Free Essay

Communicating the Change

In: Business and Management

Submitted By Allistaire
Words 2153
Pages 9
Communicating the Change
Aaron A. Czupryn aaczupryn@yahoo.com HRM-587 Managing Organizational Change
Professor John Dibenedetto
08/17/2013

Explanation of Spreadsheet Communication Plan. As the goal of this assignment I have set out to develop a realistic communications plan for Starbucks concerning its organizational changes. The goal of the plan is to reach all stakeholders that will be affected by the upcoming changes and make sure that a common language is being used throughout the plan. The stakeholders’ that I have identified through my research includes the following: board of directors, senior management team, district managers, store managers, shift supervisors, baristas (employee), shareholders, vendors, and contractors. The timeline of communication would begin with the initial communication being sent out by the CEO to the board of directors, senior management, and district managers. The district managers would then forward the communication to the store managers and shift supervisors, who would then pass on the information to the baristas (employee). Two separate communications would be sent in conjunction with the first. The first of these communications would originate from the information sent to the board of directors by way of the CEO. The board of directors would forward the communication in its entirety or omit any non-essential information to the shareholders. The communication would inform them of all upcoming organizational changes so they can evaluate the risk of their investment. The second communication would again originate from the information sent to the district managers by way of the CEO. The district managers would forward the communication in its entirety or omit information that would not affect current vendors and contractors servicing the organization. Upon implementation of the organizational changes there will be follow up communications in the form of emails sent to all stakeholders affected updating them on the progress of the changes. The CEO and senior management might exchange inner office memorandums instead of emails to discuss any resistance to change and status updates. In an organization the size of Starbucks there would definitely be follow up face-to-face meetings between district managers and store manages to gauge the progress of change at the coffee house level. According to (Mancini, 2012) a tool of communication used by Starbucks management is a “Skip Level” meeting. These meetings are face-to-face meetings hosted by the district managers and involve human resources and baristas (employees), but excludes the store manager and shift supervisors. The goal of these meetings is to get honest feedback from the front-line employee about what they would like to see started, stopped, or continued concerning changes within the organization. The rationale for the above choses methods of communication is they are very easy to implement in an organization of Starbucks size and throughout the many layers of management. Most of these methods of communication are inexpensive and very fast; making them cost effective tools. Face-to-face meetings can be expensive in reference to travel expenses, but there is no better instrument for management to use when trying to convey the organizations vision, where they are headed, or to answer questions and concerns of stakeholders at any level. The correct voice for these communications messages comes from the CEO who not only needs to convey the spirit of the organization’s strategy, but the methodology for achieving it as well. The message choices featured in these communications where chosen because they would directly impact employees, customers, and service on several levels. The main players involved in this communication strategy are store managers, shift managers, and baristas, who will have to deal with the day-to-day effects these changes, have on the clients.
Communication Piece. For the communication piece example, I chose to create my own email based loosely off an actual memo sent by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. An email is short for electronic mail and is best described as a “simple text message sent via a network to a specified individual or group of recipients. In the beginning and even today, e-mail tend to be short pieces of text, although the ability to add files and video can make any message quite long” (Marshall, 2013). Example of email to follow on next page.

August 17, 2013 To: All Starbucks Partners From: CEO Howard Schultz
Subject: The Future of Starbucks
Dear Starbucks Partners,
Due to the disappointing stock performance over the last year the shareholders along with the board of directors has asked me to take over as CEO of the Starbucks organization once more. After a few sleepless nights and long deliberation I have relieved Jim Donald of his position and as of Friday August 16th I resigned as Chairman of the Board and assumed the mantle of CEO. It is my pledge to you that I will communicate any and all steps being taken by my management staff to improve out U.S. Business and reinvigorate our customer loyalty which is the foundation of our business.

It is our goal to renew our focus on the core of what has made Starbucks a premiere coffee house; great customer service and outstanding coffee. To assist getting our focus back on track we will be discontinuing offering warm breakfast sandwiches at all U.S. stores by the end of this fiscal year; all stores will be closed beginning September 2nd for three hours for All Things Coffee Training; free WIFI for both customers and our partners beginning immediately. My hope is that you will all view these few changes as positive ones and if not feel free to contact me or my management team with your concerns. It is my wish that you will work with me in creating the road map for Starbucks future and I appreciate all the hard work and service you have shown over the past year. I promise that I will tirelessly work on Starbucks behalf to once again make our organization the coffee house of choice.

