Communication is the bridge in any relationships. It may be a casual chat with a friend, work discussion between project teams or even school discussions with professors. This daily affair of transmitting information from one individual to another can be a very complex process due to the various communication barriers involved.
As a student, it is tremendously important to communicate effectively especially in school projects. Everyone has different working styles and working in a team situation requires frequent and open communication. Conflicts arise easily when individuals cannot get their idea across or misinterpret each others’ feelings. Coherent verbal projection allows gradual progression of project work leading to success and happy partnership. Written communication also affects our academic performance especially in formal writing, scientific research report writing or written examinations.
As I step into the working environment, effective communication skills in the workplace are vital. Written communication is important during the search of my first job. The first impressions I can provide from my resume and job application letter determines the possibility of recruitment. Good writing skills are imperative as work requires various methods of written communication. It projects our professionalism and helps increase communication accuracy. Effective communication would play a key factor to the success of one’s career because it is an essential component against interpersonal, intergroup and intragroup relationship. Good communication between the people I’ll be working with enables a better rapport and understanding thus creating a harmonious working environment. Oral skills are utmost important during interviews, dealing with colleagues and bosses and work presentations.
We’re connecting with people every day and it is important to maintain healthy relationships. Adapting effective communication skills enhances my ability to share information with the people around and to understand their thoughts and feelings. It allows me to be more expressive and impressive to reach out to a larger social network.
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You have thought about the topic from every angle. I suppose another inportant thing to bear in mind is that in our communication with each other we should also consider what we hope to achieve from the delivery of our words. For example in a group work scenario you could ask yourself whether what you are about to say furthers the aims of the project- Mrs Richardson
ReplyDeleteHi Melissa,
ReplyDeleteYou're right that effective communication skills such as writing a good resume, eloquence in interviews and ability to foster good interpersonal, intergroup and intragroup relationships are important in the job application process. I recall a particular recruitment talk that I have been to in the past, the MD of the company mentioned that their selection process involved putting applicants through psychometric test and projects assignments, on top of interviews that typically form the recruitment drive in most other companies. His mentioned that while breaking applicants into groups to work together on project assignments, they would be more effective in observing their leadership skills, ability to work as a team and oral skills. As such, it can be seen that job recruitments are getting more holistic with the way they gauge the capabilities of individuals. Thus, putting academic performance aside, good communications skills should be an imperative for success in job application.
Cheers
Caroline
FIRST!
ReplyDeleteWell, I have noticed that for celebrity blogs, everyone wants to be the first to post a comment. In fact, some people even comment before reading the post, so as to ensure that no one will beat them to it.
However, our blogs seem to be quite the opposite. Almost everyone has read it but no one wants to comment. I wonder why... ...
Back to your post, I just want to point out that I feel that the main problem with working in groups, especially in school is not the misunderstandings or miscommunications. It is the barriers to active listening, in particular the one up attitude as mentioned in the textbook.
A typical scenario is where some group members think that their ideas are better than others (for some reasons or other that I shall not elaborate). As a result, they do not value the opinion of the others. In turn, those who are not appreciated tend to contribute less from then on. This results in lack of communication between team members and even in uneven contributions between team members. This often leads to cases of "freeloading". I believe the original intention of the "guilty" party was never to freeload. He or she is likely to be a victim of circumstances instead of a victim of choice.
In conclusion, I believe that effective communication between all parties involved in the group project can help to reduce such problems in the future.
Am I still the first?
Hmm... I guess I was fooled by the backlog of comments that were waiting to be approved. =(
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I just wanted to say that the job selection process is rather interesting. (I haven't to been to one myself) In fact, the focus shifts towards what we are truly capable of, instead of how well prepared we are for the interview or how well our resume and cover letter were written. I also agree with Caroline, that in this case, Effective Communication skills become even more important for a successful job application
Hellos!
ReplyDeleteWow, nice and fast post!
I do wonder what it would be like to be on the other side of being able to communicate effectively. Say a person with Wernicke's or Broca's aphasia. One cannot produce meaningful speech, and his words are fluent, flowery and totally devoid of any logical content. The other is able to come up with content, but is unable to express it in words and what comes out is a very haltering speech of few and repetitive words. How would you feel if you were caught in that situation?
