Week 6 Blog Assignment

I believe that the hardest groups to leave are the ones you have been through the most with. I worked at a job for three years with a wonderful group of people who I attribute a lot of my professional success to. They weren’t only wonderful because we eventually grew so close, but it was a great experience because we learned so much from, one another, even when the lessons weren’t so easy to learn. At the end of our journey together, I was mostly saddened because I had so many memories that bonded us. We were like a family. I feel like I will feel similarly when I complete my Master’s program. Earning my Master’s Degree has been a goal of mine for a long time now and it was something that I contemplated on completing back and forth for some time. When I first started, I was immediately reassured that I made the right decision by the support from my fellow classmates. Now that I am a little closer to finishing, I can already tell how the adjourning stage of this journey will be. I sure know it is something that I never will forget.

Week 5

When thinking about conflict resolution, several work scenarios come to mind. I have a staff of 8 who rarely take me seriously due to my age. I have had to call several meetings where this has been addressed and most of the time things get resolved through communicaton. There really is something to be said for "talking it out".

Week 4 Blog Assignment

The thing that most surprised me this week based on our communication assessments was how I scored myself. I expected the differences in scores from my colleague and friend; however I was surprised to see my hidden communication anxieties come out in my score. I also learned that I am far more verbally aggressive in my mind than I am in person. Meaning, I do not actually say what is on my mind in confrontational situations. I do not know if this is a good or bad thing. I am mostly this way at work. I am most likely fearful of getting in trouble from my supervisor and am always cautious about maintaining a professional persona.

Week 3 Blog Assignment

Think about the cultural diversity you see in your colleagues at school, in your neighborhood, in your workplace, and also, possibly, within your family. Consider all the aspects that make up culture, including race, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, varying abilities, and so on.

 •Do you find yourself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures?

                Fortunately, I have been raised in a multi-cultural environment. I also fortunately work in a very multi-cultural environment so I do not think that I communicate differently with diverse groups of people. Although after visiting my 90 year old grandmother in Ireland, who is losing her hearing, I suppose I communicate a lot louder with her than I would anyone else.

Based on what you have learned this week, share at least three strategies you could use to help you communicate more effectively with the people or groups you have identified.

One strategy I also use is to treat everyone the same when speaking to them. My boss will speak in a nice tone of voice with one employee and the next second she snaps on someone else. This doesn’t make her look too good because of the biases present. Another strategy to help better communication is get to know who you are communicating with if possible. This way you know what could be offensive. Lastly, always follow the platinum rule!

Week 2 Blog Assignment

For this week’s blog assignment, we were asked to watch a television show once with the sound off and again with the sound on. Since I am not an avid television viewer, it was fairly easy to find a show that I do not frequently watch. The show I chose to view is “Keeping up with the Kardashians”. This is a reality tv-show about a large glamorous family in Los Angeles. While watching the show with the televisions volume turned off, this is what I observed:

•What do you think the characters’ relationships are based on the ways in which they are communicating? Just by watching the family members communicate without any sound, I could definitely tell that the people on the show were family. There seemed to be a sense of closeness as well as some bickering going on.

 •What are they feeling and expressing based on the nonverbal behavior you are observing? I observed a lot of tension between some members of the family and lots of non-verbal facial expressions.

This is what I observed with the sound turned on:

 •What assumptions did you make about the characters and plot based on the ways in which you interpreted the communication you observed? I assumed that they were family members who were close and experienced lots of arguments on a regular basis.

 •Would your assumptions have been more correct if you had been watching a show you know well? I think my assumptions would have been the same. While I do not what this show on a regular basis, I know somewhat about the dynamic.

This was a very interesting assignment that I never would have thought to do on my own. What was particularly interesting is that I grasped what was happening fairly accurately without having the sound on. That just goes to show you how critical non-verbal communication is and how one can be affected by it.