Interpersonal Communication Portfolio - Essay Example

Running header: Interpersonal communication portfolio Student’s name: Instructor’s name: Subject code: Date of submission: Interpersonal communication portfolio Elements of interpersonal communication There are various models of interpersonal communication. However, this paper uses transactional model to explain the various elements of interpersonal communication. The transactional model of communication is a two linear model where the sender channels the message to the receiver who then becomes the sender and relays his feedback to the original sender as shown in the figure below (Higgins, 2005). This interpersonal communication model has various elements including: i) The communicators- interpersonal communication involves at least two people with one person talking while the other listens. These are called communicators. ii) The channel –this is the physical means through which the information/message is transferred from one individual to the other. For instance speech and vision in face to face communication (Griffin, 2012). iii) The message – message not only refers to the information conveyed or speech used but also the non verbal signs exchanged e.g. gestures and voice tones. The non verbal signs serve to convey additional information about the spoken information. iv) Feedback –this is the response by the receiver to the sender and informs the sender that the message has been received and the receiver’s reaction to it. The response may be verbal or non verbal. v) Context – interpersonal communication is contextual and does not happen in isolation. The context in which interpersonal communication takes place for instance the roles, status and status of communicators influences it. Also, the participants’ expectations and their emotional climate will influence interpersonal communication. vi) Noise –this is anything that impedes effective interpersonal communication Factors that enhance/impede effective interpersonal communication There are many factors that enhance interpersonal communication. However, the following are the most important; i) Effective listening- effective listening will enable the receiver to accurately get what is being communicated and hence be able to give the appropriate response. ii) Constructive feedback –providing constructive feedback will enable interpersonal communication to attain its full potential and enables it to continue until the aim of communication has been achieved. iii) Body signs- use of body language greatly enhance interpersonal communication as it allows the participants to be more engaged in the process as it shows commitment to communication (Turner, 2007). Factors that impede effective interpersonal communication Various factors impede effective interpersonal communication. They include; i) Premature assumptions- premature assumptions denies one the chance to listen to what is actually being communicated since he/she prejudges the speaker and what is being communicated . As such, the listener is not able to get the actual message. ii) Cultural barriers –different cultures accept different styles of communication. For instance, in some communities, casual hugging and kissing is unacceptable and hence this may be a barrier to effective interpersonal communication if used in the wrong context. iii) Language barriers –this happen s when those who are communicating do not share a common language. When a person is deaf or visually impaired, this serves as a barrier (Jameson, 2010). In addition, speech difficulties or dysphasia and use of complicated jargons and language are all barriers to effective interpersonal communication. iv) Environmental barriers- these include lack of privacy and noise. A too hot or too cold environment may also serve as a barrier while constant distractions such as constantly ringing phones in an office may effect interpersonal communication. v) Mixed messages –communication that conveys contradicting messages and conflates the intended messages with extraneous issues will cause resentment, concern or confusion thereby serving as an impediment to effective interpersonal communication. Effective communication is important in an organization because it creates mutual understanding environment between the management and employees. Directly, it also helps in increasing the employee's productivity. Impact of interpersonal communication on managerial effectiveness in hotels a) Impact of interpersonal communication on a manager’s ability to effectively manage and motivate individuals and teams Hotel managers spend more than two thirds of their day interpersonally communicating with others within the hotel. They interpersonally communicate with guests, peers, superiors and subordinates. However, the managers communicate with their subordinates/ employees more often than any other group within the hotel (Brownell, 2006). In the course of their day to day management activities, hotel managers must motivate the employees, give them directives and discipline them whenever necessary. At times, employees will feel unappreciated, demotivated and frustrated where the manager does not have ineffective interpersonal communication skills. In such cases, the employees may decide to leave. This may be detrimental to the hotel due to unnecessary hotel turnovers. As such, interpersonal skills greatly impact on the managers’ ability to motivate the hotel workers. This is because he is able to understand