More Journal Entries

Back to get more "work" done for that Eastern thing. Totally going out of order at this point, so enjoy a recent update haha.

Week 9

This week in my Disney Leadership class we talked about approaching conflict and recognition. We learned about the five ways to approach a conflict: competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, and accommodating. Everyone uses these five approaches at some point when they encounter a conflict. They may not use them all for a single conflict but at some time in their lives everyone will use each of these. Disney wants its leaders to use all five of these approaches when dealing with their teams and cast members. We learned about what happens when you overuse and under use each of these approaches. Some lead to a hostile work environment or stunted internal growth while others can lead to anarchy. If a leader dos not balance each of these approaches the end result is that the team is not accomplishing the goals that the company has set out to deliver great guest satisfaction.

Disney has each of its leaders take a test that reveals the leader's "go to" approach when dealing with conflict. It ranks the five approaches and Disney then trains the leader on how to use some of the approaches that the individual is less inclined to use. Disney does this because, as I said earlier, Disney believes that a leader must have a balance of all five approaches in order to run their team of cast members smoothly.

This part of class was very useful to me as it made me think about what approach I tend to use when leading a team. I find that I use collaborating the most. I want to work with everyone on my team, have everyone share their ideas, and then pick the best route. I also remember times when I have avoided conflict simply because if I were to respond at that instance of the conflict I would have said something I would later regret. Sometimes it is best to leave something alone for a while and then reapproach it once emotions have died down.

It also made me think of which approach I need to use more often and I realized that I need to use competing a little bit more. When using the competing approach it is "my way or the high way." There is no room for discussion and it is my decision and mine only and you don't care how your cast responds to it. There are just some instances when a leader has to make a decision and follow through on it regardless of how the cast may feel. Safety is one of these instances. Disney values safety before everything else and has a very specific way that all cast members are to operate in their jobs for safety. There is no room for discussion in this instance.

Below is a chart that ranks the five approaches in terms of assertiveness and comparativeness.

******DRAW IN CHART WHEN BACK IN MICHIGAN******

We also learned about recognizing your employees and why Disney recognizes its cast members. Disney wants its leaders to appreciate, recognize, and encourage their cast members. This leads to the cast doing their best, wanting to grow both personally and professionally, which leads to growth in the organization.

Disney recognizes the individual because it influences the cast member's work experience, affects the cast member's performance, and influences their behavior. Disney recognizes the team because it promotes teamwork, collaboration, camaraderie, improves moral, and makes team goals more attainable.

Disney recognizes through Global Programs, Divisional Programs, and Cast Activities. Global Programs are things such as family holiday celebration (coupons and discounts), guest service fanatic cars (for exceptional guest service), and the partners in excellence award which is the highest award a cast member can earn.

Divisional Programs are done at the team level and are done by the local managers. Examples are: retirement parties, local partners in excellence, followers for a birthday or death in the family, and potluck-lunches.

Disney also has Cast Activities throughout the year such as clubs, sports, special events, and instructional programs.

This made me think of what I could do in my future jobs to recognize the people I work with and work for me. It doesn't need to be something elaborate or expensive. However, it should be personalized to the person and the work location.

This was also my last week at Blizzard Beach. I will start working turnstiles at Epcot next week. I will have four days of training at my new work location and I will have to retake the test that I already passed at Blizzard Beach.