It has finally come to the last post for this module. Within these 13 weeks, I have learnt various communication skills and my perception of effective communication have certainly changed since my first post. At the beginning, I thought that communication was only restricted to verbal interactions. Through this course, I understand that effective communication has many facades such as non-verbal cues, written communication and active listening. It can be used to build relationships, resolve conflict and convey messages effectively.
I enrolled in this course with the aim of learning how to construct resume and prepare for interviews. As a bonus, I also pick up the skill of writing different types of letters and evaluating written document with the 7Cs. These skills will come in handy in my future working life as they are transferrable and can be easily applied.
Other than imparting communication skills, many assignments were given to allow us to put our newly acquired skills into practice. The most memorable assignment is the survey research report as it took up most of our workload. It has reinforced my analytical skill. It has been a pleasant experience working with Crystal and Siti and this has enhanced my interpersonal skills. The final oral presentation was conducted in a formal manner which was quite different from other courses. I could spot my weakness during oral presentation through the video taping.
Lastly, I would like to express my gratitude to Miss Goh who has taught me a great deal of things.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Biodata
I am Chin Min, a 4th year undergraduate student studying at National University of Singapore. I major in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and specialized in Process Systems Engineering.
The 4 years of undergraduate study has advanced my analytical, disciplinary, interpersonal and communication skills greatly. Most of my core engineering modules require vigorous analysis of the problem and a creative mind to come up with an optimal solution. Due to the tight study schedule, I have become disciplined in time management and prioritization. Frequent presentations and participating in human resource related modules have refined my communication and interpersonal skills.
To satisfy my strong passion in Economics, I have taken several economics, accounting and business related modules. Due to good results in these modules, I managed to secure a position in the Dean List for semester 1of AY2008/2009.
During my National Service, my role as an administrative assistant dealing with reservist matters has taught me how to handle issues tactfully and sensitively.
I enjoy strategic planning games such as Contract Bridge and Chinese Chess as these games sharpen my critical thinking and predictive skills. In my junior college and secondary school days, I participated actively in competitions and won several intra-school competitions.
Free-and-easy travelling during school vacations has enabled me to experience different cultures. This made me realize that there exists a variety of thinking in this world and diversity should be appreciated and tolerated.
I hope that my experiences and skills will help me arrive at an economic-related job upon graduation.
The 4 years of undergraduate study has advanced my analytical, disciplinary, interpersonal and communication skills greatly. Most of my core engineering modules require vigorous analysis of the problem and a creative mind to come up with an optimal solution. Due to the tight study schedule, I have become disciplined in time management and prioritization. Frequent presentations and participating in human resource related modules have refined my communication and interpersonal skills.
To satisfy my strong passion in Economics, I have taken several economics, accounting and business related modules. Due to good results in these modules, I managed to secure a position in the Dean List for semester 1of AY2008/2009.
During my National Service, my role as an administrative assistant dealing with reservist matters has taught me how to handle issues tactfully and sensitively.
I enjoy strategic planning games such as Contract Bridge and Chinese Chess as these games sharpen my critical thinking and predictive skills. In my junior college and secondary school days, I participated actively in competitions and won several intra-school competitions.
Free-and-easy travelling during school vacations has enabled me to experience different cultures. This made me realize that there exists a variety of thinking in this world and diversity should be appreciated and tolerated.
I hope that my experiences and skills will help me arrive at an economic-related job upon graduation.
Open Topic: Communication to achieve Organizational goals
Communication is used in our everyday lives to achieve various goals such as fostering interpersonal and intercultural relationship, achieving organizational goals and resolving conflicts. I will be exploring the topic of using communication to achieve organizational goals as most of us taking this course will be entering the workforce soon.
In today’s workplace, employees are expected to work in teams to achieve organizational goals such as completing projects of high quality on time. Group projects are given in schools to mimic the working life and one common problem faced while doing group projects is uncooperative members.
I would like to share my experience of working in a design module which required intensive group effort as the assessment was based solely on the project. Out of the 6 team members, 2 did not complete their individual parts on time and we could not proceed onto the common parts of the project. In the end, the required values were taken from other groups and the common parts were completed by only 4 members.
Assertive emails were sent to the 2 members, requesting them to finish their work. We phoned the 2 members to try to understand their difficulty but only 1 of them was contactable. He was suffering from OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and could not handle stress. Empathizing his condition, help was provided to complete part of his individual work.
