EDUC: 6165 Week 6

For your blog this week, complete the following activity:

This week you read about the five stages of team development: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. Consider the adjourning phase for several of the groups in which you have been involved. Think about which aspects of the groups made for the hardest good-bye. Are high-performing groups hardest to leave? Groups with the clearest established norms? Which of the groups that you participated in was hardest to leave? Why? What sorts of closing rituals have you experienced or wish you had experienced? How do you imagine that you will adjourn from the group of colleagues you have formed while working on your master's degree in this program? Why is adjourning an essential stage of teamwork?

            I think the hardest groups to leave are the ones with the clearest established norms. The groups that I participated in that were the hardest to leave were the groups that I really connected with the group members. During the forming, storming, norming, and performing stages we cohesively worked together to complete our goal and when we reached the adjourning stage it was bitter sweat. “In the "adjourning" stage the project is coming to an end and the team members are moving off into different directions. This stage looks at the team from the perspective of the well-being of the team rather than from the perspective of managing a team through the original four stages of team growth” (Abudi, 2010, p. 4). People who reach stage four usually end up becoming friends and staying in touch even though the project has ended.

            One of the hardest groups that I had end that we made it through to the fourth stage was when I joined a Relay for Life Team. It was such a wonderful experience and the lady’s that were on my team we are still friends to this day. We all instantly clicked. We met at least once a month to go over our strategies for raising money for such a wonderful cause and set goals for ourselves to reach, we had such fun doing it. It also had one of the best closing rituals every. For relay we raise money throughout the months and the final meeting is an event where we as a team decorate a popup tent with the theme and we walk the track. The event goes from 6pm Friday to noon on Saturday and the goal is to have at least one team member walking the track for the whole event. They had themed laps and gave prizes to motivate you to continue walking throughout the night. For my team we decided we all would stay up all night walking the track. We had fun laughing, crying and at times just being silly. It was the perfect ending to our hard work and we made plans to do it again the following year.

            I think that I will be happy when I adjourn from the group of colleagues I have formed while working on my master's degree in this program because I will have completed my goal of earning my Master’s Degree. I will also be sad and more than likely a little lost because I have become so a customized to “meeting” with my colleagues every week. The adjourning stage is essential stage of teamwork because it gives everyone closure. It gives everyone a chance to say good bye to everyone. With the closure it allows people to feel the work they were on was completed and lets them feel open to pursue other projects.

Brandie

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