[04] Evaluating Intercultural Behaviour

With the coming age, more and more people are required to travel and work in different places. As they travel, they bring along their culture and practices. Differences occur even between people of the same race. Intercultural conflicts often arises due to differences in practices.

Here is a first hand account of an incident where differences in practices had led to misunderstandings.

I was traveling with my family in Taiwan. We were going up the escalator and standing to the left of it. It was then I realized we are getting weird stares from the locals at the back. I dismissed it, thinking that they probably find us tourists special and hence looking at us in a different light.

We went on to board a train. After boarding, we saw the elderly seats unoccupied and we went to sit at the seats. It was then those weird stares came again. I was puzzled at their behavior.

It was until much later, that I realised from a Taiwanese friend of mine and my aunt working there, that it was the norm to stand to the right of the escalator to allow a lane for commuters in a rush. It was also a norm for them to keep the elderly seats unoccupied.

In Singapore, it was keeping to the left on the escalator. Unoccupied seats, despite reserved for elderly, will be taken and re-offered when in need. By bringing our culture there, it may seemed like we are right. This differences in practices had led to misunderstanding. The locals probably thought of us as not being civic minded and being rude and inconsiderate.

There is no right or wrong in this context. Being the minority, it will be better to conform to avoid tensions.

[03] Job Application Letter Critique

Link to Job Description
http://jobscentral.com.sg/viewSimpleProfile.php?eid=40092&jid=263053

Block 119, #04-79
Bukit Merah View
Singapore 152119

6th February 2011

Miss Cindy Chiang
The Synergy
1 International Business Park
Singapore 609917

Dear Miss Chiang,

Application for the Position of Associate Project Manager

I chanced upon the Covance website and learnt that you are currently recruiting people for the position of Associate Project Manager.  I am very much interested and would like to apply for the position.

Being from a Bachelor with merit (Chemistry major), planning and organizing my time well is a crucial skill as I am required to manage my time wisely and to plan my actions ahead of time. It includes the planning of my actions from the start of the experiment to the final milestone of drafting up a proper report.

Besides my field of study, my participation in student leader clubs and societies like the National University Student Science Club had further hone my skills of presentation, teamwork and planning. As part of a planning executive team in the Student Orientation Week 2010 and a publicity executive in Dinner and Dance 2011, we were tasked to come up with a detailed programme layout with a few others. This requires coordination with many different departments within the committee and attention to small details. It emphasizes the importance of teamwork and the urgency to resolve any interpersonal conflicts, which is essential in the scope of the job. Constant presentations of my ideas during the club activities had empowered me with the confidence to speak in public and to question when in doubt.

Generally, I love to work with people. Cooperation is the key to greater achievements. I am quality conscious and determined once I set my goals.

I strongly believed that both involvements in event coordination had served well as a learning platform for me and I will be able to handle the challenges presented in this job. I believe these qualities are essential as an associate project manager and that I have what it takes to fulfil this duty perfectly.

I have attached my resume and relevant documents for your consideration. I can be contacted at 90907359. I hope to receive your reply soon. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,
Terence Kee

[02] Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

Conflicts are, no doubt, a big headache to everyone. Everyone would want to be happy and at peace with the situation they are in. Nobody likes to be arguing and screaming at people all the time. In order to maintain a harmonious working relationship with people, conflict management are becoming an important soft skill. This is where our EQ (Emotional Quotient) comes into play. Conflicts happen around me all the time. Arguments with parents, siblings and relatives occur when our point of view does not coincide. Squabbles occur with your friends when you fail to grasp their point. Conflicts with working partners happen when they fail to deliver work which is up to your expectation.

Let me get started on conflicts which are prevalent in many clubs and societies in our school days.

The story goes like this...

Setting:

Mr B was tasked to organise the sales of a product during a bazaar and to work out the strategy to market the product. After which, he would have to convince the whole committee to accept his proposal and the delegation of work load to the rest of the committee.

After his presentation, the rest of the committee had given tonnes of feedbacks on things that he has to look out for and things they hoped to see included in his plans. After a week or so, Mr B was supposed to finalise the details of his plan so that the necessary arrangements could be made.

However, when the final proposal was submitted, it contained minimal changes. Reasons to why the feedbacks are not taken into account were not given. This really puzzled a lot of people. Some were angered at the fact that their opinions were not taken into account. Some others believed that Mr B was right in his decision, supported his stand in not changing the proposal. Mr B then goes on to make comments such as “the rest demanding too high of a standard for my work” and “nitpicking  my proposal”. So what can the Director, Miss D of the whole project do to handle the tense situation? What can the others do to help?

Background information:

Mr B is a good friend of Miss D, as well as a couple of people within the committee.
Mr B is a person of pride. He takes his work seriously and tries his best to do what he can.
Unfortunately, Mr B is known to be insensitive in his words and say harsh things to people. It is especially true when it comes to talking to his friends. But, his friends accept him for the way he is and do not take what he says to heart.

This is a true story. The names were replaced to protect the identities of the people involved.

[01] Effective Communication Skills

Communication is a part and parcel to everyone’s life. But are all of those communications considered as effective communication? I doubt so.

So, what exactly is effective communication? Before the first lesson, my interpretation of effective communication would be being able to speak my mind clearly and expecting the other party to get the message. It seems that I was mistaken about it. Effective communication is an art. It is about sending out your message across to the recipients and them, receiving it correctly and accurately. Simple as it sounded, it is actually a very complicated life skill with many components to learn.  

There are verbal, written and non-verbal communications. In verbal communication, the tone of the message plays a part in determining the actual meaning. In written communication, the wording of the message is important. In non-verbal communication, trivial actions will give tell tale signs of the other person is actually feeling. Each type of communication comes with its own drawbacks and should be used appropriately. For each type, they also have their own sets of guidelines to watch out for.

Personally, I feel that this skill is worth a lot, especially in future where we had to keep an active social network in order to facilitate our advancement in our own field of expertise. Every profession will have uses for it. A lecturer needs it to teach the concept his/her students. A salesman needs it to be able to persuade customers to buy from him. A researcher needs it to generate clear and concise research reports. By being able to communicate with our colleagues and managers, it also minimizes misunderstandings and improves work efficiency.

When it comes to our own personal relationships, it helps us to communicate and control the tense situation. Through communication, I also learn that emotions can tweak the meaning of the message that we want to send.  A simple question such as “WHY DID YOU DO THIS?” compared to “Why did you do this?” will convey a different message. The former suggested anger and some form of blame whereas the latter shows more of an enquiry type of question. It is important to know the best way to express oneself such that one can avoid giving off the wrong idea while communicating.

To end off,  below is joke about communication breakdown.

Communication Breakdown

The reason the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines squabble among themselves is that they don’t speak the same language. For example, take a simple phrase like, “Secure the building.”
• The Army will put guards around the place.
• The Navy will turn out the lights and lock the doors.
• The Air Force will take out a 5-year lease with an option to buy.
• The Marines will kill everybody inside and make it a command post.