When thinking about different groups that I have been a part
of, groups that were high-performing seemed to be more difficult to leave. With
high-performing groups, there is trust and motivation to get things done.
Working a summer job for the same company for many years allowed for a high
turnover of employees. When the group that I worked with for one summer worked
really well together it was very difficult to move on. I trusted this group of
employees and they trusted me. As the leader, I did not need to ask for things
to be done but instead they were done since goals were clear and expected.
Friendships were formed and I can honestly say that tears were shed at the end
of the summer, knowing that some would be moving on to other things the next
year. We knew that we could count on each other to get the job done, to pick up
the slack if needed, and always for encouragement. This ease of the group is
what was hardest to leave. We had a pretty good idea about who would be coming
back the following year so we were able to say our goodbyes with an
end-of-season party but I wish that I had stayed in touch with some of the
group more than I did. I have been with two groups of colleagues during this
master’s degree program as I took a break for one course right before my son
was born. This break made it difficult to interact with others as I had already
gotten to know many of my colleagues in the first group. I am slowly starting
to get to know this group but much of the early times where we were really
sharing about ourselves is no longer! I imagine that while I will be ecstatic
to finish the program that I will miss the great wealth of knowledge that I
have access to in all of my colleagues. Adjourning is an essential stage of
teamwork as there is an opportunity for reflection on how things went on a
project and allows for the team itself to improve in the future.
References
Abudi, G. (2010).
The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.php
Robin,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I think adjourning is necessary so that we can move on to another group and will not get comfortable with the same group of people we have been interacting with. Until I took this class, I did not know that there were stages of team development and steps to building a team. How are you going to adjourn from this class and/or program?