It was a very frustrating and tiring experience. What would you do differently in terms of communicating with uncooperative team members?
In today’s workplace, employees are expected to work in teams to achieve organizational goals such as completing projects of high quality on time. Group projects are given in schools to mimic the working life and one common problem faced while doing group projects is uncooperative members.
I would like to share my experience of working in a design module which required intensive group effort as the assessment was based solely on the project. Out of the 6 team members, 2 did not complete their individual parts on time and we could not proceed onto the common parts of the project. In the end, the required values were taken from other groups and the common parts were completed by only 4 members.
Assertive emails were sent to the 2 members, requesting them to finish their work. We phoned the 2 members to try to understand their difficulty but only 1 of them was contactable. He was suffering from OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and could not handle stress. Empathizing his condition, help was provided to complete part of his individual work.
It was a very frustrating and tiring experience. What would you do differently in terms of communicating with uncooperative team members?
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Evaluating Intercultural Behavior
Two of my sister’s friends visited Taiwan (Taipei) during last year June holidays. One afternoon, they boarded a train with many empty seats as it was non-peak hour. After sitting down, they noticed many local passengers were staring at them. Suddenly, one female passenger approached them and said in a loud voice, “Do not sit on the priority seats, they are for needy people.” Taken aback, they stood up immediately. Both of them did not dare to take another seat and stood in front of the priority seats. They noticed a sign was placed above the seats stating: “Please give up these seats to the needy like pregnant women, elderly and the disabled.”
Feeling unjustified, they complained to each other that there were still so many empty seats left. Moreover, the sign did not state explicitly that the priority seats are for the needy only, it merely state giving up seats to the needy.
This is an example of the hidden rules in a high context society. Although the rules allow non-needy people to occupy the seats until a needy person comes by, the unstated cultural norm only allows needy people to occupy them. The locals feel that it will be easier for the needy to locate a seat the moment they board the train if the priority seats are unoccupied. In Singapore, priority seats can be occupied until they are required by needy people.
This cultural misunderstanding is caused by difference in thinking due to different cultural background.
Feeling unjustified, they complained to each other that there were still so many empty seats left. Moreover, the sign did not state explicitly that the priority seats are for the needy only, it merely state giving up seats to the needy.
This is an example of the hidden rules in a high context society. Although the rules allow non-needy people to occupy the seats until a needy person comes by, the unstated cultural norm only allows needy people to occupy them. The locals feel that it will be easier for the needy to locate a seat the moment they board the train if the priority seats are unoccupied. In Singapore, priority seats can be occupied until they are required by needy people.
This cultural misunderstanding is caused by difference in thinking due to different cultural background.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Business Correspondence Critique
The following is a reminder letter my parent received from a telecommunication company.
Dear Customer
Thank you for using our services.
You may have overlooked this payment and your account is now overdue.
Please pay the full amount due immediately to avoid any late payment fee. A fee of SGD5.35 (GST inclusive) or SGD21.40 (GST inclusive) is applicable to residential customers and business customers respectively for late payments.
Please ignore this letter if payment has already been made.
Thank you for your prompt attention.
Critique:
The letter is well structured and has no grammatical error. It has a letter head that provides contact details of the company. This is useful if there are any doubts on the payment. The letter is also dated and has proper salutation.
The letter is also quite concise as there is no lengthy expression. Relevant information like amount due and late payment fee are stated. The tone of the letter is polite and there is a buffer paragraph at the beginning of the letter. The negative news is stated positively (i.e. persuade the customer to pay the amount due to avoid late payment fee).
However, there is still room for improvement. The letter is not signed off and there is no complementary close. Instead of a simple “Reminder”, a more detailed subject line can be used. The letter also lacks of concreteness as essential details like mode of payment and deadline before late payment fee is charged are missing. In the closing section, the company can suggest actions to be taken by the customer once again. It can be phrased like the following: “We hope to receive the overdue payment soon so that we can continue to provide services to our valued customer.” Lastly, rather than addressing the customer as “Dear customer”, it is better to address as “Dear Madam Boey” to add a sense of personal touch. It is an easy task by using the mail-merge function in Microsoft word.
Thank you for using our services.
You may have overlooked this payment and your account is now overdue.
Please pay the full amount due immediately to avoid any late payment fee. A fee of SGD5.35 (GST inclusive) or SGD21.40 (GST inclusive) is applicable to residential customers and business customers respectively for late payments.
Please ignore this letter if payment has already been made.
