A MONTHLY SUPPLEMENT OF RAKAN SARAWAK BULLETIN (People, events, activities and programmes which make for a total quality-managed Sarawak Civil Service) ISSN 1394-5726

Online Publisher:          Contents provided by:	STATE SECRETARY'S VIEW Tan Sri Datuk Amar Hj Hamid Bugo VOLUNTEERISM "I am very happy to note that a volunteer group of civil servants in the State who call themselves the "ACTionetwork" have been formed. These public servants have volunteered to become the change agents for the transformation of the public service and the Sarawak society as a whole. The fact that they have volunteered is indicative of the proactive roles that these group of volunteers will play in the State civil service. The State public service is fortunate to have a group of volunteers amongst its fraternity to fill in the gaps that I personally think exists between the policymakers and to those who matters. The people who matters here are the middle and lower ranks in the public service and members of the public in general. Volunteerism is an extremely noble deed in today's society. This clearly demonstrates the quality of professionalism that each and every civil servant must possess. Very often people would think that only professionals can do a certain job. The traditional concept of professionalism is where you are a lawyer or a doctor, you have a profession and because you have a specific profession, you are a professional. In reality, this is not what professionalism is all about. Professionalism is the ability and the desire to undertake anything with care and compassion. You care about what you do and because of that, you give it your best shot. Effective communication skills are extremely important in today's fast changing world. Members of the ACTionetwork recognise these and they have endeavoured to learn the principles and skills of effective communication. An illustration of good communication gone wrong happened during the Second World War when the Sargeant Major issued an order down the line to "send reinforcement because we are ready to advance." By the time the order reached the end of the line it was communicated that "we're giving tuppence because we are going to a dance!" I would like to share with you my own rules of good communication, which I refer to as A,B,C,D,E,F & G. A is for accuracy of facts to be communicated. B is for being brief so as not to put your listeners to sleep. C is for clarity of presentation so as not to confuse your listeners. D is for being direct and not to beat around the bush. Say what you want to say and if directly. E is for making your massage easy to understand. Use simple words as far as possible. F is for being fair to the audience. And G, the most important aspect of good communication is to have good taste. Being civil and polished, avoiding offensive words and gestures and always respecting the sensitivities of your audience or listeners is what I call 'good taste' in communication. The last but most important stop to becoming a good communicator is to listen well. There are six steps on a LADDER which a person must climb to become a better listener. Look at the person speaking to you. Ask questions. Don't interrupt. Don't change the subject. Emphatize and Respond verbally. Finally, let me leave you with these words to ponder: "We make a living by what we get: we make a life by what we give."     Rules of Good Communation LADDER to Effective Listening        A - accuracy       Look at the person        B - brief       Ask questions        C - clarity       Don't interrupt        D - direct       Don't change the subject        E - easy       Emphatize        F - fair       Respond verbally        G - good taste       Views shared by Tan Sri Datuk Amar Haji Hamid Bugo during the launching of the ACTIONETWORK.
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