T3. w. 11 Communication & Feedback

Question 1

listening process

Answer 1

1. Being mindful - affected by being tired or stressed
   (We can interpret 300 words/per min, but can person speaks 100 words/min lots of time to sort and interpret communication)
2. Selecting and organising communication
   (Control thoughts, being mindful, organise perceptions of them)
3. Interpreting communication
   (Must be able to understand others on their terms)
4. Responding (Show engagement)
5. Remembering info

Question 2

Obstacles to effective listening

Answer 2

1. Incomprehensibility - transmission problems
2. Message overload - too many messages to effectively process, often in educational contexts - hard to decide which to focus on
3. Message complexity - harder to follow and retain
4. Environmental distractions - interruptions fragment our concentration, hard to resituate ourselves

Question 3

Internal obstacles to effective listening

Answer 3

1. Preoccupation - too absorbed by own thoughts and concerns
2. Prejudgement - before ideas are heard, don’t listen carefully enough, eg doctors likely to give wrong info if they do that
3. Lack of effort - better to postpone interaction if you’re too tired
4. Reacting to emotionally loaded language - we don’t learn about what person is saying when we react, fail to critically analyse the info
5. Not recognising diverse listening styles

Question 4

Forms of ineffective listening

Answer 4

1) Pseudolistening - pretending to listen, minds are elsewhere
2) Monopolising - focus communication on ourselves rather than person talking (interrupt or shift convo)
3) Selective listening
4) Defensive listening - even when you feel less valued or competent if affects your interpretation of signals
4) Ambushing - listening to attack speaker, ie politicians
5) Literal listening - failing to link content to relationship level of meaning, or context

Question 5

communication and different patterns of communication

Answer 5

play a critical role to building teams
Found that having coffee breaks at the same time improved performance at the call center, whilst employee satisfaction rose

Question 6

Features of successful teams:

Answer 6

1) Talk and listen equally, keep contributions short and sweet
2) Members face each other, energetic gestures and convos
3) Connect directly with one another not just with the team leader
4) Carry on back channel or side conversations within the team
5) Periodically break go exploring outside the team and bring info back
→ found that individual reasoning and talent contribute far less than expected

Question 7

key elements of communication

Answer 7

1) Energy
Face-to face most valuable force, then by videoconference, but less effective as more people participate
2) Engagement → distribution of energy among team members → need similar amounts among team
3) Exploration → communication that members engage in outside their team,
Higher performing teams seek more outside connections,

Question 8

Communication and interpersonal skills viewed as

Answer 8

the most important skill in the workplace

Question 9

communication process

Answer 9

1. Sender encodes the message
2. message decoded by receiver
3. receiver encodes feedback to sender which is then received and decoded by sender who then encodes new message …

noise occurs throughout this process (enviro, nerves, distractions, emotions)

Question 10

effective communication occurs when

Answer 10

the sender and receiver encodes and decodes the information in the same way. Need to learn about the elements of being an effective sender and receiver.

Question 11

persuasive communication components (aristotle)

Answer 11

1. logos
2. ethos
3. pathos

Question 12

logos

Answer 12

→ argument or reason → logical argument that’s relevant to audience, must make sense.

Question 13

ethos

Answer 13

→ character must be credible, trustworthy and have some authority or knowledge, more convincing. Ie, your degree from a good uni vs an online course. Eg, Malala Yousasfi’s speech to UN, powerful because of her story and who the messenger was

Question 14

pathos

Answer 14

→ power to produce deep emotion, connects with the audience in a way that evokes emotion, through stories, a hook, metaphors
Follow Aristotle’s components to build persuasive argument

Question 15

assertive communication

Answer 15

• -projecting your ideas clearly, with confidence, and belief
• –finding a balance between your own and others’ interests
• –respecting your own and others’ autonomy and rights

Question 16

aggressive communication seen as

Answer 16

“ my interests, concerns and agenda are the most important)

Ignore others perspectives

Question 17

submissive communication

Answer 17

(reads as: “ other people’s interests, concerns and agenda are more important than my own)
There are differences between men and women in their use of assertive communication (Brescoll, 2011).
Deferring to others views

Question 18

Women less likely to be assertive in their communication

Answer 18

Study 1 - male senators speak more as their power increases, but not for females
Study 2 - the difference was due to women’s concern over -ve consequences for backlash
Study 3 - female CEO who spoke more frequently as less suitable for the position

Question 19

components of assertive behaviour

Answer 19

1) Communicate assertively when it is important – be selective (don’t always have to express views, may not always be appropriate, cultural differences may also need to be considered)
2) Be direct, not blunt or rude (don’t drop hints, not open honest)
3) Be open and honest
4) Treat others with equality and respect (don’t take advantage of power)
5) Be positive as well as negative (use I statements instead of you statements, so they don’t feel defensive, angry, upset etc)
6) Be open and responsive to others

Question 20

Receiving messages and listening

Answer 20

‘Listening’, however, is not the same as ‘hearing’. Listening requires both focus and a concentrated effort. You need focus in order to understand the messages that are being sent to you. Active listening is an important listening skill. Active listening means fully concentrating on what is being said and trying to understand it, rather than judging the message, or just passively hearing the message of the speaker, or hearing what you want to hear.

Question 21

what is the key skill in the listening process?

Answer 21

mindfulness

(Wood, 2011) → attending to present situation to increase the likelihood of understanding what is being communicated.

