Effective communication, as I would say, is important not only to convey feelings, emotions and attitudes, but also to understand and to be understood by others.Communication has earned more recognition with the shift of the world towards technology and globalization. As more and more people venture out from their comforts of home they meet people belonging to different background, cultures and values.
For instance, when we consider the ethnic conflict in Srilanka, what baffles most people is how similar both the majority and the minorities are. We are of the same skin color, similar facial features, we have similar languages with common phrases and words and most of all, similar cultural values. With so much resemblance it is quite puzzling to an outsider as to what could have contributed to the ethnic conflict. The answers I would say is the lack of effective communication. Thus, it is essential to cultivate the necessary skills for good communication.
Narrowing the point, effective communication is very important to me. Why?
First of all, I am graduating this semester (talk about wrong timing with recession going on!). Thus, I need to be extra good in my communication skills. Hence, from preparing top resumes to handling interviews and then to managing the work environment, I should be at my best. As Roy mentioned this course is equipped to teach us the skills.
Next, this would also be my first time in a proper work environment. My previous experience was at an internship where I was still treated as a student. My mentors overlooked my mistakes and encouraged me when ever I was disheartened. However, in a real work environment I doubt I will get this much of support and help! Thus, like Keldren mentioned I want to achieve success!
Finally, I am an international student here in Singapore. My family is quite scattered (with my brothers abroad and my parents in Srilanka). Thus, my friends in NUS are my family. They share both good times and bad times. They would laugh with me, poke fun at me and cry with me when needed. But, truth be told we are all humans and prone to make mistakes, sometimes due to misunderstandings. So, I hope this course will also help me to resolve those conflicts and form new bonds.
edited 01/02/2009
Thank you, Thevapriya, for this insightful post. I like the way you start it using the example of the communication between mother and child.
ReplyDeleteI especially appreciate this statement: "I believe communication is an innate ability in everyone which requires some effort to be enhanced."
Your example of how the conflict in Sri Lanka demonstrates well the breakdown of communication is also insightful. All that I feel is missing here might be a statement or two about what skills you might need to enhance.
In any case, this is a very good post.
hey! I totally agree with your point that "communication is an innate ability in everyone which requires some effort to be enhanced." I believe that it is indeed some sort of human instinct to want to interact and communicate to people around us. Perhaps, it may not only require time and effort to improve and enhance these skills. I feel that courage is also another important factor, the courage and confidence to take the first step to communicate.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I feel that it is cool that you are able to relate to the environment you are familiar with as you brought up the example of the conflicts in Sri Lanka.
I like the example on the baby and mother. =)
ReplyDeleteHmm..I am just wondering that effective communication still plays a role in resolving conflicts, but it may not be the determining factor. We talked about different values and beliefs systems and different traditions and cultures. Conflict arised due to differences may not be solved just by actively listening to the other party. It is not about listening to details, listening to evaluate, listening for information, but to seek to understand and accept the differences. Notice I used "seek to", because understanding and accepting differences should come from a willing heart. A willing heart to want to do something about it after communication. So what if we listen and know that people are unhappy? So what if we listen and understand that people are suffering? Effective communication may encompasses open-mindedness but not receptiveness.
I don't know if this example is a good one, but I'm going to give it a try to get my point across. President B held many talks and discussions with another president from another country regarding stationing/withdrawal of troops in that country. He was open-minded. He welcomed every discussion. He tried to listen, he tried to understand. He knew the people's feelings in that country. However, he already had in mind what he wanted to do despite all the discussions. He wasn't receptive to suggestions given. He placed his country's interest first. Not that that was a bad thing but conflicts were not resovled. This is just my opinion. Please feel free to correct me on this because I don't always keep track of the news between these 2 countries and what the president B does.
I think, effective communication serves as the first important step to resolve conflicts, but it may not be the key tool to help alleviate conflicts.
Brad: Yes, I realised I did leave that part of information out. Hopefully, I'll include everything in post #2.
