Johari Window Questionnaire

Test was conducted so as to find out the total score. The questionnaire of Johari window is divided into two parameters that is solicits feedback and willingness to self-disclose (Human Resourcefulness, 2017). The total score of solicit feedback is 20 and score of willingness to self-disclose is 45. Thus the position in Johari window is hidden (Brighthubpm, 2017). These are those areas which are not disclosed to others. This part is retained within the individuals due to fear. The amount of information which has been disclosed is the only known information (Human Resourcefulness, 2017).

In order to identify the score of communications style, 37 questions were asked from different respondents (Dlapiperwin, 2017). The responses of the respondents are divided into four categories that are A, C, T, and P. A stands for active communicator, C stands for connector, T stands for theorist, and P stands for purposeful communicator (Changingmind, 2017). The highest score is of ‘A’ i.e. active communicator (Iivonen, Sonnenwald, & Parma, 2017). Through this test communication style was tested. This will help in identifying the communication attitude and communication approach (Dlapiperwin, 2017).

Through this, assertion level of the individual is tested which portrays that whether individual can portray themselves in a direct manner and self-assured way (Researchcollaboration, 2017). Proficiency is tested to evaluate that in difficult time wants, needs, and thoughts of others and oneself are expressed clearly or not (Researchcollaboration, 2017). 20 questions were asked from the e-respondents and it was evaluated that the score is very low which represents that score was not very like me (Researchcollaboration, 2017).     

Next tool which is used for the evaluation purpose is self-awareness assessment. This will interpret the viewpoint of others (Ctacny.org, 2017). 12 questions were asked relating to basic self-awareness and respondents had to rate themselves from 1 to 10. 10 states very, 5 states moderately, 1 states barely (Ctacny.org, 2017). In this questionnaire testing, maximum respondents scored between 1to 5. This indicates that self-awareness level is moderate in nature (Ctacny.org, 2017).

Last too is used to evaluate the listening skills effectiveness. The questionnaire was such which portrays that individual has active listening capability or not. Various questions were asked relating to this. Out of the total responses the number of No responses is greater as compared to Yes response. In other words, 70% says no and only 30% says yes. This shows that individual fails to understand and absorb the information (Stellarleadership, 2017).

Communications Style Questionnaire

Cultural difference: the perception of employees who belongs to different culture is different and the perception is often selective in nature. Moreover the behaviours and gestures of different cultures are interpreted differently (Ringer, 2017). Sometimes it creates problem also for instance displaying the thumb in upward direction normally means that everything is ok. On the other hand, the same sign is considered bad in the Islamic countries. Thus there is misunderstanding of the gesture which resulted into the conflict of interests. This resulted into low productivity level and efficiency level (CICB, 2017).

Listening problems: this is another issue which can be predicted from the above diagnostics tool. It has been evaluated that  real meaning of the discussion done by the director of the company was interpreted in wrong manner due to which there was lot of confusion and chaos within the company (Changingmind, 2017). Due to the poor listening wrong things where communicated at lower level due to which there was confusion (Brighthubpm, 2017).

5 communication tools have been used so as to diagnose the communication issues within the organization (Guides, 2016). Thus from the above stated five tools it can be concluded that the 2 major communication issues are:

These two issues have been identified from Johari window questionnaire and active listening questionnaire. Thus organization has to develop its communication process which provides clarity and transparency (Morgan, 2017). Organization has to make sure that information flows form top management to lower management and queries and grievances should flow from low level management to top level management. In order to ensure that right information is transferred within the company, written communication will be done. This will assure that in case individual has not listened properly then he can read out the mail (LaPlante, 2017).

Secondly cultural differences issue will be resolved by developing the uniformity. Organization is a separate legal entity (Nap.edu, 2017), therefore in order to remove the cultural differences formal rules and regulation will be formulated which will incorporate characteristics of all cultures. Through this, customs and cultures of different region will not be hampered (Iivonen, Sonnenwald, & Parma, 2017). Further cultural differences will be accommodated in a reasonable manner and this will maintain the cooperation and coordination within the organization. Employees’ insights will be collected so that best management practices can be implemented (Internations.org, 2017).

In order to complete my internship that is the part of my course I joined a marketing organization. Since I was new and knew nothing about the marketing techniques I had a meeting with the marketing manager of the company. Marketing manager was quite busy person therefore he decided to cover two topics in a training session. Although I have attended the training session with full concentration and interest then I forgot the things after training session. This reflects that my listening capacity which is an important part of communication skills is not good and I have to work in this (Changingmind, 2017).

Assertiveness Questionnaire

Another incidence which I faced was relating to cultural differences. The organization in which I am working was having lower context culture which was very new for me. Due to this for initial days I was not able to accommodate myself in the company. Further organization is not responsive toward the feedback systems. Further there were differences in many gestures and way of communication (Iivonen, Sonnenwald, & Parma, 2017).  

 In the era of increased globalization, the interaction with the different culture has also increased. The people interact with people of different culture for the different purposes like business. The cultural different hinders the ability to communicate with the people of totally different culture. According to the author, language is the element that helps the person to portray the identity. Due to the differences in the culture, the manner in which the people speak and act is also different. The cultural difference also has its impact on the thoughts, opinions, views and feelings as the people who belong to a different culture are influenced by their culture. The non-verbal differences are also involved due to cultural differences. The people belongs to different culture have different behaviours, values, attitudes and beliefs (Nnia, 2015).

The cultural difference makes it difficult for the people to communicate with each other. According to the author, the issue that occurs due to the cultural differences can be diminished by developing cooperation through collectivism. The interaction with the people can help to reduce the barriers due to culture differences (Gut, Wilczewski, & Gorbaniuk, 2017).