Over this last weekend I reviewed every part of the company’s operations to ensure that we are managing and using our resources as effectively as possible in order to improve the “Starbucks Experience.” I realize that we operate in a highly competitive and challenging environment, but we have failed in being strategic as well as nimble as our business evolves. This lack of organization has caused us to take our eye off the ball and our customers have suffered.

As a result of this review I have come to the conclusion that some organizational changes need to be made. These changes will involve the restructuring of the company from two divisions to four. The new divisions are: Western/Pacific, Northwest/Mountain, Southeast/Plains, and Northeast Atlantic. As a result of these new divisions it is with a heavy heart that I must announce their will be a reduction in our workforce by approximately 600 positions. We will also be eliminating some of our retail locations due to over saturation. These decisions have been made with much thoughtfulness, and respect for those that will be affected. We are committed to treating our departing partners’ with dignity and thank them for their years of service.

The above modifications to the organizational structure are designed to strengthen our focus on servicing customer and increasing U.S. business. These changes will consolidate many of our support systems, reduce redundancies and be the driving force behind functional excellence.

While these decisions were necessary, I am aware of the personal and professional impact these actions will have on individual partners and customers. It is our pledge that we will make these transitions as smoothly as possible.

There will be communications to follow detailing further actions and to update our partners on the progress of current changes. Thank you again for your commitment to the Starbucks organization.

Sincerely,

Howard Schultz

Analysis of Actual Communication Plan Seen By “Public Eye”. It can safely be said that Starbucks is nearing the end of its holistic recovery since CEO Harold Schultz returned to the company in 2008. In a recent shareholders meeting on March 21, 2013; shareholder Tom Strohbar complained that Schultz’s political views were eroding the company’s bottom line. (Smith, 2013) Schultz responded, “If you feel respectfully that you can get a higher return than the 38% you got last year, it's a free country. You could sell your shares at Starbucks and buy shares in other companies. Thank you very much." There are not too many companies that can claim those kinds of numbers after coming out the other side of a corporate transformation. To analyze the company’s commitment to reviving the “Starbucks Experience”, I as the author chose to look at the recent press Starbucks has received to gauge the organizations commitment to their change plan. On February 26, 2008 Starbucks conducted an interesting training experiment by shutting down all U.S. retail locations to train their 135,000 employees. The simple goal of this plan was to re-energize the work force and concentrate their focus on providing a superior cup of coffee. Though these events have little value when it comes to building skills, Starbucks did benefit from this exercise in several areas. A company like Starbucks business model involves with building customer intimacy and the training program was successful in re-engaging the employees with their customer base. The program also offered great PR for the organization and offset much of the negative news out there concerning the firing of employees and closing of retail locations. The radical program also gave Starbucks a boost in marketing. There are not too many people out there that wouldn’t appreciate that their favorite coffee house takes time out to train and embolden their employees. The bottom line according to (Bersin, 2008) Programs such as this can guide remarkable changes in employee focus, commitment and excitement, but one should not consider them a complete training program. Only when such programs are integrated into a complete strategy for onboarding and continuous learning, can they drive tremendous value. During Schultz reign as chairman of the board for Starbucks grew from 5,000 retail locations to over 15,000. The expansion was too much, too fast for the organization and growth soon became an albatross about the company’s neck. Because of this rapid growth, Starbucks’ stock dropped a staggering forty-two percent. In January of 2009, Starbucks closed approximately 600 locations and eliminated 7% of its global workforce. Nearly 70% of the store closings involved locations that were open less than 18 months. By eliminating the poor performing locations along with staff saved the organization $850 million in costs. One change that did not take place as communicated was the elimination of breakfast sandwiches form the Starbucks menu. In 2008 CEO Howard Schultz communicated to all Starbucks partners that the company would be removing breakfast sandwiches from the menu mainly due to their smell overpowering the coffee aroma at retail locations. The plan was to replace the sandwiches with something else by fall or change the products so they could be marketed as entirely different from the originals. This came as a shock not only to customers, but to company stakeholders since the sandwiches accounted for roughly 3% of the company’s revenue or approximately $100 million in sales. In the end Starbucks chose to change the recipe of the sandwiches by reducing the amount of butter used in the eggs and replacing the current cheese used with a less pungent one. This plan will not only control the smell produced by the sandwiches, but will increase the quality of the product because healthier alternatives are being used in the recipe. During my research I was hard pressed to find any negative press concerning the changes that were communicated to the partners of Starbucks. There were some negative customer comments concerning the retail location closures due to the National Training Day, but in the end the service provided concluding the training was viewed as much improved. There was some push back and resistance to the elimination of the breakfast sandwiches, but Howard Schultz has made it his mission to be open to commentary and is committed to listening to employees and customers alike.

