Final Reflection on Learning

After 12 weeks of ES2007S, this module has come to an end. I felt more accomplished as an individual as I have picked up valuable skills which I can apply in the future.
When we entered the classroom for our first lesson, we were taught about establishing our personal identities and brand. This made me think through a lot about myself and how I actually portrayed myself to different people.

Thereafter, we went through other aspects of communication like story telling and creating the perfect resume. (I was in charge of peer-teaching for this part as well!) I was personally very proud to see that my mock resume being used by some of my peers. (Nigel and Isabelle)
Moving on to our team project where we had to describe and propose solutions for Digital Divide within the elderly, we felt pressured against time but prevailed eventually through teamwork and good work allocation. Working with peers whom you knew for less than 7 weeks can be a challenge at first, but to have a balance between getting the project done and team dynamics can be difficult and I think this project is a good way to do so.

In the end, we finished off with a summary of all the aspects of communication and revisited the topic of personal branding. I liked how this module rounded up all the topics of communication with the first lesson of ES2007S, ending off this module with a big bang.

Reflection on Project Proposal-challenges, triumphs, learning points, possible improvements for the next group project

Having finished our oral presentation and proposal, I felt that I've learnt a lot in terms of team interaction, work allocation and also time management. The proposal did take up a lot of our time as we needed to complete it within a time frame, but I feel that working against time is very realistic and it has helped me a lot in handling pressure. I have also become better at accepting ideas from a different standpoint from different people in my group and this has allowed our final proposal to materialise.

Charlotte has been a focal member of our team. She sets a certain standard for herself and consistently helps me to improve my oral presentation without giving me any form of pressure of any sort. Her contribution to the proposal and research is extensive and she is certainly resourceful in getting information about the project.

I have worked with Isabelle during the peer teaching which made me more comfortable going into the project. However, this did not deter her from showing dedication in completing the project. She gives very good suggestions during our meetings and can be shown to be a exemplary team member to future projects she participates in.

As for myself, the triumph from this project is the knowledge I gained about the digital divide through all the work I've put into the project. Another triumph I am proud of would be the 2 team members whom I can consider as good friends as the project not only shared our ideals about solving digital divide, but it has bonded us as friends as well.

For me, the greatest challenge of this project is to meet all the project deadlines with all the tests going on for my other modules. Fortunately, our team had good time and work allocation and we were able to overcome it. One possible aspect to improve on would probably be our thought process during the meetings. Some of us tend to digress from the main problem which lead to some waste of time. However, I believe that this can be mitigated if all of us had straightened our train of thought earlier in the project.

In my first year of NUS, I took up the post of vice chairperson of Civil Engineering Club and had to manage a team of NUS students also from CE to work on a certain upcoming event. Two of them were Indian (A) and Chinese (B) respectively. I have tasked A to work with B to send out an email blast to inform the NUS CE cohort about the event so that they could sign up. As a leader, I hoped that members A and B could take charge themselves and not just follow orders from me. Hence, I tried not to interfere unless absolutely necessary.

However, B called me one day and said in a dominating voice that she could not work with A as she could not agree with A's working style. B also complained about communication issues with A as well and requested to work with another Chinese member as she feels she can work better with her. I called A to find out what the issue was about. A's tone was more subtle and explained the situation to me calmly. According to A, he was trying to understand the steps necessary to complete the task. However, B already has an idea on how to draft out the e-mail and felt A was wasting her time. He could feel that there was a conflict but chose not to care as the task was at hand. I scheduled a quick meeting the next day to settle any differences they had and they seemed to understand each other better after more time working together.

A's approach to the task was more cautious compared to B's style where she would rush to complete everything as soon as possible. Both had their own ways but they came to a compromise due to the urgency of the task. I think that when it comes to handling such conflicts, both of them should look to compromise and understand each other's style of work instead of avoiding the problem. This way, things would work out smoothly and we can avoid any further intercultural conflict.

 As I was growing up, I've witnessed a number of interpersonal conflicts within my circle of friends and when this topic came up, I recalled an incident that happened during my secondary school days. My friends 'A' and 'B' were taking some worksheets from our class monitor one day and 'B' was tapping 'A' constantly to ask 'A' to get a set for him. 'A' felt irritated and shoved his hand away and said 'Go away!' in a very irritated tone. A few other classmates, including me also jeered 'B' as he always makes us do things for him.
               
Things escalated quickly and 'A' and 'B' argued very loudly after that and hence 'B' started pushed tables and chairs down to vent his anger. 'B' was pretty big in size so he was pretty scary. But, some of the classmates, including me tried to stop 'B' by telling him to stop acting like a kid and throw things around because we have seen a few incidents where 'B' lost his temper. He felt even more angry that we were all against him and started shouting to me about not being a true friend. I calmly said, ' It's because I treat you as a friend that was why I want you to stop acting like that now. Whats the point in throwing all the chairs and table like this? He already apologized to you already. Just let it go.' He stormed off after that but strangely he came back and helped to put back all the chairs and tables with us. He also said sorry to everyone else for shouting like that.

I felt that I handled this situation quite well, even though I felt that if we did not stereotyped him as a bully all the time, this misunderstanding and conflict would not be present in the first place.However, I feel that it is situations like this that help me handle workplace conflicts as this is something that is bound to happen in some point of my career. I feel that if we did not stereotyped him as a bully all the time, this misunderstanding and conflict would not be present in the first place.