Blog Post #2: Interpersonal Conflict

This is a real interpersonal conflict that happened to me.

I had just become the Publicity Head of Chemical and Environmental Engineering Students' Society (ChESS) and I had to design a poster for the first event, the distribution of examination welfare packs to the students. After receiving instructions from the Welfare Head on what to include in the poster, I happily designed it and sent it to her.

The poster was to be mass-emailed the next day as the event was just a few days away. During that week I had 3 upcoming tests and I was very busy, tired, stressed out and only too glad to be done with the poster.

To my chagrin, upon receiving my poster, the Welfare Head smsed me to tell me that I had forgotten to include the detail, "For Chemical and Environmental Engineering Students Only" and asked me to redo the poster. I was shocked! I did not recall that she had asked me to write that in. I had perused her instructions very carefully and I did not remember this line.

Irritably I replied her and told her that she could not expect me to re-edit the poster if it was her negligence. In fact, it was written in the rules for poster request to publicity: if the details were not properly given beforehand due to negligence, the publicity committee reserved the right not to redo the poster.

Unfortunately the Welfare Head was furious. She smsed me back and scolded me for many messages, saying how it had been my negligence and it was sheer audacity for me to accuse her of that, and how I would get into trouble if I did not redo the poster at once.

If you were in my shoes, what would you do to defuse the situation?

Blog Post #1 Effective Communication Skills

Developing effective communication skills is important to me as it has often been touted by lecturers and seniors alike that this is an area we cannot afford to neglect. In the start-of-the-year department talk held by our chemical engineering department, our professor told us that NUS chemical engineering graduates are frequently lauded for their high technical achievement but criticised for their lack of interpersonal skills and knowledge beyond engineering.

People skills were also emphasised by my senior who went on an Industrial Attachment. As the chief editor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering Students' Society (ChESS), I had the privilege to approach interns to ask them for write-ups to appear in our CCA's annual Columns Magazine, as a way to let juniors learn about the industry from their seniors.

Quoting my senior, he said "I have learnt that even as an intern with limited technical knowledge, it is usually the soft skills that play the crucial role for this position. My attention to detail, situational awareness, PR and communication skills and judgment were constantly put to the test... Communication isn’t just about spoken words, rather, it is the transfer of meaning that is important."

Such wise words indeed! He even included advice and tips on how to do a successful internship, for example how to get along with colleagues and superiors, the dress code for an intern to impress etc.

As we all know, communication is important because it enables us to make friends, live in harmony with our families and work smoothly in the workplace. Communication is not just about language power and knowing the correct manners and tone when you speak, it is also about sincerity and patience to listen, while putting yourself in the shoes of others.

Communication appears to be simple but it is easy to fall into the trap of neglecting it. Misunderstandings and conflicts arise which destroys harmonious relationships and efficiency at work.

In conclusion the importance of communication cannot be understated.