Adjournment
is an essential stage of teamwork because every project comes to an end, and
each team member takes away new skills and ideas that will carry over to new
projects. As I reflect on the many teams I have taken part in over the last
several years, I think of which groups were hardest to leave and which I was
happy to sever ties with. I notice that the groups with the most cohesiveness
were much harder to leave than those where the group interacted awkwardly,
regardless of the success or demise of the project. According to O'Hair and Wiemann
(2012), cohesiveness is considered a contributor to the success of the project.
Groups who identify themselves as one entity, rather than a group of individuals,
work like a well oiled machine. Team members learn to interpret the verbal and
nonverbal communication patterns of one another, to anticipate the needs of other
team members, where the skills of each member of the team compliment the skills
of the other members. Unfortunately I have yet to experience a closing ritual
that brought true closure and fulfillment. I am not even sure what that would
look like. All I know is that when working on a project within a strong team,
that strength triumphs almost any challenge. And for these type of team
relationships, it is never easy to say goodbye.
I wonder how
I will react when the bonds we have formed as colleagues at Walden University come
to an end as we finish up our master's degrees. Will we keep in touch? Or will
we let those bonds dissipate like the fog in the morning sunshine? Only time will tell...
Reference
O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real
communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.
Nice post and your question made me reflect on how far we have come as a group; there are a few of us that know each other since our first class and there are also new faces. You are right, when a group works together as one entity it is harder to say good-bye. I know that when I finish my master's degree I will be extremely happy, but I also know that I will feel strange for a couple of weeks, but that is part of life, everything comes to an end
ReplyDeleteGreat post ! I was just speaking with a friend of mine who was celebrating her birthday with 8 of her close friends that she went to college with. I asked her why did they stay so close and connected for so long after graduating and she responded by saying they were a team and that during their senior year they did everything together as a team. She graduated in 2002 and they are still holding strong. I can only hope to establish these types of relationships with my peers here at Walden. -- Deon
ReplyDeleteCeleste,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point that groups that we tend to work very well with are the hardest to part ways with while the ones that we don't have as easy of a rapport with are not as difficult to leave. While studying for my undergraduate I was an active member of the student government. It was a group that worked well together to accomplish things for the student body, but we did not feel like we were so close it was going to be hard to say good bye. In fact, I didn't know what half of them were up to until I saw them on Facebook almost ten years later.