Communication

for Managers
COMM. 8001
Assessments- Three & Four



SUBMITTED BY
NILAM SANGROULA (NIEL)
Waiariki ID: 27017592


SUBMITTED TO
Adele Carson


Date of Submission: 15 May 2015

1.

Devise three approaches Jean could adopt with her Head of

Department: one submissive, one aggressive and one assertive. Write a
short script or role-play for each approach.
Jean could use three approaches such as submissive, aggressive and assertive to
cope with the stress in this kind of situation. However, each approach has different
values and nature to endorse the situation. If we put Jean in the situation to use
these approaches, the following role she would have been delivering.

Submissive: Jean could feel weak, feeble and powerless to express her situation to
the Head of Department. She could take the situation insubstantially. She could
overlook her own rights. She could often use Sorry when speaking to her Head of
Department. She could have been following the orders of the Head of Department
submissively. She could make her mind to work continuously overlooking the taunt
of her Head of Department. She wont say what she wants, what her feelings and
what she likes. She could speak indirect with the Head of Department. While using
the approach, she could agree with the situation to keep the work continue without
complaining anything at all. She could keep herself backing down and allows the
Head of Department to make the decision. But she may keep complaining behind the
scene that the Head of Department is not taking the right decision. She could try to
justify her situation putting self down. Submissiveness comes form low self-esteem.

Aggressive: Jean could attack and show her threatening behaviour once she got
that she has been treating badly by her Head of Department. She could be self-
enhancing and dominating to others. She could be demanding, forceful and mostly
offensive to the Head of Department. She could turn deaf ear to the rest of the
member of the organisation. She could interrupt while others are speaking. She

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could use sarcastic and swear words repetitively. She could blame and show her
profanity towards Head of Department. She could humiliate and bullying the Head of
Department. She could devalue the contribution made by others in the development
of organisation. Aggressiveness often leads to conflict.

Assertive: Jean could state clearly what she wants, what her problems, what she
needs and what she feels if assertive behaviour is applied. She could bring a positive
self-concept. She could stand out for self for the right cause. She wont care whether
other will follow her or not. She could be direct on getting to the point. She could say
NO when her intuition doesnt give permit to do things. She could deliver
constructive criticism when she feels necessary. She could care for the wants, needs
and feelings of other counterparts. She could respect and acknowledge others
perspective. She could be open-minded and accept the reasonable justification. She
could listen to others points whether they are speaking for or against her. She could
be respectful to self and others as well. Assertiveness is based on high self-esteem.

2.

What do you think would be the advantages and disadvantages of each

approach for Jean?

Each approach has its own pros and cons. The following would be the advantages
and disadvantages for Jean.

Submissive
Advantages:
v She will get the position, salary and her self esteem in the long run.
v She will get reduction of anxiety.
v She will not be harmed because of her submissive nature
v There will be low personal risk.

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v She will be liked by the Head of Department

Disadvantage
v She will not get what she wants
v Her simplicity would be taken as a granted.
v There will be a low social status in organisation
v People will take unnecessary advantage of her modesty.

Aggressive
Advantages
v She would get what she wants because of threats.
v She would not get harmed because the Head of Department would think that
she could do everything she wants.
v She would get changed perception of Head of Department.
v She would be respected.
Disadvantages
v There would be poor relationships among employees.
v There will be a high chance of revenge.
v She will face loss of communication among employees.
v She would be alienated from others.
v She would lose job.
v She would face legal consequences.

Assertive
Advantages

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v She would get the salary and position she deserves.

v Jean could get freedom from internal conflicts.
v It helps to boost up the confidence of Jean.
v It helps to manage stress.
v She could stand up for her opinions.
Disadvantages
v Her simplicity would be taken as a granted.
v She would still not able to get everything she deserves.
v She would be in confusion whether to continue the job or not.
v She would feel jealous to other employees.

3.

Refer to some of the literature that identifies the benefits of these

approaches.
There are some literatures, which explain the perceived benefits of these
approaches.
According to Bozeman and Smith (2004), submissive behaviour attempts to keep
peace. They are of the view that this kind of behaviour appease others and helps to
avoid conflict at any cost. They viewed aggressive behaviour is helpful in getting the
things they have desired. This kind of behaviour can employ considerable control
over others. Bozeman and Smith viewed assertive behaviour helps to gratify
relationships. The benefit of assertive behaviour is that people can get what they
want from life.
Bernard (1997) suggests that appropriate use of assertiveness can help to:
v Ensure personal rights are not violated.
v Withstand unreasonable request from others.

v Make reasonable request of others.

v Recognize the personal rights of others.
v Change the behaviours of others towards her/him.
Derrington and Groom (2004) believed that assertiveness helps to enhance
confidence, improve communication skills and empower individual in their personal
and professional lives.
Varey (2002) is of the view that submissive behaviour helps to avoid conflict.
According to him, submissiveness takes the needs and wants of others as more
important than your own.
According to Gray and Stockbridge (2004), in aggressive approach people tend to
achieve what they want and their voices be heard immediately. Adopting submissive
approach, s/he is able to keep out of trouble and helps to get away from conflict.

