Hi Maddie - just checking in to see how the school year 2019 - 2020 is treating you. Good, I hope. It is another year on the way to who you are going to be in your career. I am retiring in December of this year. I have worked in medicine for over 40 years - a long time. It has been a good career for me, it was right, I still get excited about it but the time has come. I have work I have to do at home so this is it. I hope to stay involved with the P-Tech Program as the students, you, excite me about the possibilities you have before you, who you are going to become and any small part I can play in it. I hope to see you soon Maddie - stay strong. Lori

Hi Chelsea,
What if one or both of the employees have legitimate reasons why they don't like each other? Would this change your mind about potentially changing the schedule? Think about how you can make each employee feel like their concerns are important instead of just telling them they need to put their differences aside and move on. I think you need to go into a bit more detail with what steps you could take to address the matter. Also, make sure you take a little extra time to read over your essay before you hand it in so you can make sure there are no mistakes and it flows smoothly.

Let's get a discussion going around your essays... think about the questions I asked you in the last one and then this one and let me know.

Hi Olivia- This is in response to your March Challenge. As I am sure you know, you will not like everyone you work with, there are just some people with whom you do not click. Trying to be professional and focused on the task that needs to be completed and less about the people involved. Sometimes when I have trouble getting along with someone, I try to look for a quality in the person that I respect or like and try to focus more on the positive and try to limit the negative thoughts I have toward the person. Sometimes I forget, that my response to another person may affect not only the person that I am directing energy towards, but other people in the office as well. This goes for good and bad energy.

Hey Maddie - thanks for the reply. I know you are busy, I remember school work, chores and life - very busy. Glad all is going well. You do write good essays. About six more weeks and you should have a break for summer! Hang in there! Lori

Hi Lindsey,

I apologize for the late responses to your submissions. There was a bit of confusion as I thought you were coming to shadow me again. For the submission about cheating, I feel that you did an amazing job. It is never best to take the easy way out, especially in healthcare. I was a nursing instructor, and I found that there were students that cheated (but I had no proof). I had the discussion with the class that although it will get you through the year, it will not help you when you get out of school. If you cheat on the test and do not learn the information necessary to take care of your patients, then you are harming them. Study hard and you will know that you tried your best in the long run. You will be happy that you did.

On the other submission about working with someone that you do not necessarily get along with, I feel that you also answered very well. There are going to be many people that you come across in your life that you do not get along with, but it is important that you work as a team to reach an end goal. In all careers, there is teamwork and there is time that you can work independently. However, you must be able to do both as the customers/patients depend on it. I do not particularly get along with everyone I come in contact with, but I still am professional with them all. When you have to work with someone and you are having difficulty, you are correct when you state that you should discuss it ahead of time and resolve any issues so they do not get in the way of your work.

I hope this reaches you in time. Have a great week!

Jamie

Jayson,

It's nice to finally be in touch! My apologies for taking so long to pick up my end of the responsibilities.

I've read over the two assignments you submitted. Overall, I found you got right to the point and answered the questions that were asked, which is the way to manage this kind of assignment - especially in a professional setting, no one wants to be bothered by fluff.

I have some thoughts - mostly questions, really. Just intended to provoke thought - often there isn't a correct answer. I'm not sure what your responsibilities are regarding this feedback mechanism - whether you need to reply or not - but if you do, I'm more than happy to continue the conversation.

Regarding the March assignment:

I think your statement that an ongoing dispute would impact the quality of your work was spot-on. If you want to get the job done, any difficulties in the relationship need to be a secondary concern.

You initially wrote you would ask the other individual, with whom you had a rocky relationship, to set aside their differences. Why is it their responsibility? I did see that later on you wrote that it was a shared responsibility. What might you do if only one of you managed to set those differences aside?

You wrote "If both of our ideas work well together..." What if both of your ideas don't work well together?

"Calming our differences" sounds easier said then done. If this is a person with whom you've had several heated discussions, what exactly does this process look like?

I think you covered some of the complexity of working with people you are friends with well. People can be friends, and people can work well together. Sometimes these things go together, and sometimes they don't. It's nice to have friends you work well with, and it's not so nice to have friends you don't work well with. What might you do if you found that you did not work well with a friend, but you both still had a job to do?

Regarding the April assignment:

Your initial approach is to ask if the employee in question knows that their supervisor does not like them. Sometimes people KNOW their supervisors hate them, when it's actually a case of mismatched expectations. A supervisor and their employee have very different responsibilities, and when a supervisor acts to fulfill their role obligations the employee may not have knowledge of all the information that was used to make the decision in question. So what if this person were to tell you they knew their supervisor did not like them, that this was a fact - and it was in fact not true and their supervisor was just doing their job?

The assignment starts by saying that you have given direction to the supervisors that the schedules are to be changed. Is managing this employee's dissatisfaction your responsibility?

