During my internship back in Cityneon, we were tasked in the planning and set-up of the Singapore Paralympics 2016. I was placed under the production team alongside my fellow intern with two other full timers. As there were many different venues for the event, the venues were categorised into four different clusters based on its location. Each of us were delegated to be in charge of one cluster which consisted of about five to six venues. There was this specific venue, the OCBC arena, which had to be shared between my fellow intern and I due to its size. We decided to split up the workload and I was tasked to be in charge of the carpets and flooring while she was in charge of all the furniture.
Closer to the event, things were starting to get hectic and we initially planned for the flooring to be done on 15 February before the furniture could be brought in on 17 February. However, due to some scheduling issue, my fellow intern had to push forward the date for the furniture to be brought in. She notified me by sending a text message asking me to reschedule the flooring to be done earlier. However, I was really busy at that time and missed the message. She assumed that I got the message and failed to clarify with me in person even though I did not acknowledge the text message. We only found out on the day itself when the furniture arrived and the flooring was not done which caused major inconveniences for our contractors. I feel that it is both our fault but what could have been done better?
Taking the feedback I received from my peers into consideration, I believe that it was definitely both our fault which led to the breakdown in interpersonal communication. We should have avoided any form of assumptions and worked closely with each other while clarifying any issues that we faced. Moreover, important messages should also be conveyed through the phone or in person so that there can be acknowledgment in order to prevent any form of communication breakdown.
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