Being judged by my Peers

This week was really interesting. Our assignment was to first observe ourselves as communicators and then have family/coworker do the same. When I evaluated myself I tried to be as honest as possible and I think perhaps I was being a little too critical. People did not see me as abrasive but someone who did not warm up to big crowds. I decided instead of giving it to just two people I gave it to as many coworkers as possible. Not everyone turned it in but I think that in every job situation (if someone is brave enough) they should be evaluated by their peers. These are some of the things that surprised me that there was disagreement on whether I was open with people and the use of my time during the day. I was shocked by this because I didn't think that people would be able to pick up on this. This just goes to show you that, they are swifter then I give them credit for. I was also shocked that people noticed that I do get impatient when things do not move as quickly as I want them to. I am not sure if this is a positive or a negative attribute.
Insights that I learned about communication is that I need to slow down and not be presumptuous when listening to all sides of the story. I have learned this week that I do not take enough into account the person's background, culture or the way they communicate. This is something that I need to work on in the near future. I also learned that I need to be more comfortable when expressing my opinions. My uneasiness does come off as aggressiveness and this again is something that needs to needs to be changed. I really did enjoy this assignment.