learning skills

A person's learning skills can be improved in a variety of ways during their life. Reflective analysis is one of the most important ways to drive performance growth. Only by dwelling on previous errors can we successfully strengthen our preparation and move on to the next phase of the work, or future projects. Reflective practice is thought to be very useful because it can be performed at any moment and from any place. It enables the person to better understand and apply the skills that he or she possesses. Also, it helps improve and/or polish the skills that a person may have already acquired.

Objective

This reflective analysis essay will highlight the communication glitches that were encountered during a group work delegated by a senior lecturer to a group of four including myself. By using the Gibbs model of reflection shown in the figure 1 below, this paper will also include the reason of the failure to communicate, how it is solved, what happened next as well as a plan to look over/refer to when a similar situation/problem arises.



Adopted from Finlay (2008)

Description and Feeling

During the third year of my undergraduate course in University Brunei Darussalam (UBD), students are given an opportunity to move out of the traditional learning environment to be subjected to a programme named the Discovery Year Programme. I enrolled myself in a student exchange program in China and an internship in the Finance Department in Brunei Shell Marketing (BSM) for 6 months each. During both of the programmes, I have encounter several communication issues that are caused by my poor body language, verbal and writing skills. It got worse during the internship where I am given a joint project to work on for the 6 months in Brunei Shell Marketing. At the same time, I am entitled to work under a fellow colleague who will be mentoring me in the project as well as join in meetings in the department whenever is needed.

However, my colleague and I did not get along well. The reasons may include our differences in culture, age, language and also, personalities. There are little discussions as to how, where and what am I supposed to do with the projects. I felt lost most of the time as I did not know how to start or where should I get the supporting documents and resources from. There is also day in day out tasks to do, therefore, it is very difficult for me to cope. This went on for another three weeks before I took the courage to raise this predicament to my mentor. This is when I realized that it is my poor communication skills that are hindering the progress of completing the project.

Evaluation

After my confession, my mentor and I set an hour a day to discuss about the project. Although we skipped a few meetings as there are other tasks that are prioritized, we are able to make progress for the project in the second month. During the discussions, I came to realize the importance of communication and the need for me to improve my communication skills as soon as possible.

It took some time for my mentor and I to basically understand each other’s needs although our frequent meetings did benefit us on the project. The cooperation and bonding did not just happen; it needs to be cultivated through constant effective communication, time and patience. As we have different backgrounds, there are times that I do not understand what I needed to do. Therefore, mistakes are particularly common during the first three months.

However, the period of time during the internship is very challenging to me as I was exposed in a real working environment and cases. The day to day tasks are very demanding and confounding. This is an invaluable experience for me. There are lessons to be learn in each steps of the progression to completing the project such as independent learning during the absence of a mentor, comply with the goal of mentor as well as to communicate effectively and reflect from mistakes. Although the project given to me are not meant for me to complete within the six months of my internship, we made a fairly progress for it. By the end of my internship, I felt more connected to my mentor as to those valuable lessons and skills she has taught me over the six months. By communicating frequently and being in a team work, we both agreed that we made more progress than working alone.

Analysis

As earlier seen, effective communication was my main barrier to success in academic. Communication skill is a paramount tool in any institution. To define, communication is the transfer of information from one party to the next. Communication can be vocal (like the way I interacted and talked with my fellow learners), written (through print, or digital media such as emails, websites, magazines, books and others) visually (through graphical representation, maps, tables and the logos) or non-verbally (that’s, using of sign language, tone, and gestures and the pitch of the voice) (Felix 2014). This section, therefore, covers the analysis of communication which was my major challenge by demonstrating why communication is imperative.

In today's world, communication is a fundamental tool that allows people to interact with one another. We live in a digital information era where success largely depends on the ability to communicate effectively. This is because the computer ages depends and rely heavily on sharing of the information which results to the greater magnitude being placed on having advanced and effective communication skills (Vermaat, Sebok, Freund, Campbell, and Frydenberg 2014). Efficient and good communication enables the information to be delivered accurately and quickly from one place to another. Various forms through which the communication can be achieved include ensuring that the words are chosen well, ensuring that the grammar and style are used effectively, adjusting to the writing style which is suits particular audience and the ability of the audience to adequately paraphrase and describe the message passed in the most logical way. In contrast, poor communication, as I earlier indicated the real issues which affect my learning, has indeed had a negative impact on the various aspects of live (Trenholm and Jensen 2013). This is because poorly delivered information mostly leads to the frustrations, misunderstandings and in most cases, it may result in the disaster and the loss. Good communication skills expound our character and what we can deliver hence leading to more exploration of the opportunities.

Understanding the Essence of Good Communication

Communication can be broken into various forms. First, we have oral communication. This is the communication skill which expresses the specified information or idea verbally. Achieving effective communication skills involves taking some steps such as making oneself be clearly understood by your fellow through active listening to ensure what others are saying is clearly understood. Listening enable you to understand what you have been told. It is a crucial tool which will enable both parties to agree with one another and make a better resolution necessary for handling a specified goal. Oral communication skill is significant in a situation where the information communicated is a short term and destined to make a particular resolution (Terrain 25). Effective oral communication skill can be shown or rather demonstrated through various ways such as ability to effectively paraphrase the key statements for clarity and easy understanding, strictly facilitating the key sessions to ensure that the issues are followed accordingly, and coordination process is exercised, developing and delivering best power presentations to clarify the messages by making the content to achieve its mandated objectives clearly.

