Adjourning a Group

Adjourning a group 

As an early childhood educator, I have been a team member and team leader of many groups and most of the groups I was a part of adjourn on a positive note. A few did not adjourn but just ended with not notice or consideration for the team members.

However, in reading the article ‘The five stages of team development”, are a few groups that it was hard to say good bye. The group consisted of several early care directors, teachers, consultants, parents, and school principals involved in a group to bring awareness of the education gap that was occurring in our community. The objective was to find ways such as stakeholders, state representatives, and grantees who would commit on a long-term basis to help the local community solve the issue. This project ended well we, the project was completed on time, and we had a luncheon celebration. Base on the article this was a good way of adjourning the team, “The leader ensured that there was time for the team to celebrate the success of the project and capture best practices for future use” (Abudi, 2010). This group really did not adjourn because we worked on other projects related to early childhood education in the community, which allowed us to continue sharing our experiences.

I believe that there were groups that were high performing that I have been involved in that at times I wanted to quit mid project and others that I could not wait to finish the project so we could celebrate the success. Some of this group did not set clear expectations as to the end goal of the project. The ones that I was the team leader, I made sure that we followed the five stages of team development, but still met with rejections and team members that did not share that I was capable of being the team leader. Most of the groups that was hardest to say goodbye to were the early childhood partnerships because we brought so much experience to the table. The other groups that I wanted to end fast were church councils, and family related that were extremely stressful.

I am a course away from earning my master’s degree and it would be sad adjourning this group. Honestly, I hope that I can remain in contact with my colleagues so that we can continue to support each other in the future. I have enjoyed being part of these groups from course to course and have learned from each team member. On this has journey to achieve my degree, I have been a part of a group in every course I have taken and sad to say, no one has ever reached out. I have always given my personal email and phone number, but no one has ever called or email. I have however been in contact with former instructors.

I believe that adjourning is essential stage teamwork because “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). The project has to end some day and if the team was conducted following the other stages, then adjourning should be easy but sad.

 

Reference

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