Critical reflection on learning in the course

Critical reflection on learning in the course

It has been a great journey throughout this Interpersonal and Communication module. I have learned to apply the teachings taught in my daily life to communicate with others better. Ultimately, I have achieved the two goals that I have set out earlier on at the start of the module which were to be able to communicate with my superiors fluently and sharing my ideas with my colleagues in English language without requiring another’s help to translate them for me.

The two skills that I find of paramount importance are active listening and conflicting-handling modes. Firstly, to listen actively, six steps are involved. To begin with one has to look interested, better still get interested. Next is to involve oneself in the conversation by giving responses, followed by staying on the target (topic) of the conversation. After which, to test one’s understanding, he or she can pose questions for clarification as well as to evaluate the message that is being conveyed. Finally, one has to remain neutral, that is to take on an unbiased stand. By applying these six steps, it can help to heighten one’s listening skills and remain engaged throughout the discussion. This will result in a more productive communication between myself and both my superiors and colleagues.

Secondly, there are various approaches that one can take when dealing with conflicts. Competing refers to when one holds strongly to his or her views and disregards others’ opinions while pursuing to win the argument. Collaborating, on the other hand, refers to the parties involved working jointly towards achieving a solution. Alternatively, compromising refers to an agreement or settlement that is reached by each side making concessions. In contrast, avoiding takes place when one tries to keep away from the current conflict, and lastly accommodating occurs when one fits in with the wishes or needs of others without attempting to get his or her message across. Depending on the situation, I can adopt the relevant approach to handle different communication problem and overcome the conflict at hand.

Apart from the skills mentioned above, there are other learning points that complement a good communication skill such as non-verbal communication (e.g. facial expressions and body languages). Nevertheless, I believe the two points above are most relevant and applicable to my case in performing better in the communication aspect. Overall, the course has helped me greatly in improving my interpersonal and communication skills and this will go a long way especially in future projects or work-related discussions with others.

 

Resolving interpersonal conflict

John is planning to get married this year. Unfortunately, there was no mutual agreement between him and his parents on his choice of partner, Jane. This is so as John’s parents find Jane’s characteristics to be incompatible and that John is not yet ready to be married. Due to this disagreement, interpersonal conflict happened between him and his parents. While John attempted to talk things through with his parents, they did not consider his explanation and remained strict with their decision. Since John had no better options to solve the problem, he ran away from home the next morning with his belongings to live elsewhere to calm himself down from the pressure at home.

The main problem here is the parent’s disagreement to John’s decision to get married. John’s parents find Jane incompatible due to the differences in their upbringing. The possible cause might be attributed to Jane’s father who is a drug addict and is currently in jail for a long time. Without the presence of a fatherly figure in her life, John’s parents felt that it has had an adverse impact on her and find her way of social interaction rather unpleasant as she can sometimes be rude. This made them jump to a conclusion that Jane is not suitable to be John’s partner.

John on the other hand believes that Jane can be a good partner. This motivated his decision to marry her and thus he is frustrated that he could not solicit agreement from his parents. He sees it as unfair to base their decision as such and that to judge Jane based on her father. While John’s parents worry that Jane may have a negative influence on him, John has a different view. Although there are downsides to Jane’s behaviour, he feels that it is unfair to blame her for it and that she can be a better person. On the contrary, knowing that Jane comes from a troubled family background, it motivated his parent’s current decision as they merely want John to have a good married life.

I believe that Jane can change for the better, provided John’s parents are open and supportive as well as are willing to guide them. If you are in John’s shoe, what would you do?

Evaluating Listening Skills & Nonverbal Behaviour

Evaluating Listening Skills & Nonverbal Behaviour

I was on board a bus on my way home when I saw a group of students around the age of 13 to 15 years old sitting nearby chatting expressively. There were four of them altogether, three boys and a girl. The boys took turns talking about a certain show or game that they had watched. I observed them from afar as I got nothing else to do at that moment.

As one of the boys were talking, the other boys appeared to be focused while listening to the speaker. They were inching forward while the girl was leaning back in her seat. Two of the boys responded to the speaker by sharing their thoughts on how the story could have turned out instead of the one as shared by the speaker. Their hand gestures and tone of their voices were also an indication of their interest in the topic as they responded expressively. On the other hand, the girl was looking out the window and was not paying attention to them at all.

