Taking a Moment!!!

         This has been one of the most challenging classes due to health reasons; however I cannot express how grateful I am that I have accomplished what I have.  Everyone’s input and comments have been so helpful, insightful, and certainly educational providing depth in my learning experience.  I am positive that I have not been as supportive as you all have supported me or at least made me feel that way and I cannot express how much that means.  I wish everyone the best of luck on future endeavors and believe that we all have the potential to accomplish our goals.  The future of the world is always children, but we have to remember that we are their present.  Good Luck Everyone!

Adjourning......

Adjourning is the last of the five stages of team building (Abudi, 2010).  During the adjourning process the team leader shares with the team their successes and failures as a team (Abudi, 2010).  It is also an opportunity for team members to say goodbye or what some might consider closure to a project (Abudi, 2010).  When groups/teams are high functioning with clear established goals, it has been my experience that they are harder to leave than those groups that seem unorganized and inconsistent with goals.  I think this is because when working in a high functioning group you feel you have purpose and that the groups will reach the group’s common goal.  I have not had any experience with adjourning rituals, but would hope that future experiences provide opportunities for networking and professional contacts.  I think this experience at Walden University will also provide some great opportunities for professional contacts all over the United States.  Adjourning is an essential part of teamwork because it provides closure for all those involved, letting the team know how they did and what they accomplished together.         

References

Abudi, G. (2010, May 9). The Five Stages of Team Development: A Case Study. Project Smart:

Project Management Templates Articles and Events. Retrieved February 12, 2013, from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

 

 

Conflict Resolution

Conflict to me is such a negative term, though I feel it doesn’t have to be.  I believe conflict resolution means to find common ground in compromise, though it has been my experience that it is generally one party involved in the conflict that does most of the compromising.  I personally do not like conflict.  I do not avoid conflict, however I put a great deal of effort into preventing conflict by addressing tension before it spirals into outright conflict. 

            About a year ago I had a family in my care that was truly unhappy with the care of their child in our facility.  A couple of the teachers had come to me with how disrespectful this child’s parents had been to them verbally.  In light of this information, I had made several attempts to address their individual needs as a family and multiple offers to talk with them personally by phone, in private, and with a parent teacher conference.  None of which they accepted yet they continually accused teachers in person of the inadequate care of their child.  Despite their concerns they continued to drop their child off in our care.  The situation ended with the father of this child aggressively attacking two teachers verbally when picking up his child and was physically escorted out by a security guard followed by the discontinuation of care for their child.  For a while I felt personally responsible in that I had not been able to resolve this conflict before it became an incident, though I had reached out to them on several occasions.  I have to remind myself that there is no pleasing some people.  However, as a result of this incident I stress the importance of open lines of communication to all new families coming into the program and periodically check in with each family about satisfaction and quality of care.  Looking back, I am not sure I could have avoided this conflict with any measure or that any compromise in care could have been made, especially without their direct input to me as the director of the program.  This example shows that when conflict is not managed effectively the result can be damaging to one or more parties involved (Mind Tools, n.d.).  The Mind Tools website also provides information on conflict resolution styles that I found very interesting.

            One strategy I think is important in conflict resolution is having a mediator to maintain a nonviolent solution.  I believe mediation is important because when something has reached conflict status the parties involved are sometimes unreceptive to each other’s views in the conflict and are beyond cooperation and compromise making a viable solution difficult to reach. The Third Side Conflict Resolution (n.d.) stresses the importance of cooperation and compromise as necessary components of conflict resolution and that it is important to contain, resolve, and prevent future conflict by identifying tension.  I believe another strategy in conflict resolution (like communication and communication style) is knowing the conflict resolution style of all parties involved including yourself, like whether a person’s conflict resolution style is competitive, collaborative, compromising, accommodating, or avoidance and how that affects your conflict resolution style in turn (Mind Tools, n.d.). 