According to the author, listening is the skill to recognize and understand what the others are trying to saying. The listening incorporates understanding the accent or the pronunciation of the speaker as well as understanding the meaning. The one of the barrier in the communication that restricts the person to understand the message that the speaker wants to present because of listening issues. The listening issues in the communication are the result of not focusing or when the listener is not interested in listening to the speaker (Yagang, 2017).

According to the author, the problems of listening arise when the listener is biased, not interested, the previous experiences of listening was bad, having a closed mind or when the listener is distracted. The ineffective listening results in the ineffective communication and inability to understand the message of the speaker (Wiksell, 2009).

Author has stated that there are three level of listening. First level of listening is related with the internal listening. This level states that individual should not ignore his own thoughts as well as judgments. Author indicates that this level of listening is recognized by every person. This is the initial level and everyone has to pass through it. It is very important while listening to know what another person wants to portray (Careersintheory, 2017). If an individual start worrying about the situation, then in that case he stops listening and his  mind gets diverted and there is no concentration towards  listening (Careersintheory, 2017). Due to this, individual fails to understand the things and could not retain the things.

Self-Awareness Questionnaire

Second level of listening is focused listening. It states that focus should be made on the other person  with regards to what  he intends to say (Careersintheory, 2017). In this stage or level, the practitioner listens to each single word of an individual and also observes the gestures which have been used while expressing the information. The core or key skills relating to paraphrasing, summarizing, questioning, as well as restating are fundamentally used in this level stage so as to deepen the level of understanding (Careersintheory, 2017). Further this is also used to build trust. Third level is related to global listening. This indicates that listening should not be confined to the words which are said rather the real intention of the information should be interrelated through listening. According to the authors this stage or level of listening provides the practitioner a sense of heightened, access towards their intuition plus sense relating to awareness. In this level, the skill or tactics of immediacy can be implemented; this helps in drawing listener’s attention. Thus listening is not confined to passing the information, it is more than that which needs to be understood carefully. Thus effective and efficient listening involves all the three level. If all the three levels are used properly then it can be said that listening is good (Careersintheory, 2017).

According to the author, till now listening process has not achieved legitimacy in the research. The major reason behind not getting the legitimacy is that there is lack or shortage of a theoretical framework which provides basis for the research thesis (Careersintheory, 2017). This does not mean that there are no academic perspectives in context to listening (Careersintheory, 2017). A landmark book has been published on listening which has displayed around 13 concrete and solid theoretical perspectives. The complexity is that the theoretical listening perspectives are not created or generated falsifiable as well as testable theories. In the absence of these theories social science cannot develop or progress. Further it is ambiguous in context to measurability areas. Thus there is lack of validation process (Careersintheory, 2017).  

According to Laura Ann Janusik (2004); Communication as well as information exchange is regarded as dynamic. Further conversation is much more as compared to one person replying back to other person. Conversation process is directly connected with talk. In conversation process, the participants or respondents (Janusik, 2004) often swap sentences which can be phrases that are grammatically not correct. Although sentences are not correct grammatically then too it carries certain meaning. A simple conversation process required at least two people, one who communicates (Janusik, 2004) the things and another who listen  and then express his views (Janusik, 2004). Since talk is reactionary as well as responsive, conversations are regarded as interactions; it is not a mere collection or integration of actions. This idea is dependable on the communication’s relational perspective (Janusik, 2004).

Active Listening Questionnaire

Author stated that in order to establish the interpersonal skills, the social exchange theory is applied. This theory states that the interpersonal exchanges help the people to become satisfied when they receive equal return on their communication from the other person. In addition to this, the coordinated management of meaning theory defines that the people attain the meaning of the conversation in many ways through the coordination and understand the meaning in different forms as well as interpret different meaning of the similar conversation. Author stated that the communication accommodation theory is the other theory of communication that analyses the motivation and the results behind the conversation that happened between the two people and they shift their communication styles. This is done by the people in order to adjust their way according to the other speaker and this result in establishing identity. In context to listening, cognitive dissonance theory is the theory of communication that people desire to eliminate this as the experience of dissonance is insidious and for this purpose people start to avoid hearing the views of the other people (Fishbein & Cappella, 2006). 

Effective communication skills are regarded as fundamental for the success. Individual who is having good communication skills enjoy good interpersonal relationship within the office. Individual having strong communication skills can overcome obstacles effectively and efficiently. My communication skill plan has been developed so that I can overcome my weakness quickly, this will assure the success of my career. This will also help in maintaining positive attitude towards work. 

Once I will complete my action plan relating to communication skills then I will be the person who has good communication skills. Afterwards I can give my 100 % in the organization which will secure my career and provides stability. This communication plan will boost my confidence level and through this I can achieve my desired goals and objectives. This will then be the turning point of my career.

References

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Careersintheory. (2017). The three levels of listening. WordPress.

Changingmind. (2017). Bad listening habits.

CICB. (2017). Typical Examples of cultural differences. Center of Intercultural Competence.

Ctacny.org. (2017). Self awareness assessmnet . Retrieved 2017, from https://www.ctacny.org/sites/default/files/trainings-pdf/self-awareness_assessment.pdf

Dlapiperwin. (2017). Communication Style Questionnaire. Retrieved from www.dlapiperwin.com: https://www.dlapiperwin.com/export/sites/win/downloads/Communication-Style-Questionnaire.pdf

Fishbein, M., & Cappella, J. N. (2006). The role of theory in developing effective health communications. Journal of Communication, 56(1), S1–S17.

Guides. (2016). Overcoming Cultural Barriers.

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LaPlante, A. (2017). When Does Culture Matter in Marketing?

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Ringer, J. (2017). Purposeful Communication.

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