Autumn...the year's other side of the hill

      The garden is a shadow of it's summer self and there are more seed heads than flowers.  Autumn is not an end but the prequel to next spring. All those seed heads are next springs blooms. Nature is a great example of how nothing stays the same and everything can start a new.  

     Enjoy this season's harvest. Find joy in the costumed knee biters on the 31st.  Their ability to express themselves without fear is a great thing to see. We could learn from them.   

Sorry, long time no post....

My apologies to those of you who stopped by but were not greeted with a new message. 

Not much has changed.  I have officially graduated - cum laude.  My official diploma arrived in the mail today.  Still career seeking and hoping to find an opportunity that will be both enriching and rewarding $$.    

June 1st marks the count down to the end of school.  Students are quivering with anticipation and some parents are quivering with dread.  Summer time should be the time both look to reconnect and bond.  Some of my best summer memories are from the summer vacations I spent with my family. So go out there and enjoy the summer together.  :)  

Spring has sprung....

The daffodils arrived and were shortly followed by the tulips.  Time to remove the remnants from last year's perennials and make space for this year's annuals. 

Also on my spring to do list is update my resume and cover letters with my newly earned Bachelor's degree in Communication.  Time to broaden my horizons from searching for a job to seeking a career. If any of classmates are still stopping by drop me a line on how you are doing.    
What is on your spring "To Do" list?

Spring Fever

That can be the down side of spring....spring fever.  After spending months stuck in doors due to winter's storms I escape out into the fresh, sunny outdoors and neglect my original goal of continuing this blog.  Tell me how have you been dealing with your spring fever. 

My favorite season....spring

     Spring is great. The air is crisp & fresh and it makes me feel awake & alive. Flowers are popping up after their winter's rest.   And the trees and grass are starting to turn green.  Spring is a wonderful giant metaphor about starting over.  Which I is why I like it so much.
      School is over and I now begin the journey of finding a job or maybe I should be calling it a career.  Jobs pay minimum wage, careers are suppose to have better compensation packages.  In preparation for my new journey I have gone to my local library to check out several books on resume writing, job seeking for the over 40 crowd and redifining one's life.  The 158.1 section in the library is great. I seriously suggest checking it out.  It is all about definining or redefining one's self, life, relationships, etc.  And spring is a great time to start a new journey.  Forget about New Year's resolutions, spring is the real time to make changes.  So get outside breath in that fresh green air, get bitten by the spring fever bug, and start a new spring journey.      

The many hills in life

     As I come to the end of my journey of returning to school and working towards a Bachelor's in Communication, I realize life's journey is full of hills.  The largest one appears to be related to age but there are many others like school, marriage and children.  We start off walking up the hill with clear goals in mind then finally reach the top.  The  problem is having reached the top where do we go from there? You can linger traveling down the other side of your current hill or you can look to the next hill. I spent a good portion of my life on the back side of the nine to five employment hill until I was tossed off it.  I have learned in order to live life to the fullest I should always be looking to the next hill.  Life is a journey and it is never over until we say so.  I am not saying a person should not enjoy the other side of their hills there just isn't any rule that says they have to stay there.   

This is a Test......on hot links, tags, etc

To help people find me I have learned that cetain key words in my blog need to be tagged.  Also people like links to related sites to help them understand what you are talking about.  For example I will use Red Hat Society.  Ok that wasn't too painful. I highlighted the words and clicked on Link. At the Edit Link window I surfed for their address then copied and pasted it into the appropriate box. 

I think tags will be a little harder.  I'll try tagging the word Face Book. Now to test if I kind find my own blog via Google.  Googled "The other side of the hill" and Face Book and did not find my blog.  Scanned seven Google pages and still I did not see my blog page listed.  Let's remove Face Book and replace it with a less popular word, how about......locomotive.  There shouldn't be too many pages that have Red Hat Society and locomotive in them. Tried Google and Bing but still can not find my blog in their lists.

My blog pops up in Google only when I type my name and title of my blog page.  I am probably doing the tag thing wrong.  It looks like tagging invovles HTML and I haven't a clue how that works.  Guess I am off to the library to find HTML for Dummies.  I'll keep experimenting and when it finally works you will be the first to know.  :)

Class Assignment on Conflict Resolution

     The assignment was to review a case study and come up with some conflict resolution techniques. 

     It is time for Jane Doe’s annual review.  These meetings can be short and to the point, but this employee has been working below standards and I have received complaints from customers and staff regarding her unprofessional manner on the phone.  Plus she seems argue with her co-workers until they concede that she is right and they were wrong.  I have also noticed the other support staff does not go into the break room when she is in it. 

      I will be delivering the bad news that she either improve or will be let go.  Since she is a person that is clearly not afraid to speak her mind I need to acknowledge the potential for a conflict and prepare accordingly.  I need to have in writing the company’s productivity standards, job completion log and the customer emails outlining their complaints.  I do not plan on dumping this information on her the minute she walks in the door but if she has trouble comprehending why her performance is seen as below standard I can present the documentation. 

