Final Reflection: The journey from "taciturn listeners" to "voluble speakers"

The sands of time sure trickle fast. It feels like only yesterday that I entered into the ES2007S class. Now its past thirteen weeks. 


Truly the journey of this module has been memorable and insightful. Ranging from brainstorming over problem solving, presenting and defending our ideas to reflecting over the hiccups of the past, we students have evolved from “taciturn listeners” to confident “voluble speakers” dying to speak out and voice our opinion.


Let me summarize what we’ve learnt over these few months with the 7Cs of effective communication and teamwork.

COURTESY – Throughout this module we were made to interact with each other, collaborate and cooperate while working in teams and thus enhance our listening and inter-personal skills. We learnt to respect each other’s opinion, faced and dealt with conflicting ideas and in the process, also learnt about different cultures and thought processes.

CORRECTNESS – We worked together to solve prominent problems in Singapore, put forward our ideas in the form of the project proposal, which was questioned and tested for its validity and practicality. Working in teams helped analyse all aspects of the problem and thus prejudices, limited knowledge and other weaknesses could be avoided.

CONCISENESS – Whether it was during the peer teaching or the written project proposal and oral interaction, we learnt to be brief and yet precise, based either on time or on the amount of content.

CLARITY- Belonging to a group with members of different cultural backgrounds, it was essential for us to be clear while expressing our point of view. We learnt to overcome any language barrier and work together to complete the task at hand. Watching our oral presentation videos, we realised how important a role clarity plays, for the idea proposed to be properly understood.

COHERENCE – While preparing for the oral presentation or the project report itself, we discussed the subject thoroughly and ensured a healthy exchange and intermixing of ideas and a good level of understanding between each member of the team so that our individual parts would be coherent and inter-related.


CONCRETENESS – It is not only important to express yourself cogently, but also to defend your proposal/solution with valid arguments and polite rebuttal if its questionability is challenged, which we learnt through our oral presentation session.

COMPLETENESS – As they say ‘Practice makes a man perfect’ and indeed we have managed to greatly improve our oral, critical and interpersonal skills through the various presentations, interviews and group discussions that we have had in this module. From nervous wrecks, we have emerged confident and poised, ready to face the world and its people.


Though we spent a huge portion of this semester managing the heavy work load of this module, I feel the skills that this module imparted to me, I will treasure for life. Effective communication and team work skills are really important to succeed in this globalized world. Surely engineers do not just sit behind the chair and work!


A generous and heart-felt thanks to Ms. Lim for bearing with us. If it were not for her keen eye for identifying our strengths and her positive comments, all this would not have been possible.


Regards,
Akash

Reflection on Oral Presentation

Ensuring sustainable growth of Singapore: When we were choosing the topic for our project, this topic clearly stood out to us from the rest, and hence we chose it. However, when we started with writing the project proposal, we realized how broad this topic was, and had a bit of difficulty narrowing down our topic. Frankly speaking, I could not really identify many things to improve in Singapore, considering the quality of life and growth everyone has here. What we realized was that behind this glorious life at Singapore, there is the workforce which is making it happen. After a bit of research, we found that there is indeed something to improve on in Singapore, to ensure the sustainability of Singapore's development, the life of these migrant workers.


One interview session with a migrant worker, several personal surveys, group discussions and a million articles later, we realised that the situation of these migrant workers was MUCH more complex than what we had imagined it to be. Our group started with the project proposal just as a part of our module requirement. However, over the time it turned into something which we actually felt for, and wished to bring about a change in.


I believe that this passion is the reason why our presentation went pretty well in my opinion. Until one member of the audience commented, I did not realize that our presentation and proposal seemed a bit ambitious. After the presentation, I lend it some thought, and was convinced that we can actually bring about the change we have suggested in our proposal.


On reviewing the overall presentation of the group, I’d say all in all we managed to do a good job. We made use of creative slides with effective visual aids, relevant content explaining our observations and conclusions and supported our proposal with practical examples such as the migrant workers' dorm on Bukit Batok Expressway, so that the panel could relate to it in Singapore. But what we probably lacked, was effective time management. Our topic was very vast, one that would need a whole lot of explanation to the idea behind our solution, but alas time chose to give up on us.


