Listen!

Today we had the Day 1 of the 3rd module for our Project management program. The module is on communication management. Today went by very quickly, because it was no theory and was all soft-skills, experience sharing (we got to vent about all the "unpleasant" experiences / communication challenges we face at our workplace!)... it was quite relaxing.

We did an exercise in the afternoon... sort of a role playing thing. We are supposed to either talk (about a problem we have at work) for 7-8 minutes or listen for 7-8 minutes. If we are listening, then we can only ask questions and not try to solve the person's problem. Boy--I always thought I am somewhat of a good listener (at least that's what my friends *usually* say)... but it was really difficult. I had to mentally hold myself back (I even bit my tongue at one point) to try not to analyze situations and start offering solution! Listening well is not easy at all.

oh, and apparently in terms of communication style, I'm both "spirited" (high assertiveness, high expressiveness) and "systematic" (low assertiveness, low expressiveness). Then of course my class teased me for being a schizophrenic=) Funny even tho I don't see myself as a systematic person, I am starting to see traits of my systematic side... like I want to document everything at work and I like to break down tasks for people, paying attention to details of what needs to be done. Hmmm....

Too bad I have to wait till Monday to attend my Day 2 of the module. And I have to go to Victoria as well! So much trouble :(