A Systems Approach to Small Group Interaction
Introduction
For the purposes of this assignment I will be discussing a group of which I am a part of in my place of employment. In my career as an employee of the State of California working for the Department of Transportation—CalTtrans, I am involved with district-wide accident prevention committee. This committee referred to as the DAPC, is comprised
Of members of management, as well as, the rank and file and is charged with accident evaluation and procedure development to ensure a safe working environment for all employees. Per the assignment the following topics will be covered as they pertain to the group which will be referred to as the DAPC: the relevant background factors, environmental factors, leadership styles and behaviors, communication factors, decision-making processes, and conflict styles and processing.
Relevant Background Factors
As stated previously, the DAPC is comprised of 15 members of both management and rank and file employees. Its membership is varied and will be outlined at length in the paragraphs to follow.
• Personality—The members of the group have varying personalities. They come from different backgrounds and find themselves in this group setting again for a number of reasons. To evaluate the personalities from the perspective of the Extended DISC personality profile would yield results that would be dramatically different form the results this class experienced. This class grouped is formed from individuals with somewhat common interests and goals while the DAPC is made up of individuals with diverse motivations, goals, and agendas. I think the distribution would be all over the graph. There are certainly strong D-dominate types....
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...e because I again am lead to the importance of speaking to people in terms that they can accept, which takes us back to knowing our audience and using accommodating language. There was other important information in that unit as well.
The work in Unit 17 on conflict resolution I also found particularly helpful. I found Weeks’ Eight Essential Steps to be useful. I plan to hang on to that handout for use a later time. It utilizes an effective method for resolving and clarifying the factors in conflict.
To conclude, I have enjoyed this course very much. I think I may have benefited personally by taking this course at this point in my career path with Hope. I understand why it’s the first course in the program, but for me starting the third semester, I have had some background and instead of this course wetting my appetite, I was able to dine on the content.
According to Robin (2002), there are five conflict resolution styles: confront compromise, collaborate, accommodate, and avoid. Identify the preference(s) you most often use from these resolution styles. Think about times you have interacted with styles other than your own. Once the differences between these styles are identified, they can be managed, and the appropriateness of when to use them can be determined.
This course has taught me many things. I was not aware that there was so much information to learn about communication, but I have been pleasantly surprised. This course has taught me better ways to communicate with my significant other, my family, my friends, my co-workers, as well as with strangers. I have greatly enjoyed each assignment because they challenged me to examine the flaws within my own communication style. I hope to employ the skills and tools I have learned in this course and apply them to all my future communications.
Bodine, J. Richard, K. Donna, and Crawford. The Handbook of Conflict Resolution Education: A Guide to Building Quality Programs in Schools. San Francisco: Jossey-bass, 1998. Print.
Objective: Students will recall conflict terms and prior knowledge of conflict and resolutions in various texts.
The program administers great flexibility, which allows the fortuity of pursuing my dream career while still getting the work experience I need. The options granted by this program are one of the many reasons why I became interested; allowing myself to take evening, weekend or online classes. Going into the Human Resource field, this is something to appreciate since it gives me – a part-time student and full-time employee – the time to complete the program at my own
Blake & Mouton, 1984. "Interpersonal Conflict and Conflict Management." Devito, Joseph A. The Interpersonal Communications Book. Boston: Pearson, Allyn & Bacon, 2009. 279-280.
...he who, what, where, why and when methodologies of conducting reprimands, redirects and reinforcement of motivation. Chapter 7 showed me how to manage any type of conflict within the workplace regardless of the situation in an expedient, safe, and effective manner. I also enjoyed learning more about conflict management, strategies used in handling conflicts, and the relationship between each level of conflicts and organizational outcomes.
...ld be reviewing the OHSA 300 log to see what trends are being reported. If the log is empty, then one must look to why employees are not reporting injuries. Is there a culture that frowns upon reporting accidents or are employees just not educated on the proper procedures. Lastly, I feel we must go back to the enforcement of policies and holding employees accountable for their actions. If employees willing know that they can act in an unsafe manner and without fear of recourse then they will act accordingly. The policies set fourth must be adhered to and progressive disciplinary action must be taken to show employees that safety is a top priority. In most instances this is one of the hardest areas in implement due to the fact that your are changing the attitudes of employees but by establishing negative consequences to actions then attitude shifts will follow.
Achieve that career goal. This class is a great leap for me to help me to reach the goal of
In my future, this will be especially important because I will be able to know that gaining new experiences can help me in daily tasks. By applying the knowledge that I gained by overcoming challenges in this course, I have a higher chance of successes in my future when dealing with new
Behavior Based Safety is a set of principles aimed at: (a) engaging, (b) motivating, (c) assisting, (d) reinforcing, and (e) sustaining safe behaviors (HSA, 2013). These five principles are used to enforce the concept of a positive safety culture and gets the a safety culture outside of the historical three main principles of engineering controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment (PPE) (Schatz, 2003). Additionally, the problem with including only these three main principles and not behavior based safety is measures for the effectiveness of controls, according to Schatz (2013), “are not employed until an accident has occurred” (p.13). The problem with employing measures after an accident has occurred means the controls can meet resistance from the employees because they see the actions as a reaction to one mishap. Behavior based safety is aimed at changing the behavior before and accident occurs.
What do you expect to learn from this course that will help you develop in the areas you’ve identified?
Although workplace accidents are very common, the majority of them can be prevented. As a company, you are obliged by the law to protect your employees, so it is important to take the necessary actions that will minimize the risk of accidents (Intelligent HQ, 2015).
Many times the Safety Officer, if you will, is accused of not being a team player. Being chastised for doing ones job is not the most effective way to promote a safety minded environment. Also on the other side of the coin the Safety Officer must implement or correct s...
I really loved this class. It was exactly what I was looking for in regard to something new and fun. I have spent a lot of time working on general academia and it was nice to step into a more creative environment where I could move freely and see things I never would have checked out otherwise. If there was a second half to the class, I would definitely take it.