Inter-Personal Communication Report Assessment 4

Assessment 1: Online Exercises

The aims of this assessment task are that you learn to use the basic information communication technologies that you will need to successfully study at Southern Cross University. In particular, you will become familiarised with various aspects of the online Blackboard site MySCU, your SCU email, and various vital site pages within the university website. By doing these tasks, sometimes by trial and error, you will learn how to access important information, and how to submit assignments. 

The assignment will run as a 'treasure hunt' and consists of five short interrelated online tasks. One of these tasks involves answering a short online quiz. You may attempt the quiz as often as you need to, as in the end you need to get all five correct. 

Some other tasks require your tutor to check your work, which might take a day or two. Most tasks only appear once the previous task has been completed successfully. 

The tasks are numbered, so it helps to do them in order. You must complete all five tasks (including correctly answering all five questions in the quiz) in order to satisfy requirements for this assessment task and earn 10%. 

Here are the instructions to get you started: 

1. Go to http://learn.scu.edu.au (commonly referred to as 'MySCU' or your “Blackboard learning site”). If you have difficulty, log in to MyEnrolment (http://www.scu.edu.au/ myenrolment) and click on the tab 'MySCU details' for your username and password. This username and password is valid for both MySCU and your SCU email account. If you still have trouble, ring the Technology Services Service Desk between 8 am and 5 pm weekdays on 02 6620 3698 (if you live in the Lismore or Tweed Gold Coast area) or between 9 am and 5 pm weekdays 1800 111 890 (if you live outside this area). Coffs students can ring 02 6659 3080. 
2. Find the link for the COM00207 site, and click on it. 
3. Read the notice titled 'Congratulations! You're on your way!' on the announcements page. This announcement will give you your clues to completing the first of the five tasks, and each task will in turn give you the clues you need to find the next task. 

Remember: one of the tasks involves answering a short quiz online.

Assessment 2: Essay 

The aims of this assessment task are threefold: 

1. Observe two or more people communicating with each other in a 'live' setting and to apply communication theories / concepts you have learned about in Topics 1–3 to that event. 2. Write an academic essay which: 
2. briefly describes the communication event 
3. analyses and evaluates the event by applying theories from Topics 1–3 to the event c. evaluates the usefulness (or otherwise) of these theories for this purpose d. conforms to the expected essay structure according to the relevant readings for Topic 6.

3. Demonstrate correct in-text referencing and a correct reference list for at least five references according to the reference style described in the following Reading: 

Summers, J & Smith, B 2010, 'Referencing', Communication skills handbook: How to succeed in written and oral communication, John Wiley & Sons Australia, pp. 17–38. 

(This Reading is accessible through myReadings). 

The essay question 

Which communication theories that you have researched and applied, provide most insight into understanding the dynamics of the observed event? 

Draw on the materials and subject matter of Module One and the skills developed through Module Two. With reference to at least three communication theories (or concepts, or aspects of theories), analyse the communication event you have observed. In your essay compare and contrast the usefulness of the selected communication theories / concepts for analysing the event. Reference the essay correctly (using in-text referencing as well as a list of references at the end of your essay), in the style described by Summers and Smith (2010). 

Step 1: Find your reference material 

Before you write your essay you need to find at least five references which will help you to develop your argument and therefore your essay. You must use at least: 

• a chapter from your textbook 
• one of the readings in myReadings 
• one journal article accessed through the Library databases. 

In addition, you must choose two more from the following list: 

• A newspaper article. 
• A website. 
• A chapter from an edited book. 
• A chapter from a textbook. 
• A report. 
• A personal communication. 

You will need to select reference material which is relevant and appropriate to the essay question and take notes with the purpose of answering your essay question. 

Step 2: Observe a 'communication event' 

Choose a live setting which relates to your course where two or more people are interacting with each other (reality TV shows are not allowed). For example, if you are a business student, you might want to go shopping with a friend and observe an interaction between the salesperson and your friend. If you are a tourism or hospitality student you may want to observe an interaction between staff in a restaurant or hotel and a friend. Your tutor will have lots of ideas for settings and will discuss options with you early in the study period. 

Observe the interaction, looking for evidence of aspects of communication theories and concepts that are covered in Topics 1–3. Take notes straight after you leave the interaction under headings, for example: 

• Examples of kinesics such as affect displays or illustrators 
• The messages that were relayed using paralanguage 
• The effect of noise (mechanical, semantic or psychological) 
• Perceived attribution errors 
• Feedback 
• Listening skills. 

Step 3: Analyse the event 

Using the communication theories you have selected, analyse the communication event and seek deeper insight into the event, and its participants. 

Step 4: Decide on your position 

After you have analysed the situation using the communication theories / concepts, decide on the position you will take on the essay question. How much more have you learned by applying the theories? In your essay, state which theories were most useful, or gave most insight, and why. 

If you want to learn more about 'position', go to the Academic Skills website, download and read the following information sheet: 'Developing an Argument: Essay' 

Step 5: Write your essay 

Using the resources which have been provided to you, plan, draft and write your essay. 

