Post #2: Importance of interpersonal communication skills

I personally feel that having interpersonal communication skills is of paramount importance in building relationships and working in a team. Both the verbal and non-verbal behaviours form the whole package of interpersonal communication and listening actively would probably be the fundamental step to build up good interpersonal communication skills. Only when listening well to others, one will comprehend the true message of the other party and I must say it is definitely easier said than done! I think most people already have innate interpersonal communication skills but it is just a matter of whether they want to put it to use.

Most would prefer to listen actively only when the topic interest them and it can be quite painful to see someone looking distracted, especially if you are relating your personal matters to him/her. The person whom you are talking to turning away to converse with another person as you are speaking can be the most distasteful experience in a conversation! It may sound ridiculous but sadly, it happens. After encountering such experiences, I think it either reflects on how much your words mean to him/her or his/her poor communication skills.

The picture below portrays the kind of one-way communication which I have discussed above. I can also relate to it as it shows the kind of situation which I feel I get myself into when I talk to a person who fails to respond to my words appropriately such as having no expression as I am speaking.

http://www.andreadams.com/the_cartoon_express_couple_1.htm

Perhaps they might be unaware of their behaviour but they should start brushing up on their listening skills if they want to earn respect from those around them. Giving them gentle feedback might help them improve their listening skills but they will have to accept the feedback positively in the first place if they intend to change their ways.

To prevent such situations, we should bear in mind a few simple but effective pointers when we converse with others. I personally think that having eye-contact, nodding and avoiding distractions will ensure that you connect with the person speaking to you. It is crucial that we adopt active listening skills to understand the message clearly as this in turn will allow us to respond appropriately in verbal or non-verbal manner.

Post #1: Communication and teamwork: why are they important for me?

Firstly, here is a comedic commercial for pet food that displays teamwork between a cat and a dog. I feel that it effectively shows how a common goal can be achieved flawlessly and effortlessly with proper collaboration and teamwork! This video certainly brings out the importance of teamwork, especially in times of crisis, even if there maybe conflicting nature between the two parties (a cat and a dog in this case).



In my opinion, communication and teamwork are closely related and important when working on a project together. Successful teamwork and efficiency usually comes with effective communication among the team members. I believe that the few most important qualities of a good team is having committed and initiative members, an open and honest communication among members and effective conflict solving techniques. I have personally experienced that these qualities are important in achieving success in a team.

For example, during my secondary one school bazaar, a group of my classmates and I were given a task to set up a food stall. As it was our very first experience contributing to the bazaar, every single one of us was very committed and excited to get down to work. During the planning stage, we suggested and brainstormed feasible ideas for the various parts of the task such as the publicity of the stall, quality of food and the allocation of task among the members etc. Since we felt very involved in it, we continued to be responsible and committed during the execution of the plan. Lucky for us, my friend’s father was an expert at making fried dumplings so we decided to sell fried dumplings and got the recipe from him. There was a lot of hard work and time spent preparing but I did not see my friends complain about their assigned tasks. Whenever tension aroused among the members, the rest will take the initiative to clear the misunderstanding or conflict, reminding them of the importance of teamwork if we wanted success. Hence, by the actual day, we were well prepared and ready to earn the most for charity. Indeed, we emerged as the stall with the most earning in the secondary one category and success felt sweet! All our efforts paid off and of course the recipe we used was an advantage for us!

Well, I must say that I was fortunate to have great team members who were goal oriented and committed. For me, that experience helps me illustrate effectively what I have just learned from CG1413 for the past week. Perhaps it was the best team I have ever worked with and this blog entry gives me the chance to reminsce the sweet memory as well as to share with you my experience. Lastly, I feel that the above mentioned qualities in a team are really important for success and I hope that I will be part of another great team where I can feel the synergy as I give my utmost commitment and contribution to the team.

Thank you for reading!