Enhancing Communication Skills for Effective Social Work Assignment Sample

Introduction

In the realm of social work, effective communication is pivotal for fostering trust, understanding client needs, and facilitating recovery from distress. This essay reflects on my participation in the "Gold Fish Bowl" activity, a group exercise designed to enhance communication skills. By alternating roles as both speaker and listener, I gained valuable insights into the importance of active listening and empathetic interaction. This reflection, guided by Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle, explores how these experiences have shaped my development as a social worker, emphasizing the critical role of communication in addressing societal challenges.

Main Body: The Gold Fish Bowl Activity: A Platform for Skill Development

In the present situation, the work was done in a group activity, which was named Gold Fish Bowl. Within this activity, students were provided with the opportunity to build their communication skills and try to expand them. It included the opportunity to develop speaking and learning skills. In this activity, one student will be the speaker and the other student will be the listener. In the present case, I performed the role of both the listener and the speaker, but I was working effectively as a listener. Within the role of the listener, the speaker discusses her sister, who is suffering from seizures. In addition, this speaker also had a poor relationship with her mother, which impacted her work to a great extent. While working as a listener, my communication skills improved effectively. I am working as a social worker to increase the awareness of the people who are suffering from distress. With the help of my effective communication skills, I was able to communicate with a variety of people effectively. It is crucial for the social workers to have effective communication skills from which they are capable of communicating with the people who are suffering from distress (Bobkina and Domínguez Romero, 2022). Attending the session based on improving communication skills was beneficial for me because it helped me determine the mindset and emotional state of the people. With the help of effective communication, I was able to learn about the challenges that they are facing in distress. Attending the seminar impacts significantly my engagement to communicate with the people. My effective communication skills help me improve my thinking skills, from which I am capable of finding innovative and better solutions for people who suffer from great pain and difficulty. Through my effective communication skills, I was able to provide immediate responses to people’s challenges and then take corrective actions to redress them. 

To improve my emotional status and my mindset, I attended the session, and it enhanced my knowledge relating to effective listening and communication skills. Thus, it is very necessary for the person to have good listening skills so that their overall working efficiency can be improved. By listening to the incident of the speaker, the immediate response was to improve the relationship with the mother. This is particularly because when the relationship with the mother is cordial, they both will effectively try to manage the health of the sister. Hence, this incident was significant for me to understand the importance of a good relationship between family members. If the relationship and communication between the members of the family are not effective, then it will impact the well-being of the person to a great extent. 

In the past as well, some similar incidents took place where I was provided the opportunity to communicate with other people. With the help of this, the communication skills improved, and as a result of this, the current situation also assisted me in developing effective communication skills (Khasawneh, 2021). Moreover, with this incident, I evaluated whether communication skills are very important to be present in a person. The reason underlying this fact is that when a person is in a position to effectively communicate with others, it will help them improve their working efficiency. Thus, as a result of this, the overall working capability of the person will enhance, which will help in improving their communication skills. 

From the session, I learned about physical intelligence, which helped me detect and actively manage the key chemicals in individuals' bodies who suffered from distress. With the help of my effective communication skills, I was able to perform all the duties and responsibilities of a social worker properly. Attending the module was advantageous for me because it helped me improve my understanding of how I determine the emotional state and mindset of people with the help of efficient communication skills. Before attending the module, I was not aware of how to convey information to people through interaction with them. After attending the module, my communication skills improved, and I felt confident enough to provide quick responses to the individuals who suffered from distress. 

In the present case of Goldfish Bowl, the communication skill was selected. This is especially true because good communication skills are essential for success. If the person does not have good and effective communication skills, it will impact their overall work (Al-Sheikhly, Östlundh, and Arayssi, 2020). Thus, it is very necessary for the person to have good communication skills. The compliance with the gold fish bowl assisted in analyzing the use and importance of communication skills. With the help of this incident, it was evaluated that being a good listener is also very necessary for effective communication. The reason behind this fact is that when communication skills are absent, effective listening will also not be implemented. Hence, for effective working, it is very necessary that the proper listening and communication skills are present in the person. If it is not there, then it will impact the overall working efficiency of the person. 

