Reflection on Interpersonal Interaction

Reflection on an Interpersonal Interaction

Background/Context and Transcript

[Topia and Sarita sit down and talk about a group assignment they’re working on.]

Key: Topia = T; Sarita = S (I am Topia)

T1: “Hey, our assignment is lacking and I feel we aren’t cooperating very well with it” (Direct eye contact, calm but assertive tone of voice, assertive posture)

S1: “Uh, I’m sorry this past week has been rough for me, mum’s been in hospital.” (Sad facial expressions, closed posture, clamped hands, averting eye contact)

T2: “Oh, but you need to start helping as its due next week” (eye contact looking elsewhere, fidgety hands, unsure tone of voice)

S2: “I will, I promise.” (unconfident tone of voice, eye contact averted)

T3: “I’m sorry if I came off aggressive, as long as we can work together better, we should be fine, I hope your mum is doing well.” (empathetic tone of voice, relaxed posture, calm voice)

Reflection on an Interpersonal Interaction

Effective Communication

I started the conversation off with an assertive direct message I was trying to convey about our group assignment which I felt we weren’t cooperating very well with (T1). The skill recognised in this part of the transcript would be an “I message” using I messages are effective in coming across assertive but not aggressive and getting a point across but being able to express your own feeling towards this message and situation without stirring an emotional conflict with the other individual. (Darrington & Brower 2012) Another effective point I showed in my confrontation was after Sarita told me why she wasn’t working to her full potential (S1) I showed a bit of empathy towards her situation (T3) even if I was aggressive, I apologised and showed an understanding to her situation, and told her that if we worked together we would be fine. Showing empathy in a sensitive moment is key to interpersonal skills and being able to recognise the emotions from the other individual but then also appreciating their emotions, and being able to hold your own emotions back to focus on how they’re feeling at that moment in time helps in all instances with conversations or just in day to day life with having to filter and self-disclose certain information. (Zabriskie 2012)

Ineffective Communication

In this situation I displayed ineffective communication skills. After Sarita told me her mum was in hospital, I immediately derailed that comment off and told her she needs to start helping more (T2) this is in fact a listening block which is futile in trying to progress a conversation, as I basically just disregarded her comment and tried to change the subject and try be assertive but I came off as aggressive as Sarita’s body language showed to be more resistant and passive. Listening blocks such as derailing are one of many negative ways of handling a conversation when trying to hear someone out and shouldn’t be used in sensitive subjects such as a loved one in hospital. (Tang 2011). When I derailed the conversation (T2) I also showed ineffective nonverbal attending skills which actually coincided with the listening block of derailing, my eye contact, and tone of voice was more closed than how I started the conversation (T1) by seeming more distant I showed that I wasn’t attending and listening to what Sarita had to say, going side to side with the listening block showed how unconfident or uncomfortable I was at that moment. To hold a conversation, listening is a key part to keeping the flow to a discussion, and nonverbal skills are a main key point to making sure you are attending not only verbally, but nonverbally as well. As a conversation is like a two-way street, you both need to be effectively listening and discussing to keep a controlled flow of the topic at hand. (Owen 2012)

Skills to Improve the Interaction

As explained above, to show