Blog Post#5: Communicating a new me

With my group's final presentation just recently concluded, surprisingly, I found that presenting a set of slides to an audience never felt so less intimidating. Having the audience take the role of a person involved in the proposal doubled the challenge of the presentation by demanding that we be acutely aware of the audience throughout the delivery of the presentation. With the feedback given by Ms Goh, we re-angled our presentation to suit our audience, almost totally revamping all our slides in the process. Personally, I thought our presentation, displayed a marked improvement in audience awareness as compared to our very first set of slides, and it is this awareness which I felt was the strength of the presentation.

We drew simple mindmaps and brainstormed for the possible concerns or questions that OSA and OED might have, and subsequently tried to address them in our presentation. Specific references to Mr Seah, whom we had interviewed, and to OSA and OED separately were done all with the intention of showing audience awareness. This is certainly one important presentation skill which I hope to extend to any presentations I might need to do in the future, in school or in the workplace.

Having said that, one area which I felt we could improve on was the fielding of questions from the audience. The questions came thick and fast, and seeing my fellow group members' hesitation in answering them, and that most of the questions were concerned with my portion of the presentation, I answered a majority of the questions. But on retrospect, I should have allowed Kent, since he is the team leader, to direct the questions to either ZhangJiao or Jerina or even answer them himself, while I could substantiate their points if needed. This should improve the effectiveness of our "question and answer" portion of the presentation, and is certainly another presentation skill that I would like to take note of.

With the peer teaching presentations before the mid term break, and almost 5 weeks of hard work culminating in the final presentation, I felt I have profited from this module in a number of ways. Chief amongst them is learning to pose appropriate thought-provoking questions to blog posts or group discussions. Often, I observe members of a group tend to submit to "group thinking", meaning to simply accept a person's suggestion without evaluating it. By playing the devil's advocate, and ask key questions pertaining to the suggestion, we can then all be forced to re-think one's agreement, and can thus lead to an even better idea.

Secondly, is learning to be receptive of viewpoints contrary to what I hold. Often, I find myself getting a little defensive of my own suggestions, and refuse to accept any ideas dissimilar to mine. But I found that through the blog posts and work on the proposal, I had ample opportunities to practice doing otherwise, and I unexpectedly found that a greatly gratifying experience. Learning to accept and see from another's point of view, actually allowed me to understand the strengths and weaknesses of my viewpoint even better, and should it prove not viable, accept the other viewpoint.

Albeit having picked up a number of skills from the course, one area which I aim to improve in is in adopting good turn taking strategies in group discussions. I think sometimes I get a little carried away with my suggestions, and prevented others from suggesting otherwise. To address this, i think a good approach would be to ask the other members for their opinions at various points in the discussion, and subsequently encourage everyone to speak their minds. This should give everyone a fair chance to express their opinions, and be greatly beneficial to the group's discussion.

In all, this module had been a fantastic journey, equipping us with practical communication skills that we could apply in the work place. Possessing excellent communication skills are quintessential skills for almost all occupations, and as an aspiring engineer, I think the skills I picked up should put me in good stead for my future job.

Finally, I would really like to thank Ms Goh for giving such insightful feedback, without it, I am certain I would not have learnt as much as I have now, and not forgetting all my classmates, if you are reading this post, a BIG thank you for making this an enjoyable 13 weeks!

Below are 2 interesting cartoons I thought I could share with you:

Why communication is so important

Every presenter's nightmare!

Lastly a video you could watch when you're next preparing for a presentation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR6J3w9cWvk

Blog Post#4: Evaluating Intercultural Communication

A Tale of Two Pizzas

Looking at the potentially deadly impact intercultural conflicts have had through history, such as the 18 deaths related to the Maria Hertough riots in the 1950, or more recently, the July 2009 massacre of more than 150 Han Chinese by the ethnic Uighurs in Urumqi, the capital of XinJiang province, the importance of having good intercultural communication cannot be stressed enough even on the personal level.

