Comm Theory

Communication Theory-Final Paper

In this paper it will analyze interpersonal, group, and organizational skills through communication theories for personal and professional development. Experiences from earlier periods in life contribute to the way messages are encoded and decoded resulting in communication. Communication is always something that will stay constant but the way we communicate with each other will always progress to make improvements.

Interpersonal Communication

“Interpersonal communication according to a survey by Robert Half International Inc. is the most admired trait in managers and is increasingly one of the prime factors in hiring decisions.” (Kowalski 2008 Vol.39, Issue2, p.57) There are several key characteristics that are assessed with interpersonal communication such as spoken language, listening, and relationship skills. Spoken language is best described through the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis which “expresses the idea” that the nature of our language affects the nature of our thoughts.” (Trenholm 2011 p.72) This hypothesis has two theories of linguistic determinism and linguistic relativity. This theory states that “different language communities perceive the world different. (Trenholm 2011 p.72)” Based on the different ways to interpret meanings depending on your environment, this is how you are able to receive a message and emit responses resulting in the theory of linguistic determinism on language determines thought. The other part of spoken language is listening.

Listening skills that are assessed with interpersonal communication begin with what psychologist call schemata. “The ability to listen effectively is an essential component of leadership, and most leaders know they need to be good listeners to be effective.”(Hoppe 2006)

Within the schemata are our past experiences, social understandings, and knowledge which help understand what we hear or see. People are encouraged to develop rich and complex personal constructs in my eyes to better understand each other. A couple of ways to do this is by improving interpretation by being more informed, and with perception checks. Communication is all around us and this is true with people we do not have a communication problem with yet. Rich personal constructs will allow for a better overall communication and this will allow you to understand why communication has not happened when you need it to work the most. This also allows you to be a better listener and be able to encode and decode messages a lot faster as well. Society has developed positive and negative actions in life that we can either choose to look the other way and avoid the problem, or we can understand why we categorize people the way we do. Paraphrasing is a technique that has increased the understanding of what a person is trying to convey. In addition, "active listening consists of verbal strategies (e.g., asking clarifying questions), whereas "passive listening" is nonverbal in nature.”(Anonymous. Vol.18, Issue.1; p.26) This allows time for the receiver to restate what the messenger is trying to articulate. Living in an urban area for majority of my life has shaped my schemata. My life has consisted of negativity, will power and the daily responsibility of getting to the next level in life in order to succeed has helped keep my mind focused on the prize of obtaining a bachelor’s degree. My old neighborhood did not have many college graduates; instead there were many professional alcoholics, prostitutes and gangsters to deem as role models. My motivation for studying communication is also to increase my speech, confidence, and self esteem. These are a several key factors that effective communicator renders in order to be considered effective in my eyes. My motivation to study communication was derived from the unsuccessful times when I was a youth and I wanted to explain something and could not get my point across. As a result of my schemata or past experiences my mind unconsciously places people in categories called person prototypes which represents certain type of people. Society has helped develop positive and negative actions in life that we can either choose to look the other way and avoid the problem, or we can understand why we categorize people the way we do. The similarities of my constructs assignment expressed that I choose moral and ethical people to associate around and have in my life. I also realized that I categorize people by squeezing them into categories, which allows me to have a level of comfort that I place to each category making it easy to unconsciously label any and everyone I come in contact with. My set of constructs are based on the analysis of the individuals from my past experiences show my loyalty, honesty, education and respect were very strong adjectives that I value with a person I have similar interest with. The reason why I value these similarities the most are due to the way I was raised and the surrounding environments. Growing up in an environment that was a breeding ground for pimps, dope dealers, and fast living, helped shape my constructs when I was younger unknowingly. My set of constructs also proved that people that are close minded and hostile do not make good individuals for me to associate with. Stereotypes are going to occur willingly or unwillingly. There are three stereotypes that follow me everywhere I go, which are skin color, hair type, and background information and as a result of the treatment received this stops any actions and thoughts from stereotyping others. My constructs accessed are fair and has opened my mind to respect the negative influences that helped shaped my thoughts and beliefs into what they are today. Another thing that has helped me adequately in regards to the assessment of others is my sixth sense. My sixth sense has always been able to know when trouble is lurking or brewing and to get far away from it as possible. This is true as well when it comes to judgment of character with people.

Relation development according to Mark Knapp is described “with a ten-step model of the way relationships grow and dissolve.” (Trenholm, 2011 p.142) The stages of Knapps Relational Development model are in two stages. The first five stages are initiating, experimenting, and intensifying, integrating, bonding are represented as the experimenting stage. The last five are differentiating, circumscribing, stagnating, avoiding, and terminating is represented as integrating stage. Relationship development is like meeting a complete stranger in a library. In the beginning conversation is very short and simple allowing no room for personal damage. During both of these stages secret test are performed in order to see how much of a commitment is achieved in order to gain approval. Towards the end of a relationship there are separation test to gauge how each other in the relationship feel about being alone. The book states “Relationships are built and maintained though communication. By using “relational maintenance strategies such as positivity, openness, assurance, networks, task sharing, conflict management, and advice” we can allow ourselves a better chance at any relationship. (Trenholm 2011 p.162)

Interpersonal communication occurs in a group setting due to the amount of verbal and nonverbal communication emitted from each person.

Group Communications

Within groups are different phases that are portrayed. Typically in groups you will have task and roles which determine how you react or what your duty is. Due to my experience with playing quarterback in football, naturally each group setting coordination is the the best fit for me. This allows for the entire group to see visually what everyone in the group has verbally declaring. “When there is a communication breakdown in the workplace, it is important to understand what went wrong and how you contributed to what did not work.” (Anonymous p.26 vol.18) It is natural for me to pull all the ideas of the group together to shape a big picture for the group. When this role is occupied in the group setting the next role in a group that describes me is a group harmonizer. The group harmonizer is able to mediate issues that detour the group from their ultimate goal of completing the group project. When a group is able to resolve any conflicts through a mediation this will increase the group cohesiveness and allow for each member to effectively get their point across.

Five characteristics that would describe me are down to earth, team player, functional, character, and honesty. While working in groups’ being territorial is not something that defines my behavior because this would put a limit on the capabilities of the group. The life of a group has been studied and broken down into 5 phases by Bruce Tuckman. The stages of a group are the initial stage, conflict phase, norming phase, performing phase, followed by the last phase of adjourning phase. I agree with Bruce Tuckman theory on the life of a group. Typically when placed groups the first day is meeting your group, then choosing roles and task, followed by the execution of tasks by group members, conflicts, followed by norming and performing phase. By actively knowing what stage you are within this will increase group productivity allowing for better group cohesion. This goes hand in hand with having a large or small personal space when dealing in a group. The amount of space and territory needed to maximize my potential is very small. Growing up in a home with has eight brothers and two sisters in one household, personal space is a luxury and as a result my group space is very open. Enough room is only needed to respond to group members and write down group assignments. Learning to live with the bare necessities has helped shape my mind in order to appreciate the small things life has to offer. This is important when working with groups because in order to work to the best of your ability you need to be comfortable in your personal space. If the space needed is too large or you become a nightmare group member then people will not want to work with you so fast. Having an open or large personal space allows others to find working with you pleasurable.

As the husband of the family, the communication has to be divided into a downward form due to the hierarchy of adults to children. My wife has a word in everything that goes within the home but my word is what is final. This helps our family with knowing who sets the rules and should follow them. Both kids in the family do not control unless a parent asked them for input. Due to the way my parents raised my siblings this is how we deal with our family communication within the home. The structure of family communication starts with the husband, wife, and then dependants. This is the norm for our family and this will not change until either me or my wife is incapable of communicating with the family.

Organization Communications

Organizational communications are assessed within groups or workplaces. Work content and structure are key components to organizational communication due to the upward and downward flow of communication. These skill types range from being a model employee that fits within the structure of a company to a candidate that will never have a chance on earth with being part of the organization. When trying to get into an organization it is important to not stand out as dissimilar or different because organizations are about a group and not an individual while trying be as close to a model employee as possible. There are ideas about what attributes a model employee has such as time management, character, honesty and efficiency. When organizations have policies that adhere to the companies best interest work-content skills are measured in order to determine importance of each member in the organization. My philosophy regarding this is too making yourself irreplaceable by learning all the jobs in the organization that will allow you to showcase your worth. When you are able to perform several peoples job effectively at one time, this makes the organization cherish you. Marshall and Scott Poole and Rober McPhee “have pointed out the importance of communication in creating and maintaining organizational identity and organizational communication call the structural approach.”(Tenholm 2011 p. 201) This is a theory that I do agree with in regards to how communication changes once a level of comfort is attained. This is true because once a level of comfort is gained within the organization then the worries of getting the job differ from the worries of keeping a job. The importance staying a factor within the organization would differ to the ideology of making sure your job is completed with proficiency and accuracy. There are certain technology and personal skills that can be distinguished from others within the organization if an opportunity arises to showcase these skills such as email, office, and personal skills. These are skills that can be learned and will have to always improve on due to the rapidly changing environment and when new theories are introduced. Each organization has a hierarchy of upward and downward communication that depicts how long and important each employee is. After the initial action of getting your foot in the door within an organization, your role changes from getting the job to doing whatever it takes to keep the job.

In conclusion, communication is always something that will stay constant but the way we communicate with each other will always progress to make improvements. This paper analyzed interpersonal, group, and organizational skills through communication theories for personal and professional development. Understanding how a person communicates will ultimately help improve the quality of the relationship resulting in positive experiences.