the employees’ problems, needs and personalities. Understanding employees’ personalities is key to their motivation. It also goes a long way into solving their problems and solving their needs and hence avoiding unnecessary conflicts. As stated above, interpersonal communication will enable the manager to understand employees’ needs as well as personalities. This will in turn help the managers form effective work teams that are able to offer quality services to the guests. This is because the manager is able to plan the teams such that they are able to work cohesively. Communication skills also enable the manager to amicably resolve the conflicts that might exist between the workers and the groups without affecting the hotel operations. This results in effective working teams and motivated employees. Effective teams and motivated workers will in turn offer quality services to the guests. This will in turn lead to wonderful service experiences by guests and hence increased profitability for the hotel. Motivated employees-understand one another, needs met, guest attended to on time and their needs met, ensure they work as a team. b) Impact of interpersonal communication on an employees ability to deliver quality service to guests Delivery of excellent service to the customer is the main goal that ever hotel strives to accomplish all the time. The ability for a hotel to deliver quality service to the guest is therefore an essential success and survival strategy for a hotel in today’s competitive world. In this regard, a customer’s service encounter which determines whether or not the guest is satisfied and therefore likely to return should be of great concern to the hotel (Boyatzis, and Taylor, 2008). This is because a positive service encounter adds up to a shared image of high quality service while negative encounters give a negative image of the hotel to the guest. To a great extent, how the guest is handled by the hotel determines his/her service encounter and since the guest interacts with the hotel’s employees most of the times during his/her stay, the service encounter is therefore determined by how the employee/s handles him or her (Brian, 2006). This implies shows how the employee/s interpersonal communication impacts positively/ negatively on his or her ability to deliver quality service to the guest and hence determines whether or not the hotel succeeds in its goals. Hotel employees should have good intercommunication skills which include verbal and non verbal communication skills, ability to ask relative questions, being attentive, knowledge of the different cultures from which the guests may originate from as well as decision making and problem solving skills (Shipra and Garg, 2012). Possession of such skills will greatly impact on the guests experience and hence service quality since they will enable the employee to understand the local and international guest’s needs and hence enable them to provide appropriate service, handle complaints effectively and hence provide the desired feedback (Blue and Harun, M2002). Interpersonal communication skills will help the employees cater for guests originating from different cultures, upbringings and backgrounds effectively. For instance, the guests may be from Japan where culture dictates punctuality and formality or from the Muslim world where culture dictates fasting during Ramadan. Effective interpersonal communication skills of observation, questioning and listening will enable the employees to accurately identify such needs as well as expectations. This would enable the employees to ensure that the needs are met and exceeded so that the customers have a great experience. Interpersonal communication will also help identify the guest’s special needs and anticipate unexpressed needs, offer courteous services, information and advice while promoting the hotel and its products. Given that complains are part of good feedback, interpersonal communication impacts positively on how hotel employees respond to guest’s complaints. In this regard, employees focus and listen to customers and are courteous and discrete in dealing with the complaints (Nazari, 2011). Even where nothing can be done regarding the complaint they are able to make the customer understand hence ensuring the guest’s is happy with the response. This impact positively on the employee’s ability to deliver quality service to guests and hence creates memorable service encounters. Transcripts Conversation 1 Simon looks at Samantha as she enters his office after knocking. He smiles at her in a bid to cheer her up as she looks tired and upset. Simon: Good afternoon Samantha, How are you? How may I help you? Samantha: Good afternoon Simon, I am fine. However, I have an argent matter to attend to and hence I have come to request for a Friday off. Simon stretches his hard to Samantha for a handshake as he shows her to a sit in front of him. He sits upright and looks at Samantha attentively. Simon: what is the matter you want to attend to? Although am afraid it will be hard for you to get a Friday off since as you are aware, we are very busy . I wish you had requested for a night off before we prepared the duty roster. Samantha looks at Simon as she answers confidently. Samantha: Am sorry but my mother has just informed me that she will be visiting me then and since we have not been together for a long time now, spending some quality time with her would mean a lot to me. Please consider granting