Using the Principals of Non-Violent Communication

In my previous position within a Head Start agency I had a center manager who was not present 8 hours out of the day, and frequently did not follow her own policies and procedures. The other teachers and staff complained frequently but none of them ever complained directly to her; they only talked about her and complained to each other. They would often times site her work ethic as being related to her ethnicity, I would disagree with this assumption but it continued and made the work environment very tense. I was grateful to accept another position and discontinue my employment with this agency but I felt as if my work was not done but I couldn’t handle the stress any longer. Nonviolent communication states that when used it builds compassionate collaboration and communication among individuals that addresses the needs of individuals involve (The Center for Nonviolent Communication, n.d.).

I believe that when I was presented with this situation I could have defused it a little more by bringing it to my center manager’s attention that we were unhappy with her performance and allowing her an opportunity to enlighten us in regards to her responsibilities. Perhaps we would have seen she was doing work related tasks on her own time or during different hours therefore she was carrying the work load or had an opportunity to empathize with her situation. By not standing up for her and leaving I believe that I may have been part of the problem instead of part of the solution. By using the 3R’s, respect, responsiveness, and building relationships I may have seen things from her perspective; active listening is an important component of effective communication, by utilizing the 3 R’s co-workers feel valued and part of the solution (Cheshire, 2007).

I am curious what my peers would have done with faced with a similar situation.

References:

Cheshire, N. (2007). The 3 R's: Gateway to infant and toddler learning. Dimensions of Early Childhood, 35(3), 36.  Retrieved from the Walden Library database.

The Center for Nonviolent Communication. (n.d.). The center for nonviolent communication. Retrieved from http://www.cnvc.org/