10-1 Communicating Effectively

Effective communication is a critically important factor to the success of an organization. Organizations are made up of various people performing different jobs in order to achieve one main goal. Without proper communication, the individuals involved in an organization may not receive certain messages, which may determine the success or failure of the company. There are many barriers to communication, so its important to know certain aspects that should always be used when communicating. In order to prevent these barriers, I have chosen five main points to remember in order to communicate effectively.

5 Points for Effective Communication:

1. Type of Communication

The type of communication you choose depends on the situation itself, Some things should be communicated over the phone (like quick questions that require an immediate answer), through email (if it doesn't require immediate assistance), or face to face (an employee getting fired or being hired should always be done face to face). Recognizing which form of communication to use will help make the overall process run more smoothly. 

2. Listen

When communicating with an individual, whether face to face or over the phone, it's extremely important to listen to what the other person is trying to say. This can actually be more difficult than most people think, as there can be many things that distract you from listening to the main points of a conversation. For example, depending on where you are, there may be a lot of background noise which will obviously distract you from the other person. Personal distractions such as emotional stress can lead to distractions that may affect work productivity in the long run; and overall judgement of the other person your talking to can block out certain parts of the conversation. These barriers are not always easy to overcome, but its important to be aware of them in order help prevent further obstruction in the communication process.

3. Try being in the other person's shoes

When communicating with another person about something you don't quite agree on, its very normal to judge them based on your own beliefs/opinions. As difficult as it may be, it's important to try and see where the other person is coming from; step into their shoes and try to see from their perspective. This is a very useful tool to master and requires a lot of practice since most of us are quite set in our ways. Looking at conversations with a new perspective will open up more opportunity, and have less of a chance of conflict. 

4. Emotional Control

Controlling your emotions can be incredibly hard to do, especially if your angry/upset. When you react to another person in an angry way, that person automatically becomes defensive, and an argument usually occurs. Being angry will totally block out what you don't want to hear, and the message will most likely not come through to you, causing even more conflict down the road. As well, acting out in this way will change the opinion of the other person, which won't get you the answers you need. It's very, VERY important to learn to control your emotions when trying to communicate effectively. 

5. Feedback

Feedback is probably the most helpful part of the communication process, as it lets the receiver depict what they thought about the overall conversation. It provides an opportunity for all individuals involved to ask questions, give their opinion, and clarify all that was said so miss-communication won't occur. For managers, feedback is an excellent way to motivate and help employees so that they continue to excel and work towards mastering their communication skills. Some people take feedback in an offensive way, as it can sometimes appear to be negative. If negative feedback has to be used, managers should use the "sandwich" effect, and provide 2 examples of positive feedback before and after the negative comment. By doing this, the employee receiving feedback will take the negative comments with a more positive outlook, as they are being recognized for their efforts. 

The success of an organization is entirely affected by the communication process, therefore, it's important for all members to recognize communication barriers and how to overcome them in order to communicate effectively. 

Reflective Blog 9-2

Today's blog is going to focus on changes made within an organization. I will outline 3 essential steps that I would take in order to make changes within a company. Before writing this blog, I reviewed 2 models that are commonly used for making changes: Lewin's model, and the complexity theory. Both models have been proven successful, but I decided to choose a combination of both in order to come up with my own way of dealing with change. I chose three steps that I think should be used for making successful change in a corporation: Deciding on the change, Transiton through the change, and Refreeze in order to make the changes permanent.

1. Decide what needs to be changed: before anything is changed in an organization, management first needs to decide what needs to be changed. Managers need to identify the source of the problem that needs to be changed, and then they must decide on what to do. Managers must think of a solution that is for the best of the company. Management must also think about the employees involved with the change, and how it will affect them. Not every individual is going to adapt well to change, so during this step, management must also identify what sort of obstacles could occur with the change, and how to overcome them.

2. Transition: Most people need time when experiencing change, therefore a transition period is a crucial step. This step is found in Lewin's model, and is described as being a psychological journey since each person takes change differently. An individual may have to go through several steps during the transition period in order to fully adapt to permanent change. Certain forms of coaching, training and counseling can be very beneficial during the transition period for some employees. Not everyone handles change the same way, so I think it's important to always include a transition period in order to make sure everyone is on the same page.

