Post 1: Effective communication

This is not what effective communication looks like

Prior to the consideration of the importance of effective communication skills, we must first understand what possession of these skills entail. To me, these skills are the key to effective communication. Effective communication is when the sender and receiver share the same message and thus keeping misunderstandings at bay.[1]

 

In my opinion, having effective communication skills are important because communication plays a significant role in our everyday life! Even when we think we are not communicating, we actually are. We communicate not only through verbal means, but in actual fact even things such as the way we dress is a form of non-verbal communication. Communication, being an integral part of life, influences my profile, emotions, educational endeavour and relationships. For example, communicating effectively would assist me in sustaining and developing satisfying relationships. This has been proven in many researches such as one conducted by Malcolm Kahn who found a relationship between marital satisfaction and accuracy of non-verbal communication.[2] Hence the understanding and the management of effective communication skills is of great importance.

Effective communication skills will also be important for my future occupation. Having the skills to communicate effectively would give me an edge in both the acquisition of a job and moving up the corporate ladder.[3] These skills are especially applicable for my intended field of tourism and hospitality. In this field, collaborations with others (different companies, departments, etc) are frequent and the ability to communicate ideas accurately would greatly reduce misunderstandings and lapses of information. Teamwork is also common in this job and effective communication skills would allow me to not only be able to clearly give instructions and assign work to my team but also through my communication I would be able to encourage, motivate and reduce friction with my fellow members, building an efficient and cohesive team working together towards a common goal. Furthermore, working in this sector, perhaps more than any others would require me to interact with people from all over the world. In this globalized world today, where traveling has been made convenient by airplanes, encountering individuals from different cultural background and societies has become a commonality. For an effective interpersonal communication with culturally different individuals, I need to be conscious of such differences, know how cultures differ and understand how these differences would influence communication. Hence, possession of communication skills such as cultural sensitivity would be essential.

Upon reflection of Thursday’s session, one of the skills that I have to refine is my ability to “brand” myself and communicate to my employers about myself through the resume. Personally, the difficulty that I face is in translating some of the skills I have into words and illustrating them in a convincing manner. In my opinion, words can sometimes have a limiting quality to it and it is not easy to describe and conjure up words to illustrate the point that I would like to drive across to my potential employer. In addition to this, the difficulty also comes when I have to strike a balance between letting the employer know my abilities and being perceived as arrogant. I would need to be tactful in how I sell myself and I believe that the upcoming activities for the course of ES2007S, such as the application letter and resume, would enable me to obtain valuable feedbacks and hone my skills in this area.

All in all, effective communication skills play an important role in all my communication endeavours, personal or professional and therefore the acquiring of these skills is of immense importance. This road of acquisition is not merely confined within the classroom, but also putting what I learn into action in my everyday life. I shall thus embark on this learning journey of endless possibilities.

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[1] Mindtools. “Introduction to Communication Skills: Why communication skills are so important” Retrieved January 27, 2013. (http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/CommunicationIntro.htm)

[2] Malcolm Kahn. 1970. “Non-Verbal Communication and Marital Satisfaction” Family Process 9(4). Retrieved January 25, 2013. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/doi/10.1111/j.1545-5300.1970.00449.x/pdf)

[3] American Management association. “Interpersonal Communication Skills in the workplace”.  Retrieved January 25, 2013. (http://www.flexstudy.com/catalog/schpdf.cfm?coursenum=97003)

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