I had my daughter and a male friend evaluate me for this assignment. We all placed me in group 1 for listening style and in the moderate category for verbal aggressiveness. I was surprised, though, that they both scored me with slightly higher communication anxiety than I did. I suppose that is because they have never seen me speak in public and are possibly using their schemas to evaluate how I would do. I feel quite comfortable talking in front of people but they are both 20+ years younger than me and have done little to no public speaking.
An insight I gained this week is how accurate these assessments can be if a person is willing to answer the questions honestly. Self-improvement is not possible if a person is not willing to evaluate themselves in an authentic way and take off their rose-colored glasses. I think this goes hand-in-hand with our self-concept and self-esteem. It's good to see and value our strengths but they must come from an honest place. Pretending to be something you're not can get exhausting. In my professional life, if I don't know the answer to a question a parent or child has, or how to deal with a situation with a colleague or child, it won't do to just make something up. I need to be open to finding out the right answer and relate it to the parent or child or for my own knowledge. I don't pretend to know all the answers but I am more than willing to try and find one.
Another insight I learned this week is that my daughter and friend view me very similarly as I do. Our scores were very close. I think it is good feedback for anyone to have. Knowing how others feel about our communication skills will help us be clearer when interacting with others. It gives good information about areas we may need improvement in. Personally and professionally, I can see that I am in a pretty good place when I am using any/all of the communication styles.
Great post! I went and had a colleague fill it out and she kept saying dont look don't look.... And then when she was done she said now what was my score supposed to be? She was afraid it was something that was going to hurt my feelings. I said it don't matter what it is just be honest so I can compare it to mine. I too think its great to see how others see us in communication.
ReplyDeleteLaurie,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. I also noticed that my test scores were consistent with the two people that tested my communication skills. I wonder if the test results would be different if the test was taken by people who did not like us? The answers to the questions were the perception of the individuals that were taking the test; therefore we may have received different scores. Thank you for sharing your post.
Chere'e
Laurie,
ReplyDeleteIsn't it true how these evaluations provide us with so much self-reflection which in turn helps us to self-improve based on the information we gained from the evaluations. I found that the two people who evaluated my communication skills placed me in the same categories as I placed myself. I see that this happened when you were evaluated too. I am very critical of myself so the outcomes of all the evaluations helped me to self-reflect. I really appreciate your thoughts on self-improvement and we all need to look at these evaluations as a way to better ourselves personally and professional. Great blog post, Melissa
Laurie,
ReplyDeleteI certainly gained some valuable information from this assignment. It is good to be aware of how other people view us. This assignment helped me to realize that people do not always view us the way that we view ourselves. I know that there is surely room for improvement. Thanks for your post!