from the above tests that I am an introvert person with creative ideas and thoughts. I remain confined to various issues and keep it with myself without showing much of emotions and hesitation. However, in the corporate world, I am good at putting across my individual thoughts and ideas such that people accept my viewpoint. I am an assertive personality, although there are many hidden and unknowing traits like my boldness adaptability and logical traits which need to be brought out in the future. There are some of the issues with my communication behavior such as, I am introvert and hence, am inexpressive in expressing my feelings to my peers. This has affected my verbal communication aspect. There are some points which are important but because of the surrounding environment, I become uncomfortable in expressing it that time. I hesitate to put my feelings across the communication channel which restricts the receiver in knowing the actual context of my message, thereby hindering the quality of the message sent. As depicted in figure 4, I am not expressing myself among my peers and colleagues. I’m being shy to express myself. Figure 4: Example of being introvert (Source: Author’s creation) Also, sometimes, I feel discomfort in being socially active. Often during group projects and business meet, I feel discomfort in interacting with people, even my own peer groups which becomes a hindrance for active speaking in making an effective communication. It is graphically represented in figure 5 below - Figure 5: Example of being socially inactive person (Source: Author’s creation) Literature review Interpersonal skills are basically face to face communications between two or more people. It can be an individual conversation or a group conversation. It is of great importance in the real world because it defines the behavioral reactions of the receiver. In a corporate business environment, interpersonal communications between the colleagues, between managers and the senior management board members or during presentations, it helps to send meaningful information to a specific group of members in order to fulfill the desired objectives (Stacks & Salwen, 2009). There are many ways of making interpersonal communications. It can be classified into two – verbal communications and non-verbal communication. Verbal communication is the oral form of communication wherein one can express himself or herself in terms of language, words and tone of voice. Non-verbal communication on the other hand is more concentrated on the body language of the individual (Singh, 2014). Thus effective communication in the workplace is an important aspect in maintaining the exchange of words among the people. This literature review explains the various concepts and theories of the communication process and also brings out the reason of introvertness in my behavior as depicted in the analysis section above. An introvert person is a person who is concerned about the self-aspects and gives more importance to the self-feelings and self-emotions. These type of people are quiet in behavior and hesitate to express their feelings. They prefer loneliness and feel discomfort in social occasions and social participation (Suliman, 2014). A range of different theories and models are explained below to know the communication process and the communication gap among the speaker. These theories and models are selected on the basis of the relevance in a communication process and also in reference to find gaps in communication process. These theories can be equally applied to both an individual and group communication. Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication This model expresses the importance of the role of relationship between the participants of communication process. It stresses facts on the Source Message Channel Receiver as a process of establishing an effective communication between the sender and the receiver. The message should be clearly drafted and channelized by the sender through the five human senses and should be effectively interpreted by the receiver at the end of this process (Saud, 2014). Figure 4: Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication (Source: Watson & Hill, 2015) However, the Berlo’s SMCR Model lacks in accounting factors like noise and feedback which is effectively included in Shannon – Weaver Model. Media Richness Theory Media richness theory, also known as the information richness theory, is a conceptual framework of analyzing the importance and effect of a media in carrying the information from the sender to the receiver, with the same meaning and interpretation as sent by the sender. It depicts the richness of different media like telephone, radio, letters, face-to-face communications and others. As depicted in the figure below, it explains the effectiveness of communication through different forms of media (Watson & Hill, 2015). Figure 5: Media richness theory (Source: Time Barrow, 2009) There are some factors like the culture and language of the sender and the receiver which impacts the quality of communication between them (Klitmøller, 2013). Burke’s Dramatistic Pentad For better understanding of the possible factors an internal analysis of the communication factors must be done. The inability of expressing is not a permanent behavior. It can be overcome with regular and continuous effort. The Burke’s Dramatistic Pentad