CRITICAL THINKING

Lecturer: Hoàng Cửu Long

Ho Chi Minh City, April 2021

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 It's hard to have “a truth" for everyone
 It needs to be distinguished between "fact" and
"opinion"
 Do not evaluate point of view or values, it is
only assessed basing on the real situation
 Different perspectives will lead to different
understanding
 In case there have differences in opinion, it
should come to compromise
 Always respect point of view of the others 2

although we may not agree

 “Debating” & “Sophisticating”

Debating Sophisticating
 Argumentation, giving  It is a deliberate violation of
opinion based on the truth general accepted rules
and evidence  It is a wrong way in giving
 To share point of view with reasons, ambiguous
logical and nature explanations, illogical and
arguments in the spirit of wrong categories
receiving opinions and  Sophisticating in order to
comments from other sides cover the wrong points and
 It is a sharp weapon to to cheat people
protect legitimate views, 3

arguments and opinions

 What is Critical thinking?
Definition: Critical thinking is a process of
applying positive thinking in analyzing,
synthesizing, evaluating the facts, trends,
ideas, hypotheses from self-observation, self-
experience, real evidences, real information
and knowledge in order to formalize the
logical arguments

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 Practicing critical thinking

1. No bias, not accept the useless value of

opinions
2. Always consider the evidence. Do not agree
anything if there is no reason and not true
3. Try to look everything in the right way
4. Welcome the open-mind spirit
5. Ready to reject any hypothesis if it is not
fully proved
6. Adapting to new trends with careful 5

considerations
 Wrong things in critical thinking

1. Lazy thinking, lazy brainstorming

2. Be selfish. Not aware of self-limitations
3. Limited vision, especially in short-term
benefits
4. Always keeping prejudice and jealousy
5. Not be honest with yourself and
cheating
6. Conservative and untrustworthy life
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7. Thinking by the other’s heads

 .

PROBLEM SOLVING SKILL

Lecturer: Hoàng Cửu Long

Ho Chi Minh City, April 2021

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 What is “problem”?
Problem is a difficult thing
that needs a satisfactory
answer or a clear solution

Problem is the difference

between existing and desired
status or condition

In an organization, problem

is the opportunity for
everyone to develop
themselves 8
 Types of problem in the working
environment

The wrong problem

The latent problem

The improving problem

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 The wrong problem

It need to be ADJUSTED

Machine or equipment corruption

Material has not received

We have sick people in our team

Difficulty in working environment or human resources

 Etc ...
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 The latent problem

It need to be PREVENTED

The conflict among members

The suddenly increasing of demands that makes hard

to meet

The increasing of withdraw employees

 Etc ...
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 The improving problem

It need more IMPROVED, EFFECTIVE

Leveraging services, products, equipment ...

Install a new system

Educate new skills for employees

Change working processes to meet new standards

 Etc ...
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Effective problem solving, it is needed

 Creating the environment, with

Joyful
Safe
Positive
Proactive
 Positive behavior with
Yourself
Everyone 13

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 Problem solving process:

 Step 1: Identify clearly the problem

 Step 2: Focus on the targeted problem

 Step 3: Analyze the problem

 Step 4: Create more alternatives

 Step 5: Make decision with the best choices

 Step 6: Implement action plans 14

 Problem solving process:
Step 1: Identify clearly the problem
+ Read carefully, investigate the root causes of problem to see its scope as well
as the severe of problem.
+ Discuss together, give evidences for illustrating personal opinions relating to
the problem
+ Everyone in the group/organization agrees working together with the problem

Step 2: Focus on the targeted problem

+ State the problem clearly and be accepted by everyone
+ Give evidences relating to the problem that the group wants to solve
+ Introduce the person responsible for presenting or representing the group
about the solving problem.

