How I feel about es2007s

Hi all!

How fast time flies, so fast another semester has passed. I have definitely learn more stuffs and skills about communicating effectively. Not only, to maintain eye contact for the sake of doing, but also to observe the reaction of the audience and use that to create rapport with the them. Next, will be to use appropriate gestures to capture the attention and not confuse the crowd. For this, I still need more practice to produce better gesture for illustration. Another important point, is to use the 7C's in our presentation.

For the peer teaching, I did not use any que cards, as I feel that a presentation without que cards will be more professional or 'zhai!'. Ms lim recommend and told me that usage of que cards does not means it unprofessional. I should have accept it and not insist of not using for my proposal presentation. During the final presentation, I felt more nervous and miss out certain points, I regret as I could have redeem myself with Ms Lim's advice.

After presentations, I thought that it was bad, as I felt nervous. Surprisingly, after reading my classmates comments, it wasn't as bad as I expected! I kept looking at the negative stuffs I have done for my presentation instead of looking at the positive points! Furthermore, with the help of a recording presentation, for the first time in my life, I can see how I present, which is not as bad as I expected! Lol..

I hope everybody in class did gain some useful insights and most of all, did learn to communicate effectively. One main thing I have to say is this module does not only teach me about communication, it actually help me know and learn more about myself too. This is one significnt factor which I won't be able to do that for most, if not all of our engineering modules.

Good luck to all for finals!!!

Final Presentation Reflection

I think that I have delivered the contents in a clear and coherent manner for the first part, but I was a bit tense for the second part and was unclear what happened. Not sure if it was due to the nervousness or not enough practice. My plan was to introduce the product before moving on to the next slide. That part was messed up and incoherent as I noticed confusion in the audiences. However, I managed to direct the audiences’ attention to the key point which is the simplicity of the product. During the second part, I was supposed to tell the class about the duration of the upgrading project. After the presentation, I was told that I said “1.5 months” instead of “1.5 years”, and I said it twice! And I totally was not aware that I have said it wrongly. I tried to relate the topics to friends and relatives of the audiences, so that they will be able to connect to me. I guess I could convey the message more effectively if I could reach into their heart.

Presentation really needs a lot of practices. I thought I have prepared enough the day before, and I would be able to make an impactful speech to the class. Well, it was harder than expected when you step into the limelight. One tends to tense up and nervousness will make one rush through and get things over quickly. I still have not get use to enjoying and feeling comfortable when presenting. Perry advised me to talk to the audiences as if they were friends. That is easier said than done! I feel that in order to reach out to the audiences, you would have to enjoy presenting to them and also to speak from your heart.

Working in Malaysia

Last summer break, I have worked on project in a subsidiary company in Malaysia. Although both companies are doing the same things and selling the same products, the companies culture are actually quite different.

The interpretations that I will mention later on is just my personal views with no offensive objective in mind. The culture in the companies is not an indication of the countries culture.

One very interesting observation I made in the Malaysia Company is, workers do not have to start work on time. Their normal start time is 9am, and I saw workers coming to work at 10am or 11am. I knew that they were not late as they are not panicking. It seems to be their normal routine. The first idea that came to mind is “Wah! They so relax one”.  Whereas in the Singapore Company, punctuality is a crucial factor, as it sort of reflects your working attitude. This also reflects the “law by law” attitude created by Singaporeans.

I asked the manager during lunch about the incident, and I guessed I was too straight forward, and she seems a bit furious about my view on their culture. I tried to explain myself that I was curious and not scrutinizing Malaysian culture. Luckily, she was able to understand the point I am coming from. She explained that she trusts her workers and elevates various restrictions as long as they are able to complete their work. We can see the boss and workers have very effective communication between each other.

After this incident, I always tried to rephrase my questions on their cultures in a more neutral perspective to avoid any miscommunication. After awhile, the manager also gets used to my straight forward questions. :X

It was really interesting to work in a new environment as you can understand different cultural experiences in the process.

Job Application Letter

Blk 426 #06-338

Jurong West Ave 1

Singapore 640426

Email: chngjunwen88@hotmail.com

Home No.: 65631931

Handphone No.: 92980287

  

9^th September 2011

Ms Phoebe Tan

HR Manager

Inecom Pte Ltd

12 Tannery Road

01-05 HB Centre

Singapore 347722

  

Dear Ms Tan,

I am writing to apply for the position as a technical consultant as recently advertised on www.inecom.com.sg/careers.aspx. I believe that my combination of technical skills, analytical skills and customer service skill would serve Inecom well in this position.

