This is an individual assessment. Following the submission of the Conference/Convention Plan, your manager has requested that you complete a performance review, based on your experience working and collaborating with your PCO team. This reflection will ask you to consider both your performance within the team and also that of your PCO teammates in developing the plan. In your reflection, you will be asked to consider how the various group members’ skills/attributes were leveraged, time management (self and the group), values including recognising and respecting diversity of experience, conflict resolution and working cooperatively.
2. You will be required to reflect on your performance within your team and your PCO teammates to
• Demonstrate an understanding of interpersonal/group communication skills.
• Demonstrate ability to appreciate aspects of the encounter that are both positive and negative in achieving good interpersonal communication in a group work context especially with regards to virtual communication.
• Demonstrate ability to indicate how each encounter could be improved.
Description: This individual assessment piece focuses on interpersonal communication skills that are required for undertaking conference planning projects. You are required to write summary reflecting upon and analysing your own interpersonal communication experiences during the undertaking of your group project and explain how awareness of interpersonal communication skills (or lack of awareness) impacts on the outcome of your project. You are required to use some of the theories and concepts that are covered in discussions in lectures and workshops to support your viewpoint.
What is reflective summary?
Reflection gives you the potential to learn from your experiences and gain a deeper understanding of what you experienced. It is something we all do everyday in the course of our lives, to varying degrees. Working effectively with people is vital within the services industries, being able to reflect upon your feelings, experiences and actions and being able to consider the same from others, is therefore, very important.
What do you reflect upon?
You are required to reflect upon your own interpersonal communication experiences during the undertaking of your group project. Provide examples that demonstrate the communication process, the conscious/unconscious utilisation of interpersonal communication skills by yourself or your group members, the outcomes, and indicate how you develop your interpersonal communication skills through the process. A few readings are provided, e.g., Are you listening? By Rebecca Ripley and Kittie Watson (2014); Negotiation: Theory and Practice, by Prof. Mary P. Rowe, MIT, Cambridge. Relevant theories such as ‘listening styles and how to engage in conversations’, ‘negotiation styles and strategies’, and ‘assertive behaviour’ will be further discussed in workshops so that you are instructed as to applying these theories into your self-reflection for your interpersonal communication skills in the group communication process.
Your summary should specifically reflect upon two skills – ‘active listening’ and ‘being assertive in communication and negotiation’, and indicate how successful/effective your group’s communication was in relation to:
1. Shared Goals & Leadership: willing to work together and motivate others to achieve positive group outcomes. Consider:
a. How effectively did your team communicate about shared goals and balance tasks?
b. Was it a good or bad experience and what contributed to this outcome?
c. Was there an association between shared goals and positive outcome?
d. What approach did you use to support the group to move towards its goal of completing the assignment?
e. What did you learn about the importance of good interpersonal communication for effective leadership?
2. Active Listening, Empathy, Trust, Sensitivity to others: being aware and understanding of the differences in group dynamics, considers others ideas and reliance on others. Consider:
a. How did you practice listening styles and strategies to the views of others and incorporating their ideas?
b. Was there any miscommunication, what were the causes, and how were misunderstandings resolved?
3. Communication and Problem Solving: being assertive in communication, participating in constructive problem solving and completing assigned tasks
a. How did you plan and manage your interactions? Did you consciously or unconsciously use any of the negotiation strategies?
b. How did you utilise assertiveness skills?
c. How did the nature of the interactions impact on the effectiveness of the project and the outcomes of the project?
4. Appreciative Inquiry: being able to reflect and analyse your group (interpersonal) communication skills by applying concepts, such as active listening styles, negotiation strategies, and assertive behaviour
a. How aware of what you do? Are there things you want to change? Are there things you should change?
b. What would you do differently next time to improve interpersonal communication in a collaborative working environment?
The following sections are recommended for your Reflective Summary:
Introduction: • brief experiences (projects) discussed in the report, including aims and objectives of the project, the achieved outcomes, your feelings of the experiences, etc;
Analysis: • describe your reflections, thoughts, actions, with examples, and relate your experiences to the theories where possible • where possible, add sub-titles according to key topical areas (e.g., shared goals, empathy and trust, communication & problem solving, and appreciative inquiry)
Conclusion: • summarise your reflection and indicate further directions for improving your communication skills
References:
• cite the references provided related to active listening, negotiation, conflict-solving, and assertive behaviour
• cite any other useful references on interpersonal communication You will be assessed on your ability to reflect and analyse the interpersonal interaction during group-undertakings. It is your personal reflection that is graded, not the stated performance rating of the group.
