Week 8 Collaboration and Support

This week I have reflected back on the first class of our Master's program that discussed the importance of meaningful relationships and support systems that included colleagues. I have heard it reiterated throughout the duration of our program as well the importance of colleague support. I am hopeful that throughout the past year I have been able to provide support by sharing resources, being encouraging, and providing meaningful input. I know that my colleagues have done this for me. I have had many colleagues share a vast amount of information and resources that I have found to be very beneficial. I have found a community of support with my colleagues that know and understand the demands and pressures of maintaining work, life, and school balance as well, which is equally as important. I hope going forward that my colleagues feel they can reach out to me as a resource if needed.

 I wish everyone the very best in their future endeavours and I am so pleased that such a wonderful group of dedicated individuals will go on and empower so many children and families going forward. The scope of our reach will be magnificent! Thank you all for enriching my education and showing me a different perspective!! I am on LinkedIn and my email address is mtate4321@hotmail.com.


I think the collaboration continuum demonstrates the convergence of our group and how we have been able to move through the process of first contact to collaborative effort!

Adjourning

I often feel the hardest good byes come with groups that have over come and evolved into high performing groups. I think the rocky starts often, not all of the time, build bonds that create an environment where everyone knows the alternative and chooses to work together as a cohesive group.  I was involved with a Mothers of Preschoolers group several years ago that was by far for me the hardest group to leave. In the beginning there was a learning curve for all as to how to communicate and set clear expectations with one another, but once that was established it was a fantastic group that complemented one another in many aspects. Together we accomplished so many goals, and became great friends in the process. Ultimately, several us of moved away, which caused the group to adjourn. As a ritual we went out together, had dinner,  and reflected on our times together. For me when a group adjourns and there is no sort of closing ritual it seems as there is no closure on the experience as well. It is left open ended and perhaps fragments the process and entire time spent together. 

In one of my undergraduate research courses our instructor put us in groups the first week and each week we had assignments with our group that were due. In an online format this was extremely challenging, but it was the first time I actually got to know my other school colleagues, and have made life long friends because of it. I have never really thought about how our cohort group in the Master's program would adjourn. I have spent a lot of time in the online format and it has been difficult to establish the same kind of bond that comes with face to face communication. We have all been extremely dedicated to our studies and straight to the point, so although we will have spent two years together it has all been so focused and concentrated. I believe I must try harder to establish relationships with my colleagues and perhaps wish everyone well when the time comes, but try to remain in contact as the collaboration with colleagues in any format is vital.

Communication and Conflict

Recently in my workplace there has been a lot of disagreement amongst my colleauges in regards to learning how to implement old policies with an entirely new team. Our division has grown substantially and many existing employees have transfered to new positions at our college, so we are all learning each others personalities and experiencing growing pains. Two strategies we have developed to address these issues have first of all been to develop weekly meetings. The goal is to allow each individual the opportunity to share specific concerns and work as a team to approach these concerns to resolve and address them. This creates a collaboration effort that is respectful and reciprocal. Additionally, it addresses NVC as the object is to be empathetic to one another's needs and work together for resolution without trying to strong arm a view point from someone. The second strategy has been to develop a group forum online so that daily tasks can be addressed by the group as needed. The purpose for this was to address issues as soon as they arrive, otherwise little issues can become much bigger when not addressed in a timely manner. Once again this creates a collaborative effort. This is a little more challenging as empathy is harder to address in an online format and non verbal cues are missed, but on the reverse side of this the team is able to work together respectfully to collaborate and address the needs of one another. This had encouraged a team effort by allowing each individual to feel valued for their contribution, but also to feel supported when they are facing a challenge.

My Communication Style

For this assignment I chose to have my husband and my closest colleague evaluate me. I felt it necessary to tell them both to be honest as I would not be offended and knew I had areas that needed improvement. With this being said I still worry about the validity because who knows how honest one can be when they still have to interact with me everyday. I am hopeful they were both honest, I chose them because they communicate with me in different capacities, but definitely more frequently than anyone else, so they should know my communication patterns better.