        The meeting has two possibilities.  It can either be a session where we work together to find ways of improving her skills or it can degenerate into an unresolved conflict where the meeting becomes the legal requirement prior to terminating her employment.  I would prefer the meeting be one where Jane perceives her short comings and is willing to actively correct them.

       A second way I can prepare for this meeting is by considering Jane’s point of view.  Upon receiving the bad news I should not be surprised if her initial reactions are anxiety, anger or acting defensively.  Her defensive reaction could be due to one of three possibilities:

   1) She realizes she is doing poorly and sees no solution to correct the problem.

   2) She does not perceive her work performance as being below standard 

   3) She accepts there have been problems but “they are not her fault”

    

       The first scenario could be addressed with a collaboration style solution.  Since she recognizes and accepts there is a problem we can both work towards a solution together.  According to Shockley-Zalabak the collaboration style “is the most difficult of all styles to use for strategic objectives and tactical behaviors” (2009, p 308).

       The other two scenarios share the problem of Jane accepting her faults.  Since we will not be starting off eye to eye I will need to engage in communication tactics that can reduce friction and keep our discussion on topic.  Three of the tactics are:

1)Describe what can be gained and lost by both parties not agreeing.

2)Reduce the issues in smaller more manageable concerns

3)Express concern for both the facts and feelings.

    (Shockley-Zabalak, 2009, p 311). 

      Lastly, going into the meeting I will need to remind myself this is not a case of me being right and her being wrong and me needing to defend my position.  It is a case of these are the facts and what should our actions be going forward.  There is a possibility we may not find a common ground.  In that case I need to accept that and not take our inability to agree personally. 

Shockley-Zalabak, P. S. (2009) Fundamentals of Organizational Communication.  Boston: Pearson Education. 

That ten letter dirty word …….technology

       Technology can be a sore point for an othersider.  On the one hand we are not expected to know or understand a lot of it.  And on the other hand when the younger generation does talk techie it often sounds like they are speaking another language.  Not all technological advances have equal value.  Some are great, others I can live without.  As part of my communication class assignment I will run through a few of my favorites.

     Email is great, both at work and at home.  An Email is delivered almost instantly to one person or a group.  It is a great way to share information and is also an excellent tool if you need to document correspondence for future reference.  At work it allows me to respond to a customer on my time.  This may sound selfish but responding on my time means I can focus just on the customer’s questions and not divide my focus which often happens with phone calls. 

     Websites are another technological development that I really appreciate.   Every company, organization or agency appears to have a website.  Websites are a way of making general information available to the public any hour of the day.  If I need to know when the next time the recycling is going to be picked up I just check the town’s website.  I do not need to spend time trying to reach someone at the town office by phone.  I feel more comfortable doing business with companies that have websites.  I can get to know them before I spend my money. 

     I am still undecided about the value of social networking sites.  I see my teenage son exchanging one liners like, ‘Hey whatcha doin?’with his friends but I do not see quality communication.  Though social networking sites give us an opportunity to stay in touch with friends and family I do not believe it is a replacement for a good long phone chat.   

      The site LinkedIn has adapted the social networking mechanism to the business world.  I have signed up in preparation for when I graduate but I am unsure as to how effective I will be able to use the tool.  Networking sites can be double edged, yes they bring people closer together but they will also increase the size of the pond we are swimming in.  Not everyone feels comfortable being contacted by a friend’s friend. 

     Vlogs or video logs are for when words are not enough.  Though I do not see myself creating a vlog any time soon I am a definite fan of YouTube.  Oh there are plenty of jackass stunts out there but YouTube is also a source of serious teachers.  I have found instructions on how to do zombie make up for Halloween, make a soufflé that will not fall, and watched a presentation on what to expect during a job interview. 

     The common thread for all these technologies is they allow people to connect either one to one or one to many regardless of geographical distance.  Technology can be a life changer or a toy it all depends on how we use it.  What is your favorite? 

What and Where is the other side of the hill

Welcome to the other side of the hill, a place where I hope you find life's pace a little slower and more enjoyable.  Everyone ends up here sooner or later.  It might be after your 40th birthday or your 50th.  It all depends on how you look at the passage of time. 

     Being on the other side of the hill is not always the downer it has been portrayed, it does have its advantages.  One - the need to prove oneself to one's family or peers has faded.  At this point in our lives we are where we are, so be it.  If I want to push to be the CEO of a company, change careers, or go back to school the decision is mine and not based on society's expectations.  
     Another benefit is I can wear whatever pleases me - the softer and plushier the better. Fashion trends can be ignored and my toe crushing high heels can be donated to Big Brother/Big Sister.  Ignoring fashion's mandates can give a person a wonderful feeling of being set free.  If you doubt it just ask a Red Hat lady. 
      Over time I hope to talk about and post links on subjects that may be important to othersiders; medicine, nutrition, exercise, aging parents, aging spouse, career changes, etc. Since I am working full time and working towards a Bachelor's in communication at Ashford University's online school I doubt I will be posting new messages more than once a week, but please stop by and add your two cents.  Think of this blog as a place you can sit back, chill out and share your other side of the hill knowledge and experiences.