Reflection on principles of communication/Teamwork on programming and problem-solution projects

After three months of projects from both CG1413 and CG1102, we have finally reached the end. I admit that this semester has been much more hectic compared to last semester but at the same time I feel that I have learnt many soft skills which will be extremely useful for future semesters as well as when I go out to work.

Over the course of this module, I have learnt many things about communication. But one thing I learnt which I found extremely useful was that communication is a two way process and that proper communication requires listening as much as talking. I have been trying to listen more to my teammates over the course of this module and I feel that I am now able to understand what they are trying to bring across more clearly. I realised that my teammates often have insights that are easily missed if I had not been listening carefully to them. Thus by listening before jumping to conclusions I feel that I have learnt much more from them than I normally would have.

As for teamwork, I used to think that the team leader is the only important person. But after countless projects and presentations, I have come to a realisation that every member in the team plays an equally important role. A team leader is important as he/she is the one who decides the direction of the project, but if the team members do not respect and follow the leader, the project is bound to fail. As for me, I have learnt to always contribute my best to the team no matter what role I am assigned. I realised that if I do my best and always produce what I promised, I will be respected no matter what position I hold.

I have also learnt that teamwork is all about compromise. There was once during this module where I felt that my idea was better but the team decided to choose another idea instead. I could have sulked and refused to contribute to the project, but by doing so I would have placed the entire project at risk. So I decided to do my best for the team even though I might not fully agree with the idea. As it turns out, the team did very well for the project and I am glad that I chose to compromise. I might not always get what I want but the important thing is to let the minor issues side by and focus on the main objective.

Finally, I would just like to thank Miss Brenda and all my teammates for making this course such an enjoyable one.

Regards

Corn

Reflection on Oral Presentation 2

On 25th April 2010, our group presented our problem solving project. I would say that on the whole, we did a fairly good job but there is still much room for improvement.

Individual Reflection

For me, I felt that my pronunciation was still not as clear as I would like it to be. I stammered over a number of words and this caused my overall presentation to seem a little "jerky". I should have slowed down the rate at which I was talking, thus allowing me to articulate each word better. Being nervous (although this time round it was not as bad as the first oral presentation) also contributed to me talking a little bit to fast. I should have tried to calm myself down by taking deep breaths before my turn to present. I also realized that while pausing to think of what to say next, I kept saying "erm" without realizing it. I think that this also contributed to my presentation not being able to flow as smoothly as I would like it to. I will have to put in a conscious effort to stop myself from uttering useless sounds that only serve to distract the listener in the future.

This time round, I definitely felt more confident and I felt that I did a better job compared to the last presentation. I took Miss Brenda's advice and tried not to make unnecessary arm movements. It felt a little awkward but I realized that I looked more professional after viewing the video recording. This time round I also did away with the cards as I felt that it was more of a hindrance then a help. Although I had to memorize more, I felt that it was better as I could speak more freely without always having to refer to the cards. I also tried to make my presentation more lively by injecting some humor. It helped to keep the audience attention and I will definitely try to add more humor for my subsequent presentations. All in all, I have learnt and improved quite a bit, but I still feel that I have to put in much more effort in order to be a good presenter.

Team Reflection

One the whole, I felt that the team fared relatively well, but there were some things that need improvement.

Firstly, as we did only our part for the slides and combined them without much editing, it sometimes felt as if there were 5 different presentations rather then 1. We should have spent more time ensuring that all our slides have a common theme and that they flow well. We should also have ensured that all our slides would run smoothly on the laptop thus preventing the technical errors that occurred during the presentation.

Andy spoke very fluently and he managed to bring the points across clearly to the audience. One aspect that I feel that he can improve on is maybe he should add some humor into his presentation. This way, he will be able to capture the audience attention more fully. During the Q&A session, he also did a great job to answer all the questions clearly. But I felt that he should have given the rest of the team more chances to answer as well. This is also partly our fault as we were also hesitant to answer.

Joon Wei also did a good job with his part as he was calm and articulated clearly. One thing I feel that he should do is to ensure that he understands all his slides very well. In that way, he might not have forgotten what the abbreviation stood for. I understand that sometimes being nervous makes you forget everything but maybe in that case he should have written it down somewhere or even included the full name in the slide itself.

Anni was a little nervous at first but she managed to overcome it and give a good presentation. Like Andy, I feel that maybe she should add a little humor to her presentation and try not to be so tense.

Jeisern did a wonderful job with the power point presentation and I could tell that he really captured the audience's attention. One aspect that he can improve on is his energy when talking. He should try to inject as much passion into his speech as he did with his power point slides.

In conclusion, I would just like to thank all my teammates for working really hard on this presentation. I felt that we did a good job and I hope that we will do an even better job in the future :)

Regards

Corn

Reflection on Meeting 1

Our first meeting was held on Friday at 6pm, Com1/basement. The meeting took about 45 minutes and I felt that we had a fruitful discussion. We managed to cover all the points in our agenda and on the whole, i would say that we all did fairly well for our first meeting.

We started off by updating each other on what we had done so far and compiling all our work into a single file. Next we discussed about the different classes that we using and how they would interact with each other. We ended off by delegating the work for the report and decided on a time for our next meeting.

I am glad to say that both my teammates were very easy to work with and I enjoyed the meeting we had together.

Duc was not an overbearing team leader and he was genuinely concerned about the project. I could see this because he was interested in the finer details of the project and i felt that it was heartening to see him paying so much attention to it.

Ferrino was another great asset to the team as he was not only friendly and easygoing, but more importantly, his skills in organizing and management helped us to stay on trek with the meeting agenda.