me the request since I have never requested for another time off since I joined the hotel. Besides, I have spoken with Brendan and he is willing to hold brief for me on that day. As Samantha talks, Simon leans slightly forward and rests his head on one hand as he listens to Samantha. Simon: I see. I understand what you are saying and if I were in your position, I would do the same. But I honestly do not trust Brendan. I wish you could talk to somebody else. As you know Brendan never up sells and is usually late and he never lacks a reason for this. Suppose he got late on Friday which is our busiest day this week with 350 rooms arriving? Do you see what that would cost us? Samantha nods in agreement although she looks worried and surprised by what she hears. She looks straight at Simon and answers smilingly. Samantha: Am sorry I never considered this. I will try and see whether I can find another person since this is very important to me. It will actually motivate me to work harder than I have been doing since I will consider it a big favor. Simon looks sympathetic. He smiles at Samantha as he starts talking casually Simon: But I hope that does not imply that you will work less if the permission is not granted. Actually I understand what you are saying since I have come to know you as a very committed employee who has never missed her shift. I will see what we can do to fix another person during your night off. But I hope you will remain committed even if we are unable to fix this? Samantha nods in agreement. She smiles as she rises from the seat to leave the office. Samantha: Thank you for being understanding. Not many places will grant a night off within such a short notice. I really hope we will find someone else since this is a very important event for me. I will highly appreciate this and I promise to work even harder when I return. Simon nods in agreement and smiles back at her. Simon: Thank you too. I hope you have a wonderful time with your mother. Samantha closes the door behind her as she leaves the office smiling. Conversation 2 Mr. Tomson slumps on the front desk counter, looking tired, disheveled and annoyed. Samantha: Good evening. Sorry for the long Journey. Welcome to Mighty hotel. I am Samantha. How may I help you? Samantha looks up at Mr. Tomson with a slight smile. She thinks he appears to be of Indian descent. She remembers an incident from the week before with an Indian gentleman who was very rude and arrogant when he was making an enquiry to hold a function at the hotel. Nevertheless, she appears friendly to Mr. Tomson: Mr. Tomson: Good evening Samantha. My name is Tomson. I had made a reservation. Samantha: Please wait. Let me check for you. Samantha begins checking for his reservation in the PMS. She can’t see it initially so she has to check for it again. She looks at Tomson as she states: Samantha: Am afraid there is no reservation for Thompson. Tomson is taken aback by what he hears and he appears worried: Mr. Thomson: But my assistant made the booking over two weeks ago and the hotel sent me a confirmation email. Samantha looks at Tomson sympathetically as she says: Samantha: Am sorry I have checked it twice but it is not there. Mr. Thomson: Please check again. I am very tired from my long fright. I please want to get to my room. Samantha looks at him and nods in agreement. She appears sympathetic to Tomson: Samantha: Please let me see the confirmation email. Perhaps am misspelling your name. Mr. Tomson: Unfortunately I don’t have it since I did not think it is necessary. But, my name is spelt T-O-M-S-O-N Samantha’s face brightens up and smiles as she talks to Tomson: Samantha: Oh sorry, I have been looking for the wrong name. Here, we don’t spell it like that. Yes, I have found you reservation. Tomson smiles and he looks happy: Mr. Tomson: Thank you. I really need to have a shower and something to eat. I don’t think I can handle any more delays. Samantha: sorry for the inconvenience. Please give me a credit card for your room security deposit and sign this registration card so that I can check you in. Tomson complies with Samantha’s request and she checks him into room 2106 and hands him a room key. Samantha: (In a smile) have a nice stay Mr. Tomson. References: Blue, G&. Harun, M2002. Hospitality language as a professional skill. English for specific purposes. 22(1):73-91. Boyatzis, E&. Taylor, N2008, Hospitality managers’ internal communication practices. International Journal of Hospitality. 38(2):111-118. Brian, L2006. Creating strong listening environment: A key of management task. International Journal of contemporary hospitality management. 26(3):20-30. Brownell, J2006. The symbolic culture approach: Managing transition in the service industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 40(3): 191-205. Griffin, E2012. A first look at communication theory. New York: McGraw-Hill. Higgins, E2005. Social Psychology: Handbook of Basic Principles. New York: Guilford Press. Jameson, B2010. The interpersonal communication book. London: Rutledge. Nazari, R2011. Communication satisfaction in the hospitality industry: A case study of employees at a Theme park in China. Journal of Scientific Research. 10(6):702-710. Shipra, A&. Garg, A2012. The importance of communication within organisations: A research on two hotels in Uttarakhand, IOSR Journal of Business and Management. 3(2): 40-49. Turner, L2007. Introduction to communication theory. New York: McGraw-Hill. Read More