Communication Change Challenge Assignment

Communication Change Challenge Assignment

Communication Change Challenge Assignment

Introduction: Communication Change Challenge (CCC) Part 1 The Course Project is about improving your interpersonal communication skills. For this project, you will select a relevant interpersonal communication behavior to work on, attempt to change your behavior or pattern in the communication area you selected; and evaluate your progress and performance. Click on the following link for project examples:

Click on the following link for project examples:

Link: Project Examples

Problem

Outcome

A 20-something woman recognizes that she appears to frown and/or has a negative facial expression when communicating interpersonally. Others often misread her as a result.

She set the goal of using a positive facial expression when communicating interpersonally. She was more successful at work and received significantly more attention in her personal life as well. She made many new friends and broke off a long-term, unhealthy relationship with her boyfriend as a result of the increased attention.

A 40-something woman with a successful career recognizes that she does not accept criticism well. Generally, she jumped to the defense and never heard, nor considered, the merit of the feedback.

She set the goal of changing her response to receiving criticism. She found that she was able to learn from constructive feedback and was recognized in her review for the positive change in her behavior.

A 30-something man recognizes that he is taken advantage of by his co-workers because he does not know how to say no. He often does the work of several employees and is sometimes even mocked by the co-workers who know that he has this deficit.

He set the goal to clearly evaluate requests from co-workers and say “yes” to those that are appropriate and to say “no” to those that are unreasonable. The co-workers were surprised at first and continued to challenge him for a time, but ultimately he won their respect and improved the working relationships significantly.

In Part 1 of the project you will select a communication goal or challenge that is related to interpersonal communication. You will work on this challenge for the duration of the session, so take some time to consider what is worthy of the time.

Note: Later in this course, you will be implementing new communication behaviors to rectify your communication challenge. It is critical that you interact with the person or people identified in Part 1E over the next 8 weeks.

Project Timeline The following is a breakdown of what will be covered in each part of the project:

Part

Description

Due

1

Selecting a communication goal

Week 1

2

Describing communication patterns

Week 2 & 3

3

Establishing behavioral goals: What will it look like when I am doing it well?

Week 3

4

Analyzing the goal

Week 4

5

Covert Rehearsal: Practicing in your imagination

Week 5

6

Behavioral Rehearsal: Practicing your new behavior

Week 5

7

Actual Implementation: Performing your behavior in real-life situations

Week 7

8

Evaluating your progress

Week 8

Instructions Take some time to think about challenges you have communicating with other people. These difficulties may involve strangers and acquaintances, friends, family members, or people at school or work. You may identify situations that involve specific individuals or general circumstances. Some examples include having trouble starting a conversation with someone you have never met, saying “no” when your sister asks to borrow money, or avoiding participation in meetings even when you have a question or contribution to the discussion. Communication Change Challenge Assignment

Complete the steps in the following framework to identify a goal. Using the template for this week, detail each of the steps to explain how you chose this one communication problem area you intend to change.

1A. “I Can’t” List What are your “I can’t” communication behaviors? Address verbal, nonverbal, listening, group communication aspects, and cultural differences. Click on and read the sample responses for this section first:

Link: Sample List

Link: Sample Description

Then, write and submit the following for this part:

· Make a list of 4-8 challenges relating to your interpersonal communication that you feel require attention because you “can’t” seem to do these well.

· Describe each “I can’t” behavior in detail. Provide examples to illustrate why you included each behavior in this list.

· Write a 1-2 paragraph description/example for each behavior.

1B. “I Won’t” List What are your “I won’t” communication behaviors? Now read your list of “I can’t” communication behaviors aloud and consider each one carefully. Go back and read each behavior aloud again, but this time, substitute the word “won’t” for “can’t.” (“I won’t ask my friends for favors when I need their help.”)

Be honest with yourself – were there behaviors on your list for which the word “won’t” seemed more accurate than the word “can’t?” Probably so, because there are very few communication behaviors that people are physically unable to do. “Won’t” suggests that an element of choice is involved.

Write and submit the following for this part:

· A list of any statements that you revised to say, “I won’t”

· Explanation for each why it is more accurate than the original “I can’t” statement

· A narrative describing why you feel each statement belong there instead of the original

Eliminate any “I won’t” statements from consideration for this project.

1C. “Don’t Know” List Now go back to your remaining “I can’t” communication behaviors and try substituting, “I don’t know how to” for the words “I can’t.” Instead of saying, “I can’t keep my staff focused on the discussion at hand during meetings,” try saying “I don’t know how to keep my staff focused on the discussion at hand during meetings.”

It is important that you do not take the phrase “I don’t know how to” too literally. You may find that you do know how to do some of the things on your list, but you don’t know how to change from your existing poor habit to an improved communication behavior.

Link: Sample Response

Make a list of any statements you revised to say, “I don’t know how to,” and describe for each why this is more accurate than the original “I can’t” statement. If there are any issues that you still feel belong on your “I can’t” list, include a narrative to describe why.

The “I don’t know how to” items on your list are the ones to consider for this project. These are the ones you can expect to change by taking this course. Select one of these problem areas to work on for the remainder of the course and for the purpose of this report. Describe your process for eliminating additional “I don’t know how to” items to narrow your list to the one issue that you finally selected for the project.

Write and submit the following for this part:

· Your list of issues that more accurately fit the “I don’t know how to” category

· A narrative describing why you feel they belong there instead

· Describe why you left certain issues in the “I can’t” category.

1D. Issue Selection Write and submit the following for this part:

· A narrative describing how you eliminated those that remained in the “I don’t know how to” category to decide on the one issue you selected for your project

1E. Project Statement Write and submit the following for this part: Communication Change Challenge Assignment

· A clear project statement of the communication behavior you will address with this project and the person or people with whom you will be communicating for this project

Link: Sample Project Statement

Writing Requirements (APA format)

· Length: 2-2.5 pages (not including title page or references page)

· 1-inch margins

· Double spaced

· 12-point Times New Roman font

· Title page

· References page

Week 2 Course Project: Part 2 – Describing Communication Patterns

· Link (Word doc): Week 2 CCC Part 2 Template Preview the document (Use this template to complete the assignment.)

Introduction: Communication Change Challenge (CCC) In Part 2 of the CCC, your goal is to take an in-depth look at the challenge you selected in Part 1E, which you will work to improve later in the course. It is not time to make any behavior changes yet.

Before you try to repair the problem identified in Part1E, you first need to understand it. Keeping a conversation log for 5-7 days of instances when the communication behavior is most apparent, and reviewing your log for patterns, will lay the foundation for identifying how you will rectify the communication behavior later in the project.

Note: Communication Change Challenge Part 2 is due this week and again next week along with Part 3. This part requires you to observe and analyze your communication patterns and observe the communication behaviors of others for Weeks 2 and 3. It is important that you get started now in order to ensure that you will have sufficient time to observe these patterns and behaviors as they occur. Record daily conversations during these two weeks. You will turn in your work for Part 2 each week. You will have 8 days this week, from Sunday to Sunday, to record your conversations.

Be sure to include specific detailed evidence from your observations that support your identification of a particular pattern for each section. Respond in narrative format for all Behavior Log Review and Evaluation sections. Communication Change Challenge Assignment