A picture like that always invokes a good long laugh. The honestly hilarious mistakes that we see ever so often bring much joy to life! However, in a sense, I am also reminded how important good communication is. In the case above, a harmless mistake has occurred. However, more often than not, miscommunication does lead to negative effects such as confusion or anger in one or more parties.
My life experiences so far have vastly broadened my views on communication. One particular example that stands out was my time in National Service. I was vocationally trained as a counseling assistant. For 2 years, I had the opportunity to learn and hone the skills of an actual counselor, communicate with many different military personnel, my own bosses and peers; of all ages, backgrounds and personalities. I thoroughly enjoyed the professional and personal relationships that I developed in that period, which wouldn’t have been possible if I could not communicate properly.
I decided to take ES2007S because I knew there was still much more I could learn about professional communication. Certain things such as job interviews still scare me to death! I am also considering between a career in engineering or teaching, and certainly both require a good amount of effective communication tools to navigate the workplace.
I feel what I could benefit most from this course is learning how to communicate professionally in a workplace setting. For example, in the leadership positions I’ve taken in the past, I’ve always found it difficult to lay down rules and demands for fear of offending others, even though I knew work needed to be done. Yet I’ve seen good bosses make motivating their staff to work look so easy. This is one such skill I hope to be able to get a better understanding of.
Hey Benedict,
ReplyDeleteI really think that the picture is really funny! It is true that sometimes miscommunication may be funny, but sometimes it may hurt or offend someone unknowingly, which we all want to avoid it from happening! Also, I’ve been in the same situation as you in a project group. It is very hard to tell the other group members to put in more effort or motivate them, we doesn’t want to sound bossy and turn our friendship sour just because of the project, yet we know we have to do something. Hopefully, with the help of the course, we’ll be able to handle this type of problem in the future. All the best!
guoren
Hey Benedict,
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting that picture and sharing your views on the importance of effective communications.
I agree with you that ineffective communications might send the wrong message across to the listeners, leading to various kinds of situations which results in laughter or even anger.
Like Guo Ren, I faced the same situation when doing project work with people. It was an awkward position to be in as I find it difficult to tell my project mates to speed up their work progress without offending them. I also want to find the right words to motivate my group mates without letting them think or feel that I’m being too commanding.
As such, I believe effective communication is an important asset to oneself as it will allow one to bring his ideas and thoughts across effectively, thereby reducing such situation from arising. One will also be able to motivate his project mates, and in future his subordinates, without making them feel pressurized. =)
Hey Benedict,
ReplyDeleteLike you, I do find joy in reading such articles about sign boards with poor English. However, as I read them, I have to admit that sometimes we do incidentally make such mistakes as well (perhaps just not as glaring =p).
Wow I never knew there was such a thing as a counseling assistant in NS! Wells, at least none of my friends who have been through NS were one. It reminds me of my previous dream of becoming a psychologist or counselor. But my fears of internalizing people's problems or being in the situation of not knowing what to say or saying something that will make the person feel worse prevented me from taking that career path eventually.
I think having been students for at least 14 years or more, we can also all empathize with you about the need to have effective communication skills as teachers. I'm sure many of us have much to say about teachers who just can't teach- who always read off their transparencies, who 'love' talking to the white boards (in primary and secondary school at least), who speak in the most monotonous voices and much more. But then again, I never thought of teaching as an easy vocation so I still do give them my respect.
If you do become a teacher in the future, you would adding to my statistics of people who studied Engineering and became or want to become teachers. Hope that with time, you would have more direction and that with these course, ES2007S, we'll all be able to communicate effectively wherever we are :)
Gah sorry I keep forgetting to leave my name haha.
ReplyDelete-Jia Lin
Thanks, Benedict, for your sharing.
ReplyDeleteI must commend you for the very effective use of graphics here, leading your readers into the topic proper. Good job!
Like your sharing of your NS days when you were a counselling assistant - I'm sure we would all like to hear more about your experience communicating with the different groups of officers in the military. How difficult or easy it was, the challenges you faced etc. Would you mind sharing your stories with us in class this coming Thursday?
You also mentioned the challenges you faced as a leader, and that you would like to learn how to communicate professionally with the people you are working with. From the responses generated, it seems that you are not alone. I promise I will make time for this discussion this Thursday as well.
This is a thoughtful post you'd shared and I know I will be looking forward to your next post.
Ms. Lim
Hey Benedict,
ReplyDeleteYour post is very interesting,and the picture is so funny! I've seen examples of many other sign's like that and I was amazed how sometimes, changing one word in a phrase can twist the meaning to a completely different one. This shows how important it is to know how to communicate properly, with minimum mistakes.
Job interviews are certainly scary, and I too will have to face them soon, and I am not looking forward to them. But I hope that this class will help us all immensely to prepare for interviews so that we can face the interviewers with confidence.
As to how one can be a good leader, I also have the same problem, especially when I have to work on a project with close friends. I try not to order them or demand them to do their work in case I offend them but then, it ends up with some of them not taking me seriously and slacking off. So I was glad when I saw that Ms. Lim has mentioned that we'll be having a discussion on that topic.
I hope that you get to learn a lot from this modules and I wish you all the best! :)
Hey everyone,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments =)
Jia Lin:
Haha yes, there's actually an in-house counseling service in the SAF. It is mainly staffed by qualified and trained counselors of course. The other NSF and myself form the support/admin staff, but we are also trained to provide some minor counseling roles.
The experience was initially a bit scary for me too, it took some practice to learn how to internalize others emotions and problems yet not be overwhelmed by them. My trainers were really helpful. They told us not to worry even if it seemed like there was nothing we could say or do to help. Often, reflecting the counselee's feelings, rephrasing the problems in different perspectives etc. will help each person find his/her own solution to the problem. The listening ear is also key to showing them we care; so even though we cannot solve their problems for them, we're willing to listen and provide a comforting presence.
I think something we're lacking more and more in Singapore is making time; time to just sit down and listen to each other (and God/a higher being for those of us with religions). I've personally enjoyed the fruits of living my life in such a way, it helps bring meaning and a deep composure in my life, and develop all my relationships too =) But before I digress too much... okay! I'll be sure to tell you if I ever become a teacher haha.
Ms Lim:
Thanks for your encouragement! Yup sure, I'll be glad to share my NS experience if you think it's beneficial for the class =) Oh and having a discussion time for the leadership topic would be great too!
Cheers
Ben