References
Mancini, M. (2012, May 1). Employee Communication at Starbucks [Video File]. Retrieved from Canadian HR Reporter video posted to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_GwxN5K7WU
Marshall, B., Crosby, T. (2013). How E-mail Works. Retrieved August 17, 2013 from website http://computer.howstuffworks.com/e-mail-messaging/email.htm
Smith, A. (2013, March 8). Starbucks CEO Holds His Ground on Gay Marriage. CNNMoney. Retrieved August 18, 2013 from website http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/26/news/companies/starbucks-gay-marriage/index.html
Bersin, J. 2008. Starbucks National Training Day: Did it Work? The Business of Talent, [blog] February 27, 2008, Available at: https://www.bersin.com/blog/post.aspx?id=2907de52-6219-4299-9e11-d06df27b3250 [Accessed: August 18, 2013].

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Communicating the Change

...HRM-587 Course Project Part 4: Communicating the Change Date: 2/17/13 Communicating the Change Introduction: Communication is generally known as the glue that holds organizations together. It is the way we share information, ideas, goals, directions, expectations, feelings, and emotions in the context of organized action. The change strategy for communicating the necessary changes made by Apple during the integration of iPod and iTunes business unit and the subsequent vision that kept the company flexible to remain competitive, is inherent in its ability to handle communication at all levels. The CEO’s vision provides clear direction for all the business units working together to meet shareholder expectations and at the same time provide value to their customers and employees. The organization works for the mission. Apple understands the importance of being continuously innovative with a vast and loyal army of Apple fanatics behind it to regularly come up with new products like iPad. (A) The communication plan grid is a separate document (B) ONE of the communication pieces: Debut a brand new product with a summary of the company's milestones “Apple followed its usual script for the new iPhone's coming-out party. Apple CEO Tim Cook, kicked off the festivities before an audience of reporters, bloggers, applications developers …” (MICHAEL LIEDTKE and PETER SVENSSON) The following script was created from a series of Apple’s communication strategy: We desire to continue...

Words: 1451 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Communicating Change

...Communicating Change Communicating Change * People are resistant to change because of the fear of the unknown. * Individuals do not like to change the way tasks are completed; especially if they are accustomed to doing things a certain way for an extended period of time. * How change gets communicated and talked about is crucial to its success.” (p, 291). It is a known fact that change is not easy. Leaders need to introduce change slowly whenever possible. * There are many forms of communicating change, but holding a meeting to address those new changes is the best way to promulgate those changes. It opens up a forum for questions and answers. This way leaders and managers can quickly address the concerns that arise, and if the answer is not known right away then it can be acquired. * Change is constantly happening, so assessing the change and what impact it will have employees and the company may be easier said than done. As leaders team leaders need to be used in order to determine how changes within the organization will affect employee morale. If some of those obstacles or concerns can be identified ahead of time, then the answers can be addressed right away. * There are times when there will be no solutions to a specific change, but a good leadership team and team members will understand and adjust to those changes. * Negative reactions from employees are inevitable, but they need to be addresses to get employees thinking positive...

Words: 861 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Communicating Change

...Communicating the Change HRM587 Managing Organizational Change Communicating the Change Rumors about Previous CEO Leaving When an employee leaves without anyone really knowing what happened the speculations start to fly and before you know it people start taking these rumors as the truth. So when you have a CEO step down abruptly you usually jump to the conclusion that they did something wrong and were asked to step down and this is not always the case. The quickest way to stop the rumors is to address the event that occurred for the person to leave. This is an easier task for Target unfortunately in light of the recent credit card data heist which was noticed on a global scale there wasn’t a whole lot of light to shed. Something really bad had happened and they looked into it and found and corrected the error and the CEO while not directly responsible for the data heist felt responsible and stepped down. Confirming this would end the need for rumors and then also allow a platform to announce the company’s standpoint moving forward and their plan to replace the CEO. Plan for Replacing the CEO When there is a plan in place for replacing the CEO this may not be all employees need to know but upper management would need to know that there has been forward motion on this topic and how to respond to employees should they ask a question about what’s happening next or where the company is what with selection, granted this is not typical. A general announcement should be...