Although I was fortunate to not have witnessed any serious intercultural conflicts, an incident I encountered, which will be described in greater detail in the following paragraphs, while I was at Universal Studios Singapore left me wondering whether it could have been better handled by the people involved.

I was at Universal studios yesterday, and to escape the crowds and satisfy an empty stomach, I wandered into Loui’s NY Pizza Parlour, which claims to sell authentic American Pizzas. While I was queuing up to order, I noticed a group of four women in front of me placing their orders for pizzas. Judging from their appearances, I guessed they were Indonesian Muslim women.

One woman pointed at 2 of the 5 pizzas on display and the store assistant quickly took 2 slices of pizza and placed them on plates. The women then took the plates off the counter, but just as they were about to leave for the cashier, another store assistant who happened to pass by took one look at the pizzas and warned them that all the pizzas they had ordered had ham in them. Shocked, the women almost dropped the plates, and upon learning that almost all the items sold contained pork, left the restaurant visibly upset.

My first reaction was one of incredulity, since he should have known that the pizzas contained pork, and could have at the very least informed them. But on hindsight, he was after all a Filipino, from a predominantly Christian community, and might not be aware of such religious practices. Furthermore, the women were not wearing the traditional tudungs, making it even more difficult for him to have identified them. As for the women, they could have on their part, assumed that the counter staff would inform them of the pizzas’ ingredients.

Personally, I think this issue highlights the importance of not pre-judging a person based on one’s own cultural norms. For both the Filipino and Indonesians, they could have clarified with one another on the issue. Even if it turned out that they were non-Muslims, taking the initiative to ask would be a most sensitive and appropriate move. Navigating through cultural differences can often be a tricky but inexorable task, but if one could adopt an open mind and avoid pre-judgments, cultural conflicts could be minimised while maximising trusting relationships.

Blog Post#3: Application Letter

An Aspiring Quantity Surveyor

Job Description:

	Company	Woh Hup (Private) Limited
	Job Title	Internship with Woh Hup (Private) Limited- Engineer / Quantity Surveyor
	Location	Singapore
	Date Posted	Tuesday, February 01, 2011
	Closing Date	Monday, February 28, 2011
	Company URL: www.wohhup.com Company Address: 1 Fifth Avenue #03-01, Guthrie House S268802
	Responsibilities
	Job Description: -Site supervision and engineering works -Progress inspection / reports -Other assignments to be determined on-site Specific projects/learning outcomes: -Acquiring, evaluating and interpreting information -On job training shadowing engineers in the daily running of the site -Apply knowledge to the task, exercise good time management skills
	Requirements
	Job Requirements: -Students undertaking civil/ mechanical/ electrical engineering & quantity surveying course -Can work independently and also in a team -Diligent and assertive Application Letter:

Chan Ho Zong

37A Paya Lebar Crescent S(536078)

81251123

E-Mail: hozong.chan@nus.edu.sg

6 February 2011

Woh Hup (Private) Limited

1 Fifth Avenue, S(268802)

#03-01, Guthrie House

Application for the post of Engineer/ Quantity surveyor

Dear Human Resources officer,

I am currently a Year 3 Mechanical Engineering undergraduate from the National University of Singapore(NUS), and I am expected to graduate in May 2012. I got to know about this position through the NUS career centre’s online job application site, and I am particularly interested in the potentially challenging job nature of a quantity surveyor.

I thrive on engineering projects requiring teamwork, and had ample opportunity to do so through several design centric projects in the university. My well-rounded education and rigorous curriculum in mechanical engineering has equipped me with the relevant skills to source and analyze information, and subsequently present them in a clear and concise manner through presentations or reports. I have prior knowledge in Microsoft Excel, Words, Powerpoint, C programming language, as well as 3D modeling in SolidWorks. These academic preparations and experiences working in a team will put me in good stead in facing the challenges and demands of this field.

