Practical Benefits of Personal Skills - Essay Example

THE PRACTICAL BENEFITS OF COORDINATION, ACTIVE LEARNING, ACTIVE LISTENING, AND CRITICAL THINKING Introduction Basic skills are very important to develop in a person since possession of them would mean a myriad of positive and productive things. These skills could spell a difference for a person since they are often the staircase for success. Thus, being concerned with their development in our system is an important undertaking. Developing the basic skills of coordination, active learning, active listening, monitoring, learning strategies, and critical thinking are not an easy task and require a great deal of time, effort, and an environment that fosters their development. This paper aims to discuss the practical benefits of at least four basic skills that I have acquired recently alongside the learning I gained as a result. The four skills that I have chosen are coordination, active learning, active listening, and critical thinking. Possession of these life skills is said to be very beneficial and eases difficult conditions, both in terms of personal matters and in terms of those that deal with the workplace. Indeed, when faced with life's problems, which are natural however, one should possess the basic life skills so that he may be armed in defeating all life's foes. The Practical Benefits of the Chosen Basic Skills My chosen skills are beneficial to a person in a variety of ways that one can imagine. Its importance is seen in the tendency of a suicidal patient to end his life, which is a certain manifestation of hardship in dealing with a current problem. This condition only mirrors the truth that this person has not equipped himself effectively enough with life's basic skills. The reason may perhaps be because he is not aware that these are important skills that must be developed and carried on in life, or it may be that he did not have the opportunity to develop them in the first place, the environment he is in is not one conducive enough for such development, or he simply did not have the knowledge of how important they are to his own advantage. Below are the four chosen basic skills and their benefits: Coordination Skills Coordination is adjusting actions in relation to others' action.1 It implies one's ability to adapt to situations and the people around it. Getting something through whatever means possible is contrary to the development of this basic skill, since one has to consider others - their ideas, feelings, and impacts of an undertaking or a decision - and unite them with one's ideas in making things work out the most possible and desirable way. Adjusting one's actions with those of others in a pursuit to achieve an individual or a group goal is the best way of dealing with differences.2 The benefits that this basic skill extends to an individual are massive. The results are manifested in a healthy work environment, a give-and-take relationship, and new and renewed friendships. People will also appreciate one's consideration and ability of involving them in his worldview, a rare capacity that must be developed, especially in the workplace. This mere appreciation is a benefit in itself, for it leads to the extension of one's sphere of influence and linkage building, necessary in making certain goals achievable and with ease. Coordination skill is one that I have acquired recently and I am reaping various positive outcomes as a result. Developing and sustaining new friendships is one benefit that I directly experience. Coordination has made me develop my receptivity as a person, a trait, which I think is important especially that people always want to have their ideas and insights be considered and being repulsive to them will scare them just the same. It does not mean however, that this receptivity is just simply allowing people get their way. Rather, it is more of digesting their insights, weighting them with mine, considering them if they are attuned to my values and ethics, and informing people the reasons why I do not consider them in case I do not. The inability for coordination as a basic skill would tend conflicts to spark, bringing in an unhealthy relationship. Having developed coordination, I have learned three things: that one has to always consider others about making certain decisions, that he has to adapt to his environment (without having to lose his own sense of self), and that since no man is an island, he will always exist in a world that needs coordination and sync with his fellow human beings. Hence, lack of this coordination and sync will make life harder for a person. It might mean being avoided like a plague as he always wants his things done on his own terms, that no one wants to work or share ideas with him, and thus, even simple tasks in the classroom, the workplace, or a civic organization in which he is a member becomes dull and lacks enjoyment. Lack of coordination skills may also ruin group unity and cohesion. Thus, the benefits of developing and acquiring it are apparently the opposite of what are discussed. Sensitivity to the needs of others is what I consider the heart of the concept of coordination, and this sensitivity is what makes one consider their feelings, thoughts, and actions and suiting his own to them into one wholeness. My learning experience with developing coordination skills gives me an insight that all people need coordination in order to build a harmonious interaction with others, to aid them in effective problem solving, and in easing themselves up in their careers. May I add that cooperation is an outcome that emerges from an ability to coordinate, which is an important element in personal relationships and in the workplace. Thus, developing these skills would require one to be considerate of others, sensitive about their needs, and developing cooperative actions that would make him attain certain goals that unite him and others in a single undertaking. After all, any organizations would have bragged of their achievement of goals through teamwork and cooperation. In much the same way, developing coordination is developing teamwork skills necessary for making people act as one and as a whole. Active Learning The basic skill of active learning refers to understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem solving and decision-making. This is different from mere learning and forgetting all about the concepts learned since the school year is over, or the series of seminar is done. Rather, it is one that points out to the importance of relating what one has learned to new information which might affect the current and future problem-solving and decision making. In other words, it is not one that is only temporary, stagnant, and based on traditional learning. Rather, it is pro-active and involves a present-day scenario, the here and now, and even the future picture of an organization.3 By employing active learning in terms of digesting new information, people are able to maximize their ability to connect the learned ideas to actual work scenario. The power of active learning is very important. We see this importance in rescued relationships due to a good communication channeling, as well as in sustained interaction, which has a very narrow room for conflicts. This is because both (or all) parties are able to apply in practical terms what they have learned as the best strategies for problem solving and decision-making. By being an active learner, a person is throwing away the false thought about attending seminars or enrolling in an MBA class and getting over it once it is over. Rather, he is using all the concepts, principles, techniques, strategies, approaches, and processes to his own advantage and that of the organization he works with. Thus, the benefits of active learning include an ability to relate the learned concepts into real life, and this does not mean being limited to