Reflective Analysis Using Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle

Description: I attended the sessions, which were based on improving my communication skills. I was there because I am a social worker, and it is significant for me to enhance my communication skills because I have to communicate with or interact with people who are suffering from distress. The result of the situation was positive because I learned a wide range of ways to improve my communication skills, which will be beneficial for me. After attending the session, I was able to communicate with the people within the society and find out their reasons or causes regarding the distress they are facing. With the help of my effective communication, I was able to easily interact with them and develop strong relationships with them, from which they followed my every direction to recover. 

Feelings: Before attending the session, I felt nervous and anxious to communicate with the people within society due to a lack of communication skills. But after some time, I felt happy and confident because I had improved my communication skills. The biggest strength was that I effectively improved their interaction with me. It is vital for the social worker to have effective communication skills in order to build trust and strong relationships with them (Tidmarsh et al., 2022). Through effective communication skills, I was able to persuade the people to take corrective measures to enhance their health and well-being. However, sometimes I was constantly communicating with the patients rather than listening to their concerns. So I will need to focus on improving my active listening skills. Due to my lack of communication skills, I was unable to provide better services to the people within society, which directly impacts their health. Due to my lack of communication skills, I was unable to provide effective treatment to the patients with whom they felt dissatisfied. 

Evaluation: It has been evaluated; my overall experience was a combination of good and bad. I actively attend the sessions, which helps me improve my communication skills, which will be useful for me in developing my future as a social worker. My experience was good because I was capable to encourage them to recover from the distress. Firstly, I checked all the past medical reports of the people who suffer from distress and then took corrective action to improve them. Another biggest strength is demonstrating the understanding of the people who suffered from distress. With the help of effective communication skills, I was able to determine the solutions to common challenges of distress. Good communication skills help social workers express their current issues (Bobkina and Domínguez Romero, 2022). Apart from this, I was incapable of building trust with the individuals, which is my biggest weakness, and I will need to improve this area in order to provide better services to them. 

Analysis: It has been analyzed that, due to my effective communication, I was able to understand the emotional intelligence of the people, which helped me determine their emotions in order to manage stress. By understanding their emotional intelligence, we develop strong relationships with them and offer them better services. Through my effective communication, I was able to convey to them the importance of muscle relaxation, mindfulness meditation, and regular exercise to recover from distress. Along with this, I also faced the challenge of communicating with a wide range of individuals to ensure good practice because I was not able to build confidence among them. From the session, I learned about the cognitive intelligence of the people, from which I was able to understand a human’s mental capability and develop that understanding through senses, thinking, and experiences. It is vital for social workers to improve their cognitive intelligence through effective communication because it helps in generating their knowledge by using accessible information (Otero, Salgado, and Moscoso, 2022). 

Conclusion: From the above reflection, it has been concluded that attending the session regarding communication skills was beneficial for me because it helped me gain a lot of knowledge and develop the various aspects relevant to communication. With the help of my effective communication, I was able to perform my roles and responsibilities as a social worker in an effective way. Through my potential communication skills, I was able to convey and encourage them to take corrective action and follow my directions to recover from distress. On the other hand, sometimes my experience was bad because I failed to build strong relationships and trust with them. It has also been summarized that, with the help of my effective communication skills, I was able to improve their interaction with me, increase their satisfaction, and decrease complaints. Due to my lack of communication skills, I was unable to provide better services to the people within society, which directly impacts their health. 

Strategies for Enhanced Communication in Social Work

I can also use a wide range of different methods in order to communicate with the people as a social worker and help them recover from distress. I can communicate differently with the people who suffer from distress by providing several examples. This communication method can be useful for people to understand their challenges, causes, and solutions. With the help of examples, they are easily able to follow all the directions to recover from distress. Providing the examples of others helps the social workers communicate differently because it helps increase trust, improve engagement, and build relationships from which they are likely to take more services (Servaes, 2022). Apart from this, I can also communicate effectively or differently by using any visualization tool that helps them understand in a better way. With the help of visualization communication, I can deliver the information regarding the distress more directly to the people. This way of communicating is different from verbal communication. The visualization communication tool helps the learners easily convey the corrective measures to recover from distress. The visualization communication tool has a significant impact on the audience, and it is a useful tool for social workers to influence people. 

