Group Members' Personality Impact on Interpersonal Communication - Case Study Example

EXPERIENTIAL ANALYSIS – A REFLECTIVE STRUCTURED ESSAY Name Course Instructor Institution Date Experiential Analysis – A reflective structured essay Introduction Communication counts as one of the most important elements promoting organizational success, especially within the modern day workplace. The 21st Century workplace involves increased emphasis on team activities as opposed to individual activities. This emphasis on team activities has resulted in an increased need for interpersonal communication skills to help ensure maximum group productivity. The introduction of group tasks and activities in the workplace has also resulted in diverse groups of people working together, which has, in turn, had an effect on interpersonal communication. Factors such as gender, personality of different individuals, disability, and spiritual orientation greatly affect the quality of interpersonal communication between group members. This paper provides an analysis of how the personality of group members, gender, and culture impact the interpersonal communication within the organization where I work; therefore, provide recommendations on how interpersonal communication can be improved within the organization. Organization Description The organization at the focus of this reflection paper is a jewelry shop, where I work part-time as a salesperson and a cashier. The shop mainly deals with Chinese jewelry, including necklaces, earrings, rings, and bracelets. The shop is located in a neighborhood characterized by a high Asian population. In the shop, I work with two other individuals, namely, the owner, who is Chinese, and a local girl who also works as a cashier and a salesperson. The shop owner is not conversant in English, which has resulted in me acting as his translator during his conversations with the other employees. I mainly deal with Chinese clients, while the other employee works with clients from the country. Other than acting as a sales person, I also take the role of an educator, as I am required to teach the other employee about the Chinese jewelry sold at the shop. Group Member’s Personality Impact on Interpersonal Communication The successful execution of a group task necessitates the cooperation of diverse personalities in realization of a common goal. It is imperative that the group environment facilitates the cooperation of the differing personalities within the group for the realization of the wider organizational targets. The individual members to the group must therefore feel part of the organizational goals targeted, where success of the group translates to individual success for the group members. The nature of organizations demands the cooperation of different individuals presenting different skills to the success of the organization. Optimum productivity demands effective cooperation, where interpersonal communication is key in passing ideas and information within the group. Aligning the organizational goals to individual ambition promotes positive interpersonal interaction as compared to group members working in pursuit of personal gain (Myers & Sadaghiani, 2010). Influence of My Boss’s Personality on Interpersonal Communication My organization involves the interaction of three personalities namely the boss, me, as well as the local girl working in the jewelry store. The personality of the boss is central to the success of the organization; given the influence he wields on the daily running of the organization. His interaction with us, his subordinates, sets the tone for our handling of clients visiting our store. While the boss makes effort at reaching out to others, he appears to me to be primarily introverted, where his ideas on the business and research engross him more than interacting with others in the organization. His introverted personality relegates many communication tasks to his subordinates, where it is a great relief for him whenever I am available at the shop, since I can easily translate his messages across, while at the same time relaying the necessary feedback to him. Additionally, he lays in the feeling type in the Myers Briggs indicator types, where his decisions are based on feelings, where values, traditions, and sentiment influence his evaluation of situations (Shaffer R.D & Shaffer M.A, 2005). The boss has difficult times dealing with local clients, especially, who have little appreciation of the sentimental value of Chinese cultural pieces sold at the shop. While the integrity of the pieces in display matters, it takes innovative interventions to make business with many liberal American clients, focused on the item rather than what it represents. Impact of Personality of the Local Girl to Interpersonal Communication The local girl represents a crucial link for the business in accessing the targeted local market, where she is the immediately recognizable face of the business to the non-Asian patrons. She exhibits an extroverted personality, showing great enthusiasm in engaging interactions with people visiting the shop. While her relationship with the boss is fine, she still shows some restraint when interacting with the boss in comparison to my interactions with her. She confides that she finds the boss rather intimidating, with his aloofness serving as an indication of disapproval to her. Continuous reminder to the girl of her value to the organization has served to grow her confidence on the job, while her picking up of basic Chinese sayings and phrases has helped the boss identify with her, given her interest in the culture. Further, the initial feelings harbored by my boss on the sincerity, depth, and consistency of the girl stemmed from her extroversion, which