Thank you/ Reflection

I would like to say "thank you" to each one of my newly formed friendships I have gain during the past 8 weeks.  I have enjoyed your reponses to my preception of our discussion questions.  I have found your feedback positive and encouraging; I realize sometimes my thoughts can be truly different than what is expected but that is the beauty of engaging with individuals from other backgrounds and experiences. I love reading your responses I found them truly insightful, and meaningful.  I wish you all accomplish everything you have set out to do and that you continue moving forward in you education.  I hope we meet again in other courses in the program.  Best Wishes to you all.  ck

Building Trust

This week I learned about the five stages of team development and the role each plays when building a team.  Adjourning is the final stage of a project that has come to an end and the members of the group reflect on their accomplishment, failures and the decision of moving forward into another project is determined.  The aspect of the project that was hardest to say goodbye to was the planning process brainstorming about activities to engage the children with throughout the evening which is what we as a group potentially envisioned our sleepover as a something that would benefit our families during the holiday season.  

The group with the clearest established norms was with the first group which was established during our first year of the sleepover.  The team’s enthusiasm about putting the project together as well as implementing the one time over-night process was the one that demonstrated the standard of sleepovers for years following.  Our initial sleepover team effort was the one that stands out the most to me because we worked the hardest to make it successful.  Each individual in the first group put their skills to work.  We established a relationship with a library in the area to get books they were disposing of to use for a game we labeled book walk which is simply musical chairs.  The game allowed each child to take home a book of their choice.  I loved how at the end we learned what we each were capable of doing to make the dream work.  Our families were ecstatic to have an evening to themselves and leave their child with teachers they have built a relationship of trust.   

After all the children were down and sleeping for the night we had a late dinner together where we discussed what was successful and the challenges we faced.  We all said we would not do it again because it was more work than just a normal day at work. Some things we found was that it was over kill to bath each child before bedtime and the before bed snack should be something such as cheese and crackers or fruit versus vanilla wafers.  What we found was the children had the most fun and parents shared the children talked about their experience days after; this was additional confirmation to the success of our first sleepover.  The next year my co-workers all talked me into doing the overnight again at the request of the children and some of the parents. 

I think adjourning from the relationships formed while working on my master’s degree would involve thanking some people for their honest feedback and supportive comments during our discussion board post including talking about what is next is our lives.  We could all possibly choose a time to join a chat for some ending comments could that include exchanging contact information.  Adjourning is an essential stage because it helps team to solidify what worked and why as well as the challenges they faced during implementing of their project.  This is also the time to problem solve and discuss what is next for the team should they decide collectively to move forward or to disband. 

Non-Violent Communication and Conflict Managment

The information I learned this week from non-violent and conflict management is to consider the feelings of the other person.  The resources conveyed that connecting with the universal human need of trust and understand as well as listening and choosing words that can transform potentially violent conflicts into opportunities of working together. 

Recently I have been faced with a couple of conflicts over the past two weeks; they both remain fresh in my memory.  The one I would like to share is a phone conversation between myself and a parent I will call Darryl.  A phone call into the center at about three thirty on Friday it was Darryl asking to bring his son into the center for care on Saturday because he had an emergency case.  I informed him that the person who could approve this is not currently in the building and that she would return but I did not know exactly what time.  I told him I would leave his message on her desk.  He said I have an emergency can’t I bring my child in tomorrow.  I told I am not the one who can approve this for him because I do not know if there is space and Tracy has that information.  He continued to insist that I give him permission; he said so it could possibly be about seven o’clock before he would get an answer. I explained that I did not say that I told him Tracy would return but I could not give him a specific time and his message would be on her desk.  I finally ended the call with him; about five minutes later he came rushing hurriedly in our front door walked pass me directly to an empty office.  After he exited the office he stopped at the desk.  I looked at him at said I just spoke to you on the phone; he pretended he did not know what I was talking about.  I said you are Darryl, Nathan father right; he responded with yes.  I repeated to him that they were out of the building.  He walked away to visit his son with no further response. 

The strategy I learned from this interaction was without a doubt to fully listen to the concern the individual was explaining which I think I did pretty well; even though I could give him the answer he was seeking from me.  I apologized but, he was not accepting and only wanted me to address his issue.  The best I could do for him was to leave his message on my boss’s desk which I shared with him when we spoke on the phone.  The other strategy I tried to institute was a resolution but he was seeking an immediate response that I could not give him.  What I did not tell him was I would send her a text message about his emergency which is what I was doing when he blasted through the door pass me. 

I asked Carol a colleague how she learned to communicate more effectively.  Carol shared that she addresses issues immediately before they build into something more.  She feels if the issue is talked through and each party has an opportunity to speak and take into consideration the other persons feelings then the issues can be solved amicably.