COMMUNICATION
My friend and I had been assigned some duties in a charity group to organize an event. There arose a discussion regarding the type of work we were carrying out in which my friend called me a lazy person. We both became defensive from his attacks. The part of the face need my friend, and I were protecting is the personality characteristics. The other communicator evaluation approach triggered defensive responses. This approach seemed to be judging my actions in a negative way. In all cases, evaluating massages possess some characteristics that are face-threatening. In our situation, I felt my thoughts and feelings being judged while the other communicator wanted to prove his sentiments. The evaluation approach never described the speaker’s feelings, what he wanted to mean, nor his thoughts. Besides, it was not clear how he had arrived at his conclusion since he lacked specifics.
The supportive behaviors from Gibb’s categories, which would have helped create a more supportive communication climate, are Description and spontaneity. The Description provides a substantiated way of offering one thought, wants, and feelings in the absence of judging, especially the listener. A descriptive message mainly focuses on changeable behaviors over personal traits. Descriptive messages are less defensive; for example, the other communicator may have used the words such as, and could you pay more attention to this wok so that we finish early? Descriptive messages give out information on how the speaker arrived at their conclusions. Spontaneity is defined as exercising honesty rather than manipulating other people. Spontaneity doesn’t encourage blurting out whatever one is thinking as soon an idea is developed in one’s brain. Employing these strategies would have positively impacted the outcome of the situation. When one learns to communicate descriptively and spontaneously, one becomes straightforward, hence avoiding personal attacks to the other person that can trigger a poison communication climate.