#7 Final Reflection

In my first post, I mentioned that effective communication is an important tool for survival in our society today. After going through this module, I'm truly convinced that effective communication is a lifelong process and needs to be honed. It has also further emphasized on the importance of effective communication and highlighted the intricacies of it. For example, not only do verbal or non-verbal cues influence the communication pipeline, discerning intercultural behaviour is just as important for effective communication.

In retrospect, this module has offered me numerous ways to progress towards effective communication. Learning about effective communication and practicing it has been such a dynamic and enriching process. Blogging, blog responses, classroom interactions and written assignments encouraged me to move beyond my comfort zone and adopt new approaches towards effective communication. What is so fascinating about this module is that I have learnt quite a bit from my peers through their blog entries and how communication plays a part in our everyday life. However, I have to admit that responding to blogs wasn't the most exciting thing to do throughout this course. Yet, this seemingly cumbersome task compelled me to read critically and respond coherently to the blog posts using the 7Cs for effective communication.

As the module draws to a close, I would like to thank Ms Goh and all my classmates for a fruitful three-and-half months. The word 'professional' has a sense of serious decorum and blandness. However, this module is anything but. It has been an enjoyable experience - making new friends and taking home the many valuable skills of effective communication. Cheers!

#5 Open Topic: Cheek-to-Cheek

As this week's blog entry is an open topic, allow me to share my experiences in Rome. In particular, the culture I experienced.

In the summer of 2007, I was in Rome for a 3-week leadership course held by the International Catholic Charismatic Services. While on my Europe escapade, I was privileged to be accompanied by my friend, Daniel. We left for Italy with great anticipation and expectations, having the support from family and friends in our community. Since the course was held at an international level, we met people from all over the world - Ghana, England, Spain, India, Australia, America and not forgetting Italy. Hence, it was a gathering of people from different cultures and background.

Being in a foreign country as well as the youngest participant in the course, I was rather intimidated. There were some occasions where I felt uncomfortable while interacting with fellow participants. There was this one occasion where we were encouraged to greet one another. As the saying goes, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." (And in this case, it's taken literally.) I followed their way of greeting - cheek grazing. In fact, everyone in the room, regardless of where they came from, greeted each other in the same customary way. I actually found it quite amusing since all of us were doing it in different versions. For instance, some of us made the "muacks" sound while others just merely brushed their cheeks with one another. I guess I saw the funny side of it since some of the participants were rather klutz.

In the light of professional communication, the proper way of "cheek kissing or grazing" is of paramount importance especially for global business correspondence. However, the tricky part comes in as "cheek kissing or grazing" differs from country to country and not executing it properly shows disrespect. For example, it is a social norm in the Netherlands to have a three-cheek kiss instead of two. Another difference in some cultures is when women make the discreet kissing sound when they "cheek graze" which is seen as a friendly or feminine gesture to further embellish the greeting. These cultural differences in different countries present an etiquette challenge. Therefore, given the importance of social norms and cultural differences in conditioning market transactions, one should delve on the proper greeting machination before entering into any face-to-face overseas business correspondence.

#4 Evaluating Intercultural Behaviour

This incident is not one which I'm proud of. The story goes like this:

Back in my secondary school days, I used to hang out with a bunch of friends. There was this time when we were out together and while we were crossing the road just outside Peninsula Plaza, we saw a middle-age man wearing a turban. Immediately, my friend gave me a pinch on the arm and exclaimed, "What colour?! What colour?!" This was our "ritual"- whenever we see a person wearing a turban, we have to say the colour of the turban. Whoever doesn't say on time or says the wrong colour, gets an excruciating pinch on the arm. (Click here for an illustration)

Being immature and oblivious teenagers back then, we thought it was rather hilarious but it proved otherwise. Amidst our mini "ritual", the man came stomping towards us with his face cringed. I was trying to figure out what he was saying though the background noise seemed to drown his words. However, as he closed in, his voice became more distinct and audible. I was scared stiff. Never in my life had I heard a person utter such expletives with such speed.

He brought us to the side of the road and confronted us, demanding to see our student ID. His face wasn't a tinged relaxed. His bloodshot eyes and stern bellowing voice said it all - we were in trouble. ...

In retrospect, what my friends and I did was immature and culturally insensitive. Not only did we cross cultural lines but the religious line as well. Our actions would bitter the relationships between the different racial entities in society and "burn the bridges" of intercultural communication. We were in fact encroaching into his personal sphere of practicing his own culture and religion. Instead, we should have practiced cultural relativism in a multicultural society such as Singapore.