Thank you for your prompt attention.
Critique:
The letter is well structured and has no grammatical error. It has a letter head that provides contact details of the company. This is useful if there are any doubts on the payment. The letter is also dated and has proper salutation.
The letter is also quite concise as there is no lengthy expression. Relevant information like amount due and late payment fee are stated. The tone of the letter is polite and there is a buffer paragraph at the beginning of the letter. The negative news is stated positively (i.e. persuade the customer to pay the amount due to avoid late payment fee).
However, there is still room for improvement. The letter is not signed off and there is no complementary close. Instead of a simple “Reminder”, a more detailed subject line can be used. The letter also lacks of concreteness as essential details like mode of payment and deadline before late payment fee is charged are missing. In the closing section, the company can suggest actions to be taken by the customer once again. It can be phrased like the following: “We hope to receive the overdue payment soon so that we can continue to provide services to our valued customer.” Lastly, rather than addressing the customer as “Dear customer”, it is better to address as “Dear Madam Boey” to add a sense of personal touch. It is an easy task by using the mail-merge function in Microsoft word.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Resolving Interpersonal Conflict
During my national service, I was assigned to the manpower branch. The manpower officer headed the branch and his deputy was the chief clerk. The branch had two sections. One dealt with active personnel while another dealt with NSmen (reservist). As the chief clerk only handled active personnel’s matters, reservist matters were overseen by the NSmen-in-charge. Although the chief clerk’s position was higher than the NSmen-in charge, the NSmen-in-charge reports directly to the manpower officer.
Working in the NSmen section, we would be extremely busy during the period of in-camp-training. To reward our hard work, the NSmen-in-charge would give us a day off after the in-camp-training period. The “day off” form had to be signed by the chief clerk as the recommending officer and the manpower officer as the approving officer. However, the chief clerk would always pass sarcastic remarks when I asked for her signature and sometimes even refused to sign. Understanding my difficulty, the NSmen-in-charge helped me sign as the recommending officer before I approached the manpower officer for his signature.
When this incident came to the knowledge of the chief clerk, she summoned me before her. She said: “The approving officer is the chief clerk not the NSmen-in-charge. When the manpower officer asks me for your whereabouts, what am I going to say? If this happens again, I am going to give you extra duties.”
If you were me, what would you do the next time when such a situation occurs?
Working in the NSmen section, we would be extremely busy during the period of in-camp-training. To reward our hard work, the NSmen-in-charge would give us a day off after the in-camp-training period. The “day off” form had to be signed by the chief clerk as the recommending officer and the manpower officer as the approving officer. However, the chief clerk would always pass sarcastic remarks when I asked for her signature and sometimes even refused to sign. Understanding my difficulty, the NSmen-in-charge helped me sign as the recommending officer before I approached the manpower officer for his signature.
When this incident came to the knowledge of the chief clerk, she summoned me before her. She said: “The approving officer is the chief clerk not the NSmen-in-charge. When the manpower officer asks me for your whereabouts, what am I going to say? If this happens again, I am going to give you extra duties.”
If you were me, what would you do the next time when such a situation occurs?
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Importance of Effective Communication
Looking through jobs advertisements, it is apparent that excellent communication skills are highly sought after by companies. Due to globalization, today’s working environment requires us to interact with team members from different culture and ethnicity. Thus, good communication skills are needed to bridge cultural differences and avoid miscommunication.
This course covers a wide array of communication techniques which include letters, reports and resume writings, minutes-takings, interviews skills and oral presentation techniques. As this is my final semester, techniques that interest me the most are resume writing and interview skills. During my junior college days, I ran for the treasurer post of my co-curriculum activity. Then, I wrote ‘getting good results for mathematics’ as a quality that suits the job. At the interview, it caused a misunderstanding that I was an elitism thinker. Actually, I was just trying to convey the message that being adequate in mathematics is a desirable trait that a treasurer requires. Hence, I hope to avoid this kind of misunderstanding in the future after completing this course.
Nowadays, some companies conduct their preliminary rounds of interview at informal cocktail receptions to observe the interviewees’ interaction skills. There are also interviews where all the interviewees are placed in a room with a moderator to talk about why they are suitable for the job. Meanwhile, other interviewers will be monitoring the interviewees’ responses through a one-way looking mirror. As these unconventional interviews are gaining popularity, this course can incorporate the role-playing of these interviews into the syllabus.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.JPG)
