Essay Example on Interpersonal Communication in the Workplace

Following your successful application and absorption into the XYZ group of companies, allow me to congratulate you on the same as I share with you insightful skills on office etiquettes and conduct. It is a privilege to share my knowledge and expertise in interpersonal skills about personal experiences at the workplace. Knowing your role, place, and responsibility in the workplace is a significant step in enhancing your communication skills and avoiding conflicts and miscommunication. Communication forms the central and essential component of achieving one's objectives in the workplace environment, especially when faced with challenging moments with coworkers and the top management. It is therefore important to understand, analyze, and come to terms with concepts and different aspects of communication as a tool for enhancing one's performance in the workplace.

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Introduction

Interpersonal relationships in the workplace

At the workplace, an interpersonal relationship forms a critical component in establishing individual bonds between workers and the management. The most important aspect of an interpersonal relationship is the establishment of a strong bond amongst and with other workers. It is essential as it enables the management and employees to strike a positive ambiance with one another and at the same time, build a cordial relationship with one another. Interpersonal relationship is important as it enables workers to work as a team and build a positive rapport in their engagements. It has a direct positive and or negative impact on the organization's culture since it plays a significant role in how the workers interrelate and bond. At the same time, an interpersonal relationship is vital for nurturing efforts and motivation amongst employees since it helps build trust and mentorship amongst the employees. It is therefore critical for you as new employees to establish positive and progressive interpersonal relationship with other workers since it will form the basis upon which you will communicate with each other. Interpersonal relationship is built upon practical and strong interpersonal communication skills.

Barriers to Effective Interpersonal Communication

Interpersonal communication entails the procedure by which individuals exchange information by use of both non-verbal and verbal messaging. It is often a face-to-face experience. It forms the basis upon which interpersonal relationship is built and harnessed. However, according to Li et al., (2017), several factors may derail the process of exchanging information or feelings within the workplace. General barriers to effective communication within the workplace include cultural differences, differences in insight and perspective, prejudice and expectations that in many instances lead to stereotyping and assumptions (Erozkan et al., 2013).

Cultural Differences, different Perspective, and Prejudice

Cultural differences entail norms and ways in which workers may express their emotions, attitudes, and behaviors on their traditional backgrounds. For example, personal space means different things to different people. While some may be very sensitive to personal space, others may not be aware or at the same time ignore the concept of personal space during communication. Sensitivity to personal space may lead to poor communication in an interpersonal relationship (Erozkan et al., 2013). For example, one who is overly sensitive to personal space may dissent to close physical proximity during a conversation, and at the same time, one who is insensitive to personal space may ignore important non-verbal messages (Li et al., 2017). Such a scenario may lead to miscommunication and or reduced expression. According to Shokri et al., (2014), during communication, both non-verbal and verbal communication is essential in passing on specific messages. For example, while passing across sensitive information to a worker, many tend to close in on the physical space, a move that may not go well with one who is not comfortable with close physical proximity. At the same time, one who is comfortable with such closeness will take in the information passed through such as away seriously. Other cultural practices such as physical contact plays a significant role while communication or lack of and may mean different things to a different group of persons in the workplace (Shokri et al., 2014). While emphasizing a point, one many tend to reach out to the other, driving a given issue to the listener. Lack of the contact may also denote a different meaning to others. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between the various cultural practices that will promote and enhance effective communication amongst you and other workers to enable you to overcome such as barrier (Erozkan et al., 2013).

Shokri et al., (2014) maintains that different perceptions arise due to various levels of understanding, knowledge, and skills. For example, a worker may hold a different point of view because of previous experience in the same capacity or due to common trend within the workplace. Despite the nature of the issue at hand, a worker may present unique mindset, unlike the others, a situation that may lead to miscommunication or lack of proper communication during a given office engagement. While one may hold onto an issue as correct, others may view it differently prompting differences arising from different conceptions. According to Erozkan et al., (2013), such situations may be caused by various levels of education, understanding, and personal judgment. It thus reduces effective communication amongst co-workers that may result in a wrong task coordination and or completion. To overcome different perceptions amongst workers it is important to use easy to understand terminologies and concepts. Additionally, it is vital to engage with the employees directly and ask questions in case one does not know.

