Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

Abel and Bernice have been course mates for two years and they share a room in one of the halls of residence on campus. As such, they spend most of their time together, during and after classes, and have a good relationship. Recently, Abel heard that someone has been spreading nasty rumours about her. This made Abel upset but she decided to ignore the rumours as she believes the truth will prevail eventually.

A few days later, Bernice questioned Abel about the accuracy of those rumours. Initially, Bernie did not believe a word of those rumours but as she began hearing more from people, she started to have doubts. Hence, she thought it would be best to ask Abel about it. Abel felt insulted that Bernice would actually believe those rumours despite having known her for two years.

Abel then asked Bernice to reveal the source of the rumours, in an attempt to find out who was behind all these. To her surprise, Bernice refused, saying that she has to protect their identities. This left Abel feeling betrayed as she thought Bernie, as her friend, should help her stop these rumours instead of trying to protect the identities of those people who were harming her. Bernie, on the other hand, feels that by telling Abel, she would be considered untrustworthy by others.

Should Bernie tell Abel what she knows?

Why are effective communication skills important for me?

During the ice breaking session on Monday, I was asked to give a reason why good interpersonal skills are important. The first thought that came to mind then was that it would be useful when we step into the working world. On hindsight, that was too superficial a thought. Effective communication skills are important as communication is inherent in our day-to-day life. Whether it is telling the canteen vendor what you want for lunch or discussing a project with group members, effective communication skills are required in order for us to complete our daily tasks.

I believe that effective communication skills will be important for me to excel in my academic life and eventually my career. Communicating effectively would ensure that everyone know what they have to do in a group project and no ill feelings are developed. In the working world, the interpersonal working relationships would be much more complicated and thus effective communication skills would be important to make sure that there is understanding among colleagues.

However, there is much more to life than simply studying and working. More importantly, I feel that effective communication skills are needed for building and maintaining meaningful relationships with my loved ones, especially my family. I realise we tend to be harsher on those whom we are closer with since we expect them to understand us. This lack of judgement could be detrimental on the relationships we hold dear. Hence, having effective communication skills is important to me as it would help in improving my relationships with people I care about.