Interpersonal Conlict

In a committee formed by a group of fifteen people, we have characters A, B and C. A is the chairperson of the committee, B is the project leader for an event and C is the in-charge for logistics for this particular event.

B has a very close group of friends in the committee and together, they form a clique in the committee. The clique often makes decisions together and stands by each other for support while the rest of the committee members are individualistic and independent. A and C fall in the second group.

One portion of the event required the committee members to transport the participants’ belongings from NUS to East Coast Park. The total load to be transported was circa 80 haversacks. For this portion, B allocated three committee members for one task while she and A remained at the headquarters to oversee the entire event. C, together with 3 other persons, was responsible for the transportation of the belongings. The rest of the committee was free, but had to stand by for emergency. It also happened that those who were free were in the same clique as B.

C believed that he was short-handed and asked B for more manpower since there were people who had no job allocation. However, B insisted that she has allocated sufficient manpower to C and that the remaining party were meant for emergency.

After his request was turned down, C approached A for help, since A was the only person who had the status to speak to B. Moreover, A has handled logistics before and had a better understanding of the situation.

After listening to C, A speaks to B. B was insistent on her point and A thought that since B was the project leader, A should not try to over-ride her decisions based on his position as the committee chairperson. A then reverts to C with a negative answer, giving the same reason that B gave. A also explains that he wanted to respect B’s decisions as the project leader.

At this point of time, C is furious that A was of no help and tells A that he is disappointed in him. Nevertheless, despite the disagreement, C makes do with the number of people he was allocated and completes the task with delay.

What should A have done? Should A have challenged B’s decisions to fight for C? Or has he done the right thing by respecting B’s decisions?

My reasons for the need of effective communication skills

Upon entering university, I became acquainted with people from all walks of life. Due to differing growing up paths taken, I found it difficult to communicate with some of them. Not only did I not understand their manner of expressing themselves, I could not get my point across as well. Thankfully, majority face similar circumstances and we make an effort to understand each other. Upon graduation next year, I anticipate similar situations. At that point of time however, I do not expect the people I come into contact with to be as patient and understanding since work is more often than not, expected to be done promptly. Hence, I find it critical to start developing effective communication skills.

An internship experience also made me realize that effective communication skills will not only help bring across the intended message accurately, it will help foster understanding and build relationship among the people who work together. For example, my former manager speaks to the interns using Singapore Colloquial English (SCE) and the Hokkien dialect to communicate with the rest of the employees. The reason for the difference can be attributed to the difference in generation. The interns from the younger generation are more used to communicating in SCE and similarly, among the other employees, in dialect. By speaking in the appropriate languages, the manager has shown that he was easily approachable.

Communication is the only way out in a world whereby people need to depend on others to process work. By equipping oneself with effective communication skills, it will help to reduce misunderstandings and this will ultimately allow for higher efficiency in work. Moreover, as mentioned above, it can encourage healthy working relationships and facilitate working in a team. In the process, a person will also discover about him/herself and ideally try to correct the negative and learn how to bring out the best in oneself.