Communication Skills Surveys

I found the communication skills surveys to be enlightening. Thus far, I've only persuaded the administrative assistant, Meem, (who works in the reception area with me) to complete the communication skills survey to rate my listening style, verbal aggression, and communication anxiety. The surveys are on my husband's honey-do list for this afternoon. Both Meem and I rated my listening style as Group 1. This group is people oriented. The descriptive qualities of this group include empathetic, inclined to build relationships and trusting of others. I am not surprised that Meem rated my listening styles similarly. A large part of my job is listening to others and supporting their efforts. On the verbal aggressiveness scale, Meem rated me as 52, a low level. The descriptors associated with this rating are respectful of view points, unlikely to attack others personally, likely to make gental suggestions. I rated my verbal aggressiveness as a 64, a moderate rating. This rating contains descriptors that include the tendency to argue fairly, maintenance of a balance of respect for the point of view of others. I am  both surprised and glad that Meem rated me as less verbally aggressive than I perceive myself to be. This tells me that I am conveying a less aggressive communication style [at least to Meem] than I believe. Meem rated my communication anxiety as a 46, a mild rating. I also rated myself as mild in communication anxiety, but with a slightly lower numerical value of 40. The mild category described my communication anxiety level as uneasy related to context and indicated that I don't worry a great deal about communication. I am not surprised that Meem and I rated my communication anxiety at the same level because the location of her workstation causes her to be privy to much of my communication with others.

One insight that I have gained as a result of this exercise is that I am not perceived to be as verbally aggressive as I believe that I am. This tells me that I am on the right track to benevolent communication. Another insight that I have gained is that perhaps my body language indicates that I am more uncomfortable communicating in small groups and speaking in large groups  than I believe myself to be. The professional and personal implications of these insights are that I am working in the right direction in reducing my verbal progressiveness and that I should more closely examine my body language when speaking in small groups and in public.