Developing Yourself For The Workplace Management Essay

As college students, you are given the opportunity to develop many skills that are highly sought after in the workplace. Some of these skills are: teamwork skills analytical reasoning skills, communication skills (oral and written) and creativity.

Pick any three skills which you think are important and explain

Why employers look for people with these skills

How you can develop those important skills while in college.

Give evidence and examples to support your points.

The research paper should have a minimum of 3 references including a:

Minimum of 1 book or magazines /journals/newspapers.

Maximum of 2 on-line (internet) resources.

Type out your complete essay (with cover page, introduction, body, conclusion and reference list – 1000 words plus /minus 10%)

Use the APA template (Cover pages, essay format, reference list) provided by your lecturer.

Also include detailed in-text citations in your essay. Upload your completed essay on http://www.plagiarismdetect.com/. Students who have plagiarized more than 30% of their research paper will fail this module.

Check your spelling, grammatical and paragraphing errors. Staple your completed research paper to the front of this page together with copies of the internet articles referenced in your research paper.

You will also need to submit a soft copy via email to your lecturer.

Assignment

Communication is without doubt the most important skill required to live successfully. The world around you is truly competitive to say the least. Whether you’re at home or in the workplace, at the shops or with your friends, if you can communicate well, you will have most things going in your favor. People are not just listening to a good communicator; they also ready to bend or unbend to the person’s needs. Effective communication usually got two way process, which are sending and receiving of messages. In the other words, it is the purposeful transmission of meaning to others (Leena Sen, 2008).

Almost employers look for people with these skills, effective communication is at the core of everything we do. In fact, we are sending messages without even talking. Non verbal communication includes elements as body posture, facial expression, gestures and voice tonality and seems more powerful than the actual words spoken. According to some researchers, statistics show that communication is made up of around 55% physiology, 38% tone of voice and the only remaining 8% is the actual words we use (Danette Hibberd, 2006). Employers reported that oral and written communication skills needed improvement in variety areas, including the use of vocabulary and self-expression. However, college graduates’ skills not always adequate to perform the job required. Employers preferred students needed stronger writing skills, more training on professional uses of e-mail, and additional education regarding self-expression, impression management, and avoid using of slangs.

On the other hand, employers and also employment counselors are well aware that communication skills are required in the workplace. Successful careers require the ability to communicate effectively at both orally and writing, these critical competencies will become more valuable as technology intensifies the significant role of messages in the workplace. Nowadays, language is a very powerful force. People in the workplace need to communicate quickly and effectively in messages, such as by e-mail or handheld instant messaging, in meetings, and also in letters, or reports (Lloyd, M. A., & Kennedy, J. H., 1997).

During my time in the college, I will try to improve my skills base on some ways that will help me to improve my skills. Firstly will be Trust, which means must first choose to trust yourself and your ability to trust others. There should be a general level of trust between the parties for effective communication to occur; this is true for personal and intimate relationships. Generally, the more intimate the relationship, the greater level of trust is needed. For instance, if you do not trust your partner, you will not be able to be relay your disappointment, vulnerable, or ask things from him or her. On the other hand, without trust you will not be able to communicate what you really want to say, also you will not be able to hear what is being said to you.

Secondly, remember to stay present. It is important to stay focused on the topic that you are discussing. There is a trend to bring in past issues to defend or accuse, but this must be avoided. However, bringing up the past does nothing but confuses and deflect the issue at hand. The point is that the past cannot be changed, so bringing it up does nothing but add fuel to a potentially debating discussion.

Furthermore, we need to really listen, all too often listening is the last thing that we are doing when the other person is talking. During some arguments, we often just waiting for our time to speak, or looking out for the other person to say something that can really be jumped on. If effective communication is going to take place we have to really listen to try to understand what the other person is saying, even if it is something that we may not like. Listening, and repeating what you heard being said will be the best way to ensure that you have actually heard what was intended.

Try to understand other point of view. Even when you do not agree with what the other person is saying, it is important to try to understand their point of view. It may be a tendency to think of “understanding” as “agreeing”, but these are two very different ideas. By understanding the other person’s point of view, you are simply moving toward resolution and effective communication. You cannot communicate your point of view without understanding where the other person is coming from. Imagine someone trying to communicate with you, when they do not understand your point of view (Skacel, R. K., 2004).

Moreover, sometimes it is important to take a break and not continue the conversation. The break gives everyone a chance to get some perspective, step away from the negative feelings and think about what the real purpose of the conversation is. All often people will start talking about one thing which triggers negative thoughts or feelings, and leading them to start arguing about something else altogether. People also spend a great deal of time looking for resolution in a discussion, when there is no resolution is possible. Once the point has been made, taking a break gives permission to stop the conversation.

When having a discussion with someone it is important to know what your purpose of the communication is. Although you cannot change the past, or even control the future, this may often be your purpose. If your achievement is something that you are not in control of, communication is going to be frustrating to say the least. Remember that usually the reason to communicate your feelings is to give them a voice. It is responsibility of the other person to choose to take action if they want to help you getting better. In fact that we all make mistakes sometimes; allow yourself to recognize and acknowledge the less than admirable things that you do.

In addition, good communication skills are ability of a person to communicate with the other in an effective manner. Improving on communication skills is a key fundamental of improving and maintaining good and healthy relationships. Relationships have always been an integral part of any living and this integral aspect of living is greatly influenced by the skills of communication.