Step 3: Analyze the problem

+ Gather all information, resources that are relevant to the problem
+ Consider the problem with comprehensively 15

+ Focus on each detail to see the root causes of problem

 Problem solving process:

Step 4: Create more alternatives

+ Encourage everyone in co-operating based on solving the root causes of
problem
+ Deliver the ideas, provide solutions that are feasible, realistic with the main
content of problem. Setting up priority for solutions.
+ Effective solutions are often based on available resources or in coordination.
Step 5: Make decision with the best choices
+ Gather opinions, ideas from individuals in the group
+ Select the most realistic, possible solutions for problem solving
+ Selected solutions need to have high agreement
Step 6: Implement action plans
+ Basing on selected and agreed solutions for establishing future plans
+ Planning with systematic tasks, goals, steps, time schedules, resources in
order to apply solutions into the right condition 16

+ Making the final decisions

6 common mistakes in problem solving
1. Misunderstand the problem
2. Not focus on the targeted problem
3. Only solve with the face problems
4. Not creating more options
5. Not evaluating appreciate all risks
6. The solution is not feasible

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THE ANALIZING PROBLEM SKILL

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 Determine the root causes:

 Why do you need to analyzing the root causes?

- To understand clearly the problem
- To find out the root of problem
- To discover the symptoms of problem

 What are the benefits when analyzing the root

cause?
- To solve the problem definitively
- To learn the experience and avoid to
repeating mistakes
- To have lessons facing with similar situations 19
The Ishikawa diagram
Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa, 1953, Tokyo University

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Ex. Product contamination

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Using effective questions:
- Use the right questions with suitable
situations and contexts
- The frequently questions: 5W - 1H; YES - NO
questions.
- Ask until you find the root cause
- Combine questions together to create the
most effective
- If you have all questions and still have not
found the cause, it is best to stop and gather
further information about the design
elements 22
Fomular 5W – 1H

Who
What
Where
When
Why
How 23
 .

Adaptability to
working environment
Feedback & coaching
Lecturer: Hoàng Cửu Long

Ho Chi Minh City, April 2021 24

 New graduates meet problems when
integrate into working environment

 Lacking of practical knowledge

 The acceptance about capacity from colleagues
 Lacking of the imagination about working
responsibilities
 Adapting to specific corporate culture
 Lacking of effective working performances
 Difficulties in adapting to business environment
 The ability to connect between “specialization" 25

and "occupation"
 The basic adaptation

 Adaptation is the key concept in working

environment
 Be willing to reject your previous working
conditions
 Be aware of specific characters of each
organization
 To be successful in working with individuals,
companies, governments, countries, you should:
1. Be humble
2. Be flexible adaptation in various incidents
3. Fair judgment
4. Curiosity and interest
5. Good knowledge of business, market, country
6. Accept the diversity
7. Have ability to control respects 26

8. Have ability to integrate into the environment

Skills in the 21st century
(according to the World Economic Forum)

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The 7S model of McKinsey
Hard factors: the
corporate easy to
change and control

Soft factors: the

corporate has to
adapt and difficult
28 to
control
 8 main applied skills for working
environment

1. Deep understanding your company

2. Control yourself
3. Effective communication
4. Successful collaboration
5. Effective problem solving
6. Good in planning and organizing
7. Be proactive
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8. Leadership
 1. Deep understanding your company
 Understanding your work
 Understand your company's vision, strategy, systems,
procedures and policies
 Understanding culture: What should or not do
 Relevant persons that need to build relationships
 Required skills are needed to complete the job

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 2. Control yourself

Understand your work requirements

Understand your own ability to
complete the work
Gather feedback about the work
performance and identify
opportunities for improvement
Manage effective time and priorities 31
 3. Effective communication

Communicate with customers

and colleagues
Good in documentary skills
(style, format, and precision)
Listen carefully to all
information and instructions
Willing to share information
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with others (if possible)
 4. Team working –
Successful collaboration

Work with a team-working spirit

to foster the engagement and
collaboration
Apply team-working skills to
specific situations
Collaborate to all of ages,
genders, races, religions or
political differences and disable
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people
 5. Effective problem solving

