In this chapter, we discussed communication, coaching, and conflict skills. While going through the chapter we did a self-assessment of our listening skills. I scored 65 out of 75 meaning that I have fairly strong listening skills. This is very important for a social worker to have good listening skills for both working with clients and coworkers. To improve my score I need to be vocal when I don’t understand what someone is telling me. I sometimes do not like to ask for help and try to figure things out on my own.
To assess someone’s listening, feedback, critiquing, coaching, and conflict management skills it is important to be aware of their nonverbal communication. People can say a lot without speaking. Being aware of other people’s body language is important to get an understanding of how they are feeling about an interaction. That is why it is important for me to also be aware of the messaging that my body language is conveying when I am interacting with others. When providing feedback, critiques, and coaching to others I try to avoid blame and offer suggestions rather than just criticism. When I receive feedback, critiques, and coaching I appreciate when others do the same for me. I also like it when they ask questions about why I did something so they can have a better understanding of my thought process. Being aware of all of this is very important for social workers because this profession I very focused on personal interactions.