Drawing Upon Experience and Research to Improve Future Communications Page 154 - Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, volume 39, 2012 ABSTRACT This paper demonstrates how an assignment is used to have students reflect on their own experience to understand and apply the concepts being covered. The assignment that is described and the exercise that is built upon it are designed to improve the participants’ communication skills. Prior to the class the students complete an assignment that de- scribes a communication breakdown that they contributed to and requires them to assess the extent they applied spe- cific communication principles. Their experiences and the frequency that they applied or failed to apply the communi- cation principles are discussed. After this discussion the students individually plan, and then in small groups, dis- cuss how they will improve their communication effective- ness. Working in those groups they critique each other’s plans and then discuss the communication skills they ap- plied while they were reviewing each other’s plans. The class concludes with a debriefing of the key learning points. OBJECTIVES The objectives of this exercise are multifold. One is to have the students reflect on a communication breakdown that they were in part responsible for causing. The second and third objectives are for them to understand what they did that contributed to the communication breakdown and to have them recognize how those actions relate to the con- cepts covered in the course. A fourth objective is to have them plan what they would do in the future to lessen the probability of their having communication breakdowns. The fifth objective is to have them practice the listening responses that would enable them to be more effective communicators. COURSE CONTENT PRIOR TO THE EX- ERCISE Prior to engaging in this exercise two classes would have been conducted in which supportive communication, listening skills and listening responses would have been addressed. They would also have read power point slides relating to Communication and to the concepts in the books, Difficult Conversations and Getting to Yes. INTRODUCTION The week before the exercise is conducted the students are given an assignment to describe a communication breakdown that they contributed to causing and were per- sonally involved in. The assignment is highly structured. The purpose of this is to have the students reflect upon the research and concepts being covered in this part of the course. It is also designed to readily obtain how frequently the students applied those specific communication con- cepts. This helps clarify how what is being studied relates to effective communication. The assignment given to the students is as follows. THE ASSIGNMENT 1. In your introduction, describe what you did that helped contribute to a communication breakdown. The exam- ple you select should be one that had some conse- quences for you. Provide an overview as to what you said and the effects your communication had. Include a description of the setting and your relationship with the other person (e.g. friends, boss-subordinate, etc.) This part of the assignment should not exceed one half of a page. Failure to complete this part of the assign- ment will result in a 20% deduction from your grade. 2. Describe what you did (or failed to do) and what hap- pened with regard to the concepts relating to support- ive versus defensive communication, listening respons- es and the learning points from the slides in the book, Difficult Conversations (What Happened, Feelings, Identity, Learning/Listening and Problem-Solving). This is to be achieved by explaining what you said when you answer the following questions. a. To what extent were you defense provoking versus supportive by being person-oriented (versus problem oriented), evaluative (versus descriptive), global (versus specific)? b. To what extent did you use listening responses, such as reflective (or paraphrasing) and probing listening responses (versus advising and deflec- tive responses)? c. To what extent did you assume (and act as though) you were right (and by implication the other was wrong)? DRAWING UPON EXPERIENCE AND RESEARCH TO IMPROVE FUTURE COMMUNICATIONS Robert J. Oppenheimer John Molson School of Business roberto@jmsb.concordia.ca mailto:roberto@jmsb.concordia.ca Page 155 - Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, volume 39, 2012 d. To extent did you believe your intentions were positive and the others were not? e. To what extent did you blame the other person? f. To what extent did you recognize your feelings and the other person’s feelings; did you address them; if so how and what was the affect? g. To what extent did you feel that your identity was threatened, or that the other person’s iden- tity was threatened; why and what was the af- fect? h. To what extent were you trying to solve a prob- lem versus trying to win? 3. This part of the assignment should not exceed two pag- es. It is worth 80% of this assignment. 4. What should you have done differently and why? This part of the assignment should not exceed one half of a page. It is worth 10% of this assignment. 5. What, specifically, will you do differently in the fu- ture? This part of the assignment should not exceed one-quarter of a page. It is worth 10% of this assign- ment. GATHERING DATA AND CLARIFYING LEARNING POINTS At the outset of the class the results from the assign- ments are summarized. The number of students who en- gaged in each of the following actions is recorded on a power point slide. This is done by a show of hands. ___ Person-oriented ___ Evaluative ___ Global ___ Advising or Deflective ___ Assumed you were right ___ Assumed negative intentions of other ___ Blamed other person ___ Recognized and addressed feelings ___ Identity threatened ___ Solved the problem After the data is recorded the first three items are dis- cussed together as they relate to defense provoking re- sponses, rather than to encouraging supportive communica- tions (Whetten & Cameron, 2011). The fourth item con- sists of advising or deflecting, which are two different lis- tening responses and are in contrast to probing and reflect- ing (Whetten & Cameron, 2011). The discussion that fol- lows demonstrates how and why defense provoking re- sponses (being person-oriented, evaluative and global) as well as advising and deflective listening responses are gen- erally associated with communication breakdowns. The remaining six concepts are based upon Difficult Conversa- tions (Stone, Patton & Heen, 1999). The first three of the- se, assuming you are right, that the other person had nega- tive intentions and that you blamed the other person are discussed. It becomes apparent that almost everyone be- lieves that they were right and most blame the other person. The impact these have on listening, trying to understand the other’s perspective and working to solve the problem is discussed. Few students indicate that they recognized or addressed their feelings or the other person’s feelings. The reasons for this and the negative effects of not doing so are discussed. The concept of identity, what happens when one feels that one’s identity is threatened