In some ways I think it is easy to leave a high performing team because you know you have been successful in your goals and may have resolution to what you and hoped to accomplished. When clear norms are established it may be easy if all members disband but if it is only a member the remaining people can feel a little lost and unsure how to replace the component of the vacating member. The group which I participated in that was hardest to leave was the team I formed in the first year as a Director. While the first year was extremely difficult I worked with a wonderful assistant Director and Center board and together we were able to save and reform a struggling school. After seven years together it was hard to relocate and face new challenges wondering if I would have that sort of performance in another group. I think it was toughest because we had overcome so much. As a closing ritual I was given a going away party which was sweet but difficult for me. I tend to get nostalgic and I prefer goodbyes to be quick and without a big to do. I have enjoyed getting to know and interacting with many of the same people from class to class in this Master’s program. I hope to keep many as contacts and would love to network with them in the future. I think adjourning is necessary as it closes a chapter and frees us to meet new challenges, which is the way we can grow as professionals

A conflict I recently experienced at work was a situation in which a parent was upset because she felt her child was not enjoying Kindergarten and was upset at drop off. The parent stated the child felt the teacher was mean. Observation of the classroom showed that the child appeared to enjoy class but was in need of fairly constant redirection and struggled with following directions. Despite this she gave her teacher hugs frequently and seemed to have bonded. One conflict resolution skill we were able to employ in this situation was compromise. After meeting with the parent and teacher together we chose to change the behavior tracking system so that it reflected and rewarded the whole class behavior rather than each individual child. The class earned a pom pom in the jar when any one group of children did something praiseworthy. This we felt would help the child feel less like she was being singled out for negative behavior and may not feel as anxious at drop off. It also accented the positive behaviors of the class rather than negative. Another conflict resolution tool we used was one of the Gerber’s three R’s, responsiveness. When the parent brought the concern we listened responsively, set up a meeting immediately and responded in a way that she felt heard and didn’t have to dwell on the concern for days. The situation seemed to be resolved quickly and the child and mother appeared much more comfortable and at ease immediately afterwards.