Words: 1406 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Communicating Change

...Internal Memorandum from CEO to all employees Due to the high tech company recent struggles the new CEO of Yahoo Inc is seeing a lot of unproductive workers who mostly work from home who could be the cause of the company’s and as many of you have experienced our pool of participants are decreasing. The biggest concern is how to make Yahoo Inc. the most used search engine and email provider. The ongoing concern has been how to deliver service effectively to all customers when they are using all the services provided by Yahoo Inc. Many of you have expressed that employee time is better managed when there is collaboration, face-to-face meetings and addressing issues as and when they occur. For example, all the cubicles and offices are empty at the Yahoo office because most people work from home. Employees should be available to determine level of service based on continuous assessment to so to meet customers’ needs by identifying why customers are switching to other providers. At last, the CEO of Yahoo Inc., has developed a new policy to address our concerns that are affecting the company’s performance. Due to the advances of technology, such as traffic on search engine websites, email assess, and all search engine services, customers or users are expecting accuracies in services. The CEO is focusing on: hiring the right people, using them to build products consumers love, using those products to bring in traffic, and using that traffic to grow revenue which will eventually...

Words: 719 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Communicating Change Analysis

...General Motors and Ford: Communicating the Change Managing Organizational Changes (HRM-587) DeVry University, Keller Graduate School of Management April 13, 2014 “When a company decides to make a major organizational change whether it's a new emphasis on customer service, quality management, restructuring or downsizing managers must get the message through to front-line employees, and enlist their support...or the changes will create more turmoil than progress” (Larkin, Tj and Sandar, 1994). It is important to note that the primary use of any communication in change is to create clarity. This is imperative in ensuring that everyone at least understands all the objectives that are being set forth to achieve. A well planned communication will help in the attitude of the people and thereby creating more for embracing with a lesser impact of resistance. It has been repeatedly proven that for any communication that is poorly planned and executed then there will be a great cause for high resistance from the people. Miller, 2011 describes the four ways of being effective when communicating change as: “Use face-to-face, two-way communication wherever possible, enable sponsors to demonstrate a real commitment to communication and be involved in the creation of the communication strategy, tailor messages to the receiver’s perspective then seek feedback and where possible, take it on board.” It is by no doubt that an email communication is easier to stage in getting around...

Words: 1131 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Hrm 587 Communicating the Change

...Athena Giokaris HRM587 Week 6 Communicating the Change The Target Corporation has undergone many changes due to the 2013 security breach where hackers stole personal information from credit and debit cards of at least 70 million customers. Target sales and reputation has dropped from this instance, thus eliciting changes in their security systems, changes in management, and a few policy changes in handling customer information. With the public eye on the corporation’s handling of the situation, Target has been communicating these changes through various means. The changes they needed to communicate were informing customers of the security breach, addressing the bad press coverage to shareholders, downsizing of employees, and indicating policy changes to external vendors. Target Corporation issued a statement to customers informing them of the security breach. Then CEO Gregg Steinhafel sent a letter to customers apologizing for the inconvenience, assuring that changes in security measures are a top priority to the company. It also talked about the immediate investigation into the breach and recommendations for customers to take steps in protecting their own information (Chmura, 2013). Throughout the coming months, Target Corporation provided updates into the change processes by issuing statements to the public through media outlets. The company has since created a question and answer page on their website about the data breach for everyone to have access to, and provides...

Words: 1329 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Communication in Business

... it is normally over the phone for the first time. One has to come across as knowledgeable and confident. In giving proposals to clients, one sends the proposals out in the mail but the majority of the time proposals are sent through email today. Clients shop by stopping by the office but clients are also using the Internet to receive rate quotes. This type of client is contacted by phone and email. These clients tend to communicate best through email. Communicating with the underwriters and service individuals as well as the claims adjusters can happen daily through either email or telephone conversations. In working with underwriters and service individuals, communicating through email one needs to come across with the requested information and professionally. Sometimes when communicating with these individuals, it can be very frustrating. Working with the claims adjuster, this communication is normally over the phone unless a fax is sent over. The IT department is not communicated with daily. Communicating with the IT department normally means there is a problem. The initial contact is with the first tier...