Before we have engaged into a conversation with the man, my friends and I had already created a barrier for effective communication by our rude gestures. Hence, for effective communication, there is no room for ethnocentrism and one need to have a proper disposition by maintaining respect for the other. Indeed, learning to be empathetic and taking into account the complexities of human relationships and cultures are hallmarks of an effective communicator.

#3 Business Correspondence Critque

Below is a letter my girlfriend received a few days ago.

(click on picture to enlarge)

Generally, the letter possesses most of the 7Cs in writing as well as the principles of business correspondence. Firstly, the writer began by thanking the recipient for using their services. The tone was objective, formal and non-controversial. In addition, the letter was reader-friendly - the main ideas were stated clearly in bulleted points. The writer also used very simple language which was clear, concise and without errors. By providing adequate information and contact numbers the writer also achieved the last C - Completeness. In short, the writer had written a coherent and cohesive letter.

In writing a 'Bad News Message', one needs to be tactful in the tone and language used. The writer had certainly tried his/her best in doing so. For instance, in point 4, " We request you to settle these immediately so that your borrowing privileges will not be disrupted on 1 April 2009." I wouldn't know how much further one can improve on this sentence to make it sound more polite.

On the other hand, there are some areas for improvement. One, the salutation should be personalized, i.e. the recipient's name. This is because addressing the recipient by name shows sincerity. (However, this is a free service. So I guess this is why NLB doesn't bother so much.) Two, as mentioned previously, the language used was objective. However, by underlining and writing the words in bold (seen in point 3) is tantamount to writing thousands of exclamation marks for that phrase. One may regard it as being assertive but it could be seen as a threat.

I'm not too sure if many of you would agree with me on my last point on the words in bold but feel free to make comments. =)

#2 Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

The most brain-scarring conflict that I've ever encountered thus far was the time when I was involved in a squabble with my church friend, Fabian. We grew up together within the same social circle - playing soccer, hanging out and were involved in church youth activities too. In a particular year, we were both serving in our church funfair organizing committee where I was the chair person.

On one occasion, I was on the phone with another friend. Somehow or another, our conversation topic led to Fabian. Certain things were best left confidential although I recalled that my sharing was neither malicious nor conceited and it was not intended to derogate Fabian. However, the confidentiality of my sharing was breached and comments misunderstood. Initially, I was apologetic but it soon morphed into anger. There were many occasions in which I tried to explain myself but Fabian just wouldn't listen. Whenever we bumped into each other, we'll either pass snide remarks or scoffed at each other. Over a short time, our friendship deteriorated to a point where friends within our social circle were implicated too. As a result, there was a great divide among our friends and the majority took sides with Fabian.

This conflict occurred at a crucial time when it was a couple of weeks before the funfair and there were still a number of issues to be addressed. In addition, this didn't help when there was a schism within the organizing committee which comprised of the people involved in the conflict.

If you were me, what would you do to ensure that all the administrative and logistical matters are settled so that the funfair would run smoothly?

#1 Effective Communication

I loathe it when people insult science students about having all the knowledge on how the world goes round, but have no clue on how to express it when it is required. However, that being said, I don't really blame "those people" from mocking us- science students, since the lack of communication skills were evident in history. (check out these sources: Bueno(1999). The Craft of thinking: Logic, Scientific Method and The Pursuit of Truth or Penrose(2004). Writing in the Sciences: Exploring conventions in scientific discourse.)

Are these stereotypes still relevant? Is it possible to effectively explain a simple scientific concept to a room of executives from a MNC or a Thai villager? How can one convey a message that is void of ambiguity while hitting home the core message?

Indeed, with good communication skills. all these can be achieved. In our world today, "No man is an island". Though this statement sounds cliche, it still holds some truth. As our society is intricately interconnected with one another, information exchange is free-flowing and human contacts through various channels are limitless. No one stands alone. Unless one devotes one's life to seclusion as a hermit or a Carmelite nun, human communication is an important tool for survival.

To be an effective global scientist, the ability to understand the target audience is as equally important as knowing the facts. It's about analzying the situation while deciphering cultural sensitivities, and then adopting the appropriate channel of communication before interaction. These and all the other aspects of communication should be honed by everyone - regardless of age, gender, race or occupation.