Nonviolent Communication and Conflict Management

I have a positive work environment and I love my job, however, I have recently ran into a speed bump. Due to the economy, my non-profit organization is experiencing funding challenges. Due to these challenges, we are requiring that teachers take pay cuts and still continue to do the same amount of work in the center, if not more. I feel that this has created a harsh, yet tolerable situation. Georgia is one of the cities with the highest unemployment rate and I am happy to have a job.

I am the person that collects the fees and I am required to ask and request families to pay their fees in a timely fashion. With this in mind, I often have to take a stand and require that families pay their fees or withdraw their child. This is one of the hardest things to do in my job. I recently had a conflict with a parent that felt our fees were too high and she could not afford the program. She is receiving assistance however, she needs more assistance. Even though I felt her pain, I still had to require that she paid her fees no matter what.

With this situation in mind, I would use the win-win method to solve this conflict. I would also use mapping method. I feel that these methods would help us to come up with a plan of action and write down a plan. We could use this as the payment plan to assist with paying her fees, without withdrawing her child. Even though I came up with a payment plan the parent was required to pay the same fee amounts.

Classmates if you were in my situation, what would you do differently?

Erica