Effective Communication and the Development of Interpersonal Skills - Assignment Example

?Module 03 Employability and Professional Developments Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Task 3 a. Skills Audit Matrix 3 b. Personal Development Plan 5 Task 2 7 a. Description of Effective Communication and Its Application 7 b. Explanation of Time Management 10 Task 3 11 a. Explanation of Roles within a Team 11 Task 4 14 a. Problem Identification and Description 14 b. Effectiveness of Problem Resolution 16 References 18 Task 1 a. Skills Audit Matrix SKILL TYPICAL DESCRIPTORS SKILL LEVEL Low High 1 2 3 4 5 SPECIFIC COMMENTS Organization and Time Management Scheduling work plan and meeting, dealing with paper work and other important queries and maintaining shipment orders. 4 At present, I am working as a Logistic Officer in ‘Pharmacy of Your Choice’. I have acquired significant knowledge and experience in logistics. Time management is an essential skill in this profession. Transporting finished products to customer in a timely manner is essential in logistics profession. I have been required to handling information as well as responding to routine enquiries. I also make plans for meeting as well as making schedules for activities to be executed. I came to know the process on the basis of which work or tasks are executed for accomplishment of objectives successfully. I have acquired much experience in time management skill from my profession as a logistic officer where time is a main factor for better execution of operations. Decision Making and Problem Solving Handling daily queries, responding to information and data, selecting suitable solutions and ability to make proper decisions. 3 In this profession, I have acquired adequate knowledge in decision making as well as problem solving abilities with various activities in relation to responding to routine queries. Moreover, I am also entrusted with the task of handing requests in relation to information and other data. In this regard, I have been efficient in responding to the queries of customers more effectively. Thus, my current profession has assisted me in improving my decision making as well as problem solving capabilities to a large extent. Planning Consulting team members, allocating tasks and setting objectives. 3 I am entrusted with the task of coordinating and arranging activities which are essential for transporting the finishes goods to customers in timely manner. Additionally, I manage supply inventories with sales and territorial sales personnel. Delegation Providing guidance and allocating tasks in accordance with expertise 3 I aid logistics manager with shipping activities which include separating orders on the basis of their shipment time. Moreover, I also coordinate and seek that the orders are properly packed by a team of 4 workers. I need to improve in this field i.e. delegation with the objective of coordinating the work activities so that they can be executed effectively as well as managing team efficiently. Motivation Improving creativity, building trust and encouraging team members to perform challenging tasks. 2 In this logistic profession, I and my four support workers, working as a team in order to accomplish the assigned tasks proficiently. In this regard, I provide adequate support to the team members to execute their tasks appropriately within a stipulated time frame. I need to improve my motivation skill so that I can encourage my team members to be more creative in executing challenging tasks. Additionally, with better motivation skill I will be able to build trust within team members. Coaching Guiding team members, listening skills and responding to requested queries 2 I am entrusted with the tasks of preparing schedules for meeting and handling request in relation to information as well as data. I guide my team members towards goals and objectives. I need to improve myself with respect to coaching skill with the objective of leading my team members as an efficient leader. Target Setting Determining objectives and goals of the organization 3 I have been engaged with various activities and interact with logistic department officials in order to have a better understanding of objectives and goals in order to execute operations accordingly. Interpersonal Skills Developing positive relationship and rapport with others, ability to listen effectively and offering feedbacks accordingly 5 Logistic profession has assisted me to develop my interpersonal skills to a great extent with the management as well as with other employees. Additionally, it has enhanced my communication skills to respond quickly to requested information. Written Communications Writing report 4 I have acquired adequate information in responding to routine as well as daily queries in a written format. Oral Communication Interacting with others and responding to requested information and data 5 My communication skill has enhanced to a great extent through interaction with others and providing feedbacks to others on requested queries. b. Personal Development Plan Objectives Success Criteria Actions Implementation Monitoring Improve leadership skill My leadership skill will be improved, if I am able to effectively manage team members with adequate trust and support. Furthermore greater responsibility assign to me will facilitate me to develop and improve my leadership skills I will acquire this skill from training. Additionally, I will interact with people with adequate leadership skills about their work procedures and practices. I will implement this acquired knowledge in the management of my team members. I will be able to understand my progress when I am able to motivate and influence my team members to execute operations in accordance with the organisation’s objectives Develop delegation skill I will be able to measure my development delegation skill when team members are satisfied with their work and execute their work in efficient manner. I will adopt review and analysis technique with the objective of determining the expertise of team members. On the basis of analysis, I will allocate tasks as well as activities in accordance with their expertise. I will be able to determine the outcomes when my team members will be able to execute their operations appropriately accomplishing organisation’s aims Enhance planning process Planning activities in an effective manner so that team members are able to operate effectively. In order to acquire this skill I will attend seminars which are organised in the various organisations. I will develop the practice of scheduling my activities on a daily basis for managing my activities successfully. I will be able ascertain