Team Building and Collaboration

The group that I have the most productive experiences with are the teachers I work with now. We are a high performing group and have established norms within the classroom that allow for each teacher to give input and feel part of the class.

I believe if the educational coordinator split our team apart, we would be very sad because we have built a relationship that even the parents notice works well for their children. 

Just as with my colleagues I physically work with, my “cyber” colleagues have become a big part of my learning experiences.  It will be a sad, but satisfying time when we have all made it to the finish line of this program.  I hope to be able to travel to the graduation to see all that will be in attendance.

I think the adjourning aspect of team building is essential because it gives everyone a chance to finalize the process and see it to the end. 

Resolving Conflict

Conflict is like a game of tug-of-war, someone wants to pull hard enough to get the flag (or disagreement) to their side of the mud puddle (one party wants the result to be in their favor).  But the outcome of conflict is not always so cut and dry.  If the individuals or groups in conflict really want the disagreement to end on a positive note,

The best outcome is they come to either an agreement that will suit everyone or they agree to disagree and move forward to ensure all parties are at least partially satisfied with the results.

I am going through a tough time in my life right now and am hoping that, when all has come to a close, everyone concerned will be at least partially comfortable with the end.  The strategies I used were:

1. Trying to hear the other person out and empathize with their feelings.

2. Send a message across that will not be hurtful, but get my point across to make it a smooth transition for everyone.

I like the idea of the 3R's because, as I stated in my discussion, it has a way of making the situation flow in a circular manner, allowing everyone to be heard and understood.  I'm not sure how the end of this will turn out, but I pray that all will end well.