Rasmussen Introtocom CBA45 Module 06 Credit by Assessment

Module 06 Introduction to Communication Credit by Assessment

All communication is personalized

As we get to know people well, our communication with them begins to change. How we communicate with a long-term friend or family member changes over time and becomes more and more personalized. We may not talk about certain subjects with certain people in our lives if we have strong disagreements, for instance. Additionally and importantly, the words we use will often reflect aspects of our relationship. We will use certain words in certain ways because they have a particular meaning within the context of that relationship. Consider your own family; you almost certainly have words or phrases that have a particular meaning to members of your family that would be entirely different or meaningless to others.

Communication can be symmetrical or complementary

Put simply, symmetrical communication happens between people who see themselves as equals. Complementary communication occurs between people who and exert a different amount of status or authority. Typically, friendships, teammates, and many work relationships are symmetrical. A good example of a complementary relationship is employer/employee or teacher student. Romantic relationships are much more complicated. While they tend toward being symmetrical in most cases, there may be aspects of the relationship where one partner or the other has more authority or knowledge, and the relationship is at least temporarily complementary. Problems can happen in relationships when one partner attempts to exert authority or assume control on a more permanent basis.

Level of Communication

All communication occurs on two levels: content and relationship. What this means is that all communication is both about the topic of the communication on one level and about the relationship of the communicators on another level. A parent who tells a child to clean his or her room has communicated two specific things. First, a basic command to do something has been given. Second, because the parent has given this command, there is an understanding that the parent has the right to tell the child what to do and to think that the basic command will be understood and obeyed.

Naturally, these levels of communication can play into both symmetrical and complementary relationships. An argument can start easily when someone in a symmetrical relationship starts giving orders as if the relationship was a complementary one. While the content level of the communication may not be problematic, the relationship level has been violated in this case.

We have expectations when it comes to our relationships and the communication within those relationships. We expect communication with someone we know well to go in a particular way. Much like the levels of communication that help to define and inform the relationship, these expectations color how we speak with other people. We present information to people we know well in a way that we know that person will understand. We might use smaller, simpler words for a child, for instance.

Instructions

Consider your experiences at work, school, and in your personal life. You have, at some point, been asked to work with a group to achieve a particular goal. It might have been a group research project, a new marketing plan, a learning plan, a schedule to roll out new technology, planning a wedding, or even planning and creating a large family meal. In many collaborative efforts like these, there are disagreements. Select one collaborative experience from your past that involved some disagreements or significant differences of opinion.

Write a short (2-page) paper in APA style discussing the following elements:

1.   Describe the project that you were working on, including the people involved.

2.   Explain the problem that you encountered with the group. How was that problem overcome? What was the end result of encountering and dealing with that problem?

3.   What do you think was the cause of the problem? How much of the problem came from miscommunication, either from you or from other people involved? What did you do to help resolve the problem?

4.   If you were able to relive that experience, how would you change the way that you approached the encountered problem? How would you communicate differently?

5.   How, ultimately, was the conflict resolved?