Stage Five of Team Development - Adjourning

The first picture illustrates what the perfect adjourning phase looks like in my mind. Everyoneconcurs on a job well done, a job where everyone contributed to the best of their ability, where lasting relationships have been developed and could be reignited anytime. Everyone is saddened to part after such an exciting time spent together on the completion of a project. However, everyone feels fully satisfied with their job performance and the new deep connections in their lives (Abudi, 2010). Food and music punctuate a short last speech from the program director hailing everyone and no one in particular for having completed a difficult task and resolving all hurdles one at a time showing cohesion from the beginning to the end of the project (O’Hair, & Wiemann, 2012).

 

 

 

The second picture represents how the aforementioned meeting actually adjourns, with one knock of a gavel. According to the University of Idaho “the gavel is a sign of leadership that helps members to understand what is happening”, therefore it is up to the leader to call for the adjournment of the meeting in a clear tap of the gavel symbolically entrusting the earth with the powerful energy displayed in the completion of the project (uidaho.edu, n. d.). End of story! Make place for another one!

 

 

 

 

In my experience, groups that have been hardest to leave are clearly those where issues were still unresolved. One leaves wondering why the group dismantled when issues were still at hand, and does not clearly understand the motives of the leadership (O’Hair, & Wiemann, 2012). When a team reached its climax bringing a project to fruition, an organic feeling (to use a current expression) of completion helps the team separate with an understanding that the bonds created during the project are sustainable (Abudi, 2010).

 Regarding saying good-bye to the colleagues I have had the privilege to work with on the early childhood studies’ master program; I hope to be able to go to the graduation ceremony if there is one. Our adjourning will in fact be a first face to face meeting, almost as if the group were at its forming stage, except that past history will have bonded us through exchanges of true feelings, feelings that have not been corrupted by the illusion of eye sight too often influenced by cultural biases. In my mind, adjourning is only a ritual as far as it regularly occurs at the conclusion of projects.   

Adjourning is as necessary as saying good-bye in the sense that it provides closure. When team members have the opportunity to participate in a wrapping meeting, those team members have a chance to share what worked, what did not, bid farewell to their colleagues, and express last thoughts such as saying a few words of appreciation or apologizing for something that would otherwise be left hanging and provide a feeling of unfinished business.

Since I have developed a relationship with each one of my classmates, ending a class is always difficult. Through their writings, I imagine who my classmates are and benefit from their courage, sensitivities, perseverance, and encouragement. When a colleague I have worked with in a previous class is enrolled in a new class, I know that colleague will support me and I can count on them. This is a feeling I was not expecting to have prior to taking online classes.

 

References

Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html
O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.
uidaho.edu. n. d. The Use of the Gavel. Retrieved from: http://www.uidaho.edu/exit//~/media/Files/orgs/CALS/Department/AEE/Curriculum/Curriculum%20guides/400%20and%20above/410/Unit%204/403%207%20Use%20of%20a%20Gavel.ashx