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References
Bozeman, J.C. & Smith, A. (2004). Interpersonal Relationship Skills for Ministers.
Burmaster Street, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing Company, Inc.
Burnard, P. (1997). Effective Communication Skills for Health Professionals.
Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Nelson Thornes.
Derrington, C. & Groom, B. (2004). A Team Approach to Behaviour Management.
City Road, London: Paul Chapman Publishing.
Gray, D. & Stockbridge, D. (2004). BTEC National in Public Services - Student Book 2.
Halley Court, Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers.
Varey, R.J. (2004). Marketing Communication. New Fetter Lane, London: Routledge.

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How I personally would deal with the situation.

Looking down to the case study, I felt that this is completely a wrangle between the
Head of the Department and Jean. This kind of conflict I would term is Affective
Conflict where incompatible feelings and negative emotions are prevailed between
individuals (Raut & Omiko, 2007). There is no conformation of managements
involvement to get Jean down. If I put in the situation like Jean, I would personally
try to settle the problem with the Head of Department before knocking to the
management door. I would use my listening skills, emotional skills, team facilitation
skills, self-awareness skills, assertiveness skills, conflict management skills and
leadership skills to settle the issue constructively. I would like to explain categorically
how I use these communication characteristics to successfully resolve the problem.

1.

Listening Skills:

Listening has been taken as a powerful tool of conflict resolution, if people really
want to problem-solve together (Behrman, 1998). The key role of the listening skills
is justified when it is able to generate mutually acceptable solutions. According to
Elgin (1995), listening with ones open mind will bring understandings of others. To
understand others, I will use some of techniques such as, clarification, paraphrasing,
summarizing, reflection and digging to obtain the reasons of discriminatory
behaviour by the Head of Department (HoD).

Clarification consists of many questions that would direct to clear the

misapprehension between the Head of Department and me. The concern of the
clarification would neither be to criticise nor judge each other (Weaver & Farrel,
1997). This clarification technique would be helpful to understand each others
communication and relationship gaps.

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Paraphrasing is the process of reiterating what the Head of Department is doing at

present. Paraphrasing would help me to move the discussion to a deeper level that
helps to clarify the situation (Kraybill, 2001). At the same time, paraphrasing
introduces a pause between consecutive statements, which lets the Head of
Department to think over her/his responses.

Summarizing reinforces and extends the effects of paraphrasing. It also highlights the
common concerns towards resolution of the conflict (Kraybill, 2001). Making it
fruitful, I will use the neutral language to summarize the statement (Tate and
Dunklee, 2005).
Reflection and digging involves the Head of Department and me to work together to
find a solution that fully satisfies the concerns of us by looking each others insights
(Chavez, n.d.). It involves a commitment to dig into an issue to identify the
underlying concerns of us. It helps to find out the alternative sets of concern to settle
the problem at least. This approach would move us away from confrontation, which
will try to find a creative solution to the problem.

2.

Emotional Intelligence Skills:

Emotional Intelligence is the capacity to understand ones own feelings as well as the
feelings of other and includes self-control, persistent and motivation to seek
collaborative solutions of the problem. It has been observed that persons with high
levels of Emotional self-control can handle conflicting circumstance more effectively
(Morrison, 2008). I use the following five elements of Emotional Intelligence
(Goleman, 1995) to settle the problems with the Head of Department.
v Self-awareness. Self-awareness helps me to understand my strength and
weakness. It encourages me to behave with humanity. I would make sure
that my actions would not affect the people around me. I would not make

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any decision that disturbs the environment of the organisation I worked for
six years.
v Self-regulation. The core value of self-regulation is to stay in control. I would
not attack anyone with physically or verbally. I neither flood with emotional
decisions nor compromise my values for personal benefits. It helps me to
know my values. I would know the point where I absolutely wont
compromise with the Head of Department. I would make a commitment to
face the consequence for the wrong things, if proved.
v Motivation. I consistently work towards my goal. I wont let the conflict with
the Head of Department reflect on my job performance. I also know that my
struggle with the Head of Department is not concerned only about me but for
the benefits of the organisation. I would always be optimistic no matter what
problems I may face.
v Empathy. Showing empathy is critical to managing a team in organisation. I
will put myself in the Head of Departments position and would give her/him
constructive feedback to manage team properly. I will use empathy to turn
the conflicting situation into a problem solving opportunity.
v Social skills. I would not let the mission of the organisation abandoned
because of the conflict with someone else. I will use my social skills to adopt
my situation in changing environment, which would equip my knowledge to
know how to manage conflict within organisation. It would also help to
increase my communication skills to manage conflict constructively.