I was extremely surprised that they both evaluated me as having less communication anxiety then I evaluated myself. They both placed me very low, and I placed myself in the mild range. This is a huge change for me as I have not always been a low anxiety communicator, but due to the demands of my job and my family I have grown into this role. The next surprise for me was that I was rated by myself and my evaluators as being a people oriented listener. This was wonderful for me, as I have always felt I am a time or action oriented listener, which made me feel badly. I was pleasantly surprised and feel maybe I have been giving myself a hard time for years for no reason at all!!

Not surprising to me was that my husband rated me a little higher on the verbal aggressiveness scale than my colleague, not much but a little. I guess he knows my true colors!!

Communicating Differently?

My community is located neighboring the Wind River Reservation. I grew up here primarily and only just moved back last September. I grew up with an awareness that there were cultural differences that existed, and limited knowledge about what exactly those differences were and why. Now as an adult and professional at the community college here I look at these differences with a different awareness. I absolutely communicate differently with individuals of cultures that are not the same as my own.

Yesterday we had an informal meeting to discuss how as a division within the college we can establish better communication with one another. Several of us are relatively new and we all are knew to working with one another. One of my supervisors stated so much is being lost in translation and interpreted differently than the actual intent because we haven't taken the time to get to know one another. 

I believe that this can statement be applied to communication in general or communication with regards to culture. I do not communicate differently because I feel superior or view my culture as the "better" choice. I believe that now I have taken the time to learn about the cultural significance and differences in communication in order to be more affective and accepting. I would much rather learn about an individual, establish a relationships, and build a rapport so that I can learn from others as well as teach to others not just education but culturally as well.

Keeping Up Appearances

I am not sure if it was good or bad, but I told my husband to pick a television show on Netflix I had never seen before so I could evaluate it for this assignment. He chose a British television show from the 90s called Keeping Up Appearances. I had never heard of it, so it worked. I was weary of any cultural differences that may affect my interpretation of nonverbal communciation, but decided to go with it anyways. As I began to watch I was able to determine the main character was not liked very much based on other's facial cues, but also they way they walked away from her when talking and looked down when she spoke to them. She seemed very judgmental based on her facial cues. Other individuals seemed more carefree until she was in the room, and the tension seemed to rise. For example, when she is on her way to someone's house they are relaxing and then when she arrives they begin frantically trying to tidy up.

When I watched the episode with the sound on I realized that I was correct in my assumption that everyone did not particularly enjoy this woman's company, but not to the degree I thought. With the sound off I thought she was in control of others based on her judgments and facial cues. With the sound on I realized she was often the annoyance or joke based on her judgements.

I had two Aha! moments while doing this assignment. The first was that this show overtly stereotyped and tried to set -up non verbal opinions of the characters. They showed a house with a junky car in the driveway, the man of the house wearing a dirty tank top, drinking beer, with a tattoo, sitting on a chair that looked like a hamburger. This has interested me to determine if all shows do this and I have been too focused on the words to notice or if this show was just like that. Also, I realized I may be an awfulizer. I felt the tone of the television show was far more unpleasant based on the non verbal communication than really it was intended to be. This can send mixed signals for me when communicating as the verbal and non verbal commincation based on tone don't necessarily match.

I think if I had watched a show I am familiar with the assignment would have been completely different. I would already have a general idea of the characters, those disposition, tone, and personality to judge from. I would also know more of the history of the characters, therefore be biased in my decision making.

Competent Communication

My direct supervisor is someone I admire based on her ability to communicate. She works with a diverse group of individuals on a daily basis, yet is able to communicate effectively in every circumstance. I have noticed that her ability to pay attention and make everyone feel heard is probably the key characteristic that makes her particularly effective. Next, her confidence and soothing manner when discussing issues often leaves individuals feeling better about themselves and the matter at hand. She often takes notes when having discussions so she can refer back to them if necessary or seek clarification if it is not something she knows immediately. I would love to model my own communication after my supervisor. The primary example of why I would like to be as effective of a communicator as she is took place a few weeks ago. A colleague became upset during a meeting we were having and began yelling at my supervisor. Not only did she remain calm and restate the conversation to try and keep the discussion proceeding, which it did. After the fact she asked myself and a colleague what we felt she could have done differently in that exchange because she felt that for the discussion to escalate like that she could have done something differently to prevent it. Not only did she ask for help with a matter and admit that she felt her communication was not adequate, but she sought to improve how she communicates as well.