my progress at the time when I am able to plan out my activities efficiently. Task 2 a. Description of Effective Communication and Its Application Effective communication is a process of exchanging information as well as data in an efficient manner for better understanding about the importance of the facts which are communicated through the message. Effective communication assists in developing skills in relation to nonverbal communication, ability to listen in an attentive way, managing stress as well as having an in-depth understanding of the concept. Effective communication will aid in acquiring an appropriate understanding of a person as well as situation in order to resolve differences, develop trust and minimise stress among others. An individual with the assistance of effective communication will enhance teamwork, problem-solving as well as decision-making. In this context, communicating effectively with team members will assist in developing trust, respect and accomplishing determined goals in a proficient fashion. In effective communication there are various tools which include written, body language and oral in order to share ideas and commitments efficiently. In this respect, with effective communication better relationship can be maintained at home, society and work which further facilitate towards deepen connectivity and understanding among the individuals (The University of Maine, 2004). Effective communication is also an essential element towards the development of interpersonal skills for having a better understanding about various facts and information at workplace environment. It is identified that there are seven C’s vital for improving communication process which are as follows: Completeness The information to be shared should be complete and should be adhered with all adequate requisite information. The clear, complete with adequate requisite information facilitates in successful exchange of messages and thereby leads towards establishing efficient communication process. Conciseness The information and messages which are exchanged should be concise so that the information or the messages can be acquired in a convenient manner. Consideration The message to be communicated should be in best interest to the needs and requirements of recipients. It should be able to satisfy the information requirements of the recipients. Concreteness The information and message to be communicated should be specific and relevant. Clarity The message should be clear as well as simple. Additionally, the message to be communicated should be short and precise so that information is communicated appropriately. Courtesy The information to be communicated should be executed with due respect and dignity and it should avoid any use of inappropriate words that may negatively influence the recipients. Correctness The information should be communicated in appropriate language for the intended recipients. These are the seven most imperative factors which are to be considered in order to improve the effectiveness of communication process. In the present workplace i.e. ‘Pharmacy of Your Choice’ I work as a logistic officer. This profession has assisted me to improve my communication skill to a great extent. Working at ‘Pharmacy of Your Choice’ offered me with significant opportunity to enhance my commemoration skills. It can be firmly admitted that effective communication is an important factor for better performance and success of this business. In logistic operations communication is identified to be playing a significant role so that activities by different individuals are executed in a timely as well as suitable manner. In the workplace, the activities are coordinated so that finished products are transported successfully to customers. In this context, the logistic manager, officers and others workers are communicated with their activities to be performed so that objectives of the organisation are accomplished suitably. Moreover, interactions are made with sales and territorial sales personnel in a face-to-face manner with the intention of determining inventories level. As a logistic officer, I am entrusted with a team of four workers to execute tasks for preparing packaged boxes to be shipped. Accordingly, I am required to make my team members aware of the various activities which are to be accomplished. In this profession, I and logistic manager were frequently required to communicate effectively in a face-to-face way about various shipping activities which include separation of orders, preparing boxes and packing orders. These are the various aspects on the basis of which my communication skills have enhanced to such an extent. In this regard, in the present workplace my communication process has developed which assisted me in managing team members’ activities more efficiently and successfully. The communication system has also assisted in developing social bondage with people in my community. b. Explanation of Time Management In my current profession as a logistic officer apart from effective communication, time management plays an important role so that products are shipped to customer within appropriate time frame. This profession has assisted me in developing time management skills to a considerable extent. . In am engaged with the tasks of scheduling as well as re-rescheduling activities in relation to product delivering to customers on a national level. In the current workplace, I manage time by planning out my daily activities which are to be executed. According to my formulated plan I work out activities so that the determined activities can be executed within the appropriate time frame. In this regard, planning activities in an appropriate fashion has assisted in developing my management skills as well. In scheduling my work activities, I have followed certain procedures which include identifying work activities, recognising dependencies, estimating time durations and formulate an effective plan which is discussed below: Identifying Work Activities The work activities which are important are to be organised on the basis of their priorities. Additionally, activities are to be arranged in accordance with the priorities which are to be accomplished. I used to breakdown my activities so that they can be executed in an effective and timely manner. Estimate Time Durations After recognising each activity, time is required to be allocated in order to accomplish all the activities which I have identified. I set target duration that will be sufficient for me to execute the selected activity within the stipulated time. Identify Dependencies In a workplace, my work activities were dependent on the work activities