Ian's brain farts

At the beginning of this module, I set myself out to improve on my clarity and conciseness with regards to communication. Examples of these include common occurrences of beating around the bust and sometimes, even completely missing whole points. Despite this improvement being a progressive learning experience with each lesson, I can confidently say that I have made significant improvements with the guidance of Dr Uma and my fellow peers. Through the feedback from the posts and even presentation practices, I have undoubtedly taken the steps forward in the right direction.

The pro-activity of each lesson incorporated sharing sessions between the class on topics which allowed me to also further utilise my strength of emphatic listening. Meanwhile, through the process of communicating my ideas across, also improving on my conciseness and clarity.

My personal targets aside, through the various write ups on ethics and interpersonal communication, I was also able to share with my classmates on situations that had previously posed a challenged to me in the industry. Together with their feedback, I was able to garner a better understanding on a range of solutions from different perspectives on how I could have possibly addressed the issue.

Some of the scenarios that my classmates shared were also very unique as reading their posts enabled me to put myself into their shoes. This nurtured critical thinking on how I would have best approached the problem had I been in their position.

Even though I have refined my clarity and conciseness from this module’s teachings, I look forward to continually improving these set of attributes along with the others that constitute effective communication. In consistently nurturing my communication skills, I am positive that this will also enhance my working relationship in the future as well. As a famous quote by John Powell States “Communication works for those that work at it”.

During my internship as a project assistant at Informa exhibitions, I was tasked with actively communicating sales information with clients and managing the company’s various marketing channels. These assignments were entrusted to me by my boss, the exhibition director.

The interpersonal communication problem I faced during my internship was a lack of empathy. This incident happened when I was given a task to market an upcoming event. Though I had existing deadlines to meet, the exhibition director still requested that I do up a press release in traditional Chinese for this event.

Upon informing my boss on my weak Chinese capabilities, she reprimanded me and informed me that I should do this task on my own, to improve upon my Chinese. She also made it very clear that she needed this done within the day. Despite me feeling uneasy that she had placed her own personal targets before my travails, I agreed to get it done as I knew that my internship grades would have otherwise suffered. However, together with balancing my other assignments, I was ultimately not able to complete the task. Therefore, my exhibition director was exasperated and my relationship with her suffered as a result of this.

I have identified two best sets of solutions for the interpersonal communication challenge in which I faced. Firstly, I should have communicated my concerns to the exhibition director in private and politely inform her on the possible negative repercussions should I have continued with the task on my own. However, if she still insists, I should suggest that I do it under her guidance or collaborate with a colleague that has a higher proficiency in the Chinese language. By employing these methods, I believe that I will not only showcase my positive attitude but also practice effective conflict management, which are both invaluable interpersonal skills.

From,

Ian Gerard Goh

Undergraduate student of the Hospitality Business Degree

Singapore Institute of Technology

25^th January 2020

To,

Dr Uma

Career and Professional Development Professor

Singapore Institute of Technology

Subject: Self introductory email

Dear Dr Uma,

Thank you for this opportunity and it is with great pleasure that I introduce myself to you. I am Ian Gerard Goh, an undergraduate in the Hospitality Business degree with the Singapore Institute of technology.

My passion for the hospitality industry can be observed through my development over the years as I started this journey with a Hospitality & Tourism diploma in Nanyang Polytechnic. Specialising in MICE, my team and I emerged victorious in the annual MICE challenge back in 2015.  We also won the opportunity to attend the prestigious Professional Convention Management Association meeting which was held in Vancouver. It was an eye opening experience that allowed me to further my knowledge of the MICE industry.

My professional experience consist of an internship stint with Informa Exhibitions, where I was a project assistant. This was followed by a fashion associate role at Salvatore Ferragamo and later, a brand ambassador for Duty Free Singapore.

I have always enjoyed communicating with people and prided myself in having the ability to hold a proper conversation. Through these conversations, I have learnt to develop my strength in empathetic listening. This taught me that as much as I enjoy two way conversations, it is equally as important to listen to understand and not just to reply. This allows me to effectively and confidently communicate with various individuals and to also manage my own emotions . With this said, I still find myself lacking in clarity and conciseness when I communicate. This leads to digressing off topic and sometimes, completely missing relevant points.

It is evident that I need more practice in this area of communication and with this module, I hope to achieve that and to also further strengthen my effective communication as a whole.

Best Regards,

Ian Gerard Goh