Competent Communication
Consider the competence communication practices/skills to answer the following questions.
- Define “Communication Competence” in your own words.
Competence communication refers to having information to necessitate effective and appropriate communication and apply the knowledge to adapt in various contexts.
- Name and describe how each of the five competence practices supports better communication.
- a) Self-awareness- refers to the ability to understand your behavior, its impact on others, and ways to modify those behaviors to suit a particular situation. Self-awareness helps support better communication by making people change their behavior according to different communication situations.
- b) Adaptability- refers to the ability to adjust behavior accordingly according to different situations. This practice supports better communication by allowing an individual to adapt accordingly in a separate case, thus communicating better.
- c) Empathy- refers to the ability to understand other people’s thoughts and emotions. Compassion supports better communication by making people aware of things to say at different positions based on others’ ideas and feelings.
- d) Cognitive complexity- refers to the ability to understand a situation from different perspectives without jumping into conclusions. It helps support communication better by reducing judgment before understanding the whole situation.
- e) Ethics- refers to being honest with others and treating them fairly. It helps support communication better by assisting people in communicating with more respect and avoiding awkward and unethical conversations.
- Describe a time when you think you might have been unconsciously or consciously incompetent. What competence skills or practices could have helped improve that communication?
I happened to visit my friend in Uganda, where I did not know their culture. In Uganda, a woman is supposed to kneel while addressing an elderly male. I managed her grandfather casually. In that situation, I was unconsciously incompetent in communication. Self-awareness would have helped in improving the awkward first communication that I had with him.
- Describe a time when you think you might have been unconsciously or consciously competent. What competence skills were you practicing that helped improve that communication?
In a situation where I was addressing a prospective employee, sometimes, I was aware of what I was supposed to say. I was consciously competent in that communication, and both adaptability and ethics helped in improving that communication.