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Communication is one of the mediums of sharing information and expressing thoughts. The importance of group communication is that it not only helps to communicate with the group member also it helps to understand strengths and weaknesses which is further effective to increase efficiency. The report is based on identification of my strengths and weaknesses in group communication skills. Identification of strengths and weakness of group communication skill allows an individual to eliminate weakness and enhance communication skill. Enhancing group communication is useful to increase understanding between a group which encourages increasing productivity as well as promotes teamwork. The report is effective for me to understand weaknesses as well as strengths of my communication skills. It will enhance strengths as well as reduce weaknesses. The report is useful to analyse my group communication skills. The study is going to discuss formal, informal communications as well as my strengths and weaknesses in group communication
Findings
Formal Communication
Formal communication can be described as the communication method which is used in official information sharing and communication through proper and defined channels. Through the communication generally individual shares information to the persons who are associated with professional causes (Lund 2020). However, there are different communication modes in formal communication. The communication modes are “upward” “Downward”, “horizontal” and “vertical” communications. The different communication is based on the persons who are being pursued to communicate.
In “downwards communications”, the flow of information is from the higher level or hierarchy or management to the respective lower or subordinate officials or lower level (Yolanda 2019). However, “upward communication” refers to the flow of information from lower level to its respective hierarchy level (Hoffmeister 2019). “Horizontal communication” refers to communication between Co-workers or colleagues in professional aspects; however, the mode of communication also refers to sharing information between organizations (Maia et al. 2021). “Diagonal communication” refers to the communication between employees or officials of several departments or teams. One of the features of the mode of communication is that the employees can communicate with others irrespective of their departments as well as different levels.
I have strengths in communicating with management or hierarchy. It allows me to express my thoughts and views to management. Also I have strengths in horizontal communication that not only helps me communicate with my co-worker but also help me to deal with the clients. It helps me to understand the strengths and weaknesses of my colleagues. Moreover, the downwards communication is also effective to increase understanding of the needs of the management (Nematzadeh et al. 2019). However, I have felt that I need to improve my “downward communication” skill so that I can understand the needs of my subordinates which will effectively increase the productivity of the team. Moreover, “cross communication” skill also needs to develop for better coordination between several departments in an organization which will facilitate the opportunity to increase productivity.
Informal communication
Informal Communication refers to casual communication which is not a form of professional communication. In spite of unprofessional communication, information is also shared between the persons (Song et al. 2019). Informal Communication in a workplace has also a crucial role in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the persons. Informal communication is more effective to increase engagement with the co-worker. Communication is one of the bases which help an individual person to increase involvement in informal tasks. Effectiveness of informal communication is discussed in below:
Efficiency- informal communication helps to increase involvement of different cultured people in the workforce which is effective to increase efficiency. The involvement of different cultured people effectively increases creativity.
Different views- informal communication promotes involvement of employees in a discussion which enhances different views or approaches to an issue which would help to increase problem solving.
Working environment- informal communication is effective to provide a good working environment which enhances engagement of employees and team members in an organisation.
Relation development- Informal communication also provides the opportunity to develop relationships with co-workers other than professional relations.
Feeling of Belonging- Informal communication is also effective to feel comfortable in the workplace, which increases the work efficiency in the workplace.
I feel that I am not comfortable in informal communication as a result I am not able to build any other relationship with my colleagues other than professional communication. The reason behind less involvement in informal communication is because I am interested in Gossips. Most of the informal communication results from gossip groups which is not good for a healthy working environment. This is why I stay away from informal communication. However, I need to take part in informal communication as the informal communication is effective to increase the understanding. I also feel that because I am not taking part in any kind of informal communication, my “diagonal communication” is weak. Another weakness is that I cannot understand the needs of other co-workers, which reduces the coordination level. Moreover, the problem solving is not developing over the period as I am not taking part in any kind of debate. Debates are effective to involve different views on issues which increase problem solving as well as creative ideas.
Communication Tools
Communication tools are referring to the tools which are effective to increase communication (SULEMAN et al. 2018). The tools are not based on face-to-face meetings which are effective to increase collaboration and reduce communication gap. The emergence of the Covid-19 has enhanced the communication gap in groups as well as teams in organisations which are negatively affecting the quality of work (Nematzadeh et al. 2019).
Email- Email is one of conventionally used communication tools which are used mainly in official communications however it is also used in unofficial communication.
I have realised that due to lack of writing skill I’m not able to write proper and perfect email to my senior official as well as management.
Collaboration tools- Collaboration tools such as “Skype”, “Zoom” video calling application, “Google meet” are one of the effective tools which are providing opportunities to reduce communication gap between the employees and organization as well as with clients. The most effective features of the communications tools is that they are cost effective as well as it provides flexibility to collaborate with other clients and team members.
