Bal 002 : Communication Skills Assessment Answer

1.Clearly identify one specific aspect of group dynamics:

During the PBL team work, you will have experienced a variety of situations that will have had an impact on the dynamics of the team. These may include communication skills that you have needed to use; conflicts and differences of opinion; the ability to open up with your feelings and personal concerns for constructive resolution; the facilitation of others’ learning; social interaction and the development of friendships and the opportunity to enhance the personal growth of others. You will need to identify one specific aspect of group dynamics that affected your team working during the course of this module.

2. Use Gibbs’ (1988) Reflective Cycle as a structure for your essay:

In order to explore the group dynamics aspect that you have identified, you MUST use the Gibbs (1988) model of reflection as a basis for your essay (see diagram below). Highlight a relevant critical incident which occurred in your PBL group that best highlights your chosen aspect of group dynamics. As you write your reflection you will need to clearly identify which part of the reflective cycle you are addressing. You should work your way around each of the 6 stages of the model: Description of the event, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion, Action Plan, (Gibbs, 1988 cited Jasper 2003, p. 77).

You will be expected to refer to other relevant literature from text books and academic journals to substantiate your views and arguments. Please cite all references as per the Harvard guidelines.

I realised that someone needed to intervene and rescue the crew. I took the leadership position to calm them down and persuade them to stick together to complete the work required. I have always given the skill of interacting with others effectively a lot of attention. In every situation, I find a reason to improve my communication

skills which have been helpful in smooth and friendly socialisation with all people (Bays, A et al. 2014). My ability to express and ideas, emotions as well as feelings efficiently enhance a useful and productive conversation. Using my skills, I was able to calm everybody down and bring some order back into the team (Paterson, C. and Chapman, J., 2013).

Feelings

Upon reflection, my impression was that our leader was very rude, but I saw no need of taking it personally. I felt that what she said was just but a projection of her own emotions and feelings, therefore, we only became the victims of her circumstances.at some point I thought that she was not aware of how rude she was. I felt the urge to let her know how she made the group members believe since she was a close friend. In my mind, I knew I had to be cautious with how I approached the issue. She would quickly become defensive and force me to stop any conversation with her that would lead to a resolution.

All that I witnessed during the group discussion was a lot of drama, and I knew I was not going to let myself be part of it. I took my time before reacting or responding in any way to what was happening. This step was significant in calming down my emotions and helping other team members to put themselves together. As I was sited the feeling of kindness and the need for peace, love and harmony was overwhelming had to be polite to everybody because different people act at their level of awareness, empathy and consciousness. (Hogg, M and Terry, D 2014).

Evaluation

Through the experience, I learnt that being calm, humble and kind are some of the essential aspect of communication. To efficiently explore the three elements, self-confidence is essential. While confidence is a fundamental requirement, it is always good to remain humble. It is okay to have a misunderstanding of something, but it is good to acknowledge it to others. The knowledge demonstrates that you do not only consider your decisions and opinions, but you also reflect on the decisions and views of the people who are close to you.

Many people often overlook kindness as a sign of weakness without realising that a little consideration helps you to live well with all people. Humility is also crucial for proper interactions. Humility demonstrates to people that you value them, and you place yourself at the same level with them. I also learnt that being composed and calm in some tough situations very challenging but very essential in helping one remain sober (Maloney, S. et al. 2013).  Remaining calm make people to like you and think you are a good leader who can be in control and solve different circumstances at hand. My experience in the group has helped me realise it is not possible to control what happens to me but I can influence how I deal with situations in a way people drift towards. The case also helped me to know that my ego is very high. Though it has often been overlooked, having a big ego makes one behave in an arrogant manner which is terrible. I intend to do everything in my capacity to deal with my ego in whichever situation I find myself (Davies, S., 2012).

Analysis

In my review, the situations enlightened me to see how vital the interpersonal skills are. Some of the interpersonal skills include verbal and non-verbal communication skills, listening skills, problem-solving and social awareness. I need to improve my problem-solving skills through more interactions with people of different demographic groups. There is every need to work on my ability to identify a problem very fast and examine all options that pertain solutions. I will achieve this by increasing my exposure to people of different social classes and environment. I must also improve my social awareness and use every opportunity I get to help people solve various problems. My emotions and interests have to come after everything else to become more active. I was able to weigh the emotions and feelings of others and put them into consideration before deciding how to help them (Jayatilleke, N. and Mackie, A., 2013).