During my school holiday, I have worked and learned about the SAP system, starting from the basic stage like data entry in SAP, to advance stage like creation of view in SQL server. Hence, I am able to understand and analyze what end users encounter. I am comfortable with structuring of codes in query, XL reporter, crystal report and view in SQL server, which I believe is essential in developing applications to enhance your user experience.

On a more general level, I am able to communicate well with your customers. I trust that you would find me to be confident, passionate and well-spoken, the type of consultant whom your customers will rely. In additional, I have been a facilitator and technical support for a project on SAP implementation in Malaysia, decreasing the setting up duration by 50%. Throughout my experience working with SAP, I have been striving to learn more about the SAP system. It is a privilege if I am given a chance to work in depth in the SAP system with professional teammates in your company.

I greatly appreciate you taking the time to review my credentials and experience. Inecom’s mission to provide world class business software solution is a passionate goal for me. I would be interested in speaking with you to discuss the values and experience to enhance the customers satisfactory. I can be reached in confidence at one of the above telephone numbers.

Thank you.

Yours Sincerely,Publish Post

Chng Jun Wen

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Resolving Office Conflict

Office politics are very common in the business world. It will occur where people of different goals, or rather conflicting goals work together; and also with power hungry people.

Before entering university, I was working part time in a small medium enterprise. I was posted to the HR department as an admin clerk. The HR manager, Susan, whom now is in her mid 40s, has been working since 18 years old in the same company. She knows the flow of the company at her fingertips, as she has started from the bottom, and worked her way up to the manager position.

Recently, the Production Department hired a new manager, John, whom is in his mid 40s. He has worked in a number of big companies and has been taking courses to constantly upgrade himself. Since the first day John stepped into office, he has been thinking of ways to make profit for the company. After his 3 months probation, he started to restructure his department with the permission of the boss. He wants to change their old and laidback working standard, to a more skilled and competent level. Within a short period of 6 months, 2 workers were fired as expectation was not met and they refuse to change. The news was quickly spread to the other departments.

Soon after, John came to Susan and suggested that she should also think about restructuring her department, in order for the company to be competitive and efficient. Susan has been adapted to the old working culture after working in the company for 20 over years. Most of her staffs are also in their 40s and been working for quite a while in the company. Since then, Susan has been trying to evade the topic and avoid talks with John. She felt that she can improve her department without using John’s strategy. What seem to be a friendly confrontation, has evolved into an office conflicts

This is a case where 2 managers have different goals in mind. John, whom is very competitive, power-hungry, will think of profiting the company; Susan, whom is very knowledgeable and prefer to slowly improve her department. One who is not afraid to sack the workers as bonds have not been developed yet, while the other who will think twice before sacking her staffs.

I feel that for this case, John should not confront Susan and suggest to her what to do. He should know that Susan has been working in the traditional culture for a long period and it will take some time for her to adapt to the competitive culture. However, Susan should not avoid John but rather discuss with him small steps in the restructuring. In order to get things done, she should engage actively in the office politics. What do you think?

(paiseh for the long intro)

Why Effective Communication Skills Are Important

Communication has been evolving since primitive ages to the current IT world. From the elementary verbal communication, to hardcopy writing, and to the current softcopy typing. I believe that it is the effective communication skills which our ancestors developed, gave humans leverage against the animals.and ensured the survival of human species.

Verbal communication has always been an obstacle for me since young. I took ES2007S to learn about the secrets and techniques of communicating effective, as I foresee that I will need it later on when I embark into the working life. In the business world, it is very important to have your messages and ideas deliver across to your boss, managers, colleagues and customers, and acknowledge by them. It is one of the key points to achieve success. If they do not understand what you are trying to say, or misinterpret what you say, one may lose a business deal or lose his job. Other than being an effective sender, we also need to be an effective listener. Being able to decode what our boss, managers or customers want, so we will be able to fulfill the tasks and requirements requested by them.

Communication skills are also very important to secure and enhance the relationship and bonding between family members, friends and lifetime partner. Communication is the fundamental to maintain a relationship. Without communication, one will not understand what the other is feeling. Resulting in the destruction of family and friendship. With the help of effective communication, we can resolve the misunderstanding and strengthen the bonds between each other.

In conclusion, to be equipped with a set of effective communication skills will help me a lot as I embrace myself into the next step of life :)