For class this week, I took three online communication
quizzes. The topics were Communication
Anxiety, Verbal Aggressiveness, and Listening Style. I realized that the way I evaluated myself
and the way others evaluated me were similar but different. I asked two employees to take the quizzes to
rate my communication skills, and then asked my husband and daughter to take
the same tests for me. My employees saw
me differently than my family did.
The thing that surprised me the most was the fact that my
daughter rated my communication skills very closely to my own ratings. She rated them much more closely than my
husband did! My daughter seems to be
closer to me, to understand me better than my husband does!
Another surprise is the way my staff at work sees
me. They seem to feel that I am not
verbally aggressive at the workplace, that I am too trusting and afraid to
speak up when necessary. I will have to
learn to display a business persona separate from my home life
characteristics. I have always treated
my staff like family, assuming that the childcare should be family-like. However, my staff seems to feel that I should
be more business-like at the work place.
This observation may cause me to change my communication behavior at my
group childcare home. I still want the
children to feel like they are at their second home. However, I will have to treat the staff as
employees, and the parents more like clients.
I will have to be more professional.
Mary,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you were able to do a lot of self-reflecting from this assignment. I also found some important information regarding the way others view my communication skills. I know that all the information gained is going to be valuable in the way we communicate in the future.
Rhonda
Mary,
ReplyDeleteYou made a valid point in terms of treating your staff and parents in a more professional mannor. I try to be more personal with some of my colleagues just so that they know we have something in common, but there have been times when they try to use what I say against me so now I treat them as professionals and I am sad to say that I don't really interact with my colleagues on a personal level because I have learned that it can stir up trouble/gossip and I do not want any parts of that. I am sad that this is the direction I have chosen and I am sure my body language often suggests that I do not want to engage in dialogue.
Nicky
Hi Mary...we are all different at work than we are in a personal setting. I have much of the same mentality as you by wanting everyone to be happy and feel welcome, therefore, being less aggressive than we probably should. Sometimes we have to separate the two and be the bad guy sometimes, but I guarantee you'll still have respect from your employees as long as you are fair and consistent.
ReplyDeleteMary,
ReplyDeleteThis experienced has shown us how other people see us and how we see ourselves.We can use this assessment to our advantage such changing or improving the way we communicate in order to have better relationship with others.
I believe we can still maintain a personal communication with our colleagues, we just need to know the boundaries and keep our communication in a positive manner. Thanks for sharing.
Anabel