Resolving Interpersonal Conflict (Post #2)

A, a junior officer, received an email from his Commanding Officer stipulating that the former and another junior officer, B, have been delegated the task of organising a cohesion event for the battalion’s anniversary.

A and B were good friends but as they were from different companies(the equivalent of a department). A was in the battalion at that time whereas B was away on course; B was due to return when A needs to go off on his course. C was a superior from another department.

A, having been asked to perform an unprecedented task, began to conceptualise the theme, venue and activities for the event. Before he was due to leave for the course, he detailed an email to B illustrating his progress so the latter could continue with the planning and execution of the event.

When A returned from his course back to the battalion 1 week before its anniversary, he was approached by C, one of his superiors, asking him how the planning went. A said he was on course and that B had taken over the task as was agreed upon. C then chided A, telling him that C’s department had taken over since A & B left the organization hanging in the air. A was bewildered: wasn’t B supposed to take over since he was on course?

C criticized A’s failure to check on the planning progress; he explained that B had been busy with his own duties and left everything to C’s department when C offered to help. A was naturally bewildered by what happened.

There seemed to be a lack in communication between the parties involved that led to the spate of events.

How could this episode have been prevented?

Effective Communication Skills (Post #1)

Communication is defined as “the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs”. Put simply, it is how one individual, through different modes of portrayal such as speech, nonverbal cues or even email, transmit messages that were conjoured up mentally to another person. Potential errors can occur during the tranmission process; from trying to frame an idea into words, to the receptivity and understanding of the receipient, the message can get contorted and misunderstood. Many times, the message interpreted has a different meaning from the original intent as much information was either lost or misconceived. Consequently, it is important to not just communicate, but to do so effectively. Bearing in mind that the verbal portion only makes up 10% of what is perceived, careful considerations should be paid to body language and tone when conversing with others.

No man is an island. Due to a very fundamental aspect of humans, it is imperative to possess traits of an important communicator, since humans are social by nature. The majority of our time is spent around others, be it family members, peers in school or colleagues in the workplace. Effective communications skills help develop relationships along sound and healthy lines, fostering closer ties and avoiding unintentional conflicts.

In this fast paced metropolitan we live in, time is never a luxury. Misunderstanding another person’s intent may strain relations, worse still spend time & effort on a project conceived differently by your superior.

Listen, verify, accomplish.