3.

Team facilitation skills:

Facilitation makes easy for the group to discuss the topic or issues to settle problems
(Bee & Bee, 1998). Group Facilitation may be used when more than a few people
need to be part of the solution. I will use my facilitation skills by informing the team

of the organisation to have a meeting to settle the problem. I would explain the
participants about the objective of the facilitation meeting.

The following activities would be conducted during the facilitation session:

v Formation of Team to discuss to seek solutions of the problem.
v Clarify the group about the roles and responsibilities of each team member of
the organisation.
v Way to solve the problem.
v Share feedback of the meeting to the participants to improve performance.
v Team discussions to improve communication within organisation.
As a facilitator, I would show my facilitation skills to manage the conflict by:
v Supporting participants in identifying the goals of the session to develop
participants own action plans to address the issues.
v Helping participants to resolve issues using a cooperative problem-solving
approach.
v Asking the right questions to encourage individual involvement in the
discussion.
v Adjusting the facilitation process as needed.
v Clarifying the confusing discussion.
v Collecting and synthesizing ideas from all participants.
v Providing summaries of the outcomes to the participants.
v Developing practical action plans to execute measurements.
v Helping to find win/win solutions.
While using my team facilitation skills, I have to be an active listener to genuinely
listen others thoughts and feelings. I will try my best to be a non-judgemental to the
outcome of the result. I will keep the group to be focused on the issues to have a

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quality decisions. I would make sure that each participant has equal opportunity to
say on the issues.

4.

Self-awareness Skills:
Self-awareness is having a clear perception of your personality, including strengths,
weaknesses, thoughts, beliefs, motivation, and emotions. Self-awareness allows you
to understand other people, how they perceive you, your attitude and your
responses to them in the moment (Self Awareness, n.d.). Self-awareness is an
important skill that will help you face problems better (Gallinero, n.d.). To be a self-
aware means to be emotionally intelligent. I will use my self-awareness skills to build
strong relationship with my team and colleagues so that they have better
understanding on my sincerity and seriousness towards my job.
I would use my self-awareness skills to better deal with the Head of Department who
looked down at me. I understand the Head of the Department feels unsecure of
her/himself so that s/he assigning me with a heavier workload. I felt giving
promotion to the new employees is just to show me inferior in front of other
employees. Using my self-awareness skills, I would ask the Head of Department to be
empathetic to share my feelings. I just want to let her/him know what happens if
someone deliberately hurts her/his self esteem. I would use my self-awareness skills
to pay attention on what the Head of Department is planning to degenerate me. I
will use my open mind to judge the situation. I will not let my belief, values and
behaviour to be the obstacle while judging her/him. Because of the self-awareness
skills, I will stand for my rights if the Head of the Department wants to put me down.

5.

Assertiveness skills

I would state clearly what I want, what my problems, what I need and what I feel if
assertive skills are used. I would bring a positive self-concept. I would stand out for

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self for the right cause. I wont care whether other will follow me or not. I would be
direct on getting to the point. I would say NO when my intuition doesnt give permit
to do things. I would deliver constructive criticism when I feel necessary. I would care
for the wants, needs and feelings of other counterparts. I would respect and
acknowledge the others perspective. I would be open-minded and accept the
reasonable justification. I would listen to others points whether they are speaking
for or against me. I would be respectful to self and others as well.

Becoming assertive is a potent method of learning to cope with all aspects of

personal stress (Burnard, 1997). It helps to communicate directly and powerfully at
work. Assertiveness defends against aggression when hopes and plans are thwarted
(Phillips, 2002). To resolve the situation assertively, I would take the following
actions.
v I would determine the positive outcome I want to accomplish: I would give a
short explanation to the Head of department of what I am expecting.
v Go to the source: I would use face-to-face and private interactions with the
Head of the Department to solve the situation.
v Stay in control: I would be better able to influence the direction of a
conversation toward achieving a positive outcome.
v Be direct, constructive, and sincere in language and tone: I would make sure
my language and tone present the message in the best way possible. I would
be to the point, tactful, and focused on the issues to constructively change
the situation.
v Go for solutions and problem-solve collaboratively: I would keep my
emphasis on working out a solution with other person involved. I let them
know what the Head of Department is doing to slack me off.

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6.

Conflict management skills:

Every people cant be expected to agree on everything at all times at workplace.

