To be honest this week I had a difficult time thinking of how my site could possibly improve. I have an amazing site coordinator, great co-workers, and every day goes pleasantly smooth. So I decided to not look for something that is obviously negative. Instead, I decided to see how we could just improve what we have. I noticed that there is an wide age range of individuals working at my site. Starting with the youngest being a high school student all the way up to the oldest being a grandmother of 4.
I have been able to grow personal friendships with some of my coworkers that are my age but realized that there are other cliques at my site.
I really think creating more of a community feeling would benefit our site. Actually getting to know each others likes and dislikes would allow us to work better as a team and as a result have a better Kid Zone.
Many of instructors in my Education concentration have stressed the importance of creating a classroom community. It improves communication and promotes healthy relationships among the students. I have been given numerous suggentions of how to "break the ice" in a classroom but lets be honest Im not dealing with K-5 students in the workplace!
I have recently discussed this my site coordinator and she agreed that it would help if the staff bonded a little more. We decided that we are going to choose a weekend that would work for everyone and go for a hike. This way we could get some excercise and just get to know each other better!
I hope that this idea is fullfilled. Being comfortable around those you work with is key to maintaining a respectful work enviorment. I also think it would be better for the kids we work with because if they sense the staff is connected they will feel more at ease.
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I agree that it would be a better work place if everyone broke the ice with each other. I don’t really know how close they can be because it sounds like there is a big range of ages of people employed there. I think that doing something as a group is heading on the right track. However, I don’t think that a hike would work. The reason why I say this is because it’s on the weekend and that’s when everyone is off. They may not want to come in on a day off to go hiking because then it can be seen as another job. Perhaps something else can be put together so the staff can get to know each other. Since it’s warming up, maybe an ice cream social with the staff after all the kids leave? And then maybe play a game or two, just to get to know a bit about each other. And then maintain these events, say once every couple months? If employees are at least familiar with everyone maybe the amount of cliques would decrease.
ReplyDeleteVeronica,
ReplyDeleteI have commented on a couple other blogs today and they both said they had trouble looking for ways to improve their companies, so its good to see how fortunate so many of you are. I too enjoy where I work, but I was able to easily find areas to improve. Like the title of your blog says: "there is always room for improvement". I liked your idea of creating a closer community. Teamwork is essential to any organization, and getting along with your co-workers is paramount. Going to work every day with people you don't get along with is incredibly destructive to production. I have played for a championship team and a last place team while at UNM and I have seen what teamwork can do (championship) and what internal friction can cause (last place) as well. Best of Luck!
Kellen Walter
The idea of getting together is great but could be difficult with everyone’s busy schedules. Another extension of that idea is to have a different person pick out an inexpensive activity each time. That way not only are you getting to know one another but you get to know each others interests. Another idea could take place once a week at work, on a Friday it could be sports day and everyone could wear something that represents their favorite team. If at all possible you could include the children at Kids Zone too.
ReplyDeleteVeronica-
ReplyDeleteit is nice to hear that everyone at your internship gets along so well. It's not always neccesary for everyone to like each other at a work place but it sure makes things easier if they do! The hike sounds like a great idea being outside doing an activity is something everyone can enjoy. Another idea might be to set up a weekly lunch. I don't know how busy everyone is but getting together for an hour a week could really help. It will give you a chance to talk about things you experienced that week or things you think need to be changed etc. etc. My internship os a very small staff so we have become close. We usually do a meeting every week or so to talk about our ideas and it is really beneficial. Best of luck and have fun on the hike!
Gina Garcia