Case Study: As you take the train and the bus into CQU you are probably thinking about any number of thoughts-- from what you are going to eat to night, to what you are going to do on the weekend to...

Case Study: As you take the train and the bus into CQU you are probably thinking about any number of thoughts-- from what you are going to eat to night, to what you are going to do on the weekend to when you are going to start your training presentation for you Professional Business Communications course. These types of thoughts form your intrapersonal communication. Intrapersonal communication is the communication that you have with yourself. Interpersonal communication, on the other hand, is broadly speaking the communication that you have with one or two other people. How we communicate interpersonally changes based upon the type of relationship we have with others. In this week’s module, we will address the different ways we interpersonally communicate with others based upon our differing relationships. Having addressed this topic, this module then turns to more specifically look at interpersonal communication in the workplace. During the course of conducting research I had the opportunity to interview 24 Australian CEOs and upper managers. In one interview the CEO made the observation that ‘it was the employee’s degree that got him/her in the door, but it was his/her interpersonal communication skills that kept them within the organization’. This comment suggests to me that while your degree, be it in management, human resources, accounting, finance, economics, or engineering is vital in securing employment it is your skill in interpersonal communication that will allow you to thrive and succeed. In the assigned journal article Hynes (2012) concludes that “interpersonal communication appears to be just as important, if not more so, than business writing or making professional presentations in the business curriculum” (472). In order to be better at interpersonal communication it is essential that you know what are your strengths and your weakness, your skills and your abilities (Carlopio, Andrewartha, and Armstrong, 2005). Two particular ineffective, and indeed deleterious, ways of communicating are verbal aggression and passivity. These ways of communicating have the potential to harm others and destroy relationships. As an alternative, assertive communication promotes cooperative interpersonal interaction that can lead to interpersonal problem solving. Furthermore, assertion is one part of the trait theory of socio-communication styles. This module explores these styles with the purpose of allowing you to think about your own specific style of communication. Lastly, this module addresses both defensive and supportive communication styles. By communicating supportively you can build and maintain your interpersonal relationships within the workplace. The specific purpose of module 5 is to facilitate your ability to:
Requirements • Recognise the difference between intrapersonal and interpersonal communication.
• Define aggressive communication and identify the types of verbally aggressive messages.
• Define and identify passive communication behaviours.
• Define assertive communication.
• Present the elements of an assertive message.
• Understand how to use assertive communication.
• Talk about assertion as a Western construct.
• Use assertive communication during interpersonal problem solving
• Identify the different types of socio-communicative styles
• Describe the different types of supportive and defensive communication behaviours.