time and understanding have come to eliminate (Burleson, 2003). My cooperation with the girl, nonetheless, has proved one of the most profitable alliances in the organization, where I provide her with the basic information of a product, its culture. Her extroverted nature assists her in placing the imported products in context of the local culture, helping local customers to have a connection to our product. Effect of My Personality Type on Interpersonal Communication While I cannot consider myself as being introverted, I find interactions with others refreshing, often helping in providing a fresh perspective to a nagging problem. Further, I tend to make decisions based on my judging function, where the decided course of action considers the most positive outcome to the situation. My interactions with others, while seeking an element of stimulation as is the case with extroverts, also seek the achievement of a certain goal. Such a predisposition leads to engaging maintaining interactions by showing a genuine interest in the other party, while retaining control to pitch my message. A major part I appreciate about my work in the shop relates to my communication skills, given the dependence of the business upon effective communication between the staff as well as with the clients. It is critical, however, that my interactions appear genuine, as I tend to lose interest in non-appealing subjects, which may irritate the other party to the communication. Cultivating interest in people has proved essential in increasing the positive outcomes derived from my communications with others in the organization Impact of Gender on Inter-Personal Communication Gender, as is with a variety of other identifying factors, plays a key role in interpersonal communication, where the behavior and reaction to communication differs in reference to gender. Personal space is a major factor affecting interpersonal communication in relation to gender, where a study conducted on both genders reported men as being more sensitive to touching others during conversation as compared to women (Kuntze et.al, 2016). These findings apply to the organization context, where the girl is at increased liberty to share in the personal spaces of her audiences during conversation, regardless of their being male or female. Another difference in stemming from gender relates to the views of both men and women on the underlying messages in communication, where the societal expectations demand that women regulate intimacy, thus controlling how close they allow the other party to navigate during conversations. In contrast, men show sensitivity on messages on status and power, given the societal expectation on men to define authority and leadership (LePine, 2013). In modern dynamic times, gender definitions consider the behavior of a person, where men can be feminine while women may exhibit masculinity as well. A balance between masculinity and femininity is ideal for optimal group functioning, where the genders acts as checks against each other, thus finding quick means of dissolving tension within the group. Impact of Culture on Interpersonal Communication The three individuals working at the jewelry store belong to different cultures. The boss and I come from the same country; therefore, share the same cultural perspective, as opposed to the girl who is local; therefore, different a different culture. The Chinese and Western cultures have differences, which may affect interpersonal communication within the shop. A major cultural difference between the Australian culture and the Chinese culture is the power distance. Hofstede (1980) as quoted in Zhang (2010, p. 1) described power distance as the level of acceptance that people have towards unequal treatment and unequal power distribution. The Chinese culture is one characterized by a high power distance, as opposed to the Australian work culture, which involves low expectations of unequal treatment. These different expectations inequality have a major impact on how the different employees communicate within the organization. Zhang (2010, p. 13) explained a high power distance culture to result in increased supervision and increased team cohesiveness within the workplace, as opposed to low power distance cultures, which promoted increased empowerment. While communicating with the other employee, I tend to take more of a supervisory role, as well as employ an assertive tone, which at times. Using an assertive tone has resulted in the girl taking same of my instructions negatively, as well as reduced communication between the girl and me. Another cultural aspect affecting interpersonal communication within the organization is high/low context culture. Treven (2011, p. 51) explained the Chinese work culture as one characterized by high contrast communication as opposed to the Australian culture, which is mainly a low context culture. High contrast cultures including the Chinese work culture entail the development of long-term relationships, as well as the situational transfer of knowledge. The decisions made in high context cultures also revolve around the face-to-face relationship between employees and the authority (Fang & Faure, 2011). The Australia work culture, on the other hand, involves separation of activities and relationships, as well as increased instances of knowledge transference. These differences in communication have affected interpersonal communication negatively, as I only communicate when necessary, and only give out the required information. This has resulted in the other employee, who is not Chinese having limited knowledge in different Chinese jewelry sold. The business owner is Chinese, which has resulted in the business adopting less written forms of