References

Mind Tools (n.d.). Conflict Resolution - Resolving conflict rationally and effectively –

Leadership training from MindTools.com. Mind Tools - Management Training, Leadership Training and Career Training. Retrieved February 6, 2013, from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_81.htm

The Third Side (n.d.). The Third Side - Conflict Resolution. Retrieved February 6, 2013, from

http://www.thirdside.org/

 

Insightful Communication

Many people like to think they are effective communicators whether they possess the skills necessary or not.  For the most part, I think many individuals are not even aware of all the intricate parts of effective communication let alone what type of communicator they are.  Personality also influences what kind of communicator a person is and the communication skills they are most comfortable and successful with (Beccari, n.d.).  After taking all three of the communication quizzes I was both pleased and surprised by my findings.  I found that communication does not seem to be something I worry about though I am more confident in some communication situations than others categorizing me with mild communication anxiety (Communication Anxiety Inventory, n.d.).  I maintain a good balance between respect and consideration for others’ viewpoints and argue fairly classifying me as moderate on the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale (n.d.).  I also found that I am a people-oriented listener, which can affect judgment if to emotionally involved and trusting of others (Listening Styles Profile, n.d.).  I discovered that others evaluated me and found the same results I found out for myself.  I was most surprised by this.  I actually expected others to view my communication skills the complete opposite of what I saw myself to be.

            I found that communication is best when both parties find common ground in their communication styles, which is similar to being culturally competent by understanding those we are communicating with (Beccari, n.d.).  Another insight I found is that I think I sometimes take communication for granted, by assuming that everyone understands what I am saying all the time.  In management, I have learned how to ask people if they understand what I am saying, but it is much easier to skip that part sometimes, and not because I don’t care, but because I get comfortable relationships and the assumption that I am just understood.    

References

Beccari, B. (n.d.). Express Yourself To Success » What Communication Style do You Have? Express Yourself To Success. Retrieved January 28, 2013, from http://www.expressyourselftosuccess.com/what-communication-style-do-you-have/

Communication Anxiety Inventory. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2013, from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6165/04/mm/quiz/quiz_communication/index.html

Listening Styles Profile. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2013, from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6165/04/mm/quiz/quiz_listening/index.html

Verbal Aggressiveness Scale. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2013, from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6165/04/mm/quiz/quiz_verbal/index.html

 

Effective Communication?????

Effective communication helps us understand individuals and the situations we encounter daily better as well as builds trust, respect, which contributes to our ability to problem solving, and creates environments that promote creative thinking (Effective Communication, n.d.).  An effective communicator is skilled at being an active listener which include the ability to communicate nonverbally, able to manage stress, as well as have high emotional awareness (Effective Communication, n.d.).  Seems pretty simple right?  But communication isn’t just questions and answers.  Despite how simple communication seems to be, we are often misunderstood by those we are trying to communicate with when our communication skills are not up to par (Effective Communication, n.d.).  Building effective communication skills makes it easier to connect with children, families, friends, colleagues, as well as different cultures.

Some of the cultural differences in communication, excluding language,  are time and space, fate and personal responsibility, face-to-face saving, and nonverbal communication (LeBaron, 2003).  These are the things that I find myself learning and changing how I communicatre with others communicating cross culturally.  I try to be aware of spatial comfort zones and that others may have different perspectives based on the environment in which they were raised.  I also have to consider that my self-image may be viewed differently than I perceive myself.  For example, I may not look old enough to have respect from a cultural standpoint despite my position.  This means at times I must make it clear that I understand what I am being asked and respond appropriately as well as culturally responsive.  It also important that I read nonverbal communication and include this observation in my response, while understanding that some basic body communication may mean something completely different in another culture.  Communication studies have been quite an eye opening experience and I have become even more cautious in my interactions with others and definitely more concise and clear.

References

LeBaron, M. (2003, July). Cross-Cultural Communication | Beyond Intractability. Beyond

Intractability. Retrieved January 27, 2013, from http://www.beyondintractability.org/bi-essay/cross-cultural-communication

Effective Communication: Improving Communication Skills in Business and Relationships.

(n.d.). Helpguide helps you help yourself and others. Retrieved January 25, 2013, from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/effective_communication_skills.htm