In Business Communication, you have developed your communication skills through the exploration of written professional communications, interpersonal and intrapersonal communication, and cultural intelligence in the Canadian workplace. The final project will assess your ability to demonstrate your knowledge of best practices in workplace communication. In this assignment, you will have the opportunity to engage in reflective practice by identifying and researching areas in which you can continue to improve your communication effectiveness.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:

 Create digitally-written professional communications for readability, coherence, clarity, conciseness, and tone

 Demonstrate self-reflection and strengthen intrapersonal skills

 Apply research tools to enhance communication

Background Information:

Poor communication in the workplace has immediate negative consequences but can also snowball to a point that it impacts the business more widely. This is one of the key findings of a survey on communication barriers in the modern workplace.

The research, which was conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, involved surveying 403 people with roles ranging from junior positions up to senior executives. Each respondent worked for a US company with those companies varying in size from those with a turnover of less than US$10m a year to those with a turnover in excess of US$1bn.

The survey found that 44 percent of respondents believe communication barriers lead to project delays, failures, and cancellation. Low morale was cited as a consequence of communication barriers by 31 percent of respondents, while a quarter said that communication barriers result in missed performance goals.

So, communication barriers in the workplace have negative consequences, but what causes poor communication in the first place? The researchers sought to answer this question too and they found the main cause was different styles of communication between individuals. In their findings, the researchers added that “generational and functional differences” regarding communication preferences makes this more complex.

For example, 31 percent of millennials use instant messaging at work on a daily basis. That figure drops to 12 percent for baby boomers. Following on from this, one-third of millennials describe themselves as functional communicators compared to 21 percent of baby boomers. Baby boomers were more likely to describe themselves as personal communicators – 34 percent compared to 23 percent of millennials.

Functional communicators are described in the survey as those who focus on processes and plan thoroughly. Personal communicators, on the other hand, are those who concentrate on establishing and building personal relationships and connections. (Adapted from BigPicture Learning, 2018).

References

Survey finds poor communication has big impact. [Image]. (2018, June 18). Retrieved from https://bigpicture-learning.com/poor-communication/

BigPicture Learning. (2018, June 18). Survey finds poor communication has big impact. Retrieved from https://bigpicture-learning.com/poor-communication/

Directions:

In this assignment you will write a business report. This assignment has three components: diagnosis and reflection, literature review, and an action plan. You will write a report on the findings of the diagnostic self-assessments, reflect on these assessments, and identify how and/or where you might further develop areas of weakness.

Elements for a business report:

 Table of contents

 Introduction

 Body (Part 1 and Part 2)

 Summary/Recommendations (Part 3)

 Reference Page

Your report must include a minimum of two visual images including, but not limited to:

 Images, charts, graph, or diagrams

 Visual images must be original. Do not cut and paste from the Internet.

Read the report from the Economist Intelligent Unit, “Communication Barriers in the Modern Workplace” found in the dropbox, and complete all of the following:

Part I: Diagnosis and Reflection

Using 5 out of the 6 diagnostic tools below related to communication, learning and the workplace, you are to analyze your own “communication in the workplace” style across various areas including personality, active listening, interpersonal skills, stress management, cultural skills and learning style.

• https://www.123test.com/jung-personality-test/
• Interpersonal Skills Self-Assessment https://www.skillsyouneed.com/quiz/343479
• Work Smart Live Smart: How Vulnerable Are You? https://worksmartlivesmart.com/vulnerability-to-stress-test/
• Education Planner: What’s Your Learning Style? http://www.educationplanner.org/students/self-assessments/learning-styles-quiz.shtml

• Effective Listening Self-Evaluation – PDF in Dropbox

• What’s Your Cultural Profile?

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Present the findings of the diagnostic tools. The scores for each diagnostic tool must be included in your report. In doing so, you will show your understanding of the results as they apply to your personal situation.

Based upon your analysis of the findings you are to identify two key communication issues that you have identified as requiring development.

Reflect on two recent professional interactions that you have had within the past 12 months. Analyze these interactions from the perspective of the two key communication issues that are identified as requiring development. To what extent are these evident and support the need for personal communication development?

Part II: Literature Review Using research, define the concepts, and outline key models and/or behaviours that need to be developed to demonstrate effective practice of the two communication issues that you have identified from your diagnosis and reflection. This literature review needs to outline both the conceptual (theoretical) and behavioural (interpersonal) skills that you need to acquire to demonstrate competence in your chosen areas of communication.

Part III: Action Plan

Develop an action plan of key events and activities that you can undertake over the next 6 months to acquire the knowledge, skills, and behaviours identified as requiring development. This can include the following:

 Undertaking specific short courses, to develop skills based on actual courses that are available. Include the title of the course, institution and learning objectives.

 Undertaking conferences, workshops or webinars based on actual events that are available. Include the title of the event, location and date.

 A reading plan to acquire conceptual knowledge, which may include specific communication texts and self-help books which must be specified. Include title, author, and synopsis of the literature.

 Maintaining of personal journals reflecting on communication interactions.

 This section must include actionable items with timelines (such as a Gantt chart or a SMART Goals chart https://www.smartsheet.com/blog/essential-guide-writing-smart-goals) and an indication of how you will measure their successful completion.

The assignment must meet the following guidelines:

1. This is an academic type paper that follows APA formatting and should be 1000-1250 words in length (approximately 4-5 pages, not including your title page, table of contents or reference page).

a. Font: Times New Roman

b. Font Size: 12

c. Use 2.0 (double) line spacing.

d. Add page number to the top right-hand corner

Turnitin

When you submit your assignment, it will go through Turnitin. Turnitin is a web-based service that checks the assignment against its database of materials that contain other learners’ work as well as electronic academic materials.