In my opinion, the two boys that had listened were enthusiastic because the topic at hand was something relevant to them and they enjoyed it. The way they reacted by opening their eyes widely, listening keenly and replying to the speaker implies that they were actively engaged. Their nonverbal behaviour also showed that they enjoyed the companion of one another by using hand gestures to describe the scene that they were talking about. As for the girl, she was looking away because she might not be interested in the topic(revised).

In summary, the two boys showed a good example of active listening skills and the use of nonverbal behaviour to express themselves. Having said that, the boys were being too oblivious towards the girl. This could be due to their young age where they might be unaware that she was not as actively involved in the conversation(revised). Being young, they might not have thought of the initiative to try and engage her along in the conversation(revised). The girl on the other hand, lacked in showing her listening skills and nonverbal behaviour in this situation as she might not have the same interest in the topic.

 

The challenges and strength of communication(REVISED)

Honestly to me, communication is essential only when I have something important to discuss. An example will be a discussion within a group regarding projects that requires teamwork such as assembling of major components in an assembly of a tank which includes electronic circuits and mechanical components. Other than that, I prefer to be quiet and have some time alone or go to a mosque and meditate. I find it more peaceful and relaxing.

As for challenges, it is hard to communicate when I am trying to speak to my superior or lecturers. I feel that my confidence is lacking when I try to communicate with these people and I tend to stutter when I share my thoughts or opinions. I find it annoying and hard to prevent. Another problem I face in communicating is when I try to convey an idea in a project discussion in English language. I tend to share what is in my mind accidentally in Malay language and my friends who understand it will translate it to English so that my non-Malay friends will understand what I am trying to say.

Even though I have difficulty in speaking English language, I do believe that my strength of communication comes in when I speak out my mind in a language that I am comfortable with. Ideas tend to flow out easily and smoother and I find it satisfying to be able to convey the message that I want to. I also find it easier to communicate if the topic discussion is about something that I love doing such as gaming. These are the time when I feel that communicating is fun.

At the end of this course, my objective is to be able to communicate fluently with my superiors and lecturers and share my thoughts with them correctly. Another objective that I want to achieve from this course is to be able to convey my ideas in English language more confidently with my colleague and share it straight without the help of my friends in translating them. To achieve these 2 goals, I believe I just have to practice speaking English more with my friends and superiors and have fun along the process of learning.

 

 

Challenges, Strengths and Objectives in Communicating

Communication is a necessity in our life. It is a way of sharing knowledge, ideas, expressing emotions and feelings between individuals. There are different types of communication such as speaking, hand gestures, body language and even writing. Different type of communication is used in different kinds of situation. This helps the communicator to convey the message or ideas that they want effectively using the appropriate means of communication. For example, communicating in space by speaking is ineffective as the vacuum in space is different and sound could not travel properly. Using hand gestures and body languages is a better way of communicating for situations like this. This shows one of the challenges an individual might face in communicating.

Even though there are challenges, there is also strength that comes along in communication. Communication can bring peace and major development of the human race. For example, nations can negate war by doing proper negotiation which is a form of communication. Once both party agreed to a condition, it can bring peace and lessens the casualty that could actually be done without communication.  Another example of the strength of communication is development. With proper communication skills, people can invent new stuff. As engineers, sharing of ideas and opinions with one another might lead to new inventions that can bring benefits to the others such as houses, transport system and good energy systems for the upcoming generations. We can see how Singapore had developed from the 1960s to the current time now. This can only be done when people come together, communicate and plan together as a team on how things can be improved and developed further and better. Therefore the strength of communication is great.

Two objectives that I want to achieve in this course are to be able to communicate effectively with project groups and to be able to do a great presentation in front of crowds with confidence. In order to do so the only possible way is to practice more in presenting and participate in group projects more actively.

 

 

 

Interpersonal Communication Skills

It is important to develop communication skills because as engineers in the future, we will need to share our ideas and discuss with one another to solve many different kind of real world problems. To do so, our communication skills must be effective and professional so the other party can understand the message that we are trying to convey. Therefore it is utterly important to develop effective communication skills.

In order to achieve a good set of communication skills, it is a need to participate effectively in the project work by building on ideas, sharing and explaining to groupmates what is in mind and how to make the ideas work. The opportunity of doing the presentation and video project with my group will help me to communicate better and further enhance my communication skills.