Components of Communication
The six basic components of simple communication include the environment in which the communication is taking place, the sender, who creates the message, the technology used to send the message, the channel through which the message is transmitted, the receiver of the message as well as the feedback (Hynes, 2016). For the sender and the receiver to communicate effectively, the message must be clear. The technology used in the communication process must also be in good condition. What is more, the environment in which the communication takes place must be devoid of any forms of distractions. Additionally, the receiver should pay attention to get the message.
Communication Skills
Generally, I consider myself an excellent communicator. I get my facts right before I start talking. I acknowledge the people I converse with by occasionally nodding my head in agreement or sharing in a joke through laughing and smiling. By acknowledging the people around me, I show them respect and courtesy as required. When it comes to real conversations, I am always ready to share my opinion to listen to other people’s opinions and to challenge them when need be. I know for a fact that an organization that does not encourage free communication between employees and superiors finds it extremely difficult to manage its personnel. Observer the years, I have also learned the importance of silence. While I am a good debater, I do not need to engage in all sorts of conversations that are not meaningful to me.
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Areas of Improvement
While I am a good listener and communicator, I am not good at demonstrating empathy in a conversation. Empathy entails sharing and understanding other people’s feelings. I just do not seem to find the right words to tell an individual who is grieving or is facing a particular problem. Hence, whenever I find myself in a position where I have to console a colleague, I just go silent. I attribute my lack of empathy to poor observation skills. Unlike when I am engaging in a serious meeting, I am used to multitasking while talking to my friends and colleagues. I, therefore, miss important cues that can help me understand the other person’s communication level. It is for this reason that most of my friends say that I am indifferent. In the same vein, while I may be good at acknowledgment, I still have to work on recognition skills. Also noteworthy is the fact that I always believe that my opinion is the best whenever I am conversing with other people. I, therefore, come across as a callous and self-centered person who does not respect other people’s opinions. For this reason, I occasionally get myself into verbal spats for trashing other people’s opinions or ideas.
Improvement Plan
I have to learn how to respect other peoples’ opinions even though they may differ from mine. To do this I plan on staying silent whenever I have aired my opinion. Instead of trashing other people’s opinions and ideas, I will instead acknowledge the ideas and challenge them based on the facts presented. Moreover, I will enrich my vocabulary by studying respectful words and phrases that I can use before presenting my opinion. It will take a while to get used but I believe with practice I will eventually learn how to respectfully differ with my colleagues. In as far as empathy is concerned; I believe I have to learn from my colleagues' interactions among themselves.
References
Hynes, G. E. (2016). Managerial communication: Strategies and applications (6th ed.). New York, NY: Sage.