Since relationship conflicts are inevitable in the workplace, managing the conflict
constructively is crucial. When this kind of conflict handled with care and positive
way, it would provide an opportunity for growth and help improve a team (Pride,
Hughes & Kapoor, 2008). I would follow the following tools of conflict management
skills to settle the problem with the Head of Department.
v By quickly relieve stress: I would be relaxed and focused on the issues. I
would stay centred using my self-awareness skills to control myself. Remain
relieve means start actively listening and listening to understand why the
Head of Department is behaving me unprofessionally.
v By recognising and managing emotions: I will use my emotional awareness
skills to understand others and myself, as it is the key to transform conflict.
Emotional awareness helps me to stay motivated until the dispute is
resolved. I would place aside my anger, sadness, indifference and fear
towards the Head of Department while dealing with the situation. I would
take rational decisions for the sake of the team and organisational
development as a whole.
v By using non-verbal communication skills: Sometimes verbal communications
may create confusion and stimulate towards conflict situation. I would use
non-verbal communication to show that I am no longer want to prolong the
disturbing situation any further. I will use eye contact, facial expression, tone
voice, posture, touch, and gestures while taking with the Head of
Department.
v By using humor and play to settle the problem: I would use the humor once
stress and emotions are brought to the balance. To keep conflict constructive
humor is essential (Johnson & Johnson, 1995). I would communicate

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humorously to the Head of the Department to avoid arguments and

disagreements. I would refrain the problem and put the situation into
perspective to calm down the anger and tensions between us. Using this kind
of expressions could be an opportunity to forget misunderstandings and
enmity.

7.

Leadership skills

I would use my leadership skills to get innovative excellence at workplace. I do not

care about care about the Head of Department who do not care about others. I
would show my honest and ethical behaviour at all times. I would use my ability to
delegate in identifying my strength and weakness to capitalised them into output of
the organisation. I would show moderate assertiveness skills to pacify the conflicting
situation with the Head of Department (Santora, n.d.).

I would use my communication skills to relate my vision to the organisation and to

hold the strong connections among staff of the organisation. I always show my
positive attitude for the good cause. I would always maintain open communication
with the Head of Department.

I would not let down the moral of the colleagues under no circumstances. I would
help to make my workplace happy and healthy space, where all the employees look
forward to working in, rather than dreading it. I would show my commitment
towards my role and try to install same hardworking energy among other staff. I
would keep my positive attitude to keep myself motivated towards success of the
organisation. I make myself feel that I have invested in the achievements of the
organisation, it doesnt matter what the Head of Department think about it. I would
try to apply all these methods to settle the disputes with the Head of Department. If
all these applications failed to change her/his behaviour, I would request to have a
special board meeting to settle the issues.

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References
Bee, F. & Bee, R. (1998). Facilitation Skills. Fakenham, Norfalk: The Cromwell Press.
Behrman, H.W. (1998). The Practice of Facilitation: Managing Group Process and
Solving Problems. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
Burnard, P. (1997). Effective Communication Skills for Health Professionals. Delta
Place, Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.
Chavez, T. (n.d.). Put it to practice 1: Conflict Resolution. Retrieved May 14, 2015,
from http://tchavezgsedp.weebly.com/reflection-conflict-resolution.html
Elgin, S.H. (1995). BusinessSpeak. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Gallinero, M. (n.d.). What Is Self Awareness And Why Is It Important. Retrieved May
15,

2015,

from

http://www.tobestressfree.com/2013/08/what-is-self-

awareness.html
Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam.
Johnson, D.W. & Johnson, R.T. (1995). Reducing School Violence Through Conflict
Resolution. USA: ASCD Publications.
Kraybill, R. S. (2001). Peace Skills: A Manual for Community Mediators. San Francisco:
Willey.
Morrison, J. (2008). The relationship between emotional intelligence
competencies and preferred conflict-handling styles. Journal of Nursing
Management, 16 (8), 974-983.
Phillips, A. (2002). Assertiveness and the Manager's Job. Retrieved from
https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=gqDwviWsw6YC&pg=PP11&dq=what+i
s+assertiveness&hl=en&sa=X&ei=d61VVYj-

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Pride, W., Hughes, R. & Kapoor, J. (2008). Business. Mason, USA: Cengage Learning.
Raut, E. L. & Omiko, N. (2007). CORPORATE CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: Concepts and
Skills. Patparganj, Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India.
Santora, J.C. (n.d.). Lecture: COMM. 8001 (Handout). Retrieved for Moodle.
Self Awareness. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.pathwaytohappiness.com/self-
awareness.htm
Tate, J. S. & Dunklee, D. R. (2005). Strategic Listening for School Leaders. Teller Road,
California: Corwin Press.
Weaver, R.G., & Farrel, J.D. (1997). Managers As Facilitators: A Practical Guide to
Getting Work Done in a Changing Workplace. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

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