Maria is a working adult with a busy schedule. After arriving home from work, she listened to
Question:
Maria is a working adult with a busy schedule. After arriving home from work, she listened to a voicemail message she had received recently from her older cousin, Susan. Maria deleted the message immediately after she heard it, as she always does with voicemail messages. Maria did not understand why her cousin wouldn't just text her with the details. Maria was surprised to hear from her cousin since they only see each other once or twice a year. This message invited Maria to a surprise birthday party for their 80-year-old Grandmother. Maria's cousin said to keep the party a secret because her Grandmother did not want anyone to make a fuss about her birthday. The voicemail message also said the party would be in the clubhouse where Susan lived. The voicemail included "You remember where I live, right?" The message ended with the statement "put on your dancing shoes and let's party." Without a second thought, Maria deleted the message and carried on with her day.
It is now the day of the event. Maria did not call her cousin back or make a mental note of the comments about the address or dress code made in the voicemail. Maria was excited to wish her Grandmother a happy birthday and, while she did remember that a party was happening, she arrived late to the party because she went to her cousin's apartment instead of the clubhouse. When she walked in, the large room was decorated and everyone was dressed in party clothes. Maria felt severely underdressed, as she believed the event was at her cousin's apartment with a pool. She was embarrassed to be wearing shorts, a tank top, and flip-flops, so she kept to herself away from most of the guests. Everyone was giving her Grandmother birthday gifts to show honor and respect, meanwhile Maria tried to hide in the corner, dug her nose into her phone, and made ugly faces at her cousin all night long. Maria groaned several times as her cousin walked past and kept her eyes down. The only words she spoke to her cousin were "What the heck is your definition of party? No one dresses up for these things anymore. And, no one told me about gifts!" with a snarl in her voice, clearly annoyed. Any time Susan tried to talk to her, Maria would put her hand up in front of Susan's face to get her to stop talking.
Essay Question and Direction
Create a three-to-five paragraph essay analyzing this interaction. Your essay should include an introduction, body, and conclusion. Use interpersonal communication concepts and terminology to evaluate the effectiveness of Maria's interpersonal communication by focusing on her listening, her verbal communication, and her nonverbal communication. In your essay, make sure to:
- Identify specific evidence of the social context, the relational context, and the cultural context of this interpersonal communication
- Analyze evidence of Maria's listening to the asynchronous message and which stage of the listening process she needed to improve
- Identify a listening style or type Maria could have decided to use and explain why it might have been effective
- Analyze evidence of the effectiveness of her verbal communication and her nonverbal communication during the party
Human Resource Management
ISBN: 9781259654930
5th Canadian Edition
Authors: Sandra Steen, Raymond Andrew Noe, John R. Hollenbeck, Barry Gerhart, Patrick M. Wright