1.

Situation #1: As a 18-year-old girl who has no experience in life, I face some difficulties about
building relationship with my new friends at university. Therefore, I asked my mom for her
valuable advice during time when we had dinner together, I pay attention to listen to her and
acquire those to enhance my social knowledge so that I can nurture those relationship which
benefits me later on as I entered adulthood.

Situation #2: After finishing my presentation, I listen to my instructor’s feedback carefully about
my mistakes, flaws and good points so that I could improve my presentation skills and avoid
repeating mistakes, which will brings me many advantages to my study journey.

Situation #3: When communicating with my potential employer during an interview, I listen to
them carefully about what they want to know about me so that I am able to answer their
questions precisely, avoid misunderstanding and have a higher chance of getting that job.

2. Here are the six elements of the supportive climate according to Chapter 6 in “Communicating
in the Workplace” textbook:
- Description
- Problem Orientation
- Spontaneity
- Empathy
- Equality
- Provisionalism
Example for each element:
- Description: During the class presentation of students, lecturer observes every movement,
information and detail so that at the end, he can give them feedback. His feedback is neutral
and only describe what they are doing and give some suggestions, it does not contain any
judmental element.
- Problem Orientation: My team’s members and I had some disagreements when discussing
and expressing each other’s ideas. However, We paid attention and analyzed our ideas to
come up with the best and agreeable solution at the end.
- Spontaneity: My mom always share with me about her honest feelings and her life stories.
She understands, motivates me and give me the best advice and does not manipulate me to
 meet her expectation, so that’s why she is always a trustworthy person that I can talk
everything to.
- Empathy: One time, when my mom and I went to hospital to receive her diagnosis, I
witnessed a nurse who were sitting next to her patient to comfort her, support and motivate
her for being brave to through multiple surgeries.
- Equality: ISB students come from different cities and provinces, have different backgrounds
and talents, but we all are freshman students at ISB, we study in the same class, pay the
same amount of tuition fee and we treat each other equally as a family instead of
distinguish each other due to any reasons.
- Provisionalism: A friend of mine whose name is Nhi is really talented and intelligent. When I
worked with her as a team for our project in highschool, She had a really cool and unique
idea for that but she still asked me if her idea was good enough and how I thought about
that instead of proving her idea is better than mine.

3. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a pyramid which contains 5 parts: Physical, Safety, Love and
belonging, Esteem and recognition and Self-Actualization. Here are three ways which I can apply
it to enhance my professional and interpersonal relationship:

- I can identify my needs and reach “self-actualization” state. When I am able to understand my
strengths, my ability and my wishes, I can classify which job that I want to do and feel happy,
passionate about it. As a result, I will do that job with positive attitude and high productivity.

- If I am an entrepreuner of my own company, I will apply Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to

understand employees’ needs, motivate them and accelerate their productivity. According to a
journal, employee’s most productive behaviour occurs at level 4 and 5 of Maslow’s pyramid of
needs, both for himself and for the company. [ CITATION Mar72 \l 1066 ]

- I use Maslow’s pyramid of needs to understand my potential, respect myself and boost my
self-esteem so that I feel confident when I communicate and nurture my relationship both at
school and at workplace.

1
Portfolio Reflection
After attending the sessions and answering textbook questions from Learning Portfolio A3, I
have gained useful knowledge and skills which are important to my development as a student and as a
future employee. First of all, I could differentiate between hearing and listening, which I had
misunderstood that they had the same meaning. Moreover, The most vital skill that I have gained after
the sessions is how to be an active listener and respond to others appropriately depending on situations
that you are in. Furthermore, I could attain interpersonal relationship skills which is inevitable to
enhance my business communication skill. Finally, I have an opportunity to produce such an amusing
video clip and conduct practical research about a pair of supportive and defensive relationships, which
helps me understand the 6 pairs of supportive and defensive climates effectively. I am fortunate to have
the access to reliable sources from textbooks and valuable guidance from my instructor to assist me
apprehend the lessons better. These lessons will broaden my horizons about business communication
and prepare me to be a potential employee in the future.

2
 Reference
Conforti, M. F. (1972). Practical applications of Maslow's theory of human motivation in
industry. Occupational health nursing, 20(12), 10-13.