To Jackson, i believe the "freeloading" you refer to is called social loafing. Very common in work group settings and i find it interesting that you feel effective communications can alleviate the problem. Novel idea! :>
I like to add on to what Jackson has said about the one up attitude in group projects.
ReplyDeleteI guess whenever we encounter someone who has a poorer command of the language, we first wonder aloud to ourselves, "What is he/she talking about?". Then, we switch off completely, thinking that this person probably cannot add much value to the discussion. I am guilty of that, especially when encountering new lecturers from different countries. In my first year of studies, I figured that I will never be able to make sense of the heavy accent, so why bother listening? But when exams were around the corner, I immediately regretted it. Hence in the next semester, I decided to listen attentively, regardless of difficult it may be. It may have been difficult at first, but much to my surprise, it did not take long for me to get adjusted and to start understanding the contents. It turns out, some of these lecturers are actually very good at teaching.
What I am trying to say is that having a poorer command of a language does not necessarily mean that one cannot add value to the lectures or group discussions. If we as listeners made the effort to be active listeners, we could gain more out of the interaction. As discussed in class, being active listeners is another aspect of effective communication.
Good communication between the people I’ll be working with enables a better rapport and understanding thus creating a harmonious working environment.
ReplyDeleteIn class, we talked about the environment as one of the factors affecting communication and here it suggests how good communication can bring about a harmonious working environment. So i guess it is like a virtuous cycle and we will have to be careful for it not to be a vicious cycle.
Tan Ching =)
Hi Mel,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on the things that you have said as I realize that we are both along that line, facing the same job search problem etc.
Talking about the use of effective communication in school projects, I would like to share my personal experience. I recalled that in my junior college days, we had to do a group project that last for a year (PW if anyone of you remember). What happened was that I was assigned to do it with 2 girls who were quite close 2 guys who were also quite close. Thinking that I am so called the “odd-one-out”, I did not feel very comfortable conversing with them, sharing ideas and voicing out my disagreements etc. Although we did try to communicate effectively, not enough effort was put in apparently. Needless to say, we experienced quite a few misunderstandings and arguments in that 1 year due to the lack of effective communications back then. From then on, I do not have a liking in group projects because I feel that it just made people quarrel over all kinds of issues that are project related.
But thinking back now, group projects are actually good because we learn through mistakes. As we step into the working society, we are going to meet all kind of people, whereby some are not easy to work with. Thus, group projects are actually like training and preparing us for such kind of situation should there be any. And to avoid miscommunication and misunderstanding, effective communication is the key.
To Samantha, I think I should adopt that too, although it is my very last academic semester. =)
- Chau
Hello Melissa,
ReplyDeleteLike the rest, I do agree with your opinion on the importance of effective communcation.
In addition, I feel that nonverbal cues and building intercultural-interpersonal relationships are as equally vital as your above points.
Adopting the right gestures when dealing with business associates of different cultures are imperative to maintaining good intercultural-interpersonal relationships.
your rite...When the the word "communication" is said most of the people think of only just face to face communication.But writing skill is also an essential factor to show ourselves to the society.Eg.A writer.For entering into a job,CV is the most important thing which determines the value of the person and which determines the selection of that particular person for entering into an organization.So as you said effective written communication is also important as like as oral communication...
ReplyDeleteI think sometimes a very prominent barrier to communication would be our own perception, which is the way we perceive things. The problem is that our perception is greatly influenced by our biases, whether we realize it or not. For instance, let's say we have harbour some form of discrimination against someone of a different race or nationality. No matter how the person try to communicate with us, we will just "shut out" that person and won't listen to whatever he or she is saying, even if it something that will benefit us. I think the same goes for the lecturer example mentioned by Samantha. When we choose to perceive the lecturer as "difficult to understand", we don't bother listening to him or her anymore. Likewise, we also choose to only pay attention to lecturers who are "funny" and tell "good jokes" and doze off during classes when we perceive a lecturer as "boring" and "not funny".
ReplyDelete