Personally even though I’d say I have improved since the last presentation, I still have more room for improvement. I had prepared what I would say for each slide, and was clear that my objective was to vividly display the current problems and induce positive emotions in the audience for these workers. To do so, I believed that the video I had come across was absolutely necessary. However, this increased the pressure on me, especially since we were being timed, and I had to make sure I don't eat into my group mates' time. This set in a little nervousness in me, but I tried my best to cover it up.


Apart from the time constraint, one more thing I was confused about was my facial expressions. In presentations, generally we are expected to smile and appear friendly to the audience. However, the intensity of the problem we were dealing with made it feel highly inappropriate to smile. I decided to go with the flow of my emotions during the presentation, and could not help not smiling.


The Q&A session was pretty interesting as well. Lots of questions from the audience, some regarding the authenticity of our strong statements and some doubting the practicality of our suggestions. However, I believe our group did a great job handling each question smartly and truly. I hope we were able to convince the audience.


During the entire time, I tried to be clear and concise while speaking since I tend to get a little fast at times, and emphasized on those points that I found relevant, using effective voice modulation. I also managed to maintain a good eye contact with the audience and used appropriate hand gestures to support my explanations. However, these could still be worked on and improved.

Evaluating Intercultural Behavior

Inter-cultural communication is the process of effectively communicating with people across different cultures and nationalities in a way such that it maintains mutual respect and reduces or minimizes misunderstandings. People from different cultures interpret information in a different manner and hence this can lead to misunderstandings. Hence, it really becomes important that one should have proper knowledge and should make use of proper words to express their views. One should be really careful while talking and commenting about traditional and religious beliefs, as this might not be suitable with people across different cultures.

Studying in an international university like NUS, where we have students from different countries, following different cultures, I'm required to work with students from China, Vietnam, Singapore, U.K, U.S et al, and I'd have to say it's been GREAT fun. Learning about different cultures and interacting with different people made me realize how true the saying "Variety is the spice of life" really is.

In the multi-cultural environment at NUS, especially where there is a lot of emphasis given to team work, conflicts are bound to rise. While working as a team, it is the job at hand that needs to be given utmost priority, and in order to ensure that it be done effectively, what is necessary is that there be a healthy exchange and intermixing of ideas and a good level of understanding between each member of the team. This is only possible if each person learns to respect his or her team mates.

Different cultures may have different beliefs, opinions, and if I may say, entirely different perspectives of life. However, this is not something which should raise conflicts. In fact, we should use it to our benefit to broaden our horizon by learning from every culture we come across, and try to instill the good of each in our lives.

In spite of all the cultural differences, differences in mindsets, opinions and thoughts, what I believe in is:

“Our strength should lie in these differences and not just in similarities”.

We must learn to put aside the prejudices and preconceived notions, be courteous and respectful of each other and participate actively in each interaction, may it be in a team or in our daily lives. And most importantly, we should never let language be a barrier, which is often the main cause of all the awkwardness. Only then will we be able to make diversity our forté and not our weakness.

Resolving interpersonal conflict

How drab would life be if everyone agreed on anything you say? Its good to have everyone following you, but its no fun if those people don't place their opinions before you, if they don't heartily participate. Every human being has the right to have an opinion, and should not be afraid to express it. Now, the problem here is the issue of interpersonal conflicts. Different opinions are bound to lead to clashes. 


However, is it really a problem? I feel that interpersonal conflicts are not necessarily a bad thing. As long as they are resolved effectively, they can lead to personal and professional growth. When there are interjections in a discussion, when the team members place their view-points and argue on their correctness, it actually helps is getting the best out of the group. If everyone agreed to the leader, then how would be 'teamwork' anyways?


You might be wondering how can I rate such a 'negative' thing as positive? Please don't get me wrong here. If the conflicts are not handled with care, the results could be harsh for the entire team, leading to disruption of group dynamics and firing up personal cold-wars. Hence, its not the conflict we should worry about, but how we can resolve it is what we should think about.


Let me share with you a short story. I had gone to a boarding school for my JC. For the first time in my life, I was out of my comfort zone, into a double room with Varnan. Initially, my only concern used to be homesickness. However, soon Varnan and me started having difficulty tolerating each other. He was a nocturnal bat, while I was an 'early to bed early to rise' kind of person. Slowly, the situation turned from bad to worse.


