ES2007S 7th blog: Final Reflection: It’s Really A Simple World (with Effective Communication)!

With the semester coming to an end, I realized that I have learnt more about effective communication. It has been a valuable experience, and I am sure that the skills acquired will better prepare me as I step into the workplace. There have been several assignments to put our learning into use during the entire semester: the weekly blogging, in-class discussions, a survey report writing and not forgetting the oral presentation. It has been tough juggling this heavy workload that includes my Final Year Project, yet I am glad that I made this choice. It has certainly made me a more confident person!

In my first blog post, when I quoted Tom Peters, ‘if you’re confused, you’re paying attention,’ I thought that even if one is paying attention, effective communication can never take place due to the many barriers to effective communication. I was wrong! Effective communication, as I learnt, is a two-way exchange of information that occurs between the listener and speaker. After these weeks, I realized that he may be implying that if people only ‘hear’ the message, they would not digest the information and take the message as it is without thinking.

Figure: SIER hierarchy of active listening. Useful information!
http://www.provenmodels.com/554/sier-hierarchy-of-active-listening/steil-barker-watson

On the other hand, active listeners would be looking for details they would not be able to get if they were just ‘hearing’. Therefore, they would be able to sort out the correct message and response accordingly. This is the time when the listeners have to respond by asking questions and paragraphing the ideas to make sure that they have gotten the correct message, hence making the communication process more complicated. In addition, Tom Peters also mentioned that ‘communication is everyone's panacea for everything.’ How true indeed!

Figure: Effective Listening. Knowing the barriers and effective listening techniques.
http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/listening_active.html

The road of a thousand miles has to start somewhere, sometime. I have already taken my first few steps during the registration of modules this July. But I know that my journey does not end here. What knowledge I have gained these weeks will seem insignificant if I continue on the never-ending path of learning. As Abraham Lincoln said, ‘I am a slow walker, but I never walk back.’ Effective communication is a life long journey of trial and error that requires constant effort, and my effort should not stop even after this semester. Grades will still open doors, but it really takes much more to walk through them and survive the path we choose. I believe that good communication skills would be an edge that allows me to succeed in whatever I do, be it in my career or personal life.

If we can all communicate effectively, we can all tear down the barriers and make the world a simple and pleasant one!

Last weekend, I was...

I don’t think many people have even seen a campfire before, yet I was fortunate enough to participate in numerous campfires. There were several occasions when I could even participate in helping to build the structure!

It’s amazing. It has been so many years yet I still feel the passion to go help out. It’s really a part of my life.

Will my life be different without it? Definitely!

Self-belief

It’s not what we say out loud that determines our lives. It’s what we whisper to ourselves that has the most power.

Can I do it?

(Yes I can!)

ES2007S 6th Blog: Biodata

Name: Jimmy
Height: Rather tall, according to his own standards
Weight: Very light
Hair: Almost dropping
Hobbies: Basketball
Personality: Likes to think of himself as someone who is caring and fun-loving

My lively character and witty quips are a big part of a small me. Besides being known as an animated and jovial kid, I get along well with others and enjoy leading teams. That is why I like basketball- it is a team-oriented sport that tests my physical endurance and mental toughness and pushes me to my limits.

Jack Welch said: “Control your destiny or someone else will”. This makes me realize the importance of grasping every opportunity in my life so that I know I am on the path to greater knowledge and success. I know I can succeed!

Figure: Someday, I will be like him.

ES2007S 5th Blog: Reflections on the Research Project Experience

Figure: Spiral of Experience- http://www2.fhs.usyd.edu.au/arow/arer/004.htm
Leadership development is enhanced when experience involving the 3 different processes of Action- Reflection- Observation. We can also relate this message to our everyday life. It means that if a person acts, observes the consequences of his actions and reflects on their significance and meaning, he has truly learnt from an experience.

I could feel a sense of satisfaction when I saw my group’s completed survey report. There was all our blood and sweat in those twenty plus pages of diagrams and words. While it has been tedious, I realized I discovered more about myself while working in this group.

One of my tasks was conducting the interview with the manager from Campus Security. This was my first time doing it, and frankly, it was rather nerve-wrecking! I have seen people conducting interviews on television and I had this initial assumption that it would be simple- I would ask questions and just note down the responses. I was wrong. Audio recording was prohibited, and as I was the only one from my group at the interview, I knew I could only count on myself. The fact that I write awfully slow did not help much. Though I had rehearsed the questions beforehand, there were times when I needed to make changes like rearranging the sequence of the questions. Interviews, as I found out, are dynamic conversations and not what I perceived as a simple question and answer sessions. The worse thing was trying to decipher the scribed notes that I had hastily taken down during the interview. It took me 3 hours to read my horrible handwriting.

