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Critical Reflection on Learning in the Course Final Blog post

Based on my first blog post, I had mentioned that I hope to improve my emotional intelligence so that I can communicate effectively on complex/practical engineering activities with the engineering community and with society at large, such as, making effective presentations, and giving and receiving clear instructions. I also planned that through this course I can anticipate communication problems which could guide me picking the right channel to communicate. To sum it up, the two objectives are to improve my emotional intelligence and to anticipate communication problems which can help in conflict handling. To a certain extent, I think that I have achieved these two objectives that I set on the first week. Throughout the course, I have learnt many interpersonal skills and also conflict managing skills which made me grow to become a more effective communicator. One important lesson that I will always remember is the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKCMI). Using the TKCMI, I a...
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Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

So what   makes   conflict ?   Perhaps  the  cause  of  conflict  is  due  to the  lack  of  communication  between two individual or even because of a  clash  of  personalities .  I would  like   to  share   my  personal experience of a  conflict  situation that  happened  during  my  days serving National Service  (NS) .  One day, we were  doing  our arms  cleaning  routine,  my   buddy ,  Ken  was  cleaning  his  rifle  and  realised  that one of his  rifle   cleaning  equipment, a bronze brush has gone missing.   Knowing  the dire consequence of  losing  a  piece  of military equipment,  Ken  started to panic and rummage around the  place .  As  I  was stationed rather close to  Ken ...
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Evaluating Listening Skills & Nonverbal Behavior

When two people or more people interact, by evaluating their verbal and non-verbal cues, you can get pieces of information which can lead to a better understanding of communication. I had the opportunity during lunch to observe a small group of male corporate workers who sat opposite me in a restaurant. Based on their appearance, I can tell that they are quite well-to-do due to their branded watches and well-dressed suit. The 3 of them are Chinese, one of them is distinctly older than the other two, and the older one seems to have a higher authority which means that the other two are his subordinates. The reason, I presume that is because the older one gave off the impression of a leader due to some non-verbal cues during their interaction. Firstly, the two younger men give off a weaker impression, as they kept on smiling to the older one while the older one did not smile back. From this non-verbal cue, I can tell that the youngers are showing a sign of shallowness which may be to impr...
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E-post 1 "Strengths and Challenges of Communication"

Personally, I think I am not an effective communicator, despite that, I feel that I may have some strength in communication. One of the strengths that I have in communicating with others is that when conversing with them, I give my utmost respect by actively listening. By concentrating on what they say it helps me to understand the other side better; I imagine how is it like being in their shoes and provide a more suitable way to reply. I also try not to discriminate others regardless of their races, religion or their way of life. When communicating with people with lower IQ or EQ, I will talk to them equally without any prejudice. One challenge I have when communicating with others is when facing difficult situations I may have poor management with my emotion which may cause others to be unhappy. An example is after a long and tiring day of school due to project work. After reaching home, your parents begin to reprimand you for being so late, and this is when I may show an annoy...
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