Blog Post 4 ~ Critical Reflection on Learning

Task: Refer to the two objectives you set yourself at the start of the course (Blog post 1). Critically reflect on the extent to which you have achieved (or not) the said objectives. You might also reflect on what you have done, as well as what you would do, to further enhance your interpersonal and work communication skills.

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After going through the course, I have managed to get a clearer picture of what interpersonal communication is. Interpersonal communication is a tool use by people daily in their life. Prior to the end of the course, I hope that I can achieve the two objectives that I stated in my first blog post. These two objectives are to become a good communicator in different situations and be more open to receiving feedback from others.

In view of the objectives set earlier, I believe there is still room for improvement in being a better communicator under different situations. This is evidently seen during the group project as I am unable to communicate my idea clearly with my teammates. I attribute this to my poor word choices that make me unable to find a suitable phrase in bringing the idea across. In order to further improve myself, I will spend more time to brush up my vocabulary and make use of the opportunities that I have during group project to practice it.

With all the constructive feedback, I have made a significant improvement. This improvement allows me to receive feedback from my teammates with an open mind despite looking from a different perspective at the situation. In the future, I will continue to improve further because it allows me to communicate better upon entering the workforce.

In conclusion, referring to Jiddu Krishnamurti’s quote - “There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.”  I think that the quote applies to us as the learning process for us will never end. More efforts can be placed in improving ourselves to become a better communicator. Ultimately, this may help us upon entering the workforce as we have understood that certain behavior or action could lead to a different outcome when being misinterpreted.

📖 Quote of the Day 📖

" There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure. "

~ Colin Powell ~

< REVISED > Blog Post 3 ~ Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

TASK: Describe in detail an interpersonal conflict situation, real or hypothetical. Describe the context of the conflict, the people involved, the main problem, and the possible causes. Try to identify the feelings and/or motivations of the people involved. Finally, while considering the main problem and your search for a solution, solicit feedback from your readers in the form of ONE question.

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< REVISED >

Interpersonal conflicts occur when a person or a group of people frustrates or interferes with another person’s efforts while trying to achieve a goal. It usually happens in the workplace environment as everyone is competing against each other in order to get credits for the work to get promoted.

An example of interpersonal conflict situation is when there is a lack of communication between the different parties in the workplace environment. For instance, James and Keith have known each other since polytechnic as they have been studying together since then. Now, both of them are currently working in the same company for quite some time ever since they ORDed from the army. They are currently working on the same project as a team. One day, Mr. Tan, their department manager asked Keith to help him to convey an important message to James as he is rushing off to a meeting with a client. However, during the process of conveying the message, Keith fails to convey them appropriately to James thus affecting the progress of the project. As a result, James fails to submit the revised proposal that Mr. Tan wanted to be on his table when he is back from his meeting with the client. Due to this miscommunication, James was being reprimanded by Mr. Tan and he blames Keith for being the one that causes all these troubles. James felt that Keith acted that way as he was jealous of James' achievements in the company despite entering the company together at the same time.

From the context above, I have noticed that James did not hear Keith out on his explanations after the incident and purely blaming Keith for what have happened. This, in fact, could lead them being uncomfortable with each other, not communicating with each other or even saying bad stuff about each other while in the company. In my point of view, I thought that James could have heard Keith out on his explanations and this incident can be prevented if they make an effort to communicate with each other.

To conclude, if you were in this situation, what do you think you would have done?

📖 Quote of the Day 📖

" Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means. "

~ Ronald Reagan ~

< REVISED > Blog Post 2 ~ Evaluating Listening Skills & Non-Verbal Behavior

Task: Observe an interaction between two or more people, focusing on their use (or lack) of active listening and/or non-verbal skills. Describe the encounter in as much detail as possible. Briefly evaluate the interaction in terms of how their listening and/or nonverbal communication might have been influenced by culture, gender or age.

LISTEN Diagram

< Revised Version >

Different Types of Non-verbal Communication

Active listening is a communication technique which is used by anyone of us regardless if it is during group work or when solving conflicts. It requires the listener to fully concentrate, understand, respond and remember what was mentioned during the conversation. It is also a skill that can be acquired and developed through time with practice. Likewise, for non-verbal communication, it is defined as a communication skill without any spoken words. Non-verbal communication can be categorized into three more common categories: aesthetic, physical and symbols. These categories include the different form of arts such as music, or body movements and religious or personal status reasons respectively.

An example of using both active listening and non-verbal communication that I came across is when parents are communicating with their children. For instance, when the parents are doing housework at home and suddenly the child started crying out of a sudden. When that happens, the parents will tend to go forward to ask the child what happened. While asking them, some non-verbal messages which include: making eye contact, putting down everything on hand and lowering to the height of the child will be seen. With these non-verbal messages, it enhances the message that is being brought across to the child by showing that you care for them and wanting to help them in any way possible. When active listening is used by parents, it also allows the child to know that their parents are interested in what they are saying and would want to hear more from them based on the non-verbal messages that are being sent out. Subsequently, when the parent starts listening to their children at a relatively young age, their parent-child relationship tightens. Another way of strengthening the parent-child relationship is for parents to set aside time to communicate with their children. This is important for the children during their growing up journey as they will feel that their parents care for them. Therefore, with a tighter bond between the two generations, it allows the children to be more open up in their daily lives to their parents while having conversations.