Despite all the positive aspects of our First meeting, I feel that there are some things that we can improve on. Firstly, both Ferrino and I had a long day before our meeting and our weariness was evident. We should have chosen a time where we would all be fresh and able to contribute 100 percent to the meeting.

Secondly, we forgot to appoint someone to help take the minutes of the meeting. As a result we had to reflect on what we had done and said during the meeting upon reaching home; and then send the details over to Ferrino who so graciously volunteered to compile everything.

This are my general thoughts about the First meeting and I hope that we will be able to improve on it during our subsequent meetings.

Regards
Corn

Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

No matter who you are, or what you do, a person will definitely experience conflict with another at some point of time. It may be a small incident or it might even cause the relationship to fall apart. Since conflict is unavoidable, ( unless you lock yourself in your room and refuse to talk to anyone for the rest of your life ) learning how to deal with conflicts is a very important life skill. Sometimes it is best to face the problem head on and resolve the issue while at times it is wiser to let the issue slide.

An example of a conflict that occurred recently ( I have modified the story and exaggerated it a little bit ) was between two of my friends, A and B. Friend A had recently been dumped by his girlfriend and was extremely distraught. He turned to friend B for help and being a good friend, B consoled A. He also spent much time giving A advice on how to manage future relationships.

A few months later, A found another girlfriend but the relationship turned sour soon after due to the same mistakes made by A. A once again went to B for help, but this time B refused to help A and he even called A "an immature person who refuses to listen to advice". A was naturally furious and as result both A and B are now not on talking terms.

I feel that B was frustrated with A as he did not take the advice of B. It can be very disheartening when you realise that all the time and effort you have spent are for naught. This was also the main reason behind B's outburst at A, further aggravating the conflict in the process.

On the other hand I feel that A also feels much resentment towards B. He feels that he has been humiliated because after exposing his vulnerability by confiding in B, B not only refused to help but ridiculed him instead.

I feel that the main problem now is both parties do not think that they are in the wrong and like so many other conflicts, their pride prevents them from making the first step towards reconciliation. Both of them must be made to realise that losing a friendship over a petty quarrel is not worth it. So now, how can I , as a friend of both A and B, help them to get back on speaking terms with each other? Please post your views in the comment section below :)

Regards
Corn

Observation of team behavior regarding intercultural and/or interpersonal communication

My second post is on team behavior, taking into consideration that the team members might not have the same background or cultures. What exactly is culture? In general, it is a shared or learned system of values, beliefs and attitudes that a certain group of people adhere to.

An observation that i have noted is that some team members might be more outspoken while others might be more reserved. This can be due to their character, but sometimes it can be also be because of differences in culture. For example, in some western cultures, members are encouraged to be more verbally expressive, often voicing out their displeasure if they have any. While on the other hand, eastern cultures tend to be more composed, using facial or hand gestures instead of speaking. As a result, one party finds it too noisy while the other finds it too quiet. This can be overcome if each sides takes the effort to learn more about the others culture.

So how then can we work effectively with teammates of different cultures? Here are some tips that I hope will prove useful:

1. Ask questions
This might seem very basic, but it is the most effective way of getting to know a person's culture is by asking him/her. Many people do not want to reveal how little they know about other cultures, so they refrain from asking questions. But by asking, you show interest and consideration which helps to build a better relationship. People are also more willing to look past cultural blunders if they know you are trying to learn.

2. Remember that the language spoken might not be the other party's main language.
Speak clearly and listen carefully if the other party has difficulty with the language. Learning to rephrase ideas also helps with communication.

3. Address confusion in working styles immediately.
Different cultures have different working styles, accept the approach that is used within the team and focus your strength within that approach.

4. There is no such thing as a "superior" culture.
Have an open mind and be willing to try another culture's approach.

To end off, I would just like to add that people from different cultures are all basically humans. We are all human beings with the same basic wants and needs; we laugh, we cry and feel anger as well. Sometimes we try to fit a person into a cultural mold and more often then not, they do not fit. We should be careful not to attribute too much of what a person is from culture alone, but rather, judge a person by his actions instead. Most importantly, remember that we are working for the same goal and it is not about you versus them or one culture versus another.

Regards
Corn

First Post for CG1413

Hi, this is my first post for CG1413 on the topic "Why is communication important and what does it mean to me". Feel free to comment on it and hopefully we can all improve on our writing skills :)

Communication basically is the process of transferring information from one party to another. The means by which people communicate has evolved throughout the ages. From smoke signals used by the native Americans, to phones and the internet today. Communication is direct in most cases, but it can be subtle like the use of body language to convey certain emotions.

Communication allows us to interact with other members of our society. Being able to convey and understand the intentions of others, have allowed people to work together towards a common goal, thus forming the society we live in today. Without proper communication, even a team made up of extremely talented people is not guaranteed success as there is no focus and teamwork. Each individual might do what he thinks is best but that might not be what the group needs. Communication might be so fundamental, but yet so important.

Wars could have been avoided if there was better communication. For example, the cold war could have been avoided if both sides had not decided that the other was impossible and just stopped talking to each other. It was only when President Kennedy reopened communication that a nuclear fallout was narrowly avoided. Fears of communication difficulties also lead to the introduction of the first hotline between the US and USSR. This formed a direct link between the two superpowers and allowed them to more easily discuss future military actions and political maneuvering.

To me, communication is a process of life-long learning. There is no one who has mastered the art of communication completely and only through continued practice can we hope to become a better communicator.

Regards
Corn