Workplace Communication Strategies

Timothy P Davies Use Workplace Communication Strategies Assignment

Question 1:

When dealing with others it is important to ask ‘open questions’ which will encourage the other person to share more personal feelings and thoughts.

Describe and explain the difference between ‘open’ and ‘closed’ questions.
Provide three examples of an open question and one example of a ‘closed’ question

The understanding I have of what an ‘open’ and ‘closed’ question is how they sound because the open question are there to lead on the discussion or start a conversation which can be a very important skill/ trait for many vocations for example counselling, sales, police and the list can go as well the open question can be used to encourage a proper answer from a person and can lead onto becoming a conversation/ discussion. Closed question are as they sound because these types of question allow the person/client to reply by saying very few words which can benefit you if time was short and you only asked to be polite and you knew it would be a very short answer for them. There are many different examples that could be used in different contexts for example of an open question:

Tell me about your relationship with your boss?
What do you think about the two candidates in this election?

And the example for a closed question would be:

Do you feel happy at your workplace?
Question 2:

‘Active listening’ involves actively participating in the conversation with the other person.

Fully describe ‘active listening’ and explain how it assists the communication process
Describe two examples from your own experience where you have used ‘Active Listening.
Explain and provide an example of “paraphrasing”

How Active listening benefits/ assists in the communication process because it allows you to process what the speaker is saying because you are hearing what they are saying and you are understanding it and you are not just listening to it without thinking/processing it in your head because there are 5 key elements to active listening and they are listed as follows

Pay attention

Paying attention is where you must face the speaker and don’t look around the room and not to be involved in conversation which might be happening around the room because the speaker should have your full attention

Show that you are listening

Showing that you are listening can come across from anything such as not crossing your arms, having the right posture and every now and then give the speaker a nod or a smile.

Provide feed back

Providing feedback can be as simple as summarise what the speaker said, seek clarification and asking related questions.

Respond appropriately

Respond appropriately means assert your opinion respectfully with attacking the speaking as well as not interrupting them from speaking while being open and honest about it.

Defer judgment

Defer judgement means let the presentation run its course while listening to the whole message before saying your own opinion/ comments as well as remaining empathic and non-judgemental.

I believe that I have used active listening on many occasion for example when I was attending my lifeguard course which was held at the Salisbury pool in 2011 because I had to take in a lot of information about many different topic like spinel injuries, drowning’s, CPR and the list goes on but I believe I showed active listen because I had my hands in my lap and my attend was on the speaker and I also asked questions from time to time but made sure that I didn’t interrupted them from talking. I also believe that I have shown this skill when I attended the police information session which was held at the police headquarters (100 Angas Street Adelaide SA) on the second floor because I listened very intently as each person came and discussed about their field that they are working in and I waited till the end of the power point that they had up and for them to finish their discussion before asking any questions that I had left about the police force and I found that night very in sight full.

What is paraphrasing, well it is where you are summing up what the speaker has said but you are putting it into your own words which allows the speaker to see that you have listen throughout the whole conversation and that you understood what the speaker was saying.

Example :

Mission

The YMCAs of Australia work together from a base of

Christian values to provide opportunities for all

People to grow in body, mind and spirit.

All YMCAS in a Australia are working together allowing people to grow in their body, mind and in the spirit that all opportunities that have been presented from a Christian back round.

http://www.ymca.org.au/about/Pages/Mission.aspx

https://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/learning_guides/learningGuide_activeListening.pdf

Question 3:
Fully explain the meaning of ‘Empathy.’
Describe how ‘Empathy’ affects the communication climate.
List and explain the five skills demonstrated by an empathetic person
Provide two examples of where you have used empathy
List and describe two behaviour that should be kept in when dealing with others.

Empathy is where you are trying to understand what someone is going through like a loss of a family member or of a friend and it basically means standing In some else’s shoes or relating back to a situation that you have been through that is similar to the situation that the victim is going through. It also means letting the victim talk or even just to sit there with them to let them know that they are not alone in the troubled time. I believe that empathy affects the communication climate in many ways for example it allows you to relate well with other people and understand what they are going through and assist them in a problem that they might be having.