communication; therefore, making some information inaccessible, and private. The other cultural aspect influencing interpersonal communication within the organization is the orientation toward an individualistic or a collectivist culture. Ting-Toomey, (2012, p. 69) explained that employees from Asian and Central American countries exhibited a high orientation to group values as compared to individuals from the United States, UK, and Australia, who tend to exhibit increased orientation to individual values. These different orientations between my culture and the other employees culture have resulted in us differing during different occasions. While working together, I attempt on promoting group works and ensure that the other employee knows what I am doing and what they are required to do. The other employee who is a local prefers working alone, and in private, which has resulted in us differing especially on the allocation of the various duties. Impact of Organizational Practices on Interpersonal Communication The organization I work in is unique as it comprises of only three individuals namely the owner, and two employees. The shop mainly deals with Chinese jewelry, which has resulted in me having to teach the female employee about the Chinese jewelry sold at the shop. The process of educating the female employee has resulted in me learning a bit of the local culture and the girl learning some aspects of the Chinese culture; therefore, promoting increased cultural understanding, which in turn results in increased interpersonal communication. The cultural understanding developed through my interactions with the female employee has resulted in increased appreciation for each other’s opinions and advice; therefore, improving interpersonal communication. Another organizational practice affecting interpersonal communication within the organization is me acting as a translator between the boss and the other employees. Acting as the translator has resulted in both the boss and the other employee having increased trust in me. However, communication in the store is often hampered by my absence; therefore, a need for the boss to try and learn English, to ensure effective communication. Conclusion and Recommendations Whether verbal or written, effective communication is crucial in ensuring success within an organization. However, factors resulting from workplace diversity may affect interpersonal communication within an organization; therefore, impact on the productivity of the different individuals. The personality of the different individuals within an organization has a major influence on how people communicate. The different cultures within an organization also impact how the different individuals communicate. Although not a major issue, Gender also has an impact on how people communicate within a business. These three factors greatly influence interpersonal communication within my organization; therefore, the need for strategies to help improve communication between the other employee and me. A strategy to help improve communication within the organization is the introduction of training to allow improvement of communication skills. Hynes (2012) explained training to result in improved interpersonal communication between the employees from different cultures. Training is, however, costly, which may result in business choosing not to train their employees on interpersonal communication skills (Hynes, 2012). Training on communication skills should involve education on how to communicate with people from cultural backgrounds, as well as how to relate to the different personalities. The use of interactive displays may also help improve communication within an organization. Scollon et al. (2012) explained interactive communication to involve the use of words and images to give more information about certain elements. The use of interactive communication within the organization will allow better communication between the boss and the other employees, The use of interactive communication will remove the need for an interpreter, was employees would understand the various aspect of the merchandise, without having g to talk to the owner. The consideration of these two recommendations may assist in improving interpersonal communication between the employees within the jewelry store. References Burleson, B.R., 2003. The experience and effects of emotional support: What the study of cultural and gender differences can tell us about close relationships, emotion, and interpersonal communication. Personal Relationships, 10(1), pp.1-23 Fang, T. & Faure, G. O., 2011. Chinese communication characteristics: A Yin Yang perspective. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Volume 35, pp. 320-333. Hynes, G. E., 2012. Improving Employees’ Interpersonal Communication Competencies: A Qualitative Study. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly. Kuntze, J., van der Molen, H.T. and Born, M.P., 2016. Big Five Personality Traits and Assertiveness do not Affect Mastery of Communication Skills. Health Professions Education LePine, J.A., 2003. Team adaptation and post change performance: effects of team composition in terms of members' cognitive ability and personality, Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(1), p.27 Myers, K.K. and Sadaghiani, K., 2010. Millennials in the workplace: A communication perspective on millennials’ organizational relationships and performance, Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(2), pp.225-238 Scollon, R., Jones, R. H. & Scollon, S. B. K., 2012. Intercultural communication : a discourse approach. 3 ed. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Shaffer, R.D. and Shaffer, M.A., 2005, August. 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