Question 22

5 keys to mindful listening

Answer 22

1. Physically receive messages - physically present (not being distracted)
2. Select and organise information - helps you to process what is being said effectively
3. Interpret information - work hard to understand what the other person is trying to communicate,
4. Respond mindfully - to show you’re listening, look up etc
5. Remember information - use effective techniques, actively listening enhances retention as you take time to understand the points

Question 23

active listening is important because

Answer 23

poor listening hinders effective communication and can be costly. To improve skills (Carl Rogers, 1957):

Question 24

5 ways to ensure active listening

Answer 24

1) control the environment (by preventing distractions
2) Try to understand the other person’s view - use open, clarifying questions, suspend judgement, ask what they think
3) Paraphrase and summarise what you hear - shows you’ve listen plus you can check you’ve understood, the other person can clarify what they mean
4) Acknowledge and validate - not just content but also the emotion behind the message, lets them know you understand what and how they feel
5) Empathise and support - don’t have to agree, show your willingness to view their point of view

Question 25

Feedback is

Answer 25

fundamental to communication

how senders and receivers check their understanding (Kolb’s Action Learning Cycle)

Question 26

Kolb’s action learning cycle (for feedback)

Answer 26

1. Active experimentation
2. concrete experience
3. reflective observations (what we would do differently next time)
4. abstract conceptualisation
   (learning from/concluding on experience, what we want to try and change –> try that approach and repeat the cycle)

Question 27

observations about feedback

Answer 27

Helps us see ourselves as others see us;
Feedback you give tells others how you perceive them
Since based on perceptions may not always be correct
Negative feedback must be given carefully

Question 28

Theory of Cognitive dissonance:

Answer 28

Festinger’s (1957)

Question 29

Festinger’s (1957) Theory of Cognitive dissonance:

Answer 29

We experience discomfort when new information conflicts with existing beliefs.
Generally we strive for consistency and motivated to reduce situations/info that creates inconsistencies
If we get accurate yet dissonant feedback → natural response might be to ignore it yes we miss ways to improve

Question 30

Common responses to negative feedback

Answer 30

1. Defensiveness – blame others or situation rather than accept feedback
2. Dismissing information – avoid stress by ignoring dissonant information
3. Regression - sooking
4. Projection - on person and assume they’re angry
5. Displacement - if you’re angry might shift or displace anger to someone else
6. Denial - cognitively taxing to maintain, complete refusal to acknowledge feedback
7. Rationalisation - creating logical reasons for the behaviour,

Question 31

while common responses to negative feedback alleviate stress in the short term, it

Answer 31

it doesn’t resolve that this is how others see us, we get a blind spot if we don’t recognise the feedback

Question 32

Framework for viewing feedback for communication which you give or receive information about yourself and others.

Answer 32

Johari Window (Luft & Ingham, 1955)

Question 33

Open area (Arena)

Answer 33

Known to others, known to self

Question 34

Blind area (blind spot)

Answer 34

known to others, unknown to self

Question 35

Known to others, known to self

Answer 35

Open area (Arena)

Question 36

known to others, unknown to self

Answer 36

Blind area (blind spot)

Question 37

Hidden area (Facade)

Answer 37

unknown to others, known to self)

Question 38

Unknown area

Answer 38

(unknown to others, unknown to self)

Question 39

unknown to others, known to self)

Answer 39

Hidden area (Facade)

Question 40

(unknown to others, unknown to self)

Answer 40

Unknown area

Question 41

the balance between the four quadrants of the Johari Window (1955) can change?

Answer 41

yes. Useful to use the windows to seek feedback from others & increase awareness of self & of others

Question 42

strategies for receiving feedback whether +ve or -ve

Answer 42

Be thankful, treat feedback as useful
Try not to explain away/ignore/deny feedback
Reflect on it for future reference
Summarise feedback and set scene for change
What you should continue and what you should change
Use action learning cycle to see what you should change

Question 43

Giving feedback
On these occasions, try to remember that the purpose of the feedback is to help improve future performance rather than to make the other person feel bad. Soften the blow by delivering it in private instead of in public & use collaborative tone that’s both supportive and respectful. A key part of the process is to stay open-minded and curious about what the other person thinks and try not to carry your own assumptions into the conversations.

Answer 43

1. start with good new first
2. Try to have 1 negative feedback to 5 positive feedback (more realistic is 2-3 positive feedback : 1 negative)
3. Be descriptive and not judgemental
4. Better to give feedback about specific behaviour rather than personal critique
5. Suggest what they can do
6. Make it timely
7. Frame it as a learning opportunity, way to improve, we can all learn
8. Present issues as problems that can be solved, not something that’s wrong with then
9. Start with simple things then work on more challenging things as they improve
10. Use relevant language
11. Build trust

Question 44

starting with good news first when giving feedback can

Answer 44

an motivate and build confidence and keep communication flowing, works well when given publicly, generously
People respond more strongly to negative rather than positive events
Negative feedback can hav major effect on work and motivation

Question 45

when having difficult conversations

Answer 45

Lauren Mackler:

don’t run assumptions, see what’s going on,

use neutral language

Use ‘I’ at start of sentences

Know dif. btw assertive & aggressive communication

Don’t use the word ‘should’ ppl get defensive,, say instead ‘I’d really appreciate if you could…’

Question 46

(Wood, 2011)

Answer 46

Listening and Responding to Others

Question 47

what is the listening process?

Answer 47

physically receiving messages –> selecting and organising info –> interpreting communication –> responding –> remembering