and what one may be able to do about it is reviewed. The final question focuses on the issue of solving the problem versus winning. It is linked to the importance of communicating in a way that facilitates the learning and understanding of each other’s points of view. The distinction between winning and solv- ing the problem is emphasized and is concluded with the advice of “don’t win the battle and lose the war”. The fol- lowing provides the results of the students’ answers to the questions asked. It is from two undergraduate classes with seventy-three students responding. _50_ Person-oriented _40_ Evaluative _40_ Global _32_ Advising or Deflective _68_ Assumed you were right _30_ Assumed negative intentions of other _58_ Blamed other person _19_ Recognized and addressed feelings _38_ Identity threatened _12_ Solved the problem EXERCISE – INDIVIDUAL TASK Upon completing this discussion they are asked to re- flect on their communication breakdown and are told to write what specifically they will do to improve their com- munication in the future and when they will start to do so. They are also asked to describe how they will measure whether their future communication has been effective. EXERCISE – GROUP AND INDIVIDUAL TASKS The students form groups of three and review each person’s plans to improve their communication. This is done by having one person being the presenter, another serving as the coach/counselor and the third being an ob- server. The role of the coach/counselor is three-fold. The first is to help the presenter to more effectively implement his or her plan to improve his or her communication. The second is to help the presenter assess the usefulness of the measure that he or she established to determine if his or her communication was effective. The third is to do this in a way that applies the communication principles that were reviewed in the class. At the conclusion of the discussion between the presenter and coach/counselor, the observer provides feedback to the coach/counselor. The observer describes what the coach/counselor did that demonstrated supportive or defense provoking communication as well as the extent he or she used probing and reflective listening Page 156 - Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, volume 39, 2012 responses. When the observer has finished providing feed- back to the coach/counselor, the presenter provides feed- back to the coach/counselor. Each of the three members performs each of the three roles. When the class size re- quires it, one or two four-person groups are formed. DEBRIEFING After concluding the reviews of each person’s plans the class reconvenes to discuss what was learned. The questions asked include the following.  What are you going to do to improve your communica- tion effectiveness? Based upon the responses, a follow -up question may be asked, which is, what will you do differently to ensure that you do this?  When will you start to do this?  What measures are you going to use to determine whether your future communication would be more effective?  What difficulties did the coach/counselor encounter? Why might these problems have occurred?  What should a coach/counselor do to be more effec- tive?  What is the single most significant insight you ob- tained by examining your communication breakdown, planning what to do differently in the future and/or providing feedback as a coach/counselor or observer? The class is concluded by stating that they need to practice the skills they want to develop and that this may be achieved by applying the action plan they created. REFERENCES Fisher, Ury& Patton, (1991). Getting to Yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in, (2nd ed.), Penguin Books. Stone, Patton & Heen, (1999). Difficult Conversations: How to discuss what matters most, Penguin Books. Whetten & Cameron, (2011). Developing Managerial Skills, (8th ed.), Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Table of Contents Volume 39, 2012 Designing the Training Challenge Follow The Leader: Are we Teaching our Students to be Thinkers or Followers? Two Free-Rider-Accepting Methods of Organizing Groups for a Business Game Additional Benefit Through Competency Models Assessing Brand Portfolio Normative Consistency & Trends With The Normative Position of Brands & Trends Package Modeling the Impact of Marketing Mix on the Diffusion of Innovation in the Generalized Bass Model of Firm Demand Play it Forward! The Design and Development of a Forward Contract Simulation Positioning the Company: Increasing Profits in Social Networks Merger of Companies in Business Game Exercise Towards a Knowledge-Based Approach for Autonomouse Trading Agent An Exploratory Study of the Impact of a Simulation Exercise on the Managerial and Personality Traits and the Decision Making Styles of Marketing Students Should the Concept of Potential Customers be the Foundation of Demand Theory in Business Simulations? Teaching Sustainability Experientially Drawing Upon Experience and Research to Improve Future Communications Improving Assessments of Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) Over Time The Effect of Affective Domain Characteristics on Behavioral or Psychomotor Outcomes Gossip? No, Not Me! An Experiential Exercise Student Advisement Using Gantt Charts: An Experiential Exercise in Management Theory Practicing Teachers as Digital Game Creators: A Study of the Design Considerations Designing and Solving Crossword Puzzles: Examining Efficacy in a Classroom Exercise Difficult Times Call for Innovative Measures: Microfinance as Experiential Learning in Higher Education Catalysts, Client Services, and Community Change: Interdisciplinary Collaboration in a Nascent Microfinance Initiative Build A Business . . . In An Hour or Less: Getting Closer to Reality into the Classroom Smart Goals: How the Application of SMART Goals can contribute to achievement of Student Learning Outcomes The Use of Data in "Live" Cases to Encourage Systems Thinking and Integrative Analysis: An Exercise Linking Human Resource Programs and Financial Outcomes in Real Organizations Experiential Education as a Process of Changing Mental Frames by Inducing Insight Learning Process and Content Integration in an Experiential Learning Guided Internship Program Good-bye Discussion Thread: Creating a Community of Inquiry in an Online Master's Program Fiction as a Constructivist Tool for Learning Process Consultation in an Online Environment: Shaping the Context, Introducing the Dialogue Can Simulations Provide a Better Experience? A Capstone Application Modeling a Modest Proposal for Increasing the Efficiency of Academic Reserarch Dissemination Experience GEO: A Massively Multiplayer Game SysTeamsGames Three Games for Management Simulation SimVenture - A Start-Up Business Simulation Stellarbucks Simulation Developing Games Using Strategy Maps and Balanced Scorecards Strategy Dynamics Models - Powerful But Simple In-Class Games Simulating Scenarios for Financial Statement Analysis A Valuation Model of the Simulated Firm Writing the Land: An Interdisciplinary Experiential Approach On the Estimation of the Probability of Meeting Financial Commitments: A Behavioraial Finance Perspective Using Business Simulations