of my team members. In this context, in order to accomplish activities in an appropriate time and manner requires better team work and performing activities in a collaborative manner. Thus, I manage and share my work schedule with my team members so that they put extra effort to accomplish the desired activities within a determined time period. Develop a Work Plan This is the last stage phase and in this phase a work plan is formulated with the intention of executing activities according to plan so that objectives of the organisation can be accomplished in a suitable manner. There are the various ways which are adopted by me in this organisation in order to execute my activities in an effective manner for attaining better growth development in this profession. Task 3 a. Explanation of Roles within a Team In this profession as a logistic officer, a group of four workers were assigned for assisting me in all logistic operations. In the present business scenario, team work is an essential factor for accomplishing challenging activities in a collaborative manner. Moreover, the organisation is significantly dependent on team effort for accomplishing its objectives smoothly in order to ensure better future growth as well as development. There are various roles on the basis of which team members works so that determined objectives and goals of the organisation are accomplished in an efficient manner. I am leading the team members with the aim of accomplishing the various objectives which include separating orders, packaging orders and assorting these products for transportation. With the assistance of the group members, I am able to blend the expertise, skills and experience of these four members in a competent manner with the objective of accomplishing the group as well as organisation goals successfully. The members of the teams are committed, flexible, reliable, adaptable as well as enthusiastic to work proficiently for better growth as well as development of the organisation. Additionally, performing activities in a group has assisted in coping effectively with the various challenges and changes which are raised due to changing market condition. Executing operations in a collaborative manner has assisted the team to perform with better speed as well as accuracy in operations. In this context, I have coordinated as well as managed the activities of team members so that they are able to execute their activities on the basis of their expertise and shared knowledge. These are the aspects in accordance with which they are able to execute their operations in accordance with the objectives of the organisation. In this perspective, with the effort and expertise of team members the group goals of performing the various activities in the logistic area are accomplished effectively and in timely manner. In order to improve the effectiveness of the performance of the team, there are various factors which are to be considered. The strength of the team is largely dependable on the complementary skills which are generally acquired by team members which include problem-solving, technical, interpersonal skills and decision-making skills. The team members with a common objective and goal will be effective in managing all the activities proficiently. Additionally, the team members with their complementary skills will be competent in accomplishing the group goal successfully. Correspondingly, as a leader of the team, the group activities have been segregated into specific as well as measurable objectives so that the team members are committed towards these specific goals or objectives. The performance of the team work is dependable on the accountability, trust and mutual support of the team members. Furthermore, I have acquired certain requisite steps and measures with the intention of motivating my team members to execute their operations with zeal. In this context, I have adopted a convincing as well as shared leadership style apart from my overall responsibility, inspiring my team members. I shared all relevant information with my teammates increasing trust and faith. I have also adopted the strategy of segregating and assigning different responsibility to different members in an appropriate manner with the aim of having a balance in all the activities which are to be executed properly in logistic area of the organisation. These are the various aspects on the basis of which team members with effective leadership and common approach towards goal objectives have assisted in accomplishing the desired shared goals in an enhanced manner. The team members have been effective in executing their operations in a proficient manner with the adoption of the aforementioned various strategies and plans. The team members with effective leadership and specific goals have been efficient in performing all the desired and determined activities appropriately and improve their level of performance simultaneously. Moreover, motivation, trust and efforts are the major factors which are responsible for the effective performance of the team in accomplishing group goals and objectives. There are various techniques of leadership and ways of forming team in order to accomplish group objectives and goals. The most alternate way of team development is to minimise the authority and control of leaders and offering more freedom to team members to execute their operations effectively. A team development model has been formulated by Bruce Tuckman comprises four stages which include forming, storming, norming and performance. Forming signifies that the team members are required to be adaptive in order to minimise and mitigate issues and conflicts. In this respect, a leader is required to be directive so that objectives are accomplished effectively. In the storming stage, team members are required to formulate plans and strategies with the intention of sorting out the raised issues efficiently. The third stage is norming. In this stage, the team members execute their operations with the objective of accomplishing the specific goal successfully. Performing is the last stage which implies that on examining the performance team members on the basis of aforementioned stages are effective and are able in executing their operations smoothly without any conflict. The alternate procedure reveals that major decisions are to be made through group agreements. On the other hand, the small decisions are to be made and delegated by the leader to its team members. Accordingly, a better interpersonal relationship develops amid team members which further contribute towards accomplishing group objectives appropriately (University of Washington, 2013). These are various processes