The recommended resources are the relevant Readings for Topic 6, the Academic Skills Information Guides on essay writing: 

• Interpreting the Assignment task: Essay. 
• Essay Writing. 
• Essay Writing Checklist. 
• Developing an Argument: Essay. 
• Introductions and Conclusions: Essay. 

Your essay should contain the following structural elements: 

• Introduction. 
• Body. 
• Conclusion. 
• Reference List. 

For such a short essay you do not need to use headings. 

Within your essay you must refer to each one of your five references, using the in-text referencing style described in Summers and Smith (2010). You need to show that you can reference both a direct quote and a paraphrased idea. 

Step 6: Write a reference list 

Write a reference list for your references. Remember you have to include at least five references from various sources which conform to the author–date system described in Summers and Smith (2010).

Assessment 3: Recording 

Choose a five – ten minute segment (five mins is sufficient). 

1. Choose an organisation with more than four employees, relevant to your field of study (e.g. a sports organisation; an accountancy firm; a tourism company; a nonprofit organisation; a hotel or resort, a museum or gallery, etc.). 
2. Do some independent research on the organisation, e.g. by browsing their website or collecting brochures, promotional material, and information about the organisation's structure. 
3. Using the theories and skills put forward in Topic 10, 'Interviewing', design a set of interview questions geared to gather information about the following communication issues in organisations: 

◦ Intercultural communication. 

◦ Presentations and / or persuasion. 

◦ Negotiations 

◦ Groups, meetings and / or discussions (formal and informal). 

◦ Trust and / or conflict resolution issues. 

Aim to have an interactive conversation that is engaged, structured but not stilted (do not read out loud from a prepared script!), and leaves room for opinions. 

4. Contact a person within the organisation to interview. The interview needs to be at least 20 minutes, but try not to go longer than half an hour. You will need to record the interview so make sure to inform the person of this. The interview must be conducted in English. 
5. Ask the person to complete the Informed Consent form (found on MySCU and available through myReadings). 
6. Interview the person and record the interview. 

Recording and submission 

Record the interview, preferably digitally (you can use the following file types: mpg, mp3, mov, avi, wmv). If that is not practical, you can record on video cassette, audio cassette or microcassette. (NB: There are no grades assigned for the quality of the recording). On the recording you need to be audible and/or visible. 

Select a five-minute section of the interview that you think best represents your interviewing style and copy this. Submit this five-minute copied section of the recorded interview. 

Do not submit the original! You will need your original recording for the next assignment. You will NOT receive the recording back, so do not send memory sticks or other expensive media. Do not delete your recording until you have completed and passed this unit. 

If you are submitting on CD or other hardware ensure that your recording is labelled with your name, student number, the unit code, and the date.

Assessment 4: Report 

Listen carefully to the interview and consider the communication issues discussed. Read whatever background material you have gathered about the organisation. Drawing on materials from Topics 8 to 12 identify and evaluate the interpersonal communication issues in your participant's organisation from the employee's point of view. Relate these issues to theory and use academic research to support your findings. Present your findings in your report. 

In this report: 

• include a section which describes the company and the interviewee. Use pseudonyms for the employee and the company. Do not use real names. 
• important! Ensure you describe and reflect upon your methods for conducting this research: how did you select your interviewee, how did you persuade them to participate, what kind of interview techniques did you apply? Refer to relevant theories on persuasion, presentations, interview techniques, possibly intercultural communication, and so on. 
• describe your findings, and analyse them using pertinent theories (from not just Module One but certainly from Module Three). Reference the theories appropriately. • include recommendations for your participant's organisation. In your recommendations, make sure that you offer viable solutions. If there are no problems at all, then analyse which factors ensure that communication is so successful in this company. • include the informed consent form as an appendix. 

Throughout your report, do not refer to your participant or their organisation by their real names. Use pseudonyms at all times, to protect the identity of your participant. 

You must have at least eight academic (peer reviewed) references in your report. No Wikipedia or World Wide Web (Googled) references will be counted as academic. 

Structure your report according to the relevant readings set for Topic 6: 

• Interpreting the Assignment task: Report. 
• Report Writing. 
• Report Writing Checklist. 
• Writing an Abstract or Executive Summary. 
• How is an Abstract Different from an Introduction? 
• Introductions and Conclusions: Report.

Introduction

Communication is the single most important part of any organization. Communication in all forms, verbal, written, and body language becomes an essential part of a company’s performance. Every organization tries to improve the communication between its employees through various interpersonal communication mechanisms such as staff meetings, employee-supervisor discussions and team activities. Communication is inevitable and naturally works as a process. When using the word processor, it basically is to say that communication evolves as it is carried from one person to another. (Sehgal, 2008) During this evolution, it is essential to ensure there are no communication gaps or misunderstanding. In this report, an attempt has been made to analyze the interpersonal communication in an IT (Information technology) company. The company has been in business for about 13 years now and specializes in software used for direct-to-home channels. The person interviewed works in the HR department of the company and hence has a lot of exposure to the diverse workforce of the company. Based on this analysis, relevant recommendations have been made, and conclusions have been drawn.