Steps Approaches Date Assessment Reflection

Description
1 Creating the questionnaires Oct 16 Send out the questions to Amanda The idea feedback for each question
and brainstorming the and Jessica for them to consider should be more than two or three
solutions with peers. before the meeting. points. I am waiting for their feedback
1: Any distractions during in regards of whether those questions
communication? Any Amanda was fine with taking a look at covered any issues we have
duplicated work has been those questions. Jessica is away on a encountered and the applicability.
done due to ineffective business trip. I will be contacting her
communication? Do we via Whats App. She was very happy
have support? to involve in my project.
2: Any actions that we could
attack the concerns?
3: potential impact (short
run and long run) of the
action which might impact
our resources, policies or
assets.
4: Make a list of what we
need to do and identify the
Oct 17 Asking them whether they have I am very hesitated if we could gather
reviewed questions the useful thoughts before the
participants.
Would like to gather some thoughts deadline for us to start the meeting. It
before next Monday. seems everybody is very busy.
I have found one of our staff
members who worked closely with If our previous staff member could
us would like to contribute some give us some feedback, the concerns
suggestions. will be more convincing.
 Oct 18 Issues happened today at the office, two The issue needs to be addressed as
staff members were arguing due to the soon as possible, and open talk
mistakes happened during the work. This is between peers needs to establish.
the typical issue of lack of communication.
Peers did not pay much attention to
listening to others which might cause
misinterpretation and misunderstanding.

Oct 19 Amanda has gotten back to me, and she I indeed agreed with Amanda about
shared some concerns with me in her concern. I feel that we are
regards to office communication isolated and lack of enough support.
efficiency. Sometimes information shared to the
She feels that: public is not entirely correct which
- Information is not shared correctly might confuse.
- Lack of weekly meetings causes team
member can only work on him/herself. However, sometimes people are just
- Senior team support is not sufficient afraid of voice up.

Short-term impact:
- Confusion with no standard answers
to our clients
- Time consuming and inefficient
Long-term impact
- Companys image and reputation will
turn down.

She suggests that we shall have:

- Weekly summary in our department
- Weekly meeting shall include all the
staff members
Initiator: Office manager
Decision maker: department Principal
Participants: staff members
2 Literacy review and internet Oct 1: Effective Communication Between The on-line resources clearly
resources 23rd- Workplace Peers demonstrated the solutions and
-Whether provide Oct 30th http://smallbusiness.chron.com/effective- suggestions to attack the problem.
resolution? communication-between-workplace- The review is posted on the blog at
- Whether the suggestions peers-712.html Jinghuang2017.weebly.com
applied to actual cases? 2: 7 Ways to Communicate Better with
Any solutions fit the best? Your Coworkers
https://www.samepage.io/blog/7-ways-
communicate-better-your-coworkers
3: How can I Communicate Better at the
Office
https://lifehacker.com/how-can-i-
communicate-better-at-the-office-
1001505647
4: Organizational Communication:
Challenges for the New Century by
Elizabeth Jones, Bernadette Watson, John
Gardner, Cindy Gallois
5: 4 Types of Communication Challenges
in Multicultural Organizations by Shina
Neo, July 22, 2015
6: Communication Skills for Workplace
Success by Alison Doyle, Aug 24th, 2017
7: Effective Communication:
Communication Skills written by team
FME, 2013, ISBN: 978-1-62620-962-6
8: Youtube Video by Dr.Lani Nelson-
Zlupko: Effective Communication in the
Workplace
Oct Meet with Amanda and Jessica again: The meeting went really well. We
25th We identified that we have to improve our have discussed some solutions and I
communication skills to make our work will combine with my reference and
more efficient. Our job involved a lot of sources review to make an
customer service and conversations appropriate suggestion memo.
between the clients and us and between
 us that other department staff members.

- Sometimes is not very professional when

we communicate over the phone. (replies
to the clients by saying I dont know)

- Not proactive, waiting for others request

instead of actively searching for the
possible solutions.

- The message has been delivered

wrongfully to the clients and did not fix it.

