LEARNING PORFOLIO A3

I. Answer questions:
1. Briefly explain any three specific situations where listening will be an
important part of your life.
- When being a student, I have to finish all my assignments. Therefore, to endless
knowledge and be able to pass all the semesters, I need to listen to lecturers/
teachers carefully. The information from them is useful and necessary for
students like me to pass exams.
- At work, listening is important for both employees and bosses. If you are talking
with your boss, and you don’t focus on his/her talk, it’s really rude and you can
be fired soon. Besides, listening is one of the best ways for you and also me (in
the future) to promote.
- Discussing with teammates about our project. Obviously, as we are working in a
team, we have to listen to opinions from everyone. This activity helps our group
work better and we may receive many valuable things. Via listening, members
of a group are more friendly and understandable. We can share with each other
about ourself easier and also be sympathetic with others.

2. List six elements of the supportive climate. Give an example for a time when

you have witnessed each.

Based on my research, I found that there are six components of supportive climate:
empathy, problem orientation, provisionalism, description, equality, spontaneity.
(Cheesebro et. al. textbook, p133)
- Empathy
I have a special friend. She is not good at studying, but my classmates still like
her. We found that she is a good friend as she never ignores our problems.
Thanks to her, my class always has friendly atmosphere.
- Problem orientation
This term is seen widely. I recognize that every projects/ problems/ parties need
to be finished by everyone in a team/ class/ organization. As my own
 experience, if I want to complete tasks with the best result, I need the
attendance of all teammates. I mean that everyone will gather and find the
most suitable solutions. This activity motivates people to work harder and
creates supportive climates for employees.
- Provisionalism:
As you know that Apple is one of the most famous technology products in the
world. After each session, company continues to release new version that meet
customers’ demand. For example, February 2015, Apple makes a
comprehensive change to the iPhone when it launched the iPhone 6 with a
much larger screen.
- Description
When one of my friends at high school finished her presentation, she received
many questions from classmates. However, one of those questions was weird
for both her and us. She looked confusing for a while and she told the asker that
she was confusing with his question and she would search more information to
answer. I think her message was suitable at that time because she didn’t know
the meaning of that question but she didn’t ignore it.
- Equality
My father is a captain for a construction project. However, he treats his
employees equally. He focuses on workers’ problems and also pay attention to
their comments. Sometimes, my father invites them to my house at some
special occasions. I found that the atmosphere in his lab is active and friendly.
- Spontaneity
The staff of the IVY store near my house makes customers feel comfortable.
They treat us like their close friends and this environment lets the client spend
more money. As a result, the company gets more profit.
 3. Identify three ways you can apply your knowledge of Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs (Figure 10.4, Braun et. al. textbook) to improve your professional and
interpersonal communications.
- When I work in a group, I need to conform to my group’s norms as it improves
the working environment. I need to be on time in meetings, finish tasks on time,
etc. (Love, belonging)
- According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, physical is the basic need. Therefore,
being a leader, I want to make sure all members are healthy and mentally safe.
To do that, I will provide comfortable working conditions, reasonable work hour,
etc.
- When someone do well, I will give them some compliments. However, no one
does everything well, in these cases, I will encourage them to let them know
they can do the job well. (Esteem, recognition)

II. Portfolio Reflection:

In the past, I thought that listening was not really important in social life and even
responding. However, after given learning materials and this portfolio, I recognize the
necessary of listening and effective responding to make use in my own life. Communication
now isn’t hard for me. I understand the meaning of supportive and defensive climate in a
working environment. To remain interpersonal relationships effectively, I know how to apply
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in my own experience. Besides, defining audience benefits can
help an organization make more profit, and how to do this is explained in given textbook.
Therefore, I know how to identify audience’s needs and decide which benefits are suitable.
Thanks to two friendly lecturers, I have received many valuable knowledges that I haven’t
had before.