Week 5 Discussion 1 ENG 315

"Midterm Report Card"

 There is a difference in how I understood professional communication before I started the course and at midterm. Before starting the course, I understood professional communication as verbal communication between managers and supervisors to discuss organization issues, manage conflict, solve problems, and create strategies.  However, I have a new understanding of professional communication or in other words, I have gained a new perspective that professional communication does not only entail verbal communication but it involves various methods of speaking including accurate listening and writing in the organization and beyond the workplace (Goodall,  Goodall  & Schiefelbein, 2010). I have also learned that professional communication can occur verbally or electronically such as the use of mobile devices, social networking, video conferencing, and emails. From the last five weeks, one thing that has surprised me is that professional communication is not only needed in the internal organization but it is also applied beyond the workplace due to the interconnected economy. The practice of moving firms overseas and creating international relations, and the interconnection of business practices have impacted professional communication (Goodall, Goodall & Schiefelbein, 2010). These changes have created multicultural and multilingual organizations and for this reason, employees and managers need to be proficient in communication for them to interact with clients and stakeholders across cultures.

  The realization that the interconnected economy has created the need for intercultural communication will change the way I communicate in that I will learn how to use technology so that I can interact with people from different cultures. For example, I will learn to use the different forms of communication effectively such as email, virtual meetings, body language, listening, writing, and more. In addition, I will need cultural awareness so that I can communicate with people across cultures (Goodall, Goodall & Schiefelbein, 2010).  At the end of this course, I envision to gain communications skills such as clarity and concision, the ability to give constructive feedback, and display confidence while speaking. By Week 11, I look forward to inspiring the people around me through effective communication, create dialogue in the workplace to ensure a healthy work environment, build teamwork through open communication, and establish credibility. As I continue with this course, the most aspect of the class that I am looking forward to learning is interpersonal communication. I would like to learn how I can communicate professionally to create positive identities in the workplace and influence others.

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

Goodall, H. L., Goodall, S., & Schiefelbein, J. (2010). Business and professional communication

in the global workplace. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Pub.