I enjoy working with people, which I do so through the various activities both on and off campus. I volunteer regularly at a home for underprivileged children, where in addition to my role as publicity director, I aided the Treasurer in managing the finances of the club. In doing so, I derive satisfaction from balancing the accounts through sheer diligence. Similarly, I am sure I will be able to extend this diligence I take with my work to tasks assigned by your company. Having taken up various leadership roles such as representing the university as a student ambassador, being on the central planning committee for special projects benefitting the elderly, and in my part time job as a senior project instructor, I have learnt how to effectively assert my opinions or influence where it matters. Comfortable working independently as well as in a team, and lead should that need arise, I believe that my attitude, experience and skills will be pertinent to this position. I have a strong interest in this position and I wish to have the opportunity to learn and contribute to your company as an effective engineer/quantity surveyor.

Thank you for your time and consideration, and I look forward to an interview with you.

Yours sincerely,

Chan Ho Zong

Blog Post#2: Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

Bashing through a brick wall

As part of our department’s effort to implement a “design centric curriculum”, I had to take a module which required us to work in groups to design a solar panel prototype for industrial use.

My course mate, Zack, whom I have been on good terms with, asked me to join him and a few other friends on the project. I agreed, and after the first meeting, I was voted the group leader. I quickly split the task of researching the project topic amongst us, and arranged to meet up the following week.

The following week, at the meeting, Zack surprised all of us when he started showing us graphs. It turned out that he had, on his own, carried out a day long experiment. He had even prepared power point slides to explain the experiment. At the conclusion of his slides, I realized the experiment was totally irrelevant to our project, and that he had jumped straight into the experiment without setting out any experiment objectives. I had then ventured to ask him politely about his intentions of the experiment.

He quickly turned defensive and insisted it was crucial information. Fortunately, I was backed up by another member, who pointed out some of the major flaws of the experiment. At this point, Zack clearly looked infuriated, and accused us of ignoring his valuable contributions, and claimed we didn’t respect him by questioning him. He refused to listen to any explanations and left the room in a huff.

Given that my group is still at the vital brainstorming stage, what should I do as a group leader to get him involved?

Blog Post#1: Importance of effective communication to me.

As I approach the conclusion of my third year in the university, all of a sudden, the thought of looking for a job in a year’s time never felt so real and intimidating. For me, my journey through university had been one of discovery and exploration. I took arts modules as well as Business modules to gain a better understanding of the world we live in. To my surprise, I realised that there was a basic similarity to all these subjects, and that is: human interaction. I came across a quote by Albert Einstein, whom once said:

“When we survey our lives and endeavours, we soon observe that almost the whole of our actions and desires is bound up with the existence of other human beings. We notice that our whole nature resembles that of the social animals.” (Albert Einstein, 1934)

Even engineers, who rarely work with large groups of people, are still required to work in smaller teams, as well as with other teams to solve engineering problems. As an aspiring engineer, I think should I possess the skills for effective communication, it would be a cinch to overcome any challenging tasks assigned to my team.

On a more personal note, as a secondary and junior college student, I used to fear presentations and any form of public speaking so much that I would be practically be shaking and perspiring even before the presentation. During the presentation itself, I will probably be caught stumbling over my words and stammering into incoherency. These reasons were what gradually led me to believe learning to communicate effectively via written as well as verbal means, is an quintessential life skill that should prove useful whether I am looking for my first job, or am well into my job as an engineer or otherwise.

An introduction

I chose to take this module as a means to learn more about how to present myself in an appropriate way whether it is to an audience or in crafting an email to an individual. What drew me to this module was the numerous mini projects that students are required to do. I feel theories are quite easy to understand, but having to put them into practise is quite a different matter. Though the module requirements can sound intimidating, I think I can learn useful and effective communication skills through this module.

I named this blog “one last thing” as a reminder for myself to avoid a bad habit of jumping into the content of a verbal/written message without ensuring the message is concise and complete. Often, I realised I frequently ended up saying “oh yes, and one last thing”, and then proceed to attempt to explain in greater detail. As a result, the person I am communicating with can end up lost and disorientated.

I do realise I still have alot to learn, even from you, my classmate. Please do feel free to comment on my posts as and when it strikes you to. Thank you.