I am efficient in technology operations which helped me to use the technologies and tools which are not requiring writing skills which is useful for me. I am enjoying the usage of technologies in collaboration. Moreover, the skill of using the tool also helped me to reduce communication gap within groups.
Messaging applications- The messaging application is effective to increase informal communications as well as formal communication with management. The messaging application provides the opportunities to share information with other persons through messages or group messages. It also provides the opportunity to share documents.
As I have mentioned earlier I am efficient in technologies usage of technologies also helps me to communicate with other colleagues.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that communication is one of the crucial factors which can affect not only performance but also the working environment and engagement between the employees. Group communication is not only effective for enhancing productivity of group but also enhancing learning skills of the group. It can be also stated that I am good in formal communication but not good in informal communication. It has also found that I am not effective in communicating with subordinates. It can affect my performance as I am not able to understand the needs of subordinates. It is also observed that I have drawbacks in writing skill which affects the perfectness of email writing. However I am good at collaborating with other people through collaboration tools as well as messaging applications. Emergence of Covid 19 has also affected the group communication. Lack of group communication skills is reducing productivity of groups as well as understanding.
Recommendations
Enrich writing
Writing skill is needed to be developed by me so that I can develop efficiency in the effectiveness in communication as well as increase the effectiveness in formal communication. The skill development is needed to increase effectiveness in sharing views with higher officials.
Enhance informal communication
Communication is one of the most effective ways to increase efficiency in the workplace. The informal communication is effective to understand the strengths as well as weaknesses of colleagues which will enhance the sharing of information with other colleagues as well as subordinates. Informal communication is effective to increase creativity in problem solving. Also, it enhances the involvement of different cultured people in the workforce. Also, I need to develop relationships with my colleagues which will help to enhance engagement in the workforce.
Enhance engagement with subordinates
I need to increase engagement with the subordinates so that I am able to increase my effectiveness in working. However, I also need to increase relations with other departments which will help me complete tasks by coordinating. Moreover, coordination will be effective through enhancing involvement with the other employees. The involvement with the other people will help me to understand the strengths and weaknesses of other workers which will help me to develop effectiveness in working. Moreover, working efficiency could be increased by enmeshing communication within the working space. It will provide a well-structured working environment.
Referencess
Nematzadeh, A., Ciampaglia, G.L., Ahn, Y.Y. and Flammini, A., 2019. Information overload in group communication: From conversation to cacophony in the twitch chat. Royal Society open science, 6(10), p.191412. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.191412
SULEMAN, N., SADIQ, U. and SIDDIQUI, S., 2018. the Impact of Technology upon Formal Communication: Texting Impacting the Standard English. Journal of Business & Tourism, 4(1), pp.249-256. https://jbt.org.pk/index.php/jbt/article/download/105/91
Bullock, O.M. and Hubner, A.Y., 2020. Candidates’ use of informal communication on social media reduces credibility and support: Examining the consequences of expectancy violations. Communication Research Reports, 37(3), pp.87-98. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Olivia-Bullock/publication/341914408_Candidates'_use_of_informal_communication_on_social_media_reduces_credibility_and_support_Examining_the_consequences_of_expectancy_violations/links/5ed95b94299bf1c67d41877c/Candidates-use-of-informal-communication-on-social-media-reduces-credibility-and-support-Examining-the-consequences-of-expectancy-violations.pdf
Lund, L., 2020. The effect of communication method on user experience in a formal communication with a stranger. FULLTEXT01.pdf (diva-portal.org)
Hoffmeister, V., 2019. Nowhere to Go But Up: Investigating Psychological Ownership as a Mediator Between Upward Communication and Work Engagement Across Sectors. https://shareok.org/bitstream/handle/11244/322867/2019_Hoffmeister_Vivian_Thesis.pdf?sequence=5
Yolanda, H., 2019. Strategi Downward Communication Pimpinan Dalam Meningkatkan Efektivitas Kerja Kayawan Di Pt. Pelabuhan Indonesia 1 (Persero) (Doctoral dissertation, Universitas Medan Area). http://repository.uma.ac.id/bitstream/123456789/11342/1/1585300005%20-%20Hefa%20Yolanda%20-%20Fulltext.pdf
Maia, L.R.H., Demushina, O. and McDowell, S.D., 2021. Vertical and horizontal communication on the Facebook pages of 2014 Brazilian presidential candidates. Studies in Communication Sciences, 21(2), pp.225-245. https://www.hope.uzh.ch/scoms/article/download/maia/maia
Song, A.M., Temby, O., Kim, D., Cisneros, A.S. and Hickey, G.M., 2019. Measuring, mapping and quantifying the effects of trust and informal communication on transboundary collaboration in the Great Lakes fisheries policy network. Global Environmental Change, 54, pp.6-18. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378018305156