Listening and solving all concerns

relating to workplace issues (within
the scope)
Solve work-related issues including
potential conflicts
Select appropriate methods for
communications
Delivering effective information
relating to work 34
 6. Good in planning and organizing
Have ability to collect, organize needed
information to serve work
Planning and organizing your work schedule
following daily, weekly, and monthly
Adapting to new situations and works that arise
out of the plan

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 7. Be proactive

Find out potential improvement

opportunities in working condition
Adapt to new situations within your
position
Refer tasks that are outside your
working scope or from others’ role
Recognize constructive feedback
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from team members
 8. Leadership

 Leadership must be exposed when

needed, or when be required
 Have ability to build collaborative
relationships supporting to future work
 Have ability to influence your colleagues,
team by your prestige and personal
characteristics
 Control your emotions, build the
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relationship of sharing and empathy
 The degree of pro-activeness in the work

Waiting for the work

Asking what kind of work is
needed
Suggesting what need to do and
implementing it
Conducting the work and inform
to the others to know what to do
Self-organizing and reporting 38
 What is “coaching”?

 Encourage learning, increase

the work capacity and the ability
of change
 Increase the cognitive ability
and accountability of the
employee
 The manager will achieve better
results through better
employee’s learning
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 Who is needed for Coaching?
New staff
Staff for new position
Talent employees
Staff need to be improved
Employees need to solve difficult problems

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 When does conduct coaching?
Evaluating the personal capability
Discussing about the employee capabilities
Evaluating working monthly results
Receiving feedback from colleagues and
customers
Planning to develop staff for a new position

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Techniques for guiding to someone:
1. Give specific and clear initial goals or descriptions
2. Effectively use in both language and non-verbal
language
3. Encourage raising questions
4. Encourage two-way information exchange
5. Request to repeat and check the level of
performance
6. Complete and summarize in each step
7. Compare the results with original goals

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Information channel at the workplace
can be:

Top down: the information moves

- From upper level down subordinate, or
authorized persons
- Using for: instruction, ordering, notification,
feedback, decision making, job review...

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Information channel at the workplace
can be:

The same level

- Same levels, positions,
colleagues, cooperated
departments, responsible to
each other
- Using for: sharing
information, resolution
coordinating, implementation,
support, getting benefits...
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Information channel at the workplace
can be:

Lower level:
- Subordinates, staff, employees, lower roles,
weaker responsibilities
- Using for: reports, asking for feedback, receiving
guidelines, decision making, providing information...

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 Information channel at the workplace
can be:
Un-official: urgent situations, the absence of
upper level, etc.
Outside channels: partners, customers,
competitors, etc. Information should be
collected from various sources in order to
increase the flexibility

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 Feedback
• Share your awareness about behaviors,
capacities and job status
• Share the status of others basing on
observations and analysis
• Strengthen, support, guide how to
implementing the work to others

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 Belief

Belief is a complete acceptance about

something as the truth

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 The model

Belief Behavior Result

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The GROW model
Goal

Reality
Will

Options
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 GROW
G = Goal: What do we accomplish together?
 Purposes of the conversation
 Make sure that the purpose of conversation connect to the
long-term efficiencies
 Set up the time limitation for all
 Discuss all important things in order to respect each other

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 GROW
R = Reality: What are happening to you and me in
this situation?
 Understand the current situation
 Consider how to collect and connect all information
 Wondering the real events and feelings
 Be careful when comment anything by yourself in both
verbal and non-verbal
 Provide feedback basing on the real observations,
information and what you really know

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 GROW
O = Options: Which solutions can help you handle
the situation?
 Encourage exploring possible solutions
 Note all proposed solutions during the discussion
 Evaluate the costs and benefits from solutions
 Only provide official advice whenever others could not do

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 GROW
W = Will: What next?
 Find out all aspects that the leader be interested in pursuing
 Determine the key problems to resolve
 Follow-up and support
 Make sure everyone has responsibility

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 Why ineffective in feedback?
 Too little or too many instructions at the same time

 Without illustration

 Impatient

 Not well prepared

 Increase the tension

 Not receiving response 55

 Give and receive feedback

Give the feedback Receive feedback

1. Repeat the purpose 1. Listen carefully
2. Observe and give evidences 2. Ask when not clear
3. Real assessment 3. Take note all
4. Always praise - Clever criticism instructions
4. Recognize points that
5. Confirm complete tasks
need to be perfected
5. Have specific action
plans

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 .

