Sunday, 26 January 2014

Blog Post One: Effective Communication Skills

It has just been a week since we started classes for ES2007S and I already feel that the lessons have enabled me to broaden my perspective on what effective communication is all about.  Having had some exposure and experience in theatre, hosting and public speaking, I would admit that I had almost taken for granted that I would be naturally proficient in the art of effective communication. But now having gone through the basics of communication with Dr Jaidev, I have come to understand and realise that effective communication is a multi-faceted domain, requiring continual study and practice on the part of anyone who wants to master this art.  Being amongst the youngest in class, I have also much to learn from the experiences of all my peers at the workplace or on various projects they have engaged in.

In this first blog post, I wish to highlight some of the skills that I wish to refine and master by the end of this module so I can begin to communicate effectively. This list would not be exhaustive of course, as I have yet to delve deeper into this subject in the course of this module.

1.   Communicating with seniors from Gen-X and the Baby Boomers category as well as with people from different cultures and backgrounds.

Effective communication with various groups of people will not only enable me to learn from them, but also create a more conducive and productive working environment. Style-typing and Style-flexing would certainly be skills I would like to master.

2.  Communicate effectively through writing 

I have a tendency to be slightly long-winded in my writing (hahaha as you might have noticed in this blog post). I wish to work on being more precise and concise when communicating through this channel.

3.  Listening actively and questioning effectively

Active listening might be a skill that I would have to put in the most effort to master. I do admit to giving in to some of the incorrect practices while listening such as thinking of an answer while the person I am communicating with is still speaking. Questioning effectively would also be an important skill that would help me obtain the essential information required.


To end off my first blog post, here are a couple of comic strips on effective communication! 






4 comments:

  1. It is great to outline skills that you would like to acquire or work on so that you can focus your energy. For a start, I recommend reading personal development books like 7 Habits of the Highly Effective Person by Stephen Corvey and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

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    1. Hi Jerry:)

      Thanks for your comment. I would definitely check out the books you mentioned. I'm sure they are both great reads and would be beneficial to me for communication in this module as well as outside!

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  2. Hi Ankita, I appreciate the fact that you've written a post on Effective Communication but the first graded post is on Resolving Interpersonal Conflict and I don't see that here.You need to actually describe briefly a specific incident in which there is interpersonal conflict, analyse what happened there and then state what could have been done to avoid it.

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    1. Hi Ma'am,

      I apologize for this slightly late blog post. I was facing problems with network connection in my room at PGP (residence) last night and I was unable to post my second blog post. I have now published my post on Interpersonal Conflicts. Thank you ma'am, and so sorry again for the delay!

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