We had a common friend Sid. He was our neighbor. It was getting difficult for him to handle the friendship. So, finally he decided to intervene, to resolve our conflict. If you were into Sid's shoes, what would you do? 

Writing an Application Letter

Job Advertisement:

	Company	Bank of America
	Job Title	Internship with Bank of Ameria- Technology Summer Analyst   Program 2011
	Location	Singapore

Overview
As a Technology Analyst, you’ll:

- Have a rich and varied working experience
- Work closely with colleagues throughout our company to build relationships
- Gain the knowledge and expertise to meet the challenges critical to building a technology career within the financial services industry
- Collaborate on exciting global projects that contribute to business success and next-generation advances


Be exposed to a broad range of technologies covering many diverse environments: 

Applications development, involving the design, development and deployment of state-of-the-art applications using Java, C++, .NET and Web Services, to power and improve our business

Business analysis, using key client-facing skills and deep technical expertise to bridge business and technology and create powerful specifications

Project and delivery management, bringing new applications online using Waterfall and Agile development lifecycle methodologies

Requirements

Strong academic qualifications are important, but you'll also need to demonstrate drive, innovation and a genuine interest in a technology career within financial markets. We accept applications from a diverse range of degree disciplines, although Computer Science and Engineering subjects are key for this line of business. Working knowledge of Java and/or C++ is essential. You’ll also need team-working, leadership and problem-solving skills plus creativity, along with the ability to work in a fast-paced environment, multi-task and interact with a variety of people. 11 weeks (23 May 2011 - 5 August 2011) Language RequirementsFluent written and spoken English  ............................................................................................................................... Application Letter:

Akash Ranka

Road,

Residence, Block, Level, Room,

Singapore- pin code.

Date: 10^th February, 2011

Respected Sir/Madam,

Application for the role of Technology Summer Analyst

I, Akash Ranka, am an undergrad student at the National University of Singapore pursuing a degree in Computer Engineering with Business and Management as my minor. For several months now, I have been keen on gaining an experience of working for a firm such as yours, as I have always been interested in the dynamic world of banking and finance technologies, and also wish to pursue management or financial studies after my current degree.

Though my experience in the past has mainly been technical owing to the nature of my degree, I have had the opportunity to be a part of Start-Up@Singapore (S@S), an international business plan competition, where I am currently serving as the Competition Director. My duties include overseeing every aspect of the competition, ranging from identifying and securing judges for the event as well as planning the various stages of the event.

I believe that the experience I garnered at S@S will serve me well during my internship, and I am certain that I shall be able to actively contribute to the firm based on what I have learnt during my time as Competition Director. I have also worked in HDFC bank which gave me a good understanding of the bank work culture, which I’m sure will help me in my internship. I have also attached my resume for your perusal.

Further, apart from allowing me to have a firsthand look into the Banking and Technology industry, I believe that an internship at your firm will help me move towards a more rounded personality, simply because of the high degree of quality of service that is strived for and attained at Bank of America.

Yours faithfully,

Akash Ranka

Enclosure: Resume

Importance of effective communication

Before pondering over the importance of effective communication, let us take a minute to think about what effective communication really is. In any conversation, apart from the content, our body language, facial expressions and vocal tone also have an impact on how well the message is conveyed. An ideal mix of all these factors is what makes communication effective.

What is the point of a conversation if the message is not conveyed properly? What is the value of a lecture or seminar which does not leave the audience captivated? It’s all about making the communication effective.

There are not many fields in life where you can succeed unless you can place your ideas effectively before your audience. Being a student pursuing a major in Computer Engineering, I realize this fact fully. In any of the firms I would put on a list of my dream places to work, more than a thorough repertoire of technical skills, the ability to communicate effectively is what is preached and practiced religiously. Having brilliant ideas means little, getting the world to believe in them is the real peak that needs to be scaled.

The impact of being able to communicate your thoughts, visions, ideals and dreams effectively permeates far beyond just work. Whether it's keeping your marriage from becoming just another file on that increasingly tall pile of divorce papers, or it's bridging distances with your friend from a different continent, effective communication isn't just something that's "good to have". 

It's something we need.