Description
icEdge Assessment Self-Reflection Workbook
The icEdge assessment and self-reflection exercise is designed to help you become more aware of
and better understand how you communicate with others. In this workbook, you will focus on
your individual results (you will have a chance to reflect on your group compassion results in
another exercise). Before diving into the workbook, please consider the following:
1. You will reflect on the four main characteristics of your communication style:
? Message the way you use and interpret subtle (vs. literal) meaning and emotion in
communication
? Sensory – refers to the way you attend to and communicate through the physical,
auditory, and vocal space shared with your counterpart.
? Time management – refers to the way you attend to and manage time, i.e. focusing
more on clock time or allowing events to unfold naturally.
? Relationship – refers to the way you adjust communication to your counterpart’s status
and relationship with you.
2. Please plan to spend some quality time responding to the questions in this workbook.
The more effort you put into self-reflecting and understanding yourself, the more you will
get out of this activity.
3. As you work through your responses, please remember that our cultural environment
largely influences our communication styles. For example, research has shown that direct
verbal assertiveness, linear logic, straightforwardness, and transparent messages (e.g.,
saying what you mean and meaning what you say) are characteristic of low-context
communication styles common in individualistic cultures. Silence, non-verbal cues and
behaviors (e.g., reading between the lines), spiral or fuzzy logic, and self-humbling tone are
characteristic of high-context communication styles common in collectivistic cultures.
However, it is important to keep in mind the relative nature of the cultural
environment when reflecting on and discussing communication styles. There are
considerable variations in commutation styles within cultures as well. One could use direct,
low-context communication styles when interactive with one group (e.g., coworkers) or
discussing one matter (e.g., contract), and prefer indirect, high-context communication
styles when interacting with a different group (e.g., family) or discussing a different matter
(e.g., personal relationships). For instance, we cannot assume that a German person will
automatically communicate using low-context communication styles, while a person from
Japan will automatically use high-context communication styles.
The best strategy is to observe each particular person within each particular
communication context and figure out what communication styles they might be using
based on the characteristics of low-context communication styles (e.g., direct verbal
assertiveness, linear logic, straightforwardness, etc.) and high-context communication
styles (e.g., non-verbal cues, self-humbling tone, etc.). Then you can adjust your own
communication styles to best encode messages that youd like your communication
counterparts to receive and adjust your interpretations of your counterparts messages to
better understand the meaning they are trying to transmit to you in their messages.
icEdge Assessment Self-Reflection Workbook
Message Style
Your message style describes your preferences for
? Focusing on implicit messages and others emotions when receiving or communicating
messages (Interpretation)
? Communicating in indirect ways to avoid hurting someones feelings and letting feelings
guide your communication and persuasion (Expression).
? Avoiding confrontation and expressing disagreement (Conflict Management).
Think carefully about your results what you scored high on, what you scored low on, and the
ones with mid-range.
? In what ways do your communication experiences illustrate your pattern of scores?
? Think of a situation or context when and where you believe you had a similar
MESSAGE STYLE with your counterpart(s). Why do you believe you had a similar
message style? How did this impact your interactions?
icEdge Assessment Self-Reflection Workbook
? Think of a situation or context when and where you believe you had a different
MESSAGE STYLE with your counterpart(s). Why do you believe you had a different
message style? How did this impact your interactions?
? Now that you are aware of your MESSAGE STYLE, are there things you could do to
enhance your communication with others? What could you do?
Relationship Style
Your relationship style describes your preferences for
? Dealing with people you have not known for a long time and people who are not in your
social networks (Network Reliance)
? Adjusting what you say and how you say it for your own image or based on your
counterparts feelings and status (Relational Adjustment)
? Communicating cautiously and conveying facts sensitively (Openness)
Think carefully about your results what you scored high on, what you scored low on, and the
ones with mid-range.
? In what ways do your communication experiences illustrate your pattern of scores?
? Think of a situation or context when and where you believe you had a similar
RELATIONSHIP STYLE with your counterpart(s). Why do you believe you had a similar
message style? How did this impact your interactions?
icEdge Assessment Self-Reflection Workbook
Dr. Valerie Alexandra, SDSU 5
? Think of a situation or context when and where you believe you had a different
RELATIONSHIP STYLE with your counterpart(s). Why do you believe you had a
different message style? How did this impact your interactions?
? Now that you are aware of your RELATIONSHIP STYLE, are there things you could do
to enhance your communication with others? What could you do?
icEdge Assessment Self-Reflection Workbook
Time Management
Your time management style describes your preferences for
? Performing tasks simultaneously or sequentially (Task Structure)
? Being strict versus flexible with schedules and deadlines (Scheduling)
? Not having any interruptions versus considering interruptions expected in your
interactions (Sharing Time)
Think carefully about your results what you scored high on, what you scored low on, and the
ones with mid-range.
? In what ways do your communication experiences illustrate your pattern of scores?
? Think of a situation or context when and where you believe you had a similar TIME
MANAGEMENT STYLE with your counterpart(s). Why do you believe you had a similar
message style? How did this impact your interactions?
