Week 6 : The Adjourning Phase

After working with Jesse and Tristan to give Hannah (a 4-year old girl battling leukemia) a birthday bash, saying goodbye was the hardest part.This was difficult because we had the rewarding feeling of knowing that we worked together with a common goal of helping a child and her family. Hannah was a part of this team but did not get to celebrate her 5th birthday with us. However, Jesse, Tristan and I promised Hannah's family that we would make annual donations to the Children's Hospital which would benefit other children battling various forms of cancer.

While working on my master's degree here at Walden, I will cherish the memories, lessons and experiences that my colleagues have shared!

Adjourning is an essential stage of team work because it allows each member to celebrate the differences they made in their work to achieve a common goal. It's not the easiest stage, but focusing on how team work has benefited a cause is the best feeling in the world!

Week 5: Conflict Resolution

I remember having a disagreement with my niece about her using the computer and cell phone for several hours each day. She looked at me and yelled “I need more freedom….I’m 13 years old….I feel like I can’t do anything anymore!” I became impatient and walked away because I wanted to avoid having any kind of screaming match. Studying this course content and information related to conflict resolution has provided relief and more opportunities to successfully resolve conflicts with others in and outside of the classroom. I will now use a different approach when handling the same disagreement with my niece. I would be more patient by listening to and accepting her perspective of feeling bored and wanting to do more things. Both of us could compromise by allowing her to use the phone  and computer for 1 to 2 hours per day. I understand that she has a social life and should be allowed to socialize with her friends. She should understand that I am concerned about who she is communicating with and for how long. She also has to understand the dangers that are present on the internet and phone chat lines. We have agreed that 1 hour of computer use will be devoted to studying while the 2^nd hour will be used for hanging out with friends. Any further advice from my colleagues is welcome and appreciated!