COM 200 Week 1 Assignment 1
Week 1 Assignment Instructions
During this class, you will interact in discussion forums, take quizzes, and complete writing assignments to address each of the following learning objectives:
Explain the principles of and barriers to effective interpersonal communications.
Analyze the role of communication in developing and maintaining one’s self-concept, self-image, and self-esteem.
Differentiate appropriate levels of self-disclosure and emotional intelligence in various relationships.
Describe strategies for using communication techniques to resolve interpersonal conflicts.
Analyze the impact of gender and culture on interpersonal communications.
You should consider each assignment related to these themes as an opportunity to practice what you will say in your Final Paper. Your instructor will be giving you feedback to move you toward mastering these learning objectives. Please consider each component of this class as a building block toward your Final Paper.
For this assignment you will be required to:
Referring to Bevan and Sole in Chapter 1 (see section 1.4 specifically), explain two basic principles of competent/effective interpersonal communication. These include taking responsibility for your behavior, sharing meaning, acknowledging your view is only one, respecting others and yourself, and practicing being a competent communicator.
Describe an instance of miscommunication that illustrates one or more of these principles. If absolutely necessary, you can use a hypothetical exchange. Be sure to give precise details so it is clear what went wrong.
Identify one or more barrier that caused this miscommunication. To give you some examples, it can be things like culture, ideas of the self, or various types of noise that disrupted the receipt of the message.
Explain how the barrier(s) interrupted the process of successful communication and how these barriers can be overcome based on what you’ve learned in this course.
To get much more instruction about how to approach this task, including a precise examples, click Week 1 Paper Training (Links to an external site.).
When you’ve completed the first draft of your paper, use the grading rubric (Links to an external site.) to assess how you did. If you see weaknesses in any section, spend some additional time with that section.
The Basic Principles of Effective/Competent Communication paper
Interpersonal communication is a form of communication that entails two people interacting directly or through a mediated channel. It is the building block of all other forms of communication. Bevan and Sole (2014) have discussed six fundamental interpersonal communication principles. They include assuming responsibilities for your behaviors or reactions, remembering that all communications have shared meanings, recognizing that other people can have different views from yours, showing self-respect and respect for other people, listening, and appreciating other people’s opinions, and training oneself, continuously to be an excellent communicator. In this assignment, I will discuss two principles of effective communication and provide an instance of miscommunication relating to some of the basic principles. Besides, the assignment will also identify the challenges that led to the miscommunication and explain how the challenge interfered with the process of effective communication and how it can be solved based on the knowledge I have gained throughout the course.
The Fundamental Principles of Interpersonal Communication
The first essential principle I will discuss is the principle of Acknowledgement. We should acknowledge and appreciate other people’s views and opinions during communication (Bevan & Sole, 2014). People may view situations differently and propose different solutions or points of view concerning a problem. Being a narrow minded individual who refuses to appreciate other people’s perspectives can be destructive when it comes to effective interpersonal communication. Remaining open to understanding the differences in other people may help us to make better decisions by learning new things. Everyone we meet may teach us something new. If you appreciate other people’s ideas and ask relevant questions, you can learn many interesting concepts. We can also make more exciting friends by appreciating the diversity of thoughts.
The world is becoming increasingly cohesive and smaller with the advancement in technology. The global diaspora is full of people with complex textures and layers of cultural identities. By remaining sensitive to the cultural shifts, we can stay updated with the overall cultural progressions and avoid discrimination (Bevan & Sole, 2014). Experiencing any form of hatred or resistance toward other groups may make us engage in lower vibrations of energy. However, by overcoming such resistance we can feel happier, lighter and allow ourselves the opportunity to enjoy satisfaction and joy. Although people are entitled to their own beliefs, thoughts, and values, being able to see something from different angles may help them in broadening their knowledge. Thus, practicing the skills of acknowledging what our colleagues see differently can help us to become more effective interpersonal communicators.
Another basic principle is the principle of listening and evaluation. We should always listen to and evaluate the statements made by other people before responding. Listening helps us to choose our nonverbal and verbal messages carefully. It can also help us to control our reactions. According to Baker and Warren (2015), active listening is critical to effective communication. It entails the process in which people make a conscious decision to listen to their colleagues and understand what they are saying. People who practice active listening tend to be more open to new experiences, have more democratic attitudes and become less defensive. Additionally, listening may show that the receiver is interested in the message. Possessing active listening skills is essential in problem-solving. Therefore, someone with the ability to listen to others and evaluate ideas can engage in fruitful conversations and tackle disagreements in less controversial ways.Instance of Miscommunication
I experienced an instance of miscommunication two years ago. I had applied for the position of a customer service assistant at a local consultancy firm. I was immediately notified by the human resources team that they will carefully evaluate the applications and invite the most qualified applicants for face-to-face interviews. In the same month, I was notified by my apartment manager that the basement would be renovated for two weeks. I was living in an apartment located in a densely populated neighborhood in an urban area. The renovation was started barely two days after the notice. There was a very loud hammering, among many other noises, essentially every day from 8.00 am to 6.00 pm. The work crew consisted of at least ten construction workers in teams of about three or four, working on three different areas (roof leaks, roof, and siding). There were no quiet rooms or common spaces in the whole building, apart from the basement, which also acted as a busy laundry room.
One week later, I received a call from the consultancy firm, notifying me that I had been successfully shortlisted for an interview. As the caller, who identified himself as the human resources manager in charge of recruitment and training talked, I could not get him clearly because of the noise that came from the basement. He also became distracted and asked me whether I could go somewhere that was a bit quiet so that he could ask me a few questions and schedule me for an interview on a convenient date and time. I could not do anything. I therefore hanged up the phone and immediately wrote an email to the firm explaining the situation. Fortunately, they understood my situation and scheduled me for an interview via email.
The miscommunication in the case study was caused by physical noise. Physical noise refers to any environmental or external stimulus that can distract us from understanding the communicator’s message (Lunenburg, 2010). The noise impeded my ability to listen to and understand the HR manager’s message. It limited our ability to understand each other. However, two principles could be used to overcome this challenge: assuming responsibility for my behavior during the communication process and recognizing that communication entails a shared meaning. Taking responsibility for my behavior would help me to ensure that the HR manager could hear me. Therefore, I could have moved to a more conducive and quiet place. Recognizing that I was in a noisy environment could have saved us from the whole situation as we could have used other means of communication such as emails.
We cannot avoid interpersonal communication in our daily lives. Therefore, practical communication skills are critical in developing our life skills. Being able to interact well with other people is essential in settling conflicts that may occur in both our professional and private lives. Another area that can benefit from interpersonal communication is decision-making because it requires us to communicate complex information to allow the most appropriate decision to be made. The six basic principles of interpersonal communication act as a guide for us when interacting with others. Apart from acknowledging that our opinions regarding some concepts may differ, we should listen actively and appreciate people’s ideas.
References
Baker, T., & Warren, A. (2015). Active listening can make other people better communicators too. In Conversations at work (pp. 160-175). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Bevan, J. L., & Sole, K. (2014). Making connections: Understanding interpersonal communication (2nd ed.) [Electronic version]. Retrieved from: https://content.ashford.edu/.
Lunenburg, F. C. (2010). Communication: The process, barriers, and improving effectiveness. Schooling, 1(1), 1-10.