theory helps to find ways for the possible outcomes for improving this issue. The theory investigates the functionality of 5 rhetorical elements such as act, scene, agent, agency and purpose and includes few questions regarding the what, when and where, by whom, how and why aspects of individual behavior respectively. This method analyses the behavioral pattern of the individual in a given situation and thus explains the need for probable change in the individual for making effective communication (Overington, 1977). The theories are practically applied to develop and enhance my verbal, interpersonal, and group behavior among individuals through designated action plan mentioned below. Action plan This paper has analyzed my interpersonal communication skills in a detailed and critical manner. The various tools and the communication theories used to analyze the findings and results has provided a keen insight to the common behavioral and psychological characteristics of an individual (in general terms) and also with regards to my skills also. It has also provided a deep insight to the problems and aspects which I encounter on a daily and usual communication behavior. The verbal, non-verbal communications, body language, hesitation, eye-contact, tone of the voice, hand – gestures, and free flow of thought process has to be aligned and organized in a way so that it can reduce my professional and personal communication behavior. It shall help me both as an individual one-to-one communication and also in a group conversation. However, there are some communication styles and thought process which needs training and development in myself. A detailed timeline of the actionable items which will be performed in the coming months are explained in the timeline matrix below - Table 2: Month wise - Timeline matrix Time period Actionable items to measure skills requiring development 1st month ⦁ Reading out loud in front of mirror ⦁ Gain confidence in speaking ⦁ Interacting with friends, colleagues and mentor. Focus should be on to putting across the thoughts. There should be no restriction in expressing positive or negative thoughts in the discussion. 2nd month ⦁ Write on pen and paper about what my thought process. Identify a close mentor and ask for guiding on the thoughts and discussing about it in detail. It is better to identify a mentor who is specialized in that area or who can guide on that specific topic. ⦁ Keeping a collection of the editorial section of popular newspapers and magazines. 3rd month ⦁ Enrolling for a post graduate course on effective communication at CQU 4th month ⦁ Keep expressing your thoughts on the social media and enter into a group discussion at different online forums ⦁ Interact with friends and ask them to contribute into the discussion. This will help to understand group dynamics and group behavior. 5th month ⦁ Participate in intercollege and national debate competitions. It shall help in developing real world discussions and thus enhance verbal skills. 6th month ⦁ Read the journals and magazines to gain knowledge about various aspects of the world. This shall give numerous points while putting across a healthy debate. By this time, the knowledge from the post graduate shall also help in applying the knowledge in the practical application. (Source: Author’s creation) By applying these few steps, it is expected that I can overcome my introvert behavior and learn to put across my thoughts and feelings to my peers in a healthy manner. It should also be noted that the objective of following this timeline, as provided in the above table, is to enhance my social interaction and to bring a change in the behavior from being a quiet person to be a happy and friendly open-minded character. Regular and consistent effort is necessary to get the desired result. References Academic Medicine. (2001). Kalamazoo Essential Elements Communication Checklist (Adapted). Retrieved from https://fd4me.osu.edu/lp-preceptors/system/block_resource_items/resources/000/000/013/original/Kalamazoo_Comm_tool.pdf?1358177368 Bahadori, M., Shiri, A., & Mahdizade, H. (2015). Ranking Feedback and Disclosure Mechanisms based on Johari Window Model in order to Enhance Organizational Communications. MAGNT Research Report, 3(3), 1678-1684. Keven. (2006). 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(2017). The Big Five Personality test. Retrieved from: https://www.truity.com/personality-test/test-results/3754178 Watson, J. & Hill, A. (2015). Dictionary of Media and Communication Studies. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing USA Yoon, M., & Michaelsen, V. (2015). Critical synthesis package: the Kalamazoo consensus statement assessment tools. Med Ed Portal Publications, 11, 10098. Bibliography Harbaugh, E. R. (2010). The effect of personality styles (level of introversion–extroversion) on social media use. The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, 1(2), 70-86. Rutten, K., & Soetaert, R. (2015). Attitudes Toward Education: Kenneth Burke and New Rhetoric. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 34(4), 339-347. Appendix Appendix 1: Johari Window: Test result (Source: Keven, 2006) Appendix 2: Communication Style: Test result (Source: Newline ideas, 2014) Appendix 3: Assertiveness test: Test result (Source: Psychology today, 2015) Appendix 4: The Big Five Personality: Test resut (Source: Truity, 2017)