Friday, September 27, 2013

Week 4 Blog: Who Am I as a Communicator



Surprises
 There were few surprises about the similarities and differences between how I evaluated myself as a communicator and how my husband and a friend evaluated me.  The results of all of the assessments done by my friend were also the same as mine. The fact that my score for the Listening Styles Profile was the same despite who completed the survey seemed to indicate that I am a People-Oriented listener, however, I thought the definition of the Action-Oriented listener was a better fit. I think that the thing that surprised me the most was that the results were so similar despite who completed the inventory.  I really expected that my own perspective of my communication skills would have been different from the perspective of that of my husband and friend. 

Insights
One insight about communication that I gained this week is that while the inventory assigned a specific score based on how others and I answered the questions, I feel that I could see myself across the entire range of possibilities depending on the situation.  A second insight is that I have made progress in becoming a better communicator by improving my listening skills.   This is something that I have made a concerted effort to do.  O’Hair & Wiemann (2012) tell us that an empathetic listening style is associated with showing care and avoiding judgment.  The results of the Listening Styles Profile validate that I have made progress in this area.  Had I completed these scales several years ago, I think the results would have been very different.

Professional & Personal
As a result of the Application assignment, I have a better insight into and deeper awareness of my own communication strengths and weaknesses in both professional and personal settings.  I discovered that I need to make the same kind effort in personal communications that I do when I am in a professional setting.

Reference
O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s

2 comments:

  1. Geralyn,
    I also had very similar results between my relative, colleague and myself. However, I think I often communicate differently in different situations between work and my personal life. Sometimes I can be very aggressive but I am not disrespectful. I also can be an impatient listener, but overall I think I am empathetic. That is why I was a little surprised that the scores on my assessments matched in all but one instance.

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  2. I think that in some points in our lives we all have similar results our colleagues, and family members. I know I communicate differently at work than I do at home. Because no one, is around reviewing me I do keep it positive and clean because of my granddaughter.

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