AMITY UNIVERSITY, MADHYA

PRADESH

Communication Skills -VI

Assignment

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Dr. Bishakha Mandal Priya Rathore
B.com(h) VI Sem
Sec-B
Q.1What are the topics one should avoid while having small talk? Write dialogues of
conversation with a stranger in a bank and railway station.

Ans. The topics one should avoid while having small talk are as follows: -
 Politics
 Religion
 Personal finances
 Personal appearance
 Death or illness
 Personal gossip
 Offensive jokes
 Anything so specific that very few people can relate to it

Conversation with a stranger at the railway station.

Priya: Hello. My name is Priya. What’s your name?

Uma: I’m Uma. Nice to meet you.

Priya: Nice to meet you, too. Where’re you from Uma?

Uma: I’m from Mumbai. Where’re you from?

Priya: I’m from Chennai. Are you studying?

Uma: Yes, I’m doing a diploma course in fashion designing. What about you?

Priya: I’m working at a bank in Chennai.

Uma: That’s great. Well, I think that’s my train. Bye.

Priya: Bye. Have a nice journey.

Uma: Thank you.

Conversation with a stranger in a bank
Priya: Hello. My name is Priya. What’s your name?

Abhay: I’m Abhay.

Priya: Oh, is it hot out there?

Abhay:  Yeah, it's really hot!

Priya: Well, at least it's better than rain!

Abhay:  I like your cap.  Did you like get that custom made, or...did you buy it
somewhere?

Priya:  My mom gave it to me...She bought it on the mainland.

Abhay: Oh

Priya: Bye

Abhay: Bye. Have a nice day.

Q.2 Assume you are the HR manager of the company who is about to
give feedback to some of his employees. What would you include and
avoid while giving your feedbacks to them?

Ans.
THE DO'S AND DON'TS OF GIVING EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK IN THE
WORKPLACE

Do make sure to be specific

Avoid giving generic feedback. ‘Good job’ can come across as vague or insincere. You
can go further than saying ‘You did well in that presentation’ or ‘Your latest report was
really good’ too. Tell the person what it was about that presentation or report that
impressed you, and why what they did was effective. The same goes for giving negative
feedback. Tell the recipient exactly what went wrong, why it was ineffective, and what
they could do differently next time that would be better - and why.

Do give the recipient a chance to respond

It’s important when giving constructive feedback that you give the recipient a chance to
respond. Don’t assume you know why they behaved or did things in that particular way.
Ask them for their take on the situation.
There are always two sides to a story, and perhaps they had a good justification for doing
things in the way they did. It may be that they didn’t realise they were expected to take
charge on an element of a project, or that they needed to behave a particular way in a
meeting. Having these open conversations means both the person giving the feedback and
the recipient will get much more out of it.

Do consider the recipient’s needs

Consider the emotional needs of the recipient and how they might respond to feedback.
Our personality can influence how we react to negative comments, for instance. Some
people might react more emotionally than others and take things to heart. Some people
may become defensive. It’s useful to think about how you can adapt your delivery for the
particular individual to make it more effective.

Do only give negative feedback in private

If you need to have a tough discussion with someone about things that went wrong on a
piece of work, a project, or whatever it is, it’s important to do it in private, one-to-one. If
you bring it up in front of others, you risk denting their self-esteem and won't be able to
discuss it in as much depth as would be helpful.

Positive feedback, on the other hand, can be delivered in front of others. It can also be
helpful for other employees to know what the desired performance or behaviour is. Small
acts like this can increase motivation and employee morale.

Don’t wait

Feedback shouldn’t be something that is given only at annual reviews. No one wants to
hear that for all that time they could have been doing something better.

Giving feedback might be difficult, but it won’t get easier if you wait. The sooner you
give the feedback, the sooner you can both move forward.

Don’t sandwich negative feedback between positive messages

People no longer believe in the feedback sandwich , as it’s often referred to. The idea was
to start off with positive feedback, then deliver the ‘bad news’ as such, and end on a
further positive note. The problem with this was that a) the positive feedback would lose
all impact as people would only remember the negative and b) that the glossing over of
the constructive feedback means the recipient misses the chance to truly understand what
it is they could do differently or better in future.
Don’t exaggerate

When talking about something you want the recipient to do differently, avoid saying ‘You
always…’ or ‘You never…’. It will only put people on the defensive and get the
conversation off to a bad start. This goes back to our earlier point - make sure you give
specific examples so the person understands exactly what behaviour it is that needs to be
changed.

The vast majority of people want to be successful in their work. Feedback is a powerful
tool for enabling that. But to be effective, feedback needs to be timely, specific and given
frequently.