At the start of the CG1413 module, I attended the course expecting to study communication theories while writing reports based on case studies. Over the course of 13 weeks however, we explored communication, teamwork and presentation skills via 2 projects and reflected on our strengths and weaknesses in weekly blogs. During this process, we learnt and employed good communication practices in writing, group discussions and even through public speaking.
In the CG1413 project, my group decided to tackle the issue “There is a lack of awareness of the impact of diet on Global Warming”. As the topic of diet change and Global Warming was a rather controversial one, I was surprised that no one had any strong objections regarding the project. Through this, I learned that being open to suggestions and new ideas is an important in good communication.
As the group openly accepted new ideas and suggestions, we were able to come up with several solutions to our proposed topic and effectively evaluate their feasibility. These solutions included the Facebook group proposed by Duy, posters and food exhibit by Geetika. While only the Facebook group and posters were implemented in our project, we were able to discuss many other solutions as everyone was comfortable giving feedback knowing they would be given serious consideration.
Contributing and taking constructive feedback is an important skill in communication. This was apparent when I was trying to compile our slides in preparation of the presentation. With the amount of time and effort put into our project, summing up the various aspects was proving to be a trying task. The initial order caused repetition in the survey, analysis and project evaluation. However, feedback from Duy and Michael allowed us to remove redundancies from each section while Duc helped focus the evaluation on the results of the project.
During a dry run, feedback about confusing messages the slides presented was helpful in improving the final presentation. Confusion regarding scattered points I highlighted was brought up by the test audience. While I wanted to draw attention to the specified points, the fact that it confused the audiences meant that it was ineffective communication. Thus, changes were made to improve the flow of presentation as well as to better communicate its intention to the audience. Hence it is important to take constructive feedback critically as it is often an indicator of effective or ineffective communication.
How to give Positive/Negative feedback:
http://management.about.com/cs/peoplemanagement/ht/positivefb.htmhttp://management.about.com/cs/peoplemanagement/ht/negativefb.htm
During our Cg1102 project, we were required to assimilate new ideas from our lectures and implement them in our project. As we each had our own learning pace, we were sometimes unable to evaluate a solution effectively due to a lack of familiarity in a given topic.
While discussing a solution to one of the Lab tasks, I was unable to grasp the solution proposed by our group leader Russell. As we had to process a number of jobs in batches, he had suggested using a Stack of Queues to determine the order of the jobs. Unfamiliar with the topic, I was unable to visualize his solution and had problems understanding it. While I was initially uncomfortable questioning others, we had the good habit of asking questions to verify what each was saying, I was now comfortable asking him to explain his concept in greater detail. We even resorted to visual representation to ensure that the proposed solution was well understood.
Why should you listen & how you should listen:
http://careerplanning.about.com/cs/miscskills/a/listening_skill.htm
Throughout the course, I learned 3 important aspects of communication that aided in better communication, teamwork and even oral presentation. The ability to take constructive feedback by listening carefully to what others are saying allows us to improve ourselves while avoiding or resolving unnecessary conflicts. Learning to give constructive feedback allows us to work more efficiently without causing misunderstanding or conflicts. Asking questions to gain a better understanding may allow us to gain new knowledge or simply avoid miscommunications and conflicts.
So it seems that good communication can be achieved by remembering to “Listen attentively and speak frugally”.
Be Veg . Go Green . Save the Planet .
For more information regarding climate change please visit:
