Adjourning

Over the past few weeks, I have learned so much about myself as a communicator, as well as methods to improve how I communicate.  I plan to take these lessons and apply them to my personal and professional life.  I also want to thank Dr. Parrish for challenging us to be better communicators for the people we serve and ultimately, ourselves!

Team Development

I can’t really recall working in many groups; I do recall working on a group project while in college.  During that time, it was hard for everyone to get on the same page, mostly because all of the correspondence was done through email.  Coordinating around work schedules and with people in different time zones was difficult as well.  I think that there was a collective sense of relief once we were able to disperse as a group.  As far as a closing ritual, I think it would have been nice for us to continue to keep in touch with each other.  It would be interesting to see how others have progressed or what else they have learned or the obstacles they have faced since graduating.

I will say that for the most part, my colleagues and I work as a group on an ongoing basis.  We fill in for each other when needed, swap shifts when needed, and take up each other’s tasks when we have a little extra time.  We work like this year round, but there is always a chance that one of us will leave or someone new will come in, making the team go through adjustment periods often.  That part of the adjourning stage is difficult because once you’ve gotten used to a person’s work style, it takes time to get back into a groove with new people.

Conflict Resolution Solutions

I have not had any conflicts outright with any of my colleagues lately.  However, I am having an internal conflict.  Recently, there was a change in our leadership and the management styles of my former boss and current boss are completely different.  Former manager was personable, took time to get to know each of us, helped us with things when we did not know what we were doing and was genuinely a great person.  His demeanor as a manager was calm and he always made us feel as though he had our backs. Now, the new manager (hopefully only temporary) is the complete opposite.  She gives us most of our tasks at the last minute, many times only giving us a short time to get them completed; I’ve been given something that was due in half an hour.  She has expressed that she wants the “easy promotion”, which lets us know that she is really only interested in the position long-term because it will bring her a promotion.  And she is hard to reach or never responds to us when we reach out to her.

One strategy I have come up with is to talk to her, but I have a strong feeling that it will not change anything because it is clear to my colleagues and me that she does not care. 

Another is to attempt to understand what her goals are and let her know what we need from her.  

It was gut wrenching for all of us to lose our former manager and we all still reach out to him just to vent and ask him for advice.  We do not want to step on the toes of the new person.  I believe we are all reasonable people and our mistrust for the new person did not initially come as a result of us discussing our feelings with each other; those feelings came after each of us had reached our breaking point with her and needed someone to vent to.  It has caused so much stress in each of our lives that each of us is actively searching for new jobs.  What would you all do in this situation?  Any advice you all could give would be extremely helpful?