Nick's Place

Nicholas Barnard Skill Development Paper #1 TA: Sandy Jewett

1) I chose the skill of versatility. Versatility is the tailoring of my behavioral preferences and tendencies to each individual person I am communicating with.

2) a) The situation occurred recently during a rehearsal of Inherit the Wind. I was talking to Lisa, my crew chief. We were both onstage laying out properties for the rehearsal. I have not worked with Lisa in any situation so I was generally unaware of her communication styles and preferences. When meeting a new boss I generally try to take a laid back style, and let them set the tone. It seemed Lisa was a bit bewildered, and she did not give direction. Therefore, I decided to change my style a bit. I started asking questions. (i.e. Where does this go?, Is everything onstage?, etc..) b) Lisa seemed to work much better with this type of leadership. In most cases she knew what needed to be done, she just did not know who to assign to the task. I really feel our crew got more productive when we switched from waiting to Lisa to give direction to taking the lead and checking in with her to make sure everything was done right. c) I felt lost before I used the skill because I did a lot of standing around without taking action. I felt useful while I used the skill because things were done without me waiting for direction. I felt satisfied after I used the skill because we got our job done with positive feedback from the faculty advisor. d) On a scale from one to ten, I think I used the skill at about a seven. I felt that I could have recognized the need for the skill sooner than I did.

3) a) I felt this skill worked well. It accomplished what I wanted it to because it opened up the lines of communication for everyone. It made everything happen and eased up all of the team. I think this is because it is easier for someone to answer a question than to give direction wholly. I also gave reasonably pointed, although not closed, questions, which elicited specific information. b) I do plan to use this skill again in the future. I find this skill is most useful when I am meeting new people, or dealing with people in different situations than I am used to dealing with them. I feel that this skill is most probably one of the most valuable assets I can have as a communicator, being able to adapt to different styles and relate on different levels.