Conclusion:

 In conclusion, the situation was not only a challenge to me, but it gave me a plat for to use some of the interpersonal skills in coming up with a solution to a problem. It helped me understand how different people react to different situations. Although it was challenging for me to calm down the team members, it gave me an experience of desiring to interact with different people to advance my skills in problem-solving. (Martin, J and Nakayama, T 2013).The situation also taught me that speaking rudely is a habit to some people and there is nothing much I can do to change it unless the individuals are willing. For example, when I tried to approach our group leader, she was very adamant to admit she had done something wrong. This kind of attitude made it more difficult to help her deal with the habit. The power of non-verbal and verbal skills to demonstrate how much you understand and feel with a group of people should never be underestimated in getting a solution to a specific problem. The problem would alternatively be solved by letting people express themselves and leave for home but later call them to have the matter sorted out. This w kind of step would help everyone to relax, calm down and the make the right decision soberly (Well et al. 2013).

Action plan

The experience revealed to me that I have to work on more interpersonal skills. My communication skills must progressively improve to help me interact with more people in future. In case I am faced with such a scenario in future, the knowledge that I have acquired from this situation will be necessary for assisting me to get a solution very fast. In future, I aim at improving my general communication skills for me to advance my ability to solve problems without waiting until it is very late (Potter, C., 2015).

Working as a team has been recommended for the success of any organisation. A lot has to be done to help people realise that working as a team as its advantages as well as challenges. People in all private and public must learn to work together harmoniously without unnecessary fights and conflict. For the idea of teamwork to operate in many organisations, some extra training must be done to help the employees develop excellent communication skills and other interpersonal skills necessary to help them interact and work together freely without many problems.

Introduction:

Teamwork is an essential element for the success of any organisation. Working as a team increases the reliability of an organisation primarily for the healthcare providers since safety is considered the essence of organisational progress. The principal objective of working as a team should be to improve the corporate and individual performances; therefore, it must be given a lot of attention.

A team is a group of people with the same shared objectives who work together with the aim of achieving them. Teams are made up of different sizes, shapes and are faced with different kind of challenges. In most cases, teams built up to assist the organisations accomplish their set goals and objectives (Forsyth, D.R., 2018).  Groups are also used due to their ability to offer distinctive levels of competition. According to different research studies, right team environment brings the high degree of competition and interaction between individuals. Healthcare sector has been undergoing several changes internationally with the emphasis being put on the need to use teamwork. The changes are facilitated by advanced technology and increased economic as well as social issues (Arnold, N., Ducate, L. and Kost, C., 2012)

References:

Arnold, N., Ducate, L. and Kost, C., 2012. Collaboration or cooperation? Analyzing group dynamics and revision processes in wikis. CALICO Journal, 29(3), p.431.

Bays, A.M., Engelberg, R.A., Back, A.L., Ford, D.W., Downey, L., Shannon, S.E., Doorenbos, A.Z., Edlund, B., Christianson, P., Arnold, R.W. and O'Connor, K., 2014. Interprofessional communication skills training for serious illness: evaluation of a small-group, simulated patient intervention. Journal of palliative medicine, 17(2), pp.159-166.

Curtis, J.R., Back, A.L., Ford, D.W., Downey, L., Shannon, S.E., Doorenbos, A.Z., Kross, E.K., Reinke, L.F., Feemster, L.C., Edlund, B. and Arnold, R.W., 2013. Effect of communication skills training for residents and nurse practitioners on quality of communication with patients with serious illness: a randomized trial. Jama, 310(21), pp.2271-2281.

Davies, S., 2012. Embracing reflective practice. Education for Primary Care, 23(1), pp.9-12.

Forsyth, D.R., 2018. Group dynamics. Cengage Learning.

Hogg, M.A. and Terry, D.J., 2014. Social identity processes in organizational contexts. Psychology Press.

Jayatilleke, N. and Mackie, A., 2013. Reflection as part of continuous professional development for public health professionals: a literature review. Journal of Public Health, 35(2), pp.308-312.. Reflection as part of continuous professional development for public health professionals: a literature review. Journal of Public Health, 35(2), pp.308-312.

Maloney, S., Tai, J.H.M., Lo, K., Molloy, E. and Ilic, D., 2013. Honesty in critically reflective essays: an analysis of student practice. Advances in health sciences education, 18(4), pp.617-626.

Martin, J.N. and Nakayama, T.K., 2013. Intercultural communication in contexts. New York: NY: McGraw-Hill.

Paterson, C. and Chapman, J., 2013. Enhancing skills of critical reflection to evidence learning in professional practice. Physical Therapy in Sport, 14(3), pp.133-138. Enhancing skills of critical reflection to evidence learning in professional practice. Physical Therapy in Sport, 14(3), pp.133-138.

Potter, C., 2015. Leadership development: an applied comparison of Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle and Scharmer’s Theory U. Industrial and Commercial Training, 47(6), pp.336-342.

Well, E., First, F., Dignity, P., it Out, W. and Training, C.B., 2013. Reducing violence and aggression in the emergency department. Emergency nurse, 21(4).