ReplyDeleteQiYing: Yes your right. I think i was little short sighted as I kept having an image of communicating with fellow students so I had missed the point of courage. Courage and confidence is definitely something I'd need to work on when it comes to the final year project presentation. (Seems like i already have part of the answer for the skills i need to enhance)
Well, Srilanka seems to be getting into headlines more often especially for an island that is small. Besides I want to share some information of myself and my background. (See now you know I am from Srilanka and not India :P)
Grace: You are right. It seems I had a typo mistake it should be "one of the answers" not "the answers".
Yes, I do understand your point and you are correct. Taking the effort to listen, to understand and then no action done is not the same as not paying attention at all. But, sometimes we tend to judge the degree of active listening to the reaction (action of doing something).
For eg. When you tell your friend you were sick and that is why you missed school. The reaction you expect is deep concern and maybe she volunteers to help you by giving her notes. But, if she responds saying "Ah ok.." and then continues to talk about other things. Your immediate reaction would either be she wasn't paying attention or didnt care for you. Since, this is your friend you would conclude it as not paying attention.
Thus, I think sometimes we tend to confuse the same way, that the higher authorities are not paying attention rather than not being bothered to take action after paying attention.
I should thank you'll for taking the time off to read and give good feedback. Keep the comments coming :)
Hey Thevapriya, I really like the example of the mother and the baby. It is the most primitive and basic form of communication. I believe that communication among humans began with this basic form of non-verbal communication. It was through many years of evolution did we reach where we are today. Therefore, communication be it any forms may indeed be innate and require further training and enhancement to master it.
ReplyDeleteAnd indeed the lack of proper communication has caused many conflicts among people. In Singapore, people always complain about one another about small matters such as "staring" incidents among the teenagers, that often resulted to violence. It often puzzle me on why it happened too? You have provided me an insight that it may be due to the lack of communication. As quoted from Hermann Hesse:"
Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud." Effective communication may indeed be the solution to all the problems we are having now.
Hey Priya, I like your style of writing very much. It's short and sweet but comes straight to the point. And I agree very much with the statement: "Communication has earned more recognition with the shift of the world towards technology and globalization.". As technology advances, there is actually a greater need for us to communicate effectively with each other, especially with all the instant messaging, shortforms and emails done over the internet, it could actually cause more misinterpretations of any language, and thus more care actually goes into making sure that one can communicate effectively in cyberspace.. doesnt it? (:
ReplyDeleteWith regards to your Sri Lanka conflict, there is no doubt a need for effective communication for them to resolve their problems. However, don't these problems go a long way back and have deepened over the years? I believe that it's often harder to change the mindsets of the older ones, and if by effective communication it could solve this, I would suppose that they first must be willing to take a step forward and come out of their comfort zones to listen. It may be difficult at first to convince them to do so, but I guess the younger ones could persuade them slowly.
Hi Priya,
ReplyDeleteI like the way you use 'innate' to remind us of how communication lives in each of us naturally. Your point sends readers back to our basic roots of expressive abilities for over the years, we have progressed through the stages of communication and most of us have actually forgotten that communication is incorporated into us since birth.
With regards to your mention of technology, I do understand that as what you have said, technology has made the world smaller and people from various backgrounds are facing exposure to one another. This stresses the importance of effective communication even more because misunderstandings may cause minor to drastic consequences, such as in the case of Sri Lanka.
Differences in human features have been a cause for conflicts in many countries but after reading your third point, it has dawned on me how communication plays such a major role in society, where miscommunications lead to tensions regardless of similarities.
HI.First of all,happy new year^_^
ReplyDelete"As more and more people venture out from their comforts of home they meet people belonging to different background, cultures and values."
You can't imagine how deep does this sentence touch my heart.
I'm alone from my university,from my hometown to be an exchange student here.It's my first time to step out this big step,and i am so grateful that i made that choice.
I make many friends here from many different countries,like you say,with different background,different cultures and different values.
I really have learned a lot from those foreigners' experience,culture and behaviours.However,i notice one thing which is globally useful in communication,that is smile!It sounds like common sense for all the people,but not all the people really know how important it is for communicating.
So if you want to make friends,keep in mind:Smile!
