Blog Post #2

Describe in detail an interpersonal conflict situation, real or hypothetical.

This is a real-life interpersonal conflict that happened during a group project two semesters ago. The project was about designing a new medical product to improve on an existing one to solve a pressing medical problem. The project was split into five components and each of us in the group was to specialise in one aspect of the design and do up a final report for it. However, the bulk of the project still focuses on the final design of the product and this would, of course, require the effort of all members to work together to come up with the best design.

Unfortunately, one of the members always produce slipshod work when he was tasked with researching on the overall design of the product and he was always absent for group meetings. He was only concerned about his own aspect of the design and his final individual report.

As the group leader, I sent out various emails and SMS to inform him about our group meetings and the issues to be discussed during the meetings. However, his responses were either delayed or he was very busy with his CCA issues. He was apologetic about it and would always assure me that he would definitely complete his individual component on time after we have come up with the final design. From my point of view, he was trying to escape from the group discussions and I felt that this was extremely irresponsible and selfish of him.

Upon giving the problem much thought, I feel that I should have spoken to him face-to-face regarding the importance of group work in this project and that his absence from multiple group meetings is unfair for the rest of the group. I feel that face-to-face discussion of such sensitive matters would be more effective because he would be able to sense the seriousness of this issue. I can also clarify any doubts with him and listen to his explanations. Most importantly, communicating face-to-face can reduce the chances of possible causes of misunderstanding and misinterpretation of our intended messages. However, it requires good EQ to handle the situation face-to-face effectively to prevent any head-on conflicts due to poor social skills and management of emotions.

Do you think a face-to-face confrontation of this issue with him is truly appropriate or would I make the situation worse?

Introductory Post!

Before we start with our blogging and commenting the issues covered in ES2007S, let me do a simple introduction about myself. First, I will start with the serious and not-so-fun information about me. I am currently doing my final year in the Faculty of Engineering, majoring in Bioengineering. I am 22 this year and stay in western Singapore. I am born in August and my horoscope sign is Virgo.

Next, the fun and not-so-serious information about me is that I love shopping and chatting. Shopping because it brings joy when I own something new, pretty and useful. Chatting because it is casual, relaxing and entertaining. Well, so a perfect weekend for me would be out shopping around with my friends and stopping over for high tea to have a girlies’ chat! Speaking about high tea, despite the constant reminder from myself to watch those calories intake, I have a soft spot for desserts! I just can’t seem to resist the temptations of cakes, ice-cream and milk shakes!

Having introduced myself, I hope that you have known me a little bit better for a start. I hope that through this semester be it in class or via our blogs, you will get to know me much better and vice versa. Let’s embark on our journey to embrace effective communication! :)

ES2007S Post #1

Why effective communication skills are important for me?

Whenever I speak about having effective communication skills, a small incident that happened when I was in junior college never fail to come to my mind. It is a practise that during the student council election campaign, all nominees have to deliver a three minutes speech in front of the whole student body to gain votes. Two of my very good friends, D and S, running for the Council then were involved in the campaign. D is very outspoken and vocal, while S is less well-verse in communication and presentation though she has better organisation, planning and time-management skills than D. Both of them were relatively well-liked by their peers.

Unfortunately, only D was elected into the Council in the end. It was deduced that S’s failure was probably due to her lack of good communication skills to win over the audience to cast their votes for her.

From the small incident, it really serves to remain me about the importance of having effective communication skills. I strongly believe that effective communication is the key to get you to where you want to be in your life. In the above scenario, to communicate effectively is to create an impact in the audience by bringing across an intended message to influence and convince them. Additionally, effective communication is important for self-expression because no matter how brilliant and invaluable an idea might be, it would be worthless unless it can be shared with others.

Most importantly, effective communication is the key to success in life, work, and relationships because good communication skills can reduce misunderstandings, errors, frustration, and conflict on a daily basis.