3. Refreeze: this final step is done in order to make the new change permanent. This is also found in Lewin's model, and is the final step in the change process. In order to put the change into effect for good, management should offer certain perks to their employees to keep them loyal to the company. Perks can be as simple as a raise or bonus can reinforce the changes made. Over the months and years, these changes wil be the norm as more and more employees adapt.

I know this blog wasn't very long, but I hope it helps you understand what I think are the most important steps when an organization is ready for change.

Reflective Blog 8-2

This blog is going to be an example of a critical incident report. I am going to describe a situation which was unfair that actually happened to me; I am not going to use any real names for privacy reasons. A critical incident report describes something that has/had signifigance to the writer. The instructions for this assignment basically just told me to answer 5 questions found in a critical incident report, so I'll explain the situation, and then answer the questions. I am going to use an example from my first year at college, where a group project didn't go as well as planned.

Critical Incident Report Example

 The situation in question happened to me about a year ago in my first year attending post-secondary. I was assigned a group assignment, and the instructor let us choose our own groups. I choose 3 people: Jack, Jill, and Judy. Our assignment was to complete a research paper as a group, as well as give a presentation to the class. The entire project was worth about 15% of our grade, so the pressure was on to get a good mark. At first our group did well together, no arguments, and everyone seemed to be doing their part; but as time went on, certain problems started to arise.

One of our group members (Jill) decided that participating in the group wasn't important to her, and she decided to slack off. I started to notice it the most when we would schedule team meetings and she wouldn't show up. This highly affected the effectiveness of our group, and caused a lack of motivation.

The motivation in our group started out well, and all members were committed to achieving our project goals in order to get a good grade. However, once Jill started to participate less and less, the motivation and over all goals of the group changed. The group goals, or norms, were simple and to the point. These norms were rules and guidelines that helped our group stay on track, and see the progress made. The norms are a very important part to a group, and lets the group leader know whether the group members are doing their part. Jill payed no attention to the norms, and ignored the deadlines causing panic and frustration for all the other members. When it came time to hand in everyone's individual part of the project, Jill's was badly written, un-edited, and extremely short. It was clear that she put no effort into it at all.

Because of these issues with just one group member, the cohesiveness, conformity, and deviance of the group were all very low. The final grade wasn't too bad considering the circumstances, but it could have been much better if things were handled differently in the group. I can definitely say I learned a lot from that not so pleasant experience, and when faced with the same situation I will approach things differently.

 The following are questions found in a critical incident report:

1.Why do I view the situation like that? I think the reason why I was so upset about this situation is because I was appointed group leader, and I didn't do enough to keep my group in order. I've never had to deal with anything this extreme before, and I found it hard to talk to Jill directly and tell her how her actions were affecting everyone.

2. What assumptions have I made about the problem? In this situation, I didn't talk to Jill and ask if she was having difficulties with her part of the project, which could be a big reason as to why she wasn't participating as much. I assumed that Jill was just being lazy, and because I never talked to her about it, I never got the full story.

3. How else could I interpret the situation? As I said in the previous question, I could interpret the problem by saying that maybe its not her fault, and maybe she really does want to do her best but she just may be having difficulty. I could interpret the situation as a cry for help, or I could interpret it as a cry for attention; either one is different form my original interpretation.

4. What other action might I have taken that could have been more helpful? Well, I could have actually talked to her about the situation at hand, and asked her why she's acting like this. I could also confront her and let her know that the group would be willing to help her get back on track because after all, we are a team and we stick together.

5. What will I do if I'm faced with a similar situation in the future? If this happens again and I'm group leader, the first thing I'm going to do is talk to the person causing the problem, and see if we can figure something out to make the situation better. Also, I would set aside time for team meetings where all members have to attend, no exceptions. In these meetings I would make sure the group is all on track; it can also be a time to ask question's, and come up with solutions to any problems that may arise.

 Well there it is, my critical incident report. I hoped you enjoyed reading it!