Critical Reflection

In my formal letter of introduction, I have stated that I would like to achieve two goals in Effective Communication, which refers to expressing myself and improving my writing skills. 

I always know that people will think that I am really introverted as I seldom take the initiative to speak in front of people unless I must do so. In these 13 weeks, I have been given opportunities by Professor Brad to speak in class as he will always engage the class for sharing purposes. He will group us with different people, which enabled me to adapt to different styles of communication. This really helped me a lot in projecting my voice to be louder in the subsequent lessons. To further improve, I decided to become the leader in our project team as to my understanding, a leader should represent the team and stand in front of the people. I would say that I feel more confident to express myself and speak in front of more people now.

Through these 13 weeks, there were many assignments and tasks given for us to learn about what can be included in effective communication and how we can apply it in other modules or even in future workplaces. Frankly speaking, I did not think that there was something to improve in my writing skills and I thought I just need more sophisticated vocabulary to show that I am good at writing. However, I was wrong. There are more things to be considered in good writing, for example, applying the 7Cs of communication in my writing helps me to improve not only in communication skills but also in writing skills as the content and message that I wish to deliver will be understood in exactly the way as how I intend it to be. 

For our research project, I have learned a lot that the technical report comprises important components to be considered as a strong technical report. In the process of crafting the report, there were many learning outcomes that I have obtained from the team project. For teamwork skills, I have learned how to be more effective in terms of communication skills and time management as a leader. I would always keep the communication open and transparent so that we can discuss the expectations to meet in our report, deadlines, and capabilities. When disagreements happened, we will discuss openly and find alternative solutions as soon as possible. Also, I will always ensure that other teammates can complete the tasks given within the time given.

I am from a science background, so I am already so used to writing a report. However, it was not always easy as other teammates may not understand what I was doing, for example, they may not understand the purpose of including the literature review in the report. Having a science background allowed me to proceed better when crafting the report but at the same time, I would give pressure on them and have high expectations to them subconsciously in writing exactly what I expect. Sometimes, I would keep asking for meetings and updates even though I knew this might bring some unnecessary stress to them. I should be more understanding and patient with my teammates as everyone is in their own learning journey. One thing that I think I did well was that I always sought different opinions from other teammates and listened to them when we had to decide on something. 

All in all, I would like to appreciate Professor Brad for always being approachable and preparing fruitful lessons for 13 weeks.

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