Prejudice in many instances is caused by narrow-mindedness or inability to understand or comprehend issues. According to Li et al., (2017), during communication in the workplace, the failure to view issues from a liberal mindset may portend and stand against effective communication. For example, a simple memo calling for the restriction of office gossip may herald a new work ethics amongst workers; others may view it as a way of limiting interpersonal relationship. Judging issues from a narrow mindset may stand in the way for effective communication amongst employees and especially while setting the organization culture. In overcoming prejudice, it is important to help other workers to view a concept from different directions to widen their scope and understanding. On the other hand, one needs to understand each employee to safeguard against the development of intolerance towards office relationships and communication in general (Shokri et al., 2014).

Self-Concept, Self-Esteem, and Self-Image

Self-concept refers to the general beliefs, thoughts, and understanding one has about themselves. It entails the idea or notion one has about himself or herself. Self-concept is a vital factor in interpersonal communication especially in the workplace where one will establish different kinds of relationships (Shokri et al., 2014). Self-concept functions at the various levels for example how one sees oneself and the real self. Since self-concept arises from consistency in personal opinion, the way in which an individual perceives himself or herself plays a critical role in the way they communicate with others. For example, one who is self-assured, comfortable, and understands their abilities will have it easy in practicing effective communication with others than one who is unsure, less confident, and has a negative attitude towards themselves (Shokri et al., 2014). A healthy self-concept results in active and healthy communication arising from the fact that they can put in practice their confidence in excellent communication skills. On the other hand, an individual with a mismatched personality or negative self-esteem may have the tendency to have a poor social image, which may result in bad communication skills and ineffective communication practices.

Building and matching one's dimensional level of self-perception plays a critical role in helping one form an ideal opinion that is critical for establishing and building on practical communication skills such as confidence and positive self-esteem. It is therefore important to understand oneself, develop an intimate relationship with the three levels of personality that entail ego ideal, self-image, and self-esteem. A close relationship between the three will help one inculcate active and critical skills necessary for effective communication (Shokri et al., 2014). For example, the ability to form productive and positive interpersonal relationship arises from the capacity to understand one's needs about an experience in the workplace. Self-esteem stems from one's assessment of self-worth, self-respect, and confidence. A confident and one who values himself or herself highly have the ability to practice effective communication skills. In the workplace, to build on excellent communication skills, you will need to portray your self-worth through an energetic personality and positive attributes that only stems from high self-assessment. Despite the challenges of self-assessment, it is possible to enhance your self-esteem to improve on and overcome barriers to effective communication skills that may derail your efforts to giving your best to your employer (Erozkan et al., 2013).

To build on your self-esteem, you will need to overcome common challenges occasioned with looking down upon your attributes and personality traits. These may include features such as the inability to interact with other workmates, physical disability, failure to express oneself, and lack of confidence in handling workplace challenges. According to Li et al., (2017), the same applies to self-image too, that aspect of having an idea of your appearance, ability, and personality traits. Being in a position to analyze and understand your abilities or appearance is important as it enables you to portray a confident posture, appeal, and image while interacting with your workmates and even the top management personalities. It has the positive effect of improving on your self-worth, an important aspect of enhancing your interpersonal interaction. With distinct and understood character concepts, you will be in a position to inculcate practical communication skills that will play a critical role in defining your personality and self-worth at the workplace and amongst workmates (Li et al., 2017). It is therefore important to pay close attention to who you are as a person besides working on improving on what you are within the workplace.

Self-Disclosure and Emotional Intelligence

Self-disclosure describes the practice of revealing oneself to others through communicating ones attributes, thoughts, failures, aspirations, dislikes, and dreams to others. On the other hand, emotional intelligence entails the ability to discern ones emotional state and that of others and use the information to guide them through making decisions and behaving appropriately. Self-disclosure an emotional intelligence is two essential elements of integrating knowledge on effective communication in addition to the development of interpersonal relationships (Shokri et al., 2014). In establishing a good interpersonal relationship, it is important to create an enabling environment of trust and confidence. Trust and confidence go along in improving open and secure communication in which the parties involved share their feelings and ideas without fear or favor. For example, if a co-worker is relaxed to share with on intimate personal details, it become...