Before reading about the stages of development, I did not give much thought to the adjourning stage. In most of my group experiences, the adjourning stage consisted of simply saying good-bye. We never really discussed the success of the group or how well we accomplished our goal/s.
However looking back, the groups that are the hardest for me to leave are the ones that are high performing. In these types of groups everyone is committed to the group and completes the tasks assigned to them. These groups are hardest to leave because all of its members function well, making the goal/s easier to accomplish. When a group functions well, everyone benefits from the diversity of ideas, and it decreases the individual work load of its members. During the adjourning stage of one of my high performing groups, the closing ritual consisted of me and another member exchanging numbers and becoming friends. In fact, we are still best friends today. Although that was a good experience for me, I wish that more of my closing rituals consisted of the group discussing how well we thought we accomplished the goal/s of the group. Reflecting over our performance would be a great way to see what improvements our group could make for the next time we have to work together. This is one reason why the adjourning stage is essential to teamwork. It is also essential to teamwork because it gives closure to the group and allows others to express their thanks and appreciation to other members of the group.
I imagine that I will adjourn from my colleagues in this program by thanking them for offering their diverse ideas, opinions, and suggestions that enhanced my learning experience. Finally, I plan to congratulate and wish them the best as they continue to serve young children and their families.
Hi Krista,
ReplyDeleteEven though this is completely different, I like the fact that closure is part of a group. When I lost my husband in our accident, I did not get to put closure on this loss. My daughter was not able to attend his funeral and she has not felt closure from this. It is important to put closure on things because you know that it is over and experiences are done.
Lori
Krista –
ReplyDeleteThank you for your sharing your post. I agree teams that work well together and perform at a higher level are very enjoyable and the work between each person is equally distributed thus making the load easier on each person. The reflection on a group activity is always so enjoyable and it helps remind everyone the importance of the goal that they reached together.
Thank you,
Schlee ☺
Hi Krista,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. I agree with you that it is very hard to leave high performing groups. Team members who are committed to doing their parts are the ones who are very determined to be successful. Group synergy occurs when the collective group effort is greater than the sum of the individual efforts. It is always hard to break up from a team who have come to enjoy team routines as well as built relationships with other team members.
Krista, I agree with you that the hardes groups to say good bye to are the ones that have produces high outcomes. I would invite you to do as i and during the adjourning stage, recruit people for new projects. In the idea that it is hard to say good bye to key players, invite them to new projects and say see you later instead.
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