It will be crucial for the social workers to take corrective actions to address the areas of weakness for development and build the strengths for personal and professional development. 

Action Plan for Skill Development

To address weaknesses and build on strengths, I have devised a structured action plan:

This plan emphasizes targeted actions to enhance key communication competencies, ensuring measurable progress within defined timelines.

Along with this it will be crucial for the social workers to take corrective action in order to enhance their communication skills. The social workers have to communicate with a wide range of people to ensure good practice. For effective communication skills, it will be significant for individuals to have active listening skills. To improve the active listening skill, the social worker will need to ask probing questions and provide feedback to others (Fanget et al., 2022). To develop the area of active listening in communication skills, the social worker needs to take lyrics training, listen to notes, and read as allowed. With the help of active listening skills, social workers will actively listen to the concerns of people who are in distress. Along with this, emotional intelligence is considered one of the most significant aspects of communication skills. With the help of this aspect, I was able to determine the emotions of the people in order to manage the stress. But I think it will be crucial for me to take actions to build this strength more effectively, from which I will be able to provide better services to them than before. It will be vital to have better understanding while communicating with the individuals. Without understanding skills, it is impossible for social workers to convey and influence the public in order to recover from distress. 

Along with this, understanding is regarded as one of the crucial aspects of communication skills. To enhance my understanding skills, I will need to focus on reading books, eliminate distractions, develop my reading skills, and use active listening strategies. With the help of efficient understanding skills, I will be able to understand the major causes of distress and provide an effective and better solution for the people's recovery. It will be essential for the social workers to build confidence among the people from whom they feel motivated and encouraged to take preventive measures for recovery. With the help of clarity, the social workers will be able to provide all the information in a concise and reliable manner to the people. 

Conclusion

In the end, it is concluded that having communication skills is very necessary for the successful working of a person. The reason underlying this fact is that when the communication skill is not effective, it will impact the overall working efficiency. Thus, in order to overcome any kind of situation, particularly in the present case of not communicating with a mother and sister facing the issue of seizures, communication is very necessary (Orcajada Munoz et al., 2020). This is particularly because communication is the only key to assisting the sister in overcoming the disease. In addition to this, with the help of good and effective communication, only a better relationship with Mother can be created. Thus, as a result of this, it can be stated that having good communication skills is very necessary for the successful working of a person, both personally and professionally. 

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References

Books and Journals 

Al-Sheikhly, D., Östlundh, L. and Arayssi, T., 2020. Remediation of learners struggling with communication skills: a systematic review. BMC medical education, 20(1), pp.1-23.

Bobkina, J. and Domínguez Romero, E., 2022. Exploring the perceived benefits of self-produced videos for developing oracy skills in digital media environments. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 35(7), pp.1384-1406.

Fang, J.T., Chen, S.Y., Yang, L.Y., Liao, K.C., Lin, C.H., Fujimori, M. and Tang, W.R., 2022.Improving transitional care through online communication skills training. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, 34(12), pp.3063-3071.

Khasawneh, M.A.S., 2021. The degree of practicing effective communication skills among teachers of learning disabilities in English language from their point of view. Journal Educational Verkenning, 2(2), pp.1-9.

Orcajada Munoz, I., Amo Setien, F.J., Diaz Agea, J.L., Hernandez Ruiperez, T., Adanez Martinez, M.D.G. and Leal Costa, C., 2020. The communication skills and quality perceived in an emergency department: the patient's perspective. International journal of nursing practice, 26(3), p.e12831.

Otero, I., Salgado, J.F. and Moscoso, S., 2022. Cognitive reflection, cognitive intelligence, and cognitive abilities: A meta-analysis. Intelligence, 90, p.101614.

Servaes, J., 2022. Communication for development and social change.In The Routledge Handbook of Nonprofit Communication (pp. 23-31).Routledge.

Tidmarsh, G., Whiting, R., Thompson, J.L. and Cumming, J., 2022. Assessing the fidelity of delivery style of a mental skills training programme for young people experiencing homelessness. Evaluation and Program Planning, 94, p.102150.