COMMUNICATION AND
PRESENTATION SKILL
Lecturer: Hoàng Cửu Long

Ho Chi Minh City, April 2021

57
Information exchange process

Message
Express Understand

Sender Information channel Receiver

Context

Understand Feedback Express 58

Barriers in communication
 Noise

 Language

 Environment

 Feeling

 Relationship, authority

 Corporate culture 59
The ways of communication

Language and verbal

Speaking - Writing - Behaving - Listening

Non-verbal

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 Essential skills by language
communication
Basic skills
- Speaking
Sending information skill
- Writing
- Behaving
- Listening Receiving information skill

“nói là gieo, nghe là gặt”

(Vietnamese proverb)
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 Understanding your audience:
Be welcomed
Be important
Be comfortable
Be understood
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Sending information skills:
Speaking and Writing

The 5C rule
- Clear
- Complete
- Concise
- Correct
- Courteous
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Writing tip

Write what to do
Do what you write

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 Listening skill

Not in passive listening

- Not focusing to speaker
- Attitude and feelings are heartless

Active listening
- Focus on the speaker
- Encourage dialogue and interactive
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- Positive feedback on the information
10 non-verbal communication
1. Shape
2. Costume
3. Face
4. Hand
5. Eye contact
6. Voice / volume
7. Distance
8. Moving
9. Smell
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10. Touching
 Always use polite words to others: Thank
you; Sorry; Please; You're welcome;
Excuse me; Allow me…
 Use vocabulary in appropriate context
 Use humorous words to release the
tension
 Talk smart to keep face
 Always “biết người, biết ta” 67
Meeting with your customers/partners

Choose a comfortable sitting

position (the back basing on
the wall, the face towards the
door)
Always stand/sit opposite to
customers (respect the
personal space from 0.5m -
0.7m)
Uses 55% body language,
38% voice, 7% words 68
 Preparing to the presentation

 Prepare materials :
- It need to be prepared a few days in
advance in checking all document as
well as tools
- The presentation must be appropriate
to the target audience
- Compose a logical outline and take
note key points of the presentation
- Organize with visual tools (slides,
projectors, video-clips, photos, board...)
- Some extra materials should be
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prepared for distribution (if possible)
 Preparing to the presentation (cont.)
 Develop a presentation strategy
+ Content:
- For education, or information, or entertainment?
- How many parts need to be presented?
+ Target audience:
- How to use the professional language?
- Your audience: mass, professional, "boss",
colleagues ...?

70
Use the appropriate structure
- Build the title for presentation
- Presenting following level: from
Overall/Highest to detail
- Make sure the continuously of
the content
- Control the presentation time
- Classification the content from
Simple, Medium and Complex 71
 Always check the meeting room in
advance

 Check the meeting room at least two

hours before the presentation
 Check the power source
 Check projector, the screen,
connection devices, sound system,
microphone, computer ...
 Check the presentation materials in
complete
 Stationery: pen, flip chart, white 72
paper, mop...
The main structure of the presentation

 Introduction:
- Make attraction and present relevance of the topic to audience
- Build relationships to all audience
- Present the main topic and introduce the overview of content

 The body:
- Limit the presentation within 5 parts or points
- Adjust contents basing on the abilities and the needs of audience
- Set time basing on announced program

 Conclusion:
- Summarize all key points
- Note to the limitations
- Give follow-up activities or future directions 73
 Some tips for using slides

