Professional Thanks

I have enjoyed learning about my colleagues this semester.  I have learned more about several classmates in their blog posts.  I hope to continue to communicate and learn more while I continue my education at Walden.  I have been using strategies I have learned throughout this class and will continue in my early childhood journey and personal life.  I would like to thank my colleagues for your support this semester by responding to my posts and sharing insights in your posts.  I wish you all well in your professional and educational journey and enjoy the rest of your summer.

Adjourning Group

            In college I had the opportunity to participate in several group projects.  One of the groups that stands out the most was in my teaching licensure program. I was paired in a group with one other member.  We were both enrolled in the program in order to attain our teaching license in birth through kindergarten.  In this group I learned that Ms. Rhonda was a hard worker like myself and wanted to ensure we completed our task on time.  In this group I was the group leader.  My partner Ms. Rhonda was easy to reach and stayed on task with the completion of her portion of the project. She worked hard to find creative ways to meet our challenge of getting video taped segments for our group project.  We e-mailed the segments back and forth and then met to put the assignment together.  After our presentation we earned received an A.

            I enjoyed working with Ms. Rhonda and I felt that our group was a high performing group.  We both completing tasks in a timely manner while working closely with good communication.  We learned about each other during our group project.  We both worked in early childhood.  She worked in a child development home and wanted to work in the public school after she got her teaching license.  I had just started working in a pre-k program where I came in under lateral entry with the understanding that I had to complete my licensure program within three years.  After communicating with Rhonda I realized we were both were goal oriented and enjoyed working in our field.  At the end of the group project I maintained contact with Rhonda by phone and via social media.   I no longer live near Ms. Rhonda but we both stay up to date with one another and our journey in the early childhood profession.

                While completing my master’s program in my current group I imagine that I will try to maintain contact.  According to O’Hair, Wiemann, Mullin and Teven (2015) “cohesion is the degree to which group members bond, like each other, and consider themselves to be one entity” (p. 262).   I had the opportunity to get to know Rhonda while working with her in our group.  We were able to have weekly interactions in person and by phone.  In my current master’s program I have not had the opportunity to get to know my colleagues like I did with Ms. Rhonda.  I think this is because we only have contact via e-mail.   By reading their e-mails on our blog posts and class assignments I have gained a glimpse of who my group members are.  This has been a little challenging to build a relationship with my colleagues because I am used to working with group members in person.  According to Abudi (2010) “The adjourning stage is when the team is completing the current project. They will be joining other teams and moving on to other work in the near future” (para, 1).   My hope is to continue to try to build a relationship with my colleagues on our journey in the early childhood profession while using what I have learned from past group experiences and work toward making improvements in order to be a valuable and productive group member.

 

References:

Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

O'Hair, D., Wiemann, M., Mullin, D. I., & Teven, J.  (2015). Real communication (3rd. ed). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's

Conflict Resolution

A conflict that occurred in the workplace was about the graduation for preschool.  There was a concern with the song choices.  One teacher ended up planning the graduation independently as directed by a manager.  The conflict arouse when the management team met to discuss graduation and the song choices.  The teacher who had primarily planned the graduation discussed that the program was created by the teachers in each class including the song choices.  She discussed that she believed the program was acceptable due to the feedback she received from her manager.  At the end of the group discussion the teacher no longer wanted to be a part of the ceremony due to too many opinions of suggested last minute changes. 

                        Communication that was delegated to the teacher from the manager was essential in the implementation of the graduation program.  According to Billikopf (2009) “shared decision making can lead to better communication with employees, bolster worker motivation, and increase acceptance of difficult decisions” (p. 182).  From this conflict I have learned the importance of communicating what is to be completed.  The challenge arose in the communication of what was to be added in the graduation in order to ensure activities and songs were appropriate in representing the facility. The challenge in this situation was also in the delegation of the responsibility solely placed on the teacher causing no support from the management team in completing the task until the review of the end results. 

Going forward using strategies provided from third side (3s) such as finding understanding of what is the ultimate need of the individuals implementing the program is helpful.  It is important to look at each person’s perspective in the conflict.  Listening to what is being communicated by the teacher who no longer wanted to participate in the program and the management team who wants appropriate material used.  Lastly, speaking to each individual reflecting understanding of what was heard and working with everyone to gain a resolution to the conflict (The Third Side, n.d.).  Working to avoid placing blame on individuals due to the conflict is essential.  Using strategies provided from nonviolent communication such as observing and having each individual share their needs clearly rather than focusing on what has not been met supports everyone involved (The Center for Nonviolent Communication, n.d.)

                        After discussing with my co-workers what the challenge was in the conflict we all agreed it was communication between all parties involved.  Thankfully there was a resolution which included replacing songs with teachers input and uplifting the teacher who felt discouraged.   Everyone pulled together to create a successful graduation program.  Going forward using strategies provided by the third side and nonviolent communication can assist the team in preventing conflicts due to communication and delegating responsibilities.