Post #6: Reflection on CG1413 module

CG1413 has enabled me to gain useful personal skills when communicating in team or with individuals! I have learnt to take note of some of the things that I tend to overlook when communicating such as to defer judgement. For example, I used to form questions in my mind as I listened to someone speak. The lesson I had on active listening made me realise that its time I kicked this habit of mine to improve on my communication skills effectively!

The projects were helpful in giving us a hands-on application of the skills! For CG1102 CICMS project, I'm fortunate to have such committed and efficient team members. We usually divided the labour evenly and according to our preference since we may have our own forte. Everyone was committed to submitting our tasks by the deadline so that we don't delay the consolidation of the lab. Sometimes, if the stronger members finished the tasks early, I would try to contribute in another way such as drafting the report. As a team member, I tried to contribute to the project in various ways and have gained a lot from my team mates in terms in different ways, be it academically or their work ethics.  

As for the CG1413 project, I remember that we were not entirely comfortable speaking up so I thought that talking about non school related issues would break the ice during our first meeting. It indeed helped us lighten the mood and discussion became easier! One major hiccup for us was when we tried to generate problems that allow feasible solutions. The problems we suggested were either not a real “problem” or there was no feasible solutions for it. Hence, we decided to use the suggested topic- Cloud Computing, which turned out to be an interesting topic in my opinion. Initially, I was apprehensive as we were unfamiliar with the topic but after much research, we got a good grasp of it. I learnt that working as a team, we can help each other along the way and overcome challenges together. It was definitely a relief when the project ended smoothly!

CG1413 has been a very interactive and fun module for me! Along the way, it also allows me to forge valuable friendship with my classmates which the other modules will not really provide me the opportunity with. Also, I am very thankful for all the effort my teammates have put in for the projects and I sincerely wish that I could work with them again in future!       

Post #5: Reflection on Oral Presentation 2

I must say that the team did well overall! We took on the role of a cloud computing host and we indeed portrayed professionalism to suit our roles, starting with our formal wear to the way we delivered the presentation. We each have a different delivery style and portrayed a confident front when presenting. Frank gave an impactful opening with his expressive introduction while Christabel gave a concise and steady presentation. I also managed to pull it off quite well.

Initially, I was really nervous so I used a lot of “erm”s but later, when I became comfortable, my body language and my tone became more relaxed and reduced the use of pause fillers. Comparing to the first presentation, I have improved as I was more comfortable throughout the presentation and used the hand gestures more appropriately.

My concern is more on the presentation slides that we used. The slides transition would have been smoother if we used the conventional power point presentation instead of using the pptplex. It was difficult for me when clicking the slides for Frank because of the difficulty in adjusting the slide to the area Frank wanted to focus on. Perhaps I needed to familiarise with this program and conduct more rehearsals with my team to ensure better transition of slides. Also, I find that the function of showing all the slides in each section at once at the overview page eliminates the “surprise” element of the presentation. Hence, I would rather stick to using the conventional power point presentation to reduce distractions for the audience and inconvenience for my team.

During the Q&A section, we were taken by surprise when receiving the kind of questions posed to us especially Mr James’. His questions were definitely the most challenging ones and they kept me pondering on the chances of success if an actual cloud computing company was embarking on our project and approaching NUS to shift their server! Nevertheless, we managed to provide appropriate answers to the questions despite struggling to think of a suitable reply. I hope that my team continues to improve and perform even better for the next presentation! 

Post #4: Reflection on meeting 1

Our very first meeting was efficient and objective! All of us, Paul, Zhen Yong, Nivetha and I, were punctual and prepared for the meeting. We already had a rough idea of the contents that we were going to discuss during the meeting as the agenda was planned beforehand. The prior brief discussion before the first meeting also helped us to prepare for the necessary equipments we needed for the recording of the video. I feel that the preparations we did enabled us to proceed with the meeting smoothly and efficiently.

During the discussion, we were objective and our discussion barely strayed from the main topic. As Paul led the discussion, all of us were focused on following the agenda closely and making the meeting as efficient as possible. At various points of time, we contributed and suggested different ideas for the project comfortably. I also realised that we would pay attention to whoever was speaking as well as contribute ideas appropriately.

However, there is always room for improvement. On an individual level, I saw myself raising questions as another person was speaking. I realised that it disrupted whatever that he/she was saying. I should have noted down my doubt and waited till the person finished saying what he had to say before I raised any question for clarification. It certainly did not allow me to listen actively as my mind was busy questioning the doubts as I listened to the speaker. On a whole, I thought that the video could be improved. When watching it, I found it quite disturbing that the laptops were blocking the view and the hand gestures of Paul, Zhen Yong and Nivetha could not be seen clearly. Hence, I feel that it would have been much better if we used a video recording camera which is placed at an angle that could capture all of us instead.

Post #3: Resolving Interpersonal conflict

Interpersonal conflict is something inevitable in life. The most significant encounter of an interpersonal conflict I had when I was in secondary two still remains fresh in my memory. Those were the days when my best friend and I would share everything and anything under the sun with each other. We both agreed that certain things will be kept just between us and trusted each other on that promise. I thought that some things would be readily understood that it was supposed to be meant for her knowledge only, so I did not make it a point to remind her to keep it a secret.

To my horror, I came to a realization that she had been telling my other friends about my personal problems! I felt betrayed and bitter. I wondered if I was wrong to have trusted anybody in the first place. I tried to confront her immediately if she was aware of her own actions. What greatly surprised me was that she was not apologetic and she even defended herself with reasons that led her to do it although she knew she was not supposed to. It aggravated my anger as I was truly disappointed in her. I insisted that it was wrong of her to make her own decision to tell my problems to others without my consent. Soon, we were raising voices at each other, eager to win the argument. We were too emotional to think clearly as we argued. Finally, it ended with both of us walking away, hurt and tearing.

For the next couple of weeks, we did not speak to each other. During that period of cold war, I reflected on our argument. Actually, we were both at fault for not taking a step back each. The heated conflict could have been avoided if we were cool-headed when confronting each other. I guess we both felt awkward avoiding each other so we apologised to each other when we coincidentally met in the CCA store room one day. After patching up, we came to a conclusion that there was miscommunication between us and we did not understand the message we tried to convey to each other.

Thinking back, I realised that on my part, I should have told her clearly that some problems were too sensitive to let anyone else know. She could have discussed with me before she did something that made me feel betrayed. However, she was actually getting help for me without the intention of misusing my trust while I did not listen to her properly when she tried to explain herself to me during the confrontation. I regret that such unnecessary conflict occurred when we could have communicated to each other clearly and prevented so much unhappiness. However, I feel that such encounters are the ones that teach us life skills that could change us for the better and help us strengthen our relationships when we overcome them successfully! I'm glad that conflict did not affect our relationship and it's now a topic that we would mention in our conversations and laugh off as a memorable "childish" act!

I believe this is something that holds true as long as friends understand, compromise and be sincere to each other.

image from: http://groups.gaia.com/is_there_a_god/conversations/view/450977 

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!