Next time you see me ,remember to give me a smile haha
Hi Priya! Kind of cliche by now but I really liked your example of the mother and baby! Just by holding the baby close to her chest and letting he/her hear her heartbeat, the mum is able to send the message that she is there to protect and care and that her child has nothing to be afraid of. This really reminds me of the lesson that we learn in class, that non-verbal communications makes up 70% of communication. Hence I think there is always a need to be aware of our gestures and how it may appear to others.
ReplyDeleteI think your example of conflict in Sri Lanka was really good and I feel that it proves another point - effective communication is not a skill that is easily perfected. This conflict has been on-going for several years and the government has not been able to resolve it. These government officials are people who have ample experience communicating with people of other countries hence it can be said that they have good communication skills to a certain extent. However, they are still unable to communicate effectively with their own people, which shows that their way of communication is still not perfect. Thus, effective communication is a skill that is hard to perfected on and it always needs improving on no matter how old you are.
Hi Priya, I really like the example that you used of the mother and baby. It has never come across my mind that this can also be considered as a form of communication. Indeed, this is the simplest form of communication and it really takes both parties to understand and love each other so as to convey the message across each other.
ReplyDeleteI really agree with your sentence "Communication has earned more recognition with the shift of the world towards technology and globalization.". As our circle of people that we meet expands, we're exposed to people of different cultures and values. And with people coming from all over the world, one of the most common medium of communication is through email. Emailing has indeed brought us lots of convenience to our lives but it has also lots of room for miscommunication. With different education levels and cultures, the way we express ourselves differently. What we deem as being fine may not be so to others, which sparks of miscommunication. Also, with many business transactions going through the internet nowadays, miscommunication may lead to loss of time and resources. Therefore, i think that effective communication skills is really something very important in the society now.
Keldren: The quote is so true! I have relatives who pick fight with me at times for the silliest reasons. It amazes me, how a simple phrase or sentence is interpreted completely different to the one I intended. I should thank you for this quote as it is so appropriate for those situations.
ReplyDeleteJane: Your comment just reminded me of this blog post i read on "Sms". Its quite interesting and I will try to post it on my blog.
In addition, like grace said break down in communication is not the only reason. Though I believe it is one of the important contributors.
Nadiah:Oh you will be surprised that I have more close non srilankan friends compared to the few Srilankan friends.
For eg my room mate on exchange is from France with a completely different background. I think there are more difference than similarity. However, whenever I need to discuss something I find it so easy to talk to her even though shes like miles and miles away! So I think physical appearance might not really have much weightage in communication.
Vikki: Yes, Smile is definitely one of the keys to start bonding!Sometimes I see some faces all around the year maybe because they live around the same block as I am but they hardly smile or show some recognition. Everytime I pass these people I think should I smile and then abandon that idea because of not wanting to embarrass myself if they don't smile back. Maybe now I will give it a try next time I bump into a familiar face.
Finally just a reminder you will make plenty of friends as each and every student here is away from home (even those who travel back and forth everyday) so put that wide smile of yours and enjoy your exchange here:)
Shujuan: Thank you for pointing out an interesting concept.I think this scenario has showed that experience is not enough for an effective communication.And just like you said it doesnt come easy as well. It reminds of a quote that "nothing worthwhile comes easy".
Mushu:I am sometimes stuck to one angle that i dont see the 360 degree view. When I think of communication I always think as friendship forming bonds etc. But ofcourse it has other areas like in business transactions.The corporate world has shifted so much that employees make decisions via conference calls over the net instead of having to meet up at a particular point.
Finally, thank you all for taking the time off and giving your comments. I really do appreciate it:)
hi Thevapriya,
ReplyDeleteWo i think you probably have heard this 10 times already but i still have to say that I really think the use of the Mother-Child example to illustrate the point of non-verbal communication was simply cool!
I think your point on how poor communication can lead to disastrous consequences was well explained using the example of the conflict between Sinhalese and Tamils in your country. I can understand why effecitve communication skills are so important to you. Just hoped that you had elaborated more on why communication skills is important to you currently during your stay in Singapore?