Written communication skills are very crucial to the business people when comprehensively making business analysis so as to document the elicitation results and any other forms of communication which are needed for the long-term records requirement Written communication make use of symbols to pass communication and in the process, the desired message will be interpreted by the party involved. Understanding of various issues such as grammar, style, and analysis of various idioms enables the message to reach the audience in the clearest way (Harrold 8). Various forms through which the communication can be achieved include ensuring that the words are chosen well, ensuring that the grammar and style are used effectively, adjusting to the writing style which is suits particular audience and the ability of the audience to adequately paraphrase and describe the message passed in the most logical way.

Teaching skills are also crucial as it ensures that the analyst can communicate effectively through ensuring that information is clearly understood and retained accordingly. Teaching should allow information to be memorized easily by the learners and in the process, it should ensure that the people learn and retain the key information so as to effectively facilitate the learning experience (Terrain 2014). In order to ensure that the teaching has been done effectively, the teaching skills should always be demonstrated through verification of the learners by making sure that the information has been imparted in the most professional way and the ability of the learners to retrieve back learning outcomes or demonstrate the new level of knowledge accordingly.

How do we ensure that one acquire good communication skill?

The first step understands what you want to say and why you need to pass such message. By understanding the intent of the message, you can easily make the choices of words and be brief to the point to the point so as to avoid any form of contradictions. Furthermore, the barriers of communication such as situational or cultural differences will be eliminated once you master you want to say. The second step is to know how you will pass your message. There are various ways of passing a message. For example, you will begin the communication by making an eye contact (Patterson 2005). Eye contact is skills of inspiring the confidence and trust which will enable you to pass the suitable message in a most skillful way. The other aspect of inspiring how you will pass the message is developed a good body posture. This is done by standing with the arms easily at the sides as this will signify that you are approachable and flexible when delivering the message. The third issue is to listen well. Communication in this context can be seen as a two-way street. After passing out the message skillfully, one has to stop, listen, and look intentionally for the reactions and feedback from the intended audience. You have to pave the way for others to react and with due respect answer them accordingly. Respectfully will adequately give them your full attention and make them contribute to the topic discussed.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is evident that communication is a skill that cannot be ignored if one wants to reach new level be it in learning, business or whatever form of life you are acquainted with. Learning the skills of effective communication will, therefore, lead to new accomplishment. Effective and good communication enables the information to be delivered accurately and quickly from one place to another. In contrast, poor communication, as I earlier indicated the real issues which affect my learning, has indeed had a negative impact on the various aspects of life. Therefore, one should invest in

Action Plan

It is advantageous to continue and form a habit to constantly reflecting oneself. There are several action plans that have been made to continuously improving my communication skills in the future. It includes:

To listen attentively and write things down

One of the major hindrances with communicating effectively is to misunderstand the purpose of communication. Misunderstanding situations are usually lead by not listening attentively. It is crucial to form questions and ask if there is a need for clarifications. Also, notes should be taken whenever needed because it is more reliable than relying only on our memory.

To attend the different student development and skills workshop

There are several student development and skills workshops that are available in USW free for students to sign up. It would be beneficial to me as there will be professionals to personally help with polishing my skills.

To join in the Student mentoring group organized by USW

The student mentoring scheme in USW is fairly new to me. It is very interesting as it maximizes my exposure to new students from around the globe which also means that it will require me to communicate extensively for the new students to understand the current situation of USW or to answer any queries that he/she may have.

Think before I speak, Focus on the Problem

I realized that it is perfectly normal to pause before we speak as it provides enough time for me to process with the information and it also help to avoid any embarrassments. There will be times where criticisms are present, I should not be too sensitive on the remarks but focus on the overall results. This way, it does not only avoid the awkwardness of the situation but also improve my ways of action.

Adjust my Attitude towards Things

Willie Hugh Nelson (n.d.) once said “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.”Positive attitudes are able to improve the overall experience. It makes a difference when a person views things with different mindset. As people react positively to positive attitude, therefore, I will always wear a smile and see the positive side of things to help me communicating effectively.

Improving body language

There are various studies dating back to 1978 to the most recent in 2016 that proves the absolute importance of non-verbal communication in different situations and professions (Tepper and Haase, 1978; Mundy, Kasari and Sigman, 1992; Guye-Vuilleme, Capin, Pandzic, Thalmann and Thalmann, 1999; Ali, 2011; Wertheim, 2012; Tandon, 2015; Burgoon, Guerrero and Floyd, 2016). As the body language is can be perceived differently in different culture, for example, it is considered rude to cross your hands while you converse with other people. Therefore, it is necessary for me to talk to several people from different cultures about my body language and ensure that my body language did not offend or set off anybody in the future.































Reference List

Felix, R. (2014). Organisational Communication Concepts. In: American FinanceAssociation Northeast Regional Conference. Hartford: AFA Press.

Harold, I. (2010). Empire and Communications. Toronto, Ont.: University of Toronto Press

Patterson, J. (2005). Winning the Heart of Client through Communication. New York: LittleBrown.

Terrion, J. (2013). Communication in Everyday Life, Personal and Professional Contexts,OxfordUniversity Press: NY.

Trenholm, S. and Jensen, A. (2013). Interpersonal communication. 7th ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Vermaat, M., Sebok, S., Freund, S., Campbell, J. and Frydenberg, M. (2014). Communication Skills for Managers. Boston: Cengage Learning.