Now that you have committed to a communication behavior to address, the next step is to monitor your interpersonal communication behavior for 5 – 7 days as it relates to this issue.
2A. List your interpersonal communication goal from CCC Part 1E. Keep a DATED conversation log, spreadsheet, journal, or diary of SPECIFIC instances when you exhibited this behavior. Think about who, what, where, when, why, and how questions. Record who you spoke to, what you talked about, where you spoke, when you spoke – the time of the day, why you had this conversation – the circumstances, and how you spoke. Think about your feelings and your nonverbal communication. Did you listen well? Were you delighted, hurried, rude, polite, angry, frustrated, and so forth. Record other important or interesting conversations as well, even if they do not relate to your goal. You need at least five entries this week, but you may have many more.
Be sure to include an entry each day from the time you begin monitoring your communication behavior (conversations with others) until the time you conclude 2A. If you do not face your challenge on a particular day, say so. If you face other challenges, perhaps related challenges, on any of these days, include that as well. If you cannot document a conversation about your challenge that day, record another interesting or important conversation. You should have at least one daily entry for your conversation log, and you may have multiple conversations on the same day.
2B. Review your log and look for patterns. The following questions can help you to identify patterns of behavior. At what time and under what circumstances did I perform this behavior most effectively?
2C. Review your log and look for patterns. The following questions can help you to identify patterns of behavior.
2D. Review your log and look for patterns. What other recurring communication behaviors did I exhibit when I did or did not perform this behavior?
2E. Review your log and look for patterns. What seems to be your most pressing behavioral pattern? Is your greatest communication problem the same one you listed in your goal for CCC Part 1 E at the top of your page? Do you need to modify your goal for this project? If so, state your new goal by revisiting Part 1E in Week 1, Course Project.
Remember, you should identify these patterns from the log you have recorded over the entire week. When you make a statement about an observed pattern, be sure to document it with specific data/examples from your log. You may find at the end of logging your communication behavior that your challenge is not what you first thought it was. As a result, it is possible that you may ultimately modify CCC Part 1E at this point in the project.