Suggestions:
-address the mistakes
- searching for some possible training
- Telephone manner
-Be proactive and do not avoid the
request. Searching for possible solutions
3 Discuss the possible Oct 27th Discussed with one of our previous I do believe that lack of
solutions with peers in the colleagues and she identified some of the communication would cause a huge
office and SRL classmates current issues for me. negative impact on the workplace.
via multiplemedia (skype, Information has to be shared.
twitter, Linkedin, blog) -Lack of communication, as it can reduce However, I believe as an individual
efficiency. I.e., any changes in the who works in the office; we have our
admission process/department protocols responsibilities to be proactive and
should be communicated to everyone not ask questions if there are any
just only the affected department. concerns. We also have to increase
personal communication skills and
-Streamline the communication process know how and what to say.
between parents and admission offices:
i.e., ensure efficient way/ or method to Training opportunity has to be
share information with the parents. For initiated by the Manager. It is very
instances, during renewal time, many hard for the staff member to start and
parents provided with their Hotmail identify the needs.
addresses, however, due to IT issues the
emails were not able to deliver any Team spirit can be build up by
communications that were addressed to events/parties /seminars. We also can
Hotmail accounts. gather together to build the team
spirit on some informal occasions.
Digitalized process: students should able E.g., housewarming parties and
to upload documents along with entering potluck parties.
mandatory details and can make online
form fee payment using the credit card. It
would speed up the overall admission
process. Appropriate staffs should be
provided access to download the
submitted applications.

- Lack of training regarding departments

protocols/guideline. It is significant;
people involved in admission process are
well trained with the admission protocols
to improve the efficiency of a department.
2) possible solutions
Clarity of roles and responsibilities
Build the team spirit
Appropriate Training
Use effective/or appropriate form
of communications
Provide effective feedback
Ensuring assigned tasks are
targeted
Inconsistent communication
Handling clientele
Be proactive and positive
Nov 6th Classmates input: I think their suggestions are beneficial
- choose laid-back meetings because the informal, laid-back
Katie suggests: meeting will provide the relaxing
The communication will be most environment. Especially
successful based on the tone you communication is a two-way face to
took. For example, if it was laid- face interaction between staff
back and relaxed, individuals may members.
have attended more frequently
because they felt as though it was
less of a meeting and more of a
chat time.
having some snacks
Magda suggests that:
Little things to show the care of the team
members can go a long way.
4 Personal overall review Nov 7th My project went very well. I have met with some of my team members and one
including communication former colleague who now work for another department to discuss some concerns
channel, peer support and and issues we found out regarding communication. We identified that we need to
identify any areas have to be arrange a group meeting every Friday to update our working progress. I believe
pay more attention in the that we are more confident to handle our work by sharing the information and
future. individuals working progress since we start to arrange the small team meetings.
Misunderstanding and miscommunication towards organization practices and
policies had dropped dramatically. Two of my team members are very supportive
and willing to share their feedback and their experiences after we had a chat. In the
meantime, I have actively searched for several sources to identify some possible
solutions to improve my communication skills. Several sources suggestions I found
instrumental are using Body Language, being open-minded and willing to change,
to think and ask questions before the talk, and to be honest and direct. Currently, I
am trying to follow the suggestions from the sources and focusing on shifting my
communication skill from passive to proactive.

I am struggling to gather all team members together on every Friday since

everybody has different schedules. To fix the problem, I usually send out a reminder
through email including the meeting plan and a Memo after the meeting to keep
everyone on the same page.
My confidant and self-satisfaction have been increased throughout this project.
Achieving those proximate goals step by step increased my self-efficacy and
motivation. Further, I had used the communication skills and knowledge I gathered
from the learning zone to apply to my performing zone. I will keep monitoring the
efficiency of my communication skills as well as the communication effectiveness
among my team members and keep posting the most updated news on my blog.
Nov For the long run, I would like to introduce the regular meeting to the whole
13th department. For another, I felt that I have the responsibility to improve our teams
communication. In another word, I am extremely motivated to achieve my goal. I
am willing to hear the voice of concerns, complaints or dissatisfactions which help
us to make a step further to self-reflect what could have done better.

The resources and materials I have found are beneficial. Some of the articles have
indicated the practical skills and strategies for a workplace. Those approaches have
been widely used and practiced which also could contribute to my current job.
Those resources are extra supports to help me be more confident to apply the skills
I learned to my current position. I will limit my resources since there are quite a lot
of points indicated in some articles are overlapped.

In the meantime, I am actively searching for some instrumental methods to

encourage my peers to embrace the learning part into their daily living and let them
know the learning process is a lifelong and on-going process. Some of them might
very satisfy the current level or the job they stand for or have, indicating the
continuous learning process, might be the least part that needed to be addressed
on.