Attend to what is said
Retain objectivity
Recognise nonverbal cues about the feeling of others
Understand others feelings
Communicate their feelings to others

I believe that I have used empathy at work on a number of occasion for example I was helping a child that had lost their parents and the child was really upset about the whole situation and I was able to understand how they were feeling and I was also able to communicate the child’s feelings to my DM ( duty manger) which allowed them to assist with us finding the child’s parents who happen to have gone outside for a smoke and another reason I have used empathy was with a parent who child had just been saved by a life guard and the parent was really worked up about the whole situation because they could have lost their child that day if it wasn’t for the work of the lifeguards so I had to understand how they were feeling which I will never fully understand until I have a child of my own but I related to their feelings and reassured them that it would be all good but if the child were form symptoms to seek medical advice

The two behaviours that should be kept in while dealing with other people who need empathy are to be positive to them all the time and don’t allow yourself to become negative because it can greatly affect them and not to get annoyed if them have ur empathy is taking longer than you had hope for and just to remember that everyone Is different and they all need different time frames

http://cultureofempathy.com/References/Definitions.htm

http://www.climateforchangebook.com/wordpress/the-truth-about-empathy/

Question 4:
Explain why you should ask question as you give instructions.
List and describe three types of question you can use as you give instruction provide examples of these three types of question

I think that the reason that you should ask question when you are giving instructions are because it is to keep the group/ people that you are giving instructions to focus otherwise they might start to day dream and think about other things and for that reason it is very important for them to hear what is said because you are giving instruction and if they don’t hear you it might leave to a misunderstanding as well as another reason because they will take in as much as possible because they would want to be well prepared if you were to ask them a question because they don’t want to seem like a silly or sound stupid about what they are saying.

Three types of question that you could ask when you are giving instruction could be:

Do you all understand that?

Asking this question is simple yet can be very helpful because it allows people to say no and can be a chance where the topic can be lead on into the where they are having trouble.

Does anybody need me to repeat that?

Asking this is yet another simple way of getting people to admit that they need you to say the part over again and it allows you to go into more detail helping the person understand it better.

You able to surmise what I just said?

If you were to ask this question it would allow them to repeat in their own words what you have said but it would only work if the person was listing to what you were talking about but it could also be a good way to find out whether someone is listening to you

Question 5:

Explain how the values that people hold can affect their communication

Values that people hold can effect there communication a great deal because for example if a boy has grown up with a father who also yelled and abused women and told him that they are no good apart for cooking meals then the boy opinion to women is going to very low because he has grown up with his dad doing that and his values of the boy is going to most likely be like his dad and he won’t respect women and he will treat them quite harsh. Instead of a boy that has grown up with a dad that always put women first and open doors and helped out with cooking and doing the dishes then that boy’s onion is going to be quite high of women.

Question 6:

Write open, closed, paraphrasing and probing questions for the following statements by workmates

“I can’t understand why the office manager shouted at me because the photocopier wasn’t working!”

“I’m having real difficulty following these operating instructions”.

Open question:

Do you know if the office manager is alright today because he just shouted at me because the photocopy isn’t working today?
Do you know how to the operating instructions on the photocopier if so would you be able to show me?

Closed question:

Do you have any idea why the office manager shouted at me because the photocopier isn’t working?
Do you know how to use the photocopier?

Paraphrasing:

That was weird the office manager just shouted at me because the photocopier isn’t working.
I have real trouble following the operating instructions on the photocopier.

Probing:

Hey you might be able to help me out do you know why the office manager just shouted at me because the photocopier isn’t working?
I’m having trouble following the instruction on the photo copier do you know how to use it?
Question 7:

Describe the main differences between assertive, aggressive and submissive behaviour. Fully describe two ways in which a person can be aggressive tp another. What would be your typical response to this type of behaviour?

The main differences between assertive, aggressive and submissive behaviour are for the assertive person they will try to win their point across but will not humiliate anyone in the process they will do it fairly and understand if they don’t get there way because their way of winning is to be respected by their follow peers/ co-workers. Aggressive people will do anything to get there point across like dominate, humiliate and ignore there suggestion even if the other person idea/ suggestion is a better choice and they also enjoy the feeling of receiving acknowledgement from other for their ideas as well as an aggressive person will most likely be in conflict with other. Submissiveness mean that the person are unable to stand up for a point of view and they like to sit on the fence and not take a side and they will do this to the extent of not taking any action and ignoring their own rights and even if a difficult situation were to arise they would try to avoid them leaving it to another person to deal with.