on the basis of which group can be formed and lead with the objective of accomplishing desired objectives successfully. Task 4 a. Problem Identification and Description As a logistic officer in the organisation, I have come across a several problems in relation to quality and other issues. I have identified that the products which are to be transported were not packed efficiently and has adversely damaged the products in the course of transportation. The products on reaching its destination, customers often complained regarding damages in stock which unfavourably affected the brand image of the organisation in the marketplaces. In this regard, I have been assigned with the responsibility of implementing quality control in the logistic operations of my department. There are various problems which may arise in the operation of an organisation which include technical problems, process problems, quality issue and client issues among others. In this respect, various strategies as well as plans has been formulated and implemented with the aim of mitigating such issues in an effective fashion. Problem-solving is an important aspect which is an essential element for executing operations of an organisation successfully. The most vital step in problem-solving is determining the problem and formulating appropriate strategies to mitigate it. In this perspective, I have identified that the major issues of quality control was existing in packaging segments where the products were not packaged properly which led to their damage during the course of transportation. In this respect, I have conducted a thorough analysis of the identified problem and clarifying the various aspects which were responsible for the rise of such problem. The problem analysis as well as clarification process is generally termed as problem specification. On the identification of the problem, I have made a research of ideas and gathered information about the various problem implications and procedures to mitigate such problem. I have adopted ‘cause-and-effect’ analysis which is also termed as Fishbone model with the intention of determining the various factors that were responsible for quality issues. Additionally, this analysis procedure has assisted me in recognising the cause and effects of the problem. I have adopted this method as there may be various factors which are responsible for the quality control issue. This method facilitated in identifying root cause that was accountable for the rise of problem. There are three major elements which are taken into account for this model which include problem definition, brainstorming and identify causes. In this first step i.e. problem definition is smile. According to this step, I have been able to determine the quality issues in my logistic department. In order to mitigate this issue, I am required to recognise the root cause which is responsible for this quality issue. Eventually, with the assistance of this method, I have been able to present the various issues which are critical as well as offer a detailed description of requisite information and data in relation to the raised issue to the team members. Brainstorming is the second step and in this step I have discussed about the issue with the team members and others individuals who are involved with my logistic department. In this context, I have been able to obtain adequate information and data in relation to various factors which were accountable for the quality issue. There should be a free flow of idea and accordingly, appropriate knowledge about the various reasons and factors are identified with regard to the raised quality issue. In this context, on application of this model various causes were determined which were closely related with the problem. The six most possible causes include method, material, man, machine, measurement and management (Ilie & Ciocoiu, 2010). In the context of quality issues in my logistic department, I have identified that there were three factors which were deemed to be responsible for this issue which include material, machine and method. The material used for packaging products for transportation was of lower qualities and was one of the primary reasons for product damages. Additionally, the processes as well as machines which were used for packaging were obsolete leading damages of products during transportation. b. Effectiveness of Problem Resolution On identifying the appropriate factors which are accountable for quality issues which include material, machine and method adequate measures were undertaken. First of all, appropriate packaging material was obtained from a renowned supplier. Moreover, latest packaging machines were installed, so that products are packed appropriately and are not damaged in the course of the transportation. The team members were provided with training services in order to enhance the processes of packaging in accordance with latest machines and materials. There were various steps which were undertaken by the management of the organisation on the basis of my findings in relation to the quality issue in my logistics department. On implementing these steps in the logistic departments, there has been less quality complains from the customers and retailers among other to whom the products are supplied. In this regard, a positive impact has been identified in the business operation of this organisation with increase in profit margin along with reputation of the organisation. Moreover, the organisation with better quality services improved its brand image in the different market segments. In this context, with improved brand image, it is expected that the organisation may expand its business operations to other market segments which will prove to improve its customer base. Subsequently, the organisation may reveal an improved sales figure with better revenue. These are various aspects on the basis of which the organisation may have better progress towards growth as well as development due to mitigation of the quality issue in the logistic operations. References Ilie, G., & Ciocoiu, C. N., 2010. Application of Fishbone Diagram to Determine the Risk of an Event with Multiple Causes. Management Research and Practice, Vol. 2, Iss. 1, pp. 1-20. The University of Maine, 2004. Effective Communication. Getting Things Done in Groups. [Online] Available at: http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/pdfpubs/6103.pdf [Accessed August 10, 2013]. University of Washington, 2013. Four (Five) Stages of Team Development – Bruce Tuckman. Resources. [Online] Available at: https://depts.washington.edu/oei/resources/changeModels/mc_team_development.pdf [Accessed August 10, 2013]. Read More