According to Kadushin and Kadushin (2013)
Interviews are one-on-one conversations in which the interviewer asks questions, and the interviewee responds directly. Interviews are excellent examples of communication in which information or a message is transmitted from the sender, in this case, the interviewer, to the recipient, in this case, the interviewee, who then provides input after reading the message. According to this viewpoint, specific communication skills are required for a person to perform a deductive and effective interview. As a result, this paper is a reflective essay based on a 20-minute interview with the following question: "As a health professional, what communication skills do you believe are most important in the workplace, and why?"
A look at teamwork in the world of health science
The reflection is mainly concentrated. In particular, the reflection is focused on the analysis of the communication skills and discussion of self-awareness with reference to the Johari Window.
Analysis of the Communication Skills
During the interview, certain communication skills became evident in terms of their application for conducting a successful interview as I desired. The communication skills employed can be grouped into two distinct categories namely verbal and non- verbal. The verbal communication skills included asking concise and direct questions, active listening, attending, and engaging the interviewee in various discussions while non-verbal communication skills included direct eye contact, body posture, and hand gestures which together had various impacts.
As noted by McConaughy (2013), non- verbal communication behaviors are significant in interviews since they assist in regulating the flow of communication during the interview. During the interview, I noticed that I maintained a direct eye contact with the health professional which created a path of seriousness, honesty and holistic desire to obtain as much of the helpful information as possible. According to Eisenberg (2012) maintaining a direct eye contact during a one-on-one conversation assures the interviewee that the interviewer not only respects him or her and values the time but also indicates in depth understanding of the answers provided. Gestures and changes in the body postures, on one hand, facilitated the increased level of concentration for effective understanding hence the interpretation of the implications of the answers. On the other hand, the health professional was able to note my level of interest in detailed feedbacks he was able to give. As informed by Kadushin and Kadushin (2013), non-verbal communication skills other than re-enforcing ones' thoughts and ability to understand, highlights the certain level of confidence during the interview session. As such, the non-verbal aspects of communication skills had a positive impact on the interview since communication between us was effectively regulated to achieve flow, concentration and kept the interviewee interested in responding to the questions.
On the other hand, certain aspects of verbal communication were important for the desired interview outcomes. For example, the ability to ask the health professional clear and concise questions created an opportunity for clear and well thought responses. I noted that my choice of words as well as the context of the questions corresponded with expected and already known applied communication skills applicable in the health sector. Roy (2013) informs the audience that excellent communication skills are necessary for the effective association as well as the running of various projects in a work place. In so asking well-structured questions, the health professional was able to respond in details on what communications skills he found useful in his daily interaction with the patients.
Effective listening nonetheless resulted in detecting whether the responses to the asked questions were of the expected quality. Barker (2013) notes that quality interview results are dependent on short, clear, and concise questions that prompt well explained responses. Similarly, effective listening provided an opportunity to generate reflective questions as well as follow up questions that made the interviewee aware that all his responses were taken into account. In so asking questions and listening for responses, I note that the interviewee gained more interest in my questions and was ready to afford me the twenty minutes for the entire interview session despite his busy schedule. The communication skills positively affected the interview since I managed to create a rapport with the interviewee depicted by an atmosphere that encouraged more interaction enabling further illustrations.
Self- Awareness In reference To Johari's Window
During the interview, I experienced different feelings. At the start of the interview and for approximately three minutes, I felt nervous following the inability to premeditate how the interviewee was going to respond. Fortunately, I gained more confidence with time following the manner in which I asked specific, short and clear questions and that gave the interviewee an opportunity to provide the most desired responses.
Personal strengths that I can take note of include ability to maintain direct eye contact, develop shorter and specific questions, listen attentively and generate immediate follow-up questions for further clarifications on aspects of responses that I could find not well explained. Additionally, I have mastered the art of creating a flowing conversation which significantly enabled me to conduct a successful interview. On the other hand, there were certain limitations that arose from note taking notes as well as video tapes for further examination of the responses.
Subsequently, during, before, and after the interview, I held the value of respecting one's cultural differences, beliefs, and practices. Hence, I had to reconcile any external forces that could interfere with the ability to respect the interviewee's cultural values. In this line of thought, the interviewee held that effective communication and working relationships were the pathways to the delivery of quality health services. I seconded the opinion following awareness that patients have to be properly informed of the recommended medical procedures and possible outcomes.
According to Davies (2014), Johari's window has four quadrants including open-self, blind-self, hidden-self, and unknown-self. My communication style with reference to the four quadrants revealed that my open-self can struck communication to provoke the most needed and desired answers. My blind-self revealed that I can get nervous for failure to premeditate someone's responses. Nevertheless, exposure to such challenges provides avenues for disclosing unknown-self which relatively provides room for the discovery of the hidden-self.
Conclusion
In sum, a reflection of any form is important for self-examination. Engaging in reflective assignments provide an opportunity to understand and know one's qualities. In this case, a reflection on the interview enabled me to take note of my communication skills including verbal and non-verbal which I can improve on to make myself better.
References
Barker, A. (2013). Improve your communication skills. Philadelphia, PA : Kogan Page Ltd.
Davies, S. (2014). Johari's window. Bristol : SilverWood.
Eisenberg, A. M. (2012). Prescriptive communication for the healthcare provider. Place of publication not identified: Trafford On Demand Pub.
Kadushin, A., & Kadushin, G. (2013). The social work interview. New York: Columbia University Press.
McConaughy, S. H. (2013). Clinical interviews for children and adolescents: Assessment to intervention.
Roy, P. (2013). Verbal communication skills. Largo, FL: Phillip Roy, Inc.
