Critical Reflection on Course

When I first started this module, my initial goal was to improve my vocab and presentation skills. Over this past 13 weeks, I feel that I have gain more confidence when I am presenting. I have also become more accustomed to online social networking. As for the skills and knowledge that are related to lecture materials, I feel that I can better relate and work with others. The lectures have also shown to me how important is it for us to manage and improve our communication skills as simple gesture or phrasing can have different effect on different people.

 

Through the lectures that I have attended, I have come to a better understanding on how different people with different personalities can be motivated or demotivated by the way I communicate and act. Non-verbal skills and listening skills are few of the important skills that I have learned. Through different gestures we are able send out underlying messages or further enforce our ideas. It is also important for us to identify people’s listening style to know how to communicate with them efficiently and prevent our message from being misunderstood. We have also learned about different leadership styles and how to use them to adapt to the situation. I have also learned as to how  important it is for us to learn the various communication skills so to adapt to different people.

 

On a personal level, I feel more confident and have an easier time to voice out my opinion during formal events and presentations. I have also learned to think about my opinions and thoughts before acting or saying. A good example would be the recent presentation done in class. Though I have much to improve on, I felt less nervous as my team had prepared the day before. To conclude, this module has help me to improve my presentation and communications skills with different people.

Blog #3: Interpersonal Conflict(Revised)

Conflict is usually viewed as evil in nature, as it  tends to strain the relationship between people and may lead to disastrous consequences. This happens when different parties have opposing ideas which clashes with one another. Other times it could be due to miscommunication, which lead to misunderstanding and possibly conflict. The common end result of conflict usually has one party being the victor but that is not true for all cases as different parties can try to compromise to find a middle ground. An example of an interpersonal conflict, is the conflict that occurred when I tried to resolve the issue with Jacky work. 

Last semester, our class was tasked with an assignment to code a minesweeper game. During the implementation of the codes, Jacky kept running into errors and his result  was incorrect. Since I had completed the assignment, Jacky asked for my assistance to resolve his issue, however most of his codes were messy and difficult to read. I tried to persuade Jacky to change his coding style, but he was adamant to stick to his current codes saying “I want to be unique from other people”. Another issue that came about was due to my lack of directional skill. I am known to confuse my left and right direction occasionally. During the explanation of the algorithm, I unintentionally confused Jacky when I said the opposite direction to the direction I was pointing.  Eventually, I  was able to rectify my issue and compromised my standards to assist him in his work.

From here,  it shows how compromising can resolve conflicts, but it takes a while before both party can come to an agreement. This may not resolve the main issue however, which can then cause future conflict. But conflict can be beneficial. As shown, I was able to find out my mistakes and fix them. This shows that through conflict we are able to progress further in life as we try to find new solution and rectify our mistakes. So is conflict truly evil in nature and should we try our best to avoid it or, should we let it happen?

Blog #2: Non-verbal communications and Listening style (Revised)

From the previous lessons, we have learned that communication is not limited to only oral, written and digital format but can also be done through body movement, tone, and other non-verbal means. We have learned five non-verbal cues that can supplement the message. Repeating, contradicting, substituting, complementing and accenting. While one party is sending out a message, the other party should listen. However, every person has their own listening type that they more inclined to but not necessarily limited to. A person listening type could be either Action, Content, Time, or People orientated. Through the understanding of the opposite party listening type, we can alter our communication style that would fit the situation. The two people whom I have decided through observation for this report are my parents. Most of the time my parents would talk about their daily life while eating dinner where my most of my observation is done. 

My father is usually the listening party and it can be observed he is more people-orientated while doing so. He would rarely interrupt someone who is speaking and would try to understand the speaker. This allows him to reply in an appropriate manner that would ensure the other party would not feel hurt. While communicating, he will use complementing cues to reaffirm his statement such as pointing at the object or showing evidence of his message. He would rarely use substituting cues while speaking as he wishes to get his message across directly, however at times he had advised me the thing we say may be hurtful and would require a subtler approach, by using the different non-verbal skills when trying to get the message across.  

As for my mother, she uses accenting cues when she speaks. She rarely uses body language when conversing and rather gets her message across through the different of tone and accent. While listening, she is more inclined to content-orientated listening.

My father’s communication skills are well-developed, this is due to the fact he has been exposed to different situation and the ability to interact with people of different management level is vital. Whereas, my mother tends to interact with those around her which usually involves work. We can see how different environment, work life and people around us can change or develop our communication skills.

 

WEEK 2: Strength, Weakness and Goals for Communication Skill. (revised)

Though I may seem to be able to communicate with others, in truth I can get very nervous and stress out when speaking with others. I also tend to misinterpret and misunderstand messages from the other party.  As for myself, I tend to use simple words and express my ideas openly and directly to prevent my message from being misunderstood. Due to this, when I try to focus on being professional and express my ideas in front of large crowd, I start to get nervous making harder for me to think. During informal conversation, I tend to voice out my thoughts  which has as times cause me to unintentionally hurt others and make those around me unhappy. As for digital communication, most of the time I tend to text in short sentences or a single word. It has gone to the point I would have sent multiple texts to the receiver rather than having send one text that would encompass my whole message. I also find it a hassle to do online networking and social interaction. Part of the reason is because I feel unease when conversing without hearing or seeing the other party.

Even so, I am able to socialize with other people informally even if they are strangers. I also try my best to be cheerful and positive most of the time even in stressful situation. The positivity help to alleviate the atmosphere of the conversation and make it easier for other to interact with me. I usually use simple words and ideas when I am conversing with others. This allow the other parties to understand my messages more easily.

Hopefully, through this 14 weeks of COMMUNICATION Class, I will able to increase my vocab and grammar. I also hope it will improve my skills to speak professionally in public as well as my online social networking skills.

 

WEEK 1 COM REFLECTION
The development communication skills of one owns communication ability is quite important in our modern society.  Personally, I would hope to developed my own skill to the point whereby I can easily interact professionally even when I meet new people. This skill is very beneficial when it comes to work life, as first impression is very important if we wish to succeed. Without proper communication skill, there is high likelihood of misinterpreting the other party which could cause issues that can affect the relationship between the two parties badly.

As of now, my communication skill are still lacking in professionalism and usage of proper grammar and sentence structure. I can start by utilizing more of this social sites such as Blogspot and Facebook to express my thoughts. Through this I might be to lessen my stress when speaking publicly.

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