A Note of Thanks and Appreciation

Thank-you to all of my colleagues and Instructors for making my Walden experience a positive one. Also, thanks to Dr. Thomason for hearing me out in my assignments, Blogs, Discussions and teaching me how to communicate and collaborate more effectively. I wish all of you the best for your future goals, dreams, and educational journey's.

Team Building and Collaboration, Part 1

            In response to any groups in which I have been involved in, saying good-bye is always tough for me. The good-bye process is so tough because the relationship building that takes place along with the collaboration between group members makes it hard to not be a part of the positive relationship building. The reason this can be so is because the group that is high-performing is the group that can be the most effective in collaboration, communication, and group efforts. In the Norming stage the "The team members have gotten to know each other, trust each other and rely on each other" (Abudi, G. 2010).These kinds of groups are usually well established and interdependent. In my case, I was involved in a group project in college many times in speech class. We were always a good team. We assigned roles, we worked hard, we were rarely in disagreement, and we always were asked upon to present our work to the class. As the class ended eventually, it was hard to say good-bye. But I took initiative to get phone numbers from group members to keep in touch. It really helped to gather phone numbers not just to keep in touch, but to meet up with friends in the future and to continue friendships. For the purpose of this class, and my Master's Degree program, there are many means that I can utilize to keep in touch with my colleagues. I would totally take advantage of the adjourning stage of team works because it is essential in offering encouragement to the group, and to wish them well on their future accomplishments. "This also provides the team the opportunity to say good-bye to each other and wish each other luck as they pursue their next endeavor" (Abudi, G. 2010).

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

Nonviolent Communication and Conflict Management

As a result of my last major conflict I had recently with a landlord, I think that without taking this class, I used some helpful strategies to turn conflict into a more productive solution because I moved out of the place that was bringing me so much stress. And all I did was not talk to my landlord and it completely avoided any type of argument or confrontation. Now that I have taken this course I can see that I have gained a lot more skills in dealing with communication, listening, and conflict management. Two strategies that I would love to share consist of a compromise such as asking the landlord to give me time to move because I have children, which I did and she agreed. Compromise helps because it allows both sides to discuss their sides of the story and to meet somewhere in the middle. Also, another strategy is to allow the angry person to talk without interrupting them. It really surprises them when they see that you are not arguing back and they eventually stop. One key to becoming an effective listener is to "go into active listening mode and stay there till they've calmed down" (http://www.crnhq.org/pages.php?pID=12#skill_3). I would really love to hear opinions and suggestions from my colleagues as to how I can produce more effective skills at communication and conflict management. Also, I would love to learn about any strategies that other's have used if in similar situation as mine.




 References Conflict Resolution Network. http://www.crnhq.org/pages.php?pID=12#skill_3