In general, this may not be the case in every country due to the different culture that they are brought up in. In Singapore, most parents have to work from day till night in order to provide their child with a better living condition. Thus, not all parents are able to fork out time from their daily work to sit down and chat with their children. In addition, it may affect the bond between them as children will tend to keep things to themselves instead of sharing with their parents so as not to add on to their worries. To conclude, isn’t it time for us to start practicing these skills every day in order to improve on our daily communication with the people around us since both skills work so closely with each other?

📖 Quotes of the Day 📖
"The art of conversation lies in listening."

~ Malcolm Forbes ~

"The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said."

~ Peter F. Drunker ~

Different types of non-verbal communication & LISTEN image taken from:

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Reflective Summary ~ Emotional Intelligence

Task: Write a reflective summary of what you have learned about the role of emotional intelligence in interpersonal communication.

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A: Emotional intelligence is the ability that each one of us should be able to recognize and validly reason with different emotions to enhance our thinking. There are five main components of emotional intelligence that we have learned which include self-awareness, self-regulation, internal motivation, empathy and last but not least social skills. Using self-awareness as an example, it allows us to better understand ourselves on our moods as we become more aware of what is happening around us and also on how our moods may have an effect on the people around us. I have also learned about the six seconds model which have three important pursuits mainly: know yourself, choose yourself and give yourself. With this model, it allows me to think about the “what”, “how” and “why” type of questions before reacting to any situations.

📖 Quote of the Day 📖

“There is no separation of mind and emotions; emotions, thinking, and learning are all linked.” 

~ Eric Jensen ~

Blog Post 1 ~ Strength & Challenges in Communicating

Task:
1. Describe your strengths in communication and the challenges you have when communicating with others. 
2. State two objectives you will set for yourself to achieve by the end of this course.

What is interpersonal communication? Interpersonal communication is not just a skill that we used to communicate with other people. It is a skill where the language is not just about what it actually is and how it is said, it is actually the non-verbal message that is being sent through tones such as facial expressions, gestures and body languages. With effective communications skills, it allows us to have a clearer and streamlined workflow which increases the productivity level in the workplace and are essential to developing other key life skills.

My strength in communication is listening to others while they are speaking during discussions. Usually, I will drop down some notes on what is being discussed in the group and points that may be left out during discussions. After finishing discussing, we can use those notes to give each other a different point of view on the situation for whatever each of us has mentioned earlier. As for my challenges in communications, it is to express my thoughts to give a clearer view of what I wanted to say. The reason is that sometimes I am unable to find a certain choice of words to express my thoughts due to the usage of jargon in different contexts which may have different meanings to it.

The two objectives that I set myself to achieve by the end of the course are to become a good communicator in different situations and also be open in receiving different feedback from other people. A good communicator is someone that have skills such as stay in the neutral stand at all times during discussions, listen to what other people have to say such as what they think of a specific point during group discussions. The reason why being open in receiving feedback is important is because, without them, you are unable to get feedback regarding the issue from other person perspectives what they think about it and what suggestions that they can come out with which may allow us to see a bigger and clearer picture of the issue.

[ 344 words ]

📖 Quote of the Day 📖

" IF THERE IS EVEN ONE SECRET OF SUCCESS, IT LIES IN THE ABILITY TO GET THE OTHER PERSON'S POINT OF VIEW AND SEE THINGS FROM THAT PERSON'S ANGLE AS WELL AS YOUR OWN. "

~ DALE CARNEGIE ~

Reflection ~ Setting my own objectives

Q1: How important is it for you to develop effective communication skills?

A: It is important to develop effective communication skill because, without them, we cannot do things the right way instead we may have miscommunication everywhere in the workplace. Without them, it seems like a body without a heart to control everything that is going on in the working environment. Some benefits of effective communications are to have a clearer and more streamlined workflow, increase the productivity level in the workplace and much more.

( 72 Words )

Q2: What might you do in this course to help yourself develop as an effective interpersonal communicator?

A: From this course, I can explore a different type of communication skill that is required in a global work environment. I can also learn how to react to each situation which influences the communications in the workplace. Some skills that help me in becoming an effective interpersonal communicator is to stay neutral at all times, listen while others are speaking, be open to receiving feedback from other people and more.  

( 70 Words )

Total: 142 words

📖 Quote of the Day 📖

" THE ART OF COMMUNICATION IS THE LANGUAGE OF LEADERSHIP "

~ JAMES HUMES ~