AB0602 COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES (4.0 AU)

Prof: Kelvin Yeo
Course taken in: AY21/22 Sem 1
Textbook: Not used
Assessments: Class participation + 1 individual presentation + 1 project (slide deck + PPT + presentation) + 1 written email + 1 principled negotiation paper

I don’t know if this makes sense but find an opposite gender Prof for this course haha. From my experience with AB0601, I had an inkling feeling that some subconscious biasness might be involved regarding such courses, and I might have been proven right. Anyway, let’s talk about the course.

#1 Non-graded assignments
This course probably had the greatest number of non-graded assignments that were given as soon as the semester started. I had 1 writing pre-test, 1 introductory presentation, 1 individual writing practice, 1 team writing practice, and 3 self-study writing practice (to prepare for the graded writing test around Week 11-12). So, buckle your seatbelts, because you are in for a ride.

#2 Class participation
It was fierce for this course especially since class participation constitutes 20% of your grade. Most students are eager to participate. It would be great if you meet a Prof that will grant each of you an equal chance to participate e.g., letting you speak even though you have the same answer as the person before you, letting you say, “I don’t know” and still counting that as class participation etc. My Prof was awesome at that, and I was pleasantly surprised during the first lesson when he explained to us how he conducted his lessons.

#3 Individual presentation
Similar to the individual presentation for AB0601, but this presentation is scheduled much earlier, around Week 5 of the semester. The topic for my semester was pretty weird, it was like, “What do you think is our Singaporean identity (or your country’s identity if you’re not Singaporean)?” My tips are:
1. Remember to have a slide tracker on your slides
2. Include a call-to-action at the end of your presentation (include your contact details on the slides as well)
3. Prepare well for Q&A! Super important because we are given 10 mins for Q&A and you don’t get asked enough questions, it’ll become super quiet for the rest of the segment. Otherwise, also know that you are given the liberty to end the Q&A segment early, just say, “If there are no more questions, I will close off my presentation now.” Some students didn’t know that and just made the class sit in silence and awkwardness.
4. Include a call-to-action again when concluding your Q&A.

#4 Project
This project was a bit different from other projects given that there were many components to prepare such as the slide deck report, the group presentation, and the presentation slides. During one of the week’s seminars, we learnt about slide deck reports, but never really delved much into it. Yet, for the group project we were supposed to make one. My Prof said that we weren’t really graded for our slide decks though, just seeing how we present our information, whether it is detailed etc. Tips for project:
1. Slide deck report – refer to the company as “the company”
2. Group presentation – refer to the company as “you” since your group will be presenting in front of the “company representatives” (or pretend to do so)
3. Presentation PPT – be consistent since all members will be covering separate parts of the presentation

#5 Written email
This is a physical exam i.e., enter an exam hall to take it. This exam is similar to AB0601’s written exam since it is also on an email. But, I guess the topics are kinda different. The emails that I feel are typically tested here include bad-news emails, persuasive emails (e.g., persuade management to not remove a program), and informational emails. Rarely are there good-news emails. If your Prof provides you with self-study practices for the written exam, do remember to do them as they will help a lot. Also, for the written exam, we need to write down our Prof’s name on our answer booklets, so take note!

#6 Principled negotiation paper
This paper seems rather daunting at first (at least for me), because I’ve never done anything like this before, but its actually quite chill. What happens is that around Week 9, students will do a practice negotiation i.e., read about a case, take on the roles of different characters, roleplay as the characters, and strike a negotiated deal. Afterwards, the Prof will run through the case with the class, explain what are the price range that could have been reached, the best alternatives (that do not include entering into a contract with the other party), the options that could have been included into the “contract” signed by both parties etc. The next week would be the real deal. Again, students receive a case, take on the roles of different characters, roleplay as them, and strike a deal. However, after that ends, students will then have to write a “reflection” sort-of of the negotiation process they went through. Basically, students have to write the thought process that went through their heads and how they eventually reached the deal that both parties agreed to. This includes writing down what he/she considered were the best alternatives, the prices that could be accepted/offered, the add-ons that could have been negotiated etc. So, yep, it’s actually not that scary. I would just say that actually, the time given to write the paper is rather short though because I felt like I had to write down my entire thought process.

#7 About my Prof
Apart from what I’ve said under #1, I would not hesitate to recommend taking Prof Kelvin’s class.

The good
• More gracious towards class participation
• Structured lessons and brings in real-life experiences
• Provides “model answers” for the written exams – basically during lesson he will write down on a Word doc what the email should look like and students can follow easily and take notes. I heard that other Profs will just talk about what needs to be in the emails and students can’t really take down much notes.
• Prefers online lessons due to Covid safe-distancing measures (blessing in disguise because I really prefer not travelling to-and-fro)

The “meh”
• Kinda strict in the non-graded assignments
o I heard that most people and groups got around a B grade for the individual and group written practices. Not sure how foretelling that is, since it is still non-graded after all.

That’s all from me. Hope this helps. Cheers!