If two people you're responsible for, the supervisor and their employee, disagree so strongly about this scheduling problem that you're concerned they might began to fight and disrupt the functioning of the clinic, is the schedule the real problem? It may be if it was legitimately unfair. It may also be that these people are incredibly unprofessional and incapable of managing their disagreements in an adult manner. How do you determine what the cause is?

What happens when the individual in question who got their schedule switched tells their co-workers? Or the changes to this individual's schedule causes changes in the schedules of others? Who is responsible for managing the dissatisfaction of the employees who are impacted by the fallout?

Overall, I like direction you're headed in. Managing disputes successfully and getting the job done are key.

Please let me know if you've got any questions (about feedback, or me, or the field, or anything, really).

Mike

Ok Thank You

After reviewing your response to the workplace challenge assignment, here are a few suggestions:
-After you complete your answer, go back to the assignment and re-read it and make sure you answered all the questions. This will help you to create a longer and more detailed response as you can write a paragraph for each of the questions.
-At some point in our lives, we all have worked or will work with someone you don't like. While, it is great to get your work done as soon as possible, we don't want to rush our work as it can lead to work that is unprofessional or not up to the standards of which we are capable.
- I agree that communication is important with the people we work with to make sure you are both working towards that same goal. I can see from your viewpoint that you already have a sense of professionalism as you had stated that despite your differences you should be able to get the task done on time.
-Remember: You can always go to your supervisor. A good supervisor can give you tools to help you work through and improve this working relationship. Open communication with a supervisor will allow that supervisor to change anything that isn't working well and address situations as they come up.
-You don't have to be friends with everyone you work with, but being professional, friendly, and respectful will help to create a positive working relationship.

Hi Kylie, I have reviewed your response to March's workplace challenge. I think it is very important that you realize that you will have to work with all kinds of people and personalities throughout life, and it is very important that you "leave your baggage at the door". Especially in the healthcare field, you don't want to take away from the quality of care or the professionalism necessary to care for individuals in your care. Medical settings often make patients/individual's uncomfortable to begin with, so it is very important that they feel the professionals taking care of them are just that-professionals. Smiling, kind words, reassuring voice, and a calm demeanor are all things necessary to give comfort to people. This is not easily portrayed when you are not getting along with a co-worker. Teamwork is a must in the healthcare field- you need assistance transferring patients, co-signers for narcotics, someone to cover you when you eat or use the restroom, someone to cover your shift, so - make all the friends you can!
Rebecca Dibble RN

Thalia Quinones
March challenge
3- 11 -19

Introduction
Body 1
Body 2
Body 3
Conclusion

My IT department is developing new software for patient tracking. That means my coworkers and I have to work closely together for days on end. One trouble is my coworker and I don’t get along very well. We’ve had heated conversations before and we don't see eye to eye a lot.
To accomplish this project with having a rocky relationship there are a few things I can do to overcome it. To accomplish it you can work things out with your coworker tell them your gonna be working together on this project and working together in general. Explain to them you don’t want any more problems because it’s getting in the way of how you work. You could offer to take them to work so that you can talk things out and plan how your gonna get the project done.
These steps to making a better relationship between you and your partner are gonna be effective in the end. Taking your coworker to lunch and trying to work things out should work to make your work lives better. If I work things out with my coworker my job will be easier cause I won’t have the problems so I won't have to worry about more. The work environment will be better for both of us.
It is not necessary for us to be friends but it is necessary for us to be mutual with each other. You don't want your working space to be more chaotic and crazy then it already is because you and your coworker have issues just be mutual and get along. Just be cordial and mutual with your coworkers and things should go fine through your work environment. Your work environment shouldn’t be somewhere to have a problem with someone.
In conclusion, the IT department is going to finish their project. In the IT department, no one is going to be arguing or have issues after this. Also, my coworker and I are on good terms now.

Nice work. I agree with your approach. There will be people that you have to work with that you do not see eye to eye with. You still have to be civil though. So while I see your point about walking away, you will still need to address anything that may arise. As long as you both can see the validity in each others points of view you can civilly agree to disagree. Navigating relationships in the real world can be difficult but being true to yourself and open to others points of view will take you far in your work life. Good job.

Nicole, Thank you so much for reaching out and yes I want to job shadow over April break (13 to 21). I would love to be there and learn more about being a radiologist therapist. If you need to reach me for any questions, I check my school email almost every day rdupra@fehb.org.

Logan,
I apologize for the late response! I think I have figured this portal out now.
I have read your February response and look forward to the March assignment.

In regards to the February response:
I find your answer thoughtful and truthful. It is good to be meaningful and concise when managing situations such as these. You were correct in the statements about this choice effecting the patients as well as yourself. Are you familiar with the butterfly effect?
I did note that you had said "make an excuse" which is right, though I wouldn't necessarily use that wording. In reading your response it occurs to me that you aren't "making an excuse" but are rather being truthful, ethical, and honest. These are important qualities to have and to live by when working with vulnerable peoples.
Thanks!
Brandon