Adjourning

          After thinking about the groups that I am currently involved with and groups I was previously involved with, I have come to the conclusion that my high-performing groups are indeed the hardest ones to adjourn. I worked as a Behavioral Specialist part-time last year for a client who was doing so well. It was indeed a team effort to get this child back on track and he was able to follow the treatment plan and could soon be mainstreamed into the regular classrooms. In this specific group, we developed goals with the child that could be changed at any time if they meet the goal within the time allotted. The goal could also be extended for however long to help the child. The parent was highly involved in every aspect of the treatment for the child and she also would keep notes on her child’s progress. I developed such a great bond with both the mother and the child, it was almost as if we were a non-traditional family. We adjourned because I didn’t have the necessary Certification to work with this child, and the agency I worked with did not allow me to obtain it before discontinuing my services with this child.

          As a Director for child care, I have experienced graduation ceremonies for the younger kids who would be entering kindergarten and no longer needing pre-school. I would love to experience the dinner celebration ritual, and possibly have the just the parents come out to celebrate them helping us get the kids to the next level. I should not have a hard time adjourning from the group of colleagues I have met throughout my time here at Walden. I have not personally established a relationship with classmates other than on the discussion board and on the blogs. I also have not sat face to face with any of the classmates to build a relationship with them. I believe that adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork because it allows for time to reflect on accomplishments as well as failures. This will also help the team decide if they will stick together to work on another project.

Conflict-Resolution

          At the start of the New Year, I was promoted to the Executive Director of my families child care business. Needless to say I oversee both the child care programs and the pre-k counts programs for both of our locations. My most recent conflict was with two staff members who made poor decisions regarding their work schedules. My one employee was observed 10 days straight arriving to work 10-15 minutes late. I sat down and had a discussion with her regarding her punctuality and offered a resolution to the conflict. After writing her up, I adjusted her schedule to arrive at 8am instead of 7:30am. She agreed and has been on time, of not early for the last 3 weeks. I was willing to compromise with her and bring someone else more dependable to be in at 7:30am with me to open. She knew that this schedule change was the best thing for her because if she arrived late one more time, she would be terminated.

          A second conflict I had with another staff member concerned her lack of concern for the good of the children we provide service to. She made a decision to leave the facility to go get something to eat and that left the center out of ratio. Luckily, we were all down at our office and could quickly come to the aid of the staff who were in the center. When we questioned why the staff member left, she apologized and stated she thought someone was coming in to cover her. We explained how serious this offense was and when considering her most recent offenses, we offered her a retirement package and felt it be best for her to no longer work in the facility. She agreed that it was time for her to retire and she accepted her retirement package with no questions asked. We are planning on throwing her a retirement party this spring and all the staff look forward to seeing her one last time.

          Two strategies I have learned that might have helped me manage or resolve the conflict more productively are the Platinum Rule and Non-Violent Communication. In the Platinum Rule, we learned to treated others as we would want them to treat us. I would always want someone to treat me with respect and to show empathy when necessary. The Non-Violent Communication (NVC) is a way of communicating respectfully to others in such a manner to increase effective communication and both parties are heard/understood. If I applied these two models in the conflicts I stated above, I believe the conflicts would have been settled in a similar manner. There were no harsh words exchanged in the communication with these two employees and the resolution was the best for all parts of the business. I explained to them that in any work field, accountability and responsibility are everything. They knew exactly what I meant and we have been progressing ever since.

Assessment Evaluation

After completing the assessment’s for this week’s application assignment and having a family member and co-worker complete an assessment too, I found the most surprising thing to be how close the scores were to mine. I hoped that I communicated effectively, but after seeing it from two other sources that I do, I am now more confident in the way I speak and in the settings that I am in. It is always better to see the acknowledgement from others that you are doing a good job to truly believe you are, at least for me it is. Some other insights I have gained about communication are areas in which I need to improve to become a more effective communicator both personally and professionally.

My one goal is to have good self-control of my emotional expressions. I used to be unaware that I would cringe or wrinkle my face when an individual would make a statement I didn’t agree with. I tried practicing in the mirror and even when talking with my husband or other family members, I try to be more mindful of what my face is doing. I will continue to work on my facial expressions when conversing with others about topics I have strong opinions on.  I believe that facial expressions and body language tell a person how interested you are in the conversation.

Another goal that I will work on is managing my identities and not letting them get in the way of my decision-making. In a previous class, I learned that I define myself by so many different identities. I will work on not allowing these definitions make decisions for me. According to the text, people make decisions about how to share internal views with others, which is then manifested in both verbal and non-verbal communication (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012). I will continue to work on these goals as the week’s progress.