The 2 ways that I think that person could be aggressive to other person is physical and verbal and the ways that I would deal with this situation is to ask them to stop but if it didn’t stop I would report it to a manger or boss because they shouldn’t deal with that kind/type of people in the work place because it will give the company a bad name/rep but if the problem was to continue you could contact the local union to come in and assist you with the problem.

Question 8:

Feedback is essential part of effective communication

Explain what role feedback plays in effective communication
Write a script of a short conversation as an example to explain how feedback makes the communication effective.

The role of feedback or constructive feedback can be a very big part because it will allow the speaker to make changes to your weaknesses and become stronger in the area which you might be have trouble with as well as it gives the audience a chance to say what they think of the presentation / presenter. All public speaker skills need to be refined through practise and many years of doing it. The bonus to feedback is because that way we don’t have to evaluate yourself which would be a lot harder.

Person 1:

Thank you ladies and gentlemen for coming to this umm hall for the presentation today we will be talking about umm ( looks down at clue cards ) breast cancer and now it’s my great pressure to hand it over to Mr john Smith for the main speech

Person 2:

How person 1 remember when you are on stage talking to people trying to stay calm and relax out there and try not to say umm when you’re talking because it just needs a bit more work and you will really good at it so well done.

Person 1:

Thank you so much person 2 I will work on it and try not to say umm as much when im out there and I’ll try to remain calm and take control of my fears.

Question 9:

Fully explain the objectives of public speaking?

The objectives of public speaking are to keep their attention on you while they remain focused/ interested in what you have to talk about or sell to them because you would be doing this by informing them of the topic which you must have a really great understanding of what it is and how it works. And this can be done by following the ABC steps which are

A-Attention-grabbing introduction

B-Backed-up by a supportive body

C-Conclusion-providing strong reinforcement

Pg-129(the business communication handbook)

Question 10:

Fully explain the importance of Ethical communication and describe how ethical people behave

The ways a person can communicate/behave in an ethical way are by treating everyone with respect and with an equal fairness as well as people that work for an ethical bunnieness will behave with integrity and normally follow a code of ethics which can compose of

Reinforcing the organisation’s standard of conduct.
Reminding staff that management wants ethical issues considered in decisions made.
Identifying practices that are and are not permissible.
Allowing leader, managers and other to share experiences and ideas about what is and isn’t not an ethical position.
Developing a shared culture based on ethics and accountability.

The importance of ethics in everyday life and in a workplace are everyone will be treated fairly without feeling left out or lonely will also be treated with fairness and will never go with out there rights and have the respect of other no matter what race or religion you may come from as well in a work place know how to deal with a situation/issue if one where to arise and what rules/ polices they would need to follow.

Question 11:
Fully Explain, giving examples, of the importance of communication when dealing with people of different cultures
Provide details of four techniques you could us to ensure inclusive communication in a multicultural society.

The importance of communication with people that come from a different culture or back round can be very difficult because if you were to talk a female from a different back round she may not be able to talk back because that is how she has been raised and it is her morals. Other things that could affect communication between you and another person could be a range of things like cultures rules, their language, and rate of their speech / tone and body movement like facial expression and touching of the body. If you were to try and communicate with someone from a different culture you should try to have a understanding whether they will be able to communicate back or try to use hand signals to assist you in communicating with them.

The range of techniques could be used to ensure that we had successful communication in a multicultural society are:

Tones/pitch:

Using different tones by using bring your voice to a lower or higher level making it easier to the person whom you are communicating with.

Clearness:

Speaking clearer to the person whom is from a different culture this would help because you would be slowing your voice down so that they could try and enterped/ understand what you are saying.

Understanding/respect:

Show respect to the person whom you are trying to communicate with because could/can be hard for them to understand and don’t get annoyed with them if it takes longer for them to understand what you are trying to say.

Simple word/actions:

While talking to the person remember to talk using simple words/launage and while talking to them using hand signals so that if they don’t understand what you are saying then they can read what you are trying to say through your body movement and hand signals.

http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/jrichardson/dis220/openclosed.htm
http://www.mediacollege.com/journalism/interviews/open-ended-questions.html
http://www.ymca.org.au/about/Pages/Mission.aspx
https://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/learning_guides/learningGuide_activeListening.pdf
http://cultureofempathy.com/References/Definitions.htm
http://www.climateforchangebook.com/wordpress/the-truth-about-empathy/
Pg-129(the business communication handbook)