Introduction
In my point of view, the course was very useful for me. I learned how to enhance my personal communication skills and how to become a successful leader in order to inspire and motivate others.
To understand personal communication better, we were assigned to perform group work and analyze the case study of Spree Cruise Lines. My group included five people. During the work, we respected each other and values each other’s contributions. My part of the work was to answer the question concerning communication with media. Namely, it was stated that the main goal of the communication is to inform media with appropriate and truthful information about the incident (O’Sullivan, 2004, p. 1). The conversation with the media was expected to be concise, elaborated, and respectful so that media feel the responsibility as well as the awareness of the company to secure customers and the reputation.
Main Body
I found it helpful and important to use visionary and affiliative styles of communication in the group. I think that visionary communication stimulates people to share goals and dreams. It helps to integrate and bring team members together to achieve high results. The affiliative style supposes some extent of influence on others. Moreover, affiliative communication strengthens connections and creates harmony so that every group member might express his or her opinion without being mistreated. I realized that the correct and friendly connection is essential in personal communication and that I can create such an environment.
Speaking of the personality profiles, I understood that there are plenty of characters as well as behaviors. Barrett (2011) claims that “knowing the characteristics of different personality types on the teams can contribute to the ability to lead and manage the team members” (p. 262). It promotes knowing diversities and understanding them.
What is more, it is significant to integrate with others effectively to achieve the initial purpose. Consequently, in the case someone disagreed with my idea, I was willing to listen to his views. My group members also tried to grow in leadership and communication in the group experience. I tried to respond to their leadership with respect and discuss their ideas but not to reject or to make fun of them. It should also be stressed that I tried to motivate others, develop their ideas, and implement them in the project. As a result, we had no team conflicts. Our communication was like a dialogue, exchange of ideas, knowledge, emotions, and behavior patterns, during which we generated the common view of the situation. I understood that our group developed particular culture formed as a result of communication interacting in a particular manner, where everyone feels comfortable. Thus, the communication in our group acted as a social phenomenon of the binder and the exchange of information among its members as well as a range of features aimed at both maintaining relationships and the common goal accomplishment.
Conclusion
To sum up, I learned how to organize personal communication within the group. In my opinion, it was a very useful exercise to share ideas and create the final report. I learned that respect for others and strong connections play an integral part in effective communication and leadership. Also, I discovered my strong points of personal communication such as motivation of others and good listening abilities.
References
Barrett, D. J. (2011). Leadership communication (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
O’Sullivan, B. (2004). Spree case and assignment. Rice University. Updated by Sandra Elliott, April 2009. Used with permission.