Working in a group has the advantage of being able to create many ideas during brainstorming sessions. As they say, ‘the way to create good ideas is to have many ideas.’ On the other hand, too many ideas sometimes hinder a group’s progress, especially when people tend to be overly protective of their ideas. Nonetheless, I believed that I have done a fairly decent job of balancing the need to let my group mates speak their mind and to share my own opinions. I would listen to them express their ideas first before I explained to them why some things can/ cannot be done. To avoid any miscommunications, I would normally paraphrase and ask the speaker whether I understood his/ her point. Having created numerous unnecessary misunderstandings that almost resulted in wrecked friendships, I firmly believe in seeking first to understand, then to be understood. And understanding others means to listen actively and to clarify my doubts before I speak my views.

It was interesting to note that our group was a small intercultural group on its own. LN was from China, ML was from Malaysia and I was a local. Through close interaction with them, I realized that there were indeed differences in the way we behaved. No textbook could have given me the real world experiences of intercultural communication. Through this research project, I appreciate the importance of intercultural communication and the need to be empathetic, assertive and patient in order to manage intercultural interaction effectively.

My professor used to tell me that what we have gained cannot be taken away from us. It is the experiences from doing this research project that mark this passage of time that I will treasure, and the experience gained would definitely serve me well when I step into the corporate world.

ES2007S 4th Blog: Intercultural Communications: Business Over Meals? Think Twice Before You Do That!

In the article ‘In the Eye of the Beholder: Cross Cultural Lessons in Leadership from Project GLOBE’ by Mansour Javidan et al, an American manager was to discuss a possible joint venture with a Chinese company. The American projected spending a few days working with the Chinese counterparts to brainstorm ideas and develop action plans. However, after a few frustrating days without accomplishing anything, he was told that he needed to find a Chinese agent to help him implement the deal.

While talking to the Chinese agent, the American learned that the Chinese counterparts’ goals were different. He realized that the Chinese company wanted to use the meetings to help build personal ties among them. They were upset that the American was focused solely on business rather than personal matters and was asking aggressive questions. He also found out that the top Chinese executive had no interest in sharing decision making with anyone; instead, he wanted to use private lunches and dinners with the head of the American delegation to make serious decisions and reach agreements.

To ensure effective communication between a high and low-context culture, there is a need to first understand the cultural differences. The Chinese culture emphasizes on group performance and rewards while the Americans highlight individual achievements and rewards. They also express pride, loyalty and cohesiveness in their organizations and families. The Chinese highly judge building personal ties and relationships because the Chinese culture is influenced by Confucian ideas which emphasize the importance of relationships and community.

To ensure effective communication, the American has to be careful about how his behavior and manners are perceived by the Chinese. Consciously or unconsciously other people will be using their belief and value system to judge the American, and hence it is crucial for him to ferret out their values and be able to see his own culture through the eyes of his counterparts. He should be polite, considerate, and sensitive to times when he should discuss deals and times when he should strengthen friendships. As the saying goes, ’When in Rome, do as the Romans do.’ He would have to go about building personal ties and relationships with a wide network of individuals and groups. Lastly, he would have to ensure his natural American assertiveness does not turn his Chinese counterparts off and does not hinder his efforts at building strong relationships.

So Phelps, after clinching eight gold medals in Beijing, you should know what to look out for when discussing a sponsorship contract with the Chinese, don’t you?

Figure: If we can all make an effort to understand each other and establish a common purpose, intercultural communication would be easier for everyone.

ES2007S 3rd Blog: Campus Security- Everyone Plays A Part!

It’s true. Low crime doesn’t mean no crime. In campus, laptop thefts are on the raise. Just last week, there had been four cases which occurred in the canteens during lunch hours. And that was followed by an email about an outage of modesty of a student! Personally, I’ve also heard about cases like peeping toms and rooms left unlocked or being broken into at residence halls.

That’s right. All happening around us where we least expected!

Being a responsible student and a member of the National Police Cadet Corp (NPCC), campus security is an issue that I can relate to it. And I believe everyone has the responsibility to shoulder. Who knows? The next victim may be me! I have to act fast.

Having identified my subject, the next step would be for me to pose a general research question. I formulated this: How much do NUS students know about the measures maintaining campus security by the school authorities?

Figure: Campus Security Officers on Patrol. Do students take them for granted?


But I do not know how much the students know about campus security! I suspect that the students know about the current measures that ensure campus security, but they create opportunities for criminals when they let down their guard by leaving their belongings unattended. Or simply, some let crimes go unreported, which give offenders the opportunity to repeat more crimes!

In order for me to spread this meaningful message, I need an attitudinal survey to find out firstly, if they think that the campus is a safe place to study, play and live. Secondly, I need to find out if they know of the current measures that the campus has in place. Depending on the results from the survey, our group can inform the Office of Estate Development (OED) and Queenstown Neighborhood Police Centre (NPC) that it is necessary to either raise the students’ awareness of crime prevention, or there is an urgent need for more security measures to be taken.

Campus security- Everyone plays a part. And that starts with me!