Self-Analysis: Improving Communication

Self-analysis provides a reference for examining future actions and should be encouraged after meetings, thus paving the way for improvement. Further looking at active listening, this paper examines my listening behaviors within an actual situation and measures what I did well and where I struggled. In keeping with the purposes of self-analysis, I will then look at bettering communication with the teams I am apart of through specific active listening improvements.

The setting for this situation is an evening meeting, finalizing the next day’s agenda for a new project. This seemed routine but there was a drawback: three teams from three countries using a translator to communicate for the execution of this project. Though all of us had worked

Throughout the conversation, I faced the speaker and maintained eye contact with him even though he was not speaking in my native language. This is important to not only show one is listening but also to give proper respect to the speaker as a person. When using a translator it is easy to speak and listen to them as they convey the messages but this ignores the one to whom the message is directed. Maintaining eye contact improved my reception of the messages because the speaker could read my body language even though he could not understand my

Double checking the information I received when I received it would have eliminated the need for a second meeting. Further, clarifying content shows I am actively listening to the message and desire to act accordingly.

Similar to clarifying content at the end of a message is paraphrasing the speaker’s words throughout the decoding process. This was something I struggled in and it showed in the result of the final schedule before we reconvened. One reason I struggled to paraphrase is the thought that it simply takes too long going through a translator. Yet, because everything is repeated twice that is all the more reason to stop and paraphrase what you understood, but I didn’t see it as important so a poor result followed.

Thus, in the future, listening will include asking questions throughout the conversation. This will be assisted by paraphrasing the speaker’s thoughts from time to time to ensure an accurate understanding of the subject. These questions will also ask for greater clarity exploring the subject at a greater depth. Both of these behaviors will help iron out any misunderstandings before the conversation is over, these will also show that I'm concerned with the speaker’s