workplace matters. Even applying the learned concepts in establishing personal relationships, solving relationship problems and other problems would benefit the usage of active learning. It means that learning actively is not an undertaking that must be fulfilled because the boss says you attend a one-week conference on conflict management and once the week is over, it ends there. Rather, the opportunity of learning new concepts is crucial in the application of these concepts to the company, which the attendee can even extend to his own ability of managing conflicts in the family, relatives, friends, and his community. Moreover, active learning can do so much for a person, and all he has to do is be receptive and use the ideas to practical life scenarios whenever possible and applicable. Active Listening The ability to listen refers to giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.4 Therefore, it is clear that hearing does not necessarily mean listening, and vice versa. I believe that the listening skills are the skills in which most people are inept at, taking no interest in others' point of views, insights, or problems due to their own self-absorption. I remember my group of friends in which each always wanted to be the one to speak and not listen. While looking at each of them with their own stories to tell (we were talking about celebrities), I was looking at the three of them and pondering how chaotic the world must be if people always want to talk but dislike listening. However, even though the speaking skills are considered important, listening skills have much the same importance. If someone does not know how to listen attentively, he would not be able to understand the message being conveyed to him. If he does not understand the message, which is the basis of his reaction, action, or inaction, then, the communication process fails. The benefits of listening skills are seen in debate competitions. Most people think that debate competitions involve only a lot of talking, and that the better speaking skills you got, the better your ideas will be conveyed across. Little do they know that there is also a much importance that must be given to listening, which one has to develop effectively in order to be able to address the points of information expressed by the opponent. Therefore, speaking alone will not make the entire debate process successful and will not solely enable the team to bring home the bacon. In much the same manner, listening is important in daily lives. Even taking instructions and carrying them out requires an effective use of listening skills. A good secretary who does all the scribbling and taking notes is able to listen effectively by not speaking, and by concentrating on what is being discussed about. Thus, a good listener will prefer to listen than to speak, except for moments he finds appropriate and important.5 As I have developed more of this skill recently (since I know I have already possessed this but just need more polishing), I have been enlightened of the many benefits that it gives to an individual. These are ability to analyze the situation, ability to employ good judgment, being able to empathize with the other person, and being able to see the whole scenario as one big picture. There are employments that require a great deal of listening, such as counseling, detective investigating, and police enquiry. It means that one can get as far as being employed in these jobs given a good listening skill and profit from the listening trait as well. By doing an active listening, an individual is able to assess the situation based on the precise and correct data he obtained, which would not have been possible if his thoughts are wandering as the other person speaks. One cannot listen actively if he is impatiently waiting for the other person to finish talking in order that he can then inject his own views, or if he is engaged in multi-tasking like scribbling things not related to the discussion, or sending a text message while the other person airs his concerns. All these are manifestations of unlikelihood for listening, which will certainly obstruct a good potential for constructing a bigger picture and employing a good solution for the problem. One will not be able to employ critical thinking on a certain situation if this is the case. Thus, the practical benefits of active listening are demonstrated in this manner. Critical Thinking The art of critical thinking refers to the usage of logic and reasoning in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusion, or approaches to problems.6 Not too many people possess this trait. Developing critical thinking is not an easy task, nor is it a product of an overnight study and training. Rather, it requires one to use unswervingly the other needed skills that he should possess, such as coordination, listening skills, speaking skills, learning strategies, and monitoring. Critical thinking is an application of how problems may be solved most effectively, or how situations may be evaluated in order to modify certain systemic structures and introduce new concepts within the organization.7 In my own experience, critical thinking is a new developed skill that has emerged in me alongside maturity and rationality. One is able to think critically if he is able to utilize all the remainder of skills available to him. The practical benefits that this skill injects are being able to focus more, objectivity, good judgment, and a better way to solve problems. With critical thinking, I would say that objectivity is already an ingredient, which is also an outcome - a more developed one - towards how one may deal with critical situations. Learning critical thinking may be obtained in schools as one scrutinizes an idea, a concept, a problem, and needs to assess it critically.8 However, he may be able to apply this training in the workplace, which is a real-life scenario of employing the skill. These are basically results that come alongside with learning the skill of critical thinking. Hence, critical thinking can enable one to present good ideas that do not necessarily conform with the present structure. It is because one of its practical benefits is being able to see what is wrong in a structure or process, and works his way even beyond the limitation of the structure. Because of this ability, he is able to present a solution not normally considered, but are effective nonetheless. With critical thinking, one does not only able to see what is wrong, but is also able to see the solution that may be employed on the problem. Conclusion The opportunities that coordination, active learning, active listening, and critical thinking provide to a person are in huge potential, to the point that he may be able to be a better individual both personally and career-wise, if he is able to make use of them effectively. A person's inability in all these skills is said to put him in a position were opportunities seldom knock, since both he and the organization would certainly feel his ineptness in carrying out tasks that involve these skills. As these skills are foundations of good outcomes such as sensitivity, cooperation, objectivity, good judgment, correct reasoning, and good problem solving skills, a person must be always willing to develop them. After all, it is he who will benefit from all these in the long run and remains to be their lone benefactor. References Mabrouk, Patricia Ann. Active learning: Models from the Analytical Sciences. American Chemical Society, 2007. Moore, Brooke Noel. Critical Thinking. McGraw Hill, 2006. Ross, Raymond Samuel. Relating and Interacting: An Introduction to Interpersonal Communication. Prentice-Hall, 1982. Skills Search. Retrieved on July 31, 2008 from [http://online.onetcenter.org/skills/] Sternberg, Robert J. and Grigorenko, Elena. Intelligence, Heredity, and Environment. Cambridge University Press, 1997. Read More