Biodata

I would like to think of myself as someone who is approachable and easy-going. I may be an introvert to people whom I am unfamiliar with. However, many of my friends find me too expressive. Respect is a central theme in my life. I strongly believe that “Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners.” Reflection and self-improvement make up two important aspects of my life. I truly appreciate both positive and negative feedbacks from anyone. “A man reaps what he sows.” With this belief, I try to put my best effort in whatever I do.

What kind of image does my biodata convey? Do comment freely! :)

Reflecting on the Research Project Experience

Meeting is indispensable when a few people have to work on a common issue as a team. Meeting allows all members in the team to exchange ideas face-to-face and focus on issues that need to be discussed. I had a number of group meetings/discussions when I was doing the research project. By practicing the appropriate meeting etiquette and effective communication skills learnt in this module, my group meetings/discussions seemed to be less tedious and burdensome but more efficient and productive.

In my opinion, emotion is a biggest barrier to active listening during meeting and it greatly influences one’s objectivity of the matter at hand. I learnt that one has to be more rational and keep his/her emotion in check continuously when listening for information during meeting. Failure to control your emotion would definitely let it to over-rule you and cause you to have heated arguments with others. At the end of the day, argument is never constructive in the meeting so one should resist the urge to argue with anyone.

I also learnt that one should listen actively with an open mind because a narrow mind would take away one’s opportunity to understand and analyze other members’ opinions. On the other hand, you should share ideas with conviction but do not be too defensive when it is your turn to speak. This would discourage possible insightful comments from the other members.

In addition, I felt that an agenda is a must to have before and during the meeting. My first few group discussions at the initial stage of the research project were held without agenda and this caused the meetings to be aimless and greatly impeded the progress of the project. For subsequent meetings, agenda were, however, drafted and sent to each member before the meeting so that everyone could prepare himself/herself for the meeting. By reading any related material based on the agenda, each member would be much able to provide valuable input during the meeting. During the meeting, discussion would also be more organized and every subject could be dealt with in orderly manner according to the agenda.