 Use the sentence instead of paragraph

 Insert pictures, charts, drawings
 Adjust the font size according to room
 Do not use abnormal fonts
 Use light colors for comfortable
 Use charts instead of statistic tables
 Use the same format
 Maximum 100 words in a slide, give the
slide number 74
 Visual supports

After 3 hours After 3 days

Listen 70% 10%

View 72% 20%

Listen & view 85% 65%

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 Before presenting
Always confident and be natural
Deep breathing
Well team working
Rehearsal repeatedly for the
presentation
Pay attention to the impressive
opening
Prepare well all evidences
Present what you know in clear,
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concise and quick
 Answer questions

Listening carefully to the whole

questions. You can ask until
understanding
Be honest about matters that you
do not know. Do not lie!
Avoid talking with only one person
Always say “thank you” when
being asked
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 .

Personal positioning in
working place
Presenter: Hoàng Cửu Long

Ho Chi Minh City, April 2021

78
 1.Help students understand:
Session objectives What is personal
positioning? Why should
you position yourself? How
important is self
positioning?
2.Students will learn and
analyze their strengths,
weaknesses, threats,
opportunities by themselves
3.Help students know the
effective way in planning
and setting future directions
4.Practice communication,
presentation and planning
skills
ASK model

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Personal positioning

 Who am I? SWOT  How to implement my

 What are my future analysis goals?
goals?  Action plans
How to become a successful “staff”?

Complete effective all your tasks Good in office skills

Recognize clear job goals Good in communication and

behavior skills

Achieve the goal - Good in professional ethics

- Good in team-working

Know your breakthroughs to excel at

work
 Setting your personal goals
Set your own working goals
Establish outcomes in achieving goals
Set goals following SMART formula
Specific
Measurable
Achievement
Realistic
Time bound
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SWOT analysis

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 The 80% for creating self-image

80% of success is just

knowing how to appear at
the right time;
80% of building and
maintaining relationships is
“always keep in touch”

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 Control yourself

1. It's important to know how to work with

2. It may not has “Work & Life balance”, only
has trade-offs
3. Long-life loyalty could be not good
4. Listen to your feeling, it has plenty of
information
5. No pain, no gain
6. Never ignore your dream
7. Always keeping your truth and integrity
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8. To be lucky, you must be good!
 Setting goals for yourself

1. Establishing for yourself, not someone else

2. Everything is possible
3. You have more potential than you know
4. Success associates with duty and responsibility
5. Success should be kept in long-term
6. Any goal (big or small) has to work

87
 Formula of Successfulness

Successfulness = Confidence
+ Persistence + Daring

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 .

Service oriented
Presenter: Hoàng Cửu Long

Ho Chi Minh City, April 2021

89
According to Philip Kotler,
customers basically have 2 main
needs:
Physically: physical, material
requirements …
Ex.
- Customers need to withdraw money at the bank
- Customers want to buy a bread
Emotional: emotional satisfaction
requirements
Ex.
- Customer send a complain to the bank about its
services
90

- Customers want to serve bread quickly & clean

Formula for conducting a service

Service = Attitude + Clever behave

+ Implementing process

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5 elements for forming service quality

1. Reputation: do and keep exactly what

promised and published
2. Responsibility: ready to help and
implement customer requests; Always take
responsible by yourself
3. Guarantee: employees’ knowledge and
ability to make customers trust
4. Sympathy: care to individual customers
5. Tangible elements: facilities, tools, staff, 92

landscape, decoration, etc.

According to Philip Kotler, customers
in service always expect:

1. Be welcomed
2. Be respected
3. Be important
4. Be comfortable
5. Be safety, and
6. Be understood
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Customer value formula

Value = Personal benefits -

{Costs + Complaints}
 High quality service orientation
▪Nowadays, a good service means speed &
efficiency
▪The goals:
•Make sure services are the same in anywhere
•Eliminate unnecessary mistakes
•Check and control the quality in the best condition
•Establish new & appropriate standard systems

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