Words: 951 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Communcating Accounting Standard Changes

...The recent release of the Statement of Accounting Standards No. 112 regulation made it necessary to communicate the standard and its impacts to the accountants within the firm. It was also imperative to make our key clients aware of the regulation and how it might affect their business. Finally, to ensure seamless compliance with the regulation, we are educating our clients’ bookkeepers of the regulation and its ramifications on their duties. When accounting standards are updated, the changes often must be communicated to several different audiences, as demonstrated by this change. Communicating this information to different audiences presents several challenges that need to be carefully navigated. One challenge that exists when communicating to different audiences is that they have a need of different levels of information. In the example here, our client’s senior leaders need to possess a high level understanding of the change so that they can properly manage the new expectations that their staff will need to follow. The bookkeepers will need to understand the implications to their job functions. The firm’s accountants, however, will need to understand the full breadth of the regulation to ensure compliance to the new standard. A second challenge is the need to understand the knowledge base of audiences that are being addressed. Not every audience will possess the same understanding of accounting. As a result, the materials delivered to different groups must be tailored...

Words: 570 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Communication Management

...Chapter 10 Strategies for Communicating Change Learning Objectives On completion of this chapter you should be able to: • Identify communication strategies appropriate to different images of managing change. • Appreciate a variety of strategies involved in communicating change. • Identify key elements involved in the communication process. • Describe appropriate communication strategies for announcing organizational change. • Understand how successful communication processes will vary depending on the stage and type of organizational change. Chapter Summary The way change is communicated is central to its success. Many problems can disturb the process of communication – message overload, message distortion and message ambiguity. Language, power, gender and emotion can also impact the communication of change. How change managers perceive their role in communicating change will vary; for example, their ability to shape rather than control information about the change will vary depending on their image of managing change. This chapter outlines the variety of strategies that managers can use to communicate change including contingency approaches. It explores dilemmas underlying different change communication strategies such as whether you can communicate too much, how the strategy is linked to the type of change and the phases of a change and whether the strategy acts to “get the word out” or to get “buy-in.” Finally, it discusses...

Words: 4047 - Pages: 17

Premium Essay

Supervisors Memo

...Subject: Challenges of Communicating Accounting Changes with Different Groups CC: Learning Team B Communicating changes of any kind can be difficult. When different groups are involved communication issues are compounded. Our firm needs to communicate changes from Standards on Auditing Statement (SAS) 115 to other accountants in the firm, key clients who may have limited accounting backgrounds, and the bookkeepers employed by our clients. We may encounter challenges in communicating with these different groups; such as the language used and inadvertent discrimination. Keeping in mind that key clients may have limited accounting backgrounds the language used in communicating the changes from SAS 115 will need to be simplified. We will need to avoid using too many technical terms so those with limited knowledge of accounting language will be able to understand how they will be affected by the changes. When it is necessary to include specialized vocabulary we should offer a definition so those with limited accounting knowledge will understand what they are reading (Lesikar, Flatley, & Rentz, 2011). A limited use of technical jargon will not alienate those groups with accounting knowledge as they may also benefit from the definitions. The language used in communications could also be misinterpreted as discrimination. We need to be aware of the language used so we do not discriminate against any of the groups with which we are communicating. We need to ensure that...

Words: 378 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Health Communication Methods

...notification and development concerning the local nursing home. The nursing home is being purchased by a national group, and there will be new policies that will have to be implemented and residents will have to be displaced. There are communication barriers with some individuals within the nursing home, therefore, making this transition more challenging. Residents within the nursing home do not have local family and are not aware of these changes to come. Arrangements need to be made with effective communication and reassurance that these residents will be taken care of. As an administrator, we must follow state and federal regulations, also seeking quality housing for these residents. In moving forward with these changes, we will ensure placement for these residents and plan to adhere to HIPAA regulations, securing the privacy of theses individuals. As an administrator, one will establish effective communication and prepare family members for this transition. Communication comes in many forms; traditional, electronic, and social media. Communicating and contacting the individuals relatives will be the first step in implementing theses developments. Emails will be sent out to these relatives, phone calls will be made, and trips to the nursing home will take place. Some relatives reside long distances from the facility, making this transition more challenging. One will be making contact with the family members and developing an applicable plan to accommodate to the residents to relocate...

Words: 1136 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Verbal and Nonverbal Communication and Listening Skills

...Verbal and Nonverbal Communication and Listening Skills People use different forms of communication. Communication can be both verbal and nonverbal and both are equally important when a person is communicating. Verbal communication is communication that can be had over the phone, face to face, via fax or via email. Nonverbal communication is communication that is conveyed through body language, eye contact, the tone of a person’s voice or the distance in which the persons communicating are to each other. Nonverbal communication expresses thoughts and feelings without words and is meant to help with the message you are trying to get across with your words. I tend to communicate nonverbally with my facial expressions. My facial expression usually give away my true feelings on the matter I am discussing. Knowledge of Nonverbal Communication Knowledge of nonverbal communication can help when communicating with others because it can help you bring your point across if you use it correctly. If you want to relay a serious message you will have to keep your tone serious, if you are relaying a serious message with a joking tone and laughing then the person you are talking to will not know if they are to take you serious or not. The same can be said for the opposite. If you are communicating with someone about something that is light and jolly but you have a mean tone the person will not know how they are to receive the message. Making sure that your tone and words match is important...

Words: 938 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

How Can an Effective Human Resource Department Help Management in a Strategic Operational Change

...How Can an Effective Human Resource Department Help Management in a Strategic Operational Change Delores Carlsen UMUC MBA Fundamentals Section 9048 Dr. Mona Envig February 7, 2010 Executive Summary Human resource (HR) as a department has changed dramatically in the last 13-15 years. What was once perceived as and administrative job has become a partner in strategic planning. When companies are facing strategic operational change, knowing their workforce becomes all-important. Knowing the extent of their talent pool internally and externally can mean the difference between success or failure. In business today HR is focused on the company workforce, they spend much time recruiting, training, and evaluating them, this places them in constant communication with them. They are aware of the weaknesses and strengths of the workforce, and have access to knowledge that management needs to succeed in a strategic operational change. An effective HR included in managements objectives can analyze the company’s future needs also determine if the company will have access to the type and number they will need to sustain their change. HR is focused on training the workforce, and can develop the programs for training and development the company will need for their strategic change. An effective can be of great assistance to management in a strategic operational change. Introduction The role of Human Resource (HR) has changed greatly during the last 10-15 years; previously viewed...

Words: 1709 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Effective Methods of Communication

...are different methods of communicating to an internal audience or an external audience. Beginning with the internal audience, according to Torben Rick, it takes time for people to accept or adapt to change to begin with. By constantly repeating it or bringing up little ideas about change before actually announcing the real change would be best. This would allow the employees in a business to adapt. Manager’s goal is to assure employees have received the message, understand the change and are willing to adapt. Until all these questions aren’t answered, communicating change wasn’t done effectively. In regards to an external audience, there are many ways a company can communicate change. One such way is through the use of the company website. For example, If Toys R’ US was deciding to start carrying a new brand of toys, they could introduce the idea on their website. I have seen many websites so such things, for example, American Airlines. When buying tickets, you can using a middle man site to help find the best price, such as Orbitz.com or Expedia.com. I have noticed on the website, American Airlines no longer allows Orbitz.com to sell tickets. Another method could be via media. Depending on who the audience is, you have many choices; tv commercials or radio commercials. You even have the option of using newspapers and magazines. Similar to the outcomes of internal communication, external audience would be constantly reminded of the change and reinforced. Any updates...

Words: 310 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Self Listening Assessment

...topics to choose from, I naturally knew that I need to enhance my ability on not communicating assertively. One of my caregivers has the tendency to communicate aggressively. They prefer to use the “you” language and make assumptions of what you may be thinking, instead of asking for an opinion. Therefore, whenever I communicate with them my opinion is of less importance than theirs. Although, they were loving and caring their communicating style has contributed to me communicating assertively almost boarder line aggressive. Communication is part of our daily activates, but society as a whole has yet to perceive that the way we communicate affects each and every relationship that we have. Before taking the self-listening assessment, I always thought of myself as a great listener. I never wanted anyone to feel like I have, like the way my love one talks to me, but after taking the assessment I learned that I scored an average. I thought I would score above average, however I